Global Semiconductor Industry Updates

1. Ajinomoto plans to invest over 25 billion yen by 2030 to enhance its semiconductor materials production capacity.

2. SK Hynix has completed the full acquisition of Intel's NAND flash memory division for $9 billion, concluding a four-year acquisition process.

3. AI chip company Rebellions has established a subsidiary in Tokyo and will enter the data center market.

4. Siemens has acquired the AI company Altair for approximately 77 billion RMB.

5. The Japanese government will invest up to 802.5 billion yen in Rapidus to support the mass production of 2nm chips.

6. SK Hynix has announced that its HBM capacity for 2025 is already sold out and expects the next year’s capacity to be sold out by the first half of this year.

China Semiconductor Industry Updates

1. West Lake Instruments has successfully achieved automated laser delamination of 12-inch silicon carbide substrates, overcoming slicing challenges.

2. TSMC held a "2nm Expansion Ceremony" yesterday and expects to begin mass production of 2nm chips in the second half of 2025, marking the first use of nanosheet transistor structures.

3. The Kinghelm team, under the strong leadership of Vice President Cheng Yujie, worked in unison with full force, achieving a 38% increase in sales in March compared to the best performance in history. Slkor (www.slkoric.com) and Golden Maritime General Manager Song Shiqiang will award them double bonuses.

4. The European Patent Office’s recent "2024 Patent Index" report shows that China ranks fourth globally in patent applications.

5. Both the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List show that ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming has topped the Chinese rich list, becoming the wealthiest person in China.

6. Rees Smart Chip has officially launched the world’s first integrated visual sensor, ALPIX-Pizo, which combines global exposure image technology with EVS event-perception technology at the pixel level.