SEMICONDUCTORS
Nvidia unveils new chips
Nvidia Corp, trying to find broader markets for its industry-leading graphics chips technology, yesterday showed off a new mobile processor and a computer for cars. The new Tegra X1 chip will power the module as vehicles are set to become the most powerful computing device that people own, Nvidia CEO Huang Jen-hsun (黃仁勳) said at a company event at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Under Huang, Nvidia is looking to open up new markets for its technology used to run graphics in high-end gaming computers. Having failed to grab significant market share from Qualcomm Inc in mobile-phone processors, Nvidia is branching out into chips that run information and entertainment systems in cars and computer servers. Nvidia and rivals such as Qualcomm and Intel Corp are showing off their new products and vision for technology this year at CES, the industry’s largest trade show.
TECHNOLOGY
Spending outlook uncertain
The outlook for global technology spending is uncertain after nearly flat growth in the past year, with turbulent economic conditions making a forecast difficult, an industry gathering was told on Sunday. At the media preview for CES in Las Vegas, data presented showed just 1 percent growth to bring technology spending to US$1.024 trillion. The Consumer Electronics Association predicted a drop in tech spending of 5 percent in Europe and Latin America, and it remains unclear whether the rest of the world would pick up the slack. Steve Koenig, an analyst at the association, which organizes the event, said economic conditions around the world forced the group to defer its forecast for this year. The market is being driven by strong demand for new products like tablets and smartphones in emerging economies in Asia, and by modest economic growth in North America.
MINERALS
China to lift rare earths cap
China has eased controls on exports of rare earths, minerals used in mobile phones and other high-tech products, after losing a WTO case brought by Washington. Under the Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s trade guidelines for this year, rare earths will no longer be covered by export quotas. Beijing imposed those quotas in 2009 while it tried to develop its own industry that transforms the minerals into lightweight magnets and other products. In August, a WTO panel upheld a ruling in a case brought by Washington that Beijing had failed to show the export quotas were justified. China has about 30 percent of the world’s deposits of rare earths, but accounts for more than 90 percent of production.
AGRICULTURE
China eases price controls
China has abolished price controls on tobacco leaf, the last agricultural product to have limits, the nation’s top economic planner said as authorities seek to give the market a greater economic role. However, tobacco leaf prices are only a small factor in the cost of cigarettes — a state monopoly in China — so the move is unlikely to have a significant effect on smokers. China is the world’s biggest cigarette market and government efforts to curb smoking have only had limited impact. Tobacco was among 24 commodities and services whose cost controls were removed, the National Development and Reform Commission said over the weekend. The move comes more than a year after Communist Party leaders pledged to give the market a “decisive” role in resource allocation at a key meeting known as the Third Plenum.
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
TEMPORARY TRUCE: China has made concessions to ease rare earth trade controls, among others, while Washington holds fire on a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods China is effectively suspending implementation of additional export controls on rare earth metals and terminating investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced. The White House on Saturday issued a fact sheet outlining some details of the trade pact agreed to earlier in the week by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that aimed to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, China is to issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite “for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV’s China unit yesterday said that it had established sufficient inventories of finished goods and works-in-progress, and that its supply chain remained secure and stable after its parent halted wafer supplies. The Dutch company suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant a week ago, calling it “a direct consequence of the local management’s recent failure to comply with the agreed contractual payment terms,” Reuters reported on Friday last week. Its China unit called Nexperia’s suspension “unilateral” and “extremely irresponsible,” adding that the Dutch parent’s claim about contractual payment was “misleading and highly deceptive,” according to a statement
The Chinese government has issued guidance requiring new data center projects that have received any state funds to only use domestically made artificial intelligence (AI) chips, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. In recent weeks, Chinese regulatory authorities have ordered such data centers that are less than 30 percent complete to remove all installed foreign chips, or cancel plans to purchase them, while projects in a more advanced stage would be decided on a case-by-case basis, the sources said. The move could represent one of China’s most aggressive steps yet to eliminate foreign technology from its critical infrastructure amid a
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