We explore Globalfoundries, UMC, and SMIC's individual trailing-edge roadmaps, as each company is pursuing a fundamentally different strategy shaped by geography, regulation, and technology choices.
The certifications are valid for three years and were issued jointly by the China Information Technology Security Evaluation Centre and the National Secrecy Science and Technology Evaluation Centre.
SK hynix has unveiled iHBM, a new thermal packaging architecture that embeds cooling elements directly into the HBM interface layer, reducing thermal resistance by 30% and helping future AI accelerators avoid performance-killing thermal throttling.
Imec unveiled the world’s first silicon quantum dot qubit device fabricated with High-NA EUV lithography, suggesting quantum computing may eventually scale using the semiconductor industry’s existing advanced manufacturing ecosystem.
Huawei Technologies unveiled a new “LogicFolding” chip design framework built on its proprietary Tau scaling law, claiming it can dramatically boost transistor density and power efficiency without EUV lithography — potentially helping China narrow the gap with TSMC and Nvidia despite U.S. sanctions.
ASIC-based AI server shipments are projected to reach 27.8% of the market in 2026, the highest share since 2023, and custom ASIC shipments will grow 44.6% year-over-year.
China's semiconductor equipment vendors collectively posted record revenues in 2025, but profitability is under pressure from domestic price competition.
Russia’s Mikron is earning a bit of cash on the side by selling picture-framed test wafers as souvenirs with 12 designs to choose from, priced around $170.
All three leading foundries have now entered the 2nm era, but their paths from now on diverge sharply: TSMC bets on predictability, Intel wagers on aggressive architectural shifts, and Samsung's primary focus is on improving yields.
TSMC's Fab 21 becomes profitable in the first year of operations, though TSMC continues to struggle with labor shortage, water shortage, and is concerned about the long-term power supply. Nevertheless, it allocates $20 billion on further development of the project.
The public-private partnership aims to develop an SoC that offers 100x the computing power of current chips designed for spaceflight. NASA envisions that the technologies developed from this project will also be widely implemented on Earth-bound applications, like the automotive and aerospace industries.