Industry News

A reported hefty increase in sales is no doubt welcome news for the semiconductor industry, which still remains on precarious footing given the continued supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions, especially around US-China trade relations.

Microsoft is joining with BlackRock and other private equity investors in a new AI fund that aims to eventually raise $100 billion for datacenters and their supporting power infrastructure.

The US is said to be tightening its export rules on chipmaking equipment, but will provide exceptions for allied and friendly nations.

The EU needs a strong science, research and innovation base more than ever, as it lags behind competitors in an uncertain geopolitical environment, according to this year’s 530-page stock-taking report on the Science, Research and Innovation Performance of the EU.

Chipmaking equipment suppliers haven’t had the greatest start to the calendar year, collectively reporting a sales slump in the opening three months of 2024, according to analyst figures.

Nvidia has become the most valuable company in the world after its market capitalization grew to $3.34 trillion, overtaking Microsoft at $3.32 trillion.

Nvidia shares ended trading on June 18 at $136 per share, a 3.5% increase. Since the beginning of 2024, Nvidia’s stock price has surged by more than 170%.

“Today, generative AI (GenAI) is fueling demand for high-performance AI chips in data centers. In 2024, the value of AI accelerators used in servers, which offload data processing from microprocessors, will total $21 billion, and increase to $33 billion by 2028,” said Alan Priestley, VP Analyst at Gartner.

The US government has dropped details on its National Strategy on Microelectronics Research, outlining top goals and actions for the next five years to boost the semiconductor industry with CHIPS Act investment.

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Nvidia raked in the boatloads of cash, but the rest of the industry is still hurting. 2023’s copious chatter about generative AI has not translated into surging semiconductor revenues across the industry, according to analyst firm Gartner.

China’s chip manufacturing capacity is expected to more than double within the next 5 to 7 years, according to TrendForce, and this could lead to a market oversupply that would spell trouble for semiconductor companies elsewhere.

This year anticipates an increase in scalable modular data centres as the demand for AI and cloud-based technologies continues to challenge the industry.

Global semiconductor capacity is tipped to grow in 2024, despite the doom and gloom, with China forecast to lead the way and expand its share of global chip production as it tries to become more self sufficient.

The new year is already shaping up to be one of the most significant in terms of datacenter silicon we’ve seen in a while. Every major chip house is slated to refresh their CPU and/or GPU product lines over the coming twelve months.

The forecasted growth of generative AI investments is more than twice the growth rate in overall AI spending and 13 times greater than the CAGR for worldwide IT spending over the same period, according to IDC.