onsemi Cancels Czech Expansion; TSMC 3D DRAM Report

The read

onsemi and the Czech government dropped onsemi's $2 billion silicon carbide expansion at Rožnov, citing market dynamics and project economics. Reuters, citing The Information, reported that TSMC has begun planning 3D DRAM production at Nvidia's request. Industry data released this week showed strong volume: SIA put third-quarter global chip sales at about $518 billion, up 24% from the second quarter, and SEMI said third-quarter wafer shipments rose 13.4% from a year earlier.

What changed

Power and compound semiconductors

onsemi, Rožnov pod Radhoštěm: onsemi and the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade said on Nov 6 that onsemi will not go ahead with a multi-year, $2 billion silicon carbide expansion at Rožnov, first announced in June 2024 to cover production from crystal growth through finished power chips. Both cited "evolving market dynamics and project economics." Industry Minister Karel Havlíček pointed to current conditions in the global chip market, and onsemi said the decision does not reflect conditions in the region. Existing silicon and silicon carbide operations at Rožnov and the Brno development center continue, and onsemi said it expects to keep hiring and investing at both sites. Investing.com via Yahoo Finance (Nov 6)

Memory

TSMC (reported by The Information; TSMC and Nvidia did not respond to Reuters): Reuters, citing The Information, reported that TSMC has begun planning to produce 3D DRAM, a memory design that stacks cells vertically, at the request of Nvidia, its largest customer. Options include building new fabs or buying an existing plant and converting it. The Information said the effort is led by Hsu Kuo-chin, a TSMC vice president who oversees advanced packaging. No production timeline was given. Reuters via SRN News (Nov 6)

AI and cloud demand

SIA global chip sales (per SemiEngineering's weekly roundup; SIA's page could not be loaded): SIA reported third-quarter global semiconductor sales of about $518 billion, up 24% from the second quarter, with September sales up 147% from a year earlier. The release came out earlier this week and was missed in the Nov 3 to Nov 5 issues. SemiEngineering Week In Review (Nov 6)

Materials and supply chain

SEMI wafer shipments (released Nov 4; missed in the Nov 4 issue): Worldwide silicon wafer shipments were 3,756 million square inches in the third quarter, up 13.4% from 3,313 a year earlier and up 5.1% from the second quarter. SEMI said AI-related demand has broadened beyond advanced logic and memory into power devices and photonics, that industrial demand is improving, and that bonding and advanced packaging continue to support demand for 300mm polished wafers. SEMI release via TNGlobal (Nov 4)

Panasonic Group, Hsinchu (update to the Nov 4 issue; reported): SemiEngineering's Nov 6 roundup, citing Focus Taiwan on Nov 5, reports that two workers were killed and five injured in the Nov 4 fire at the plant, which makes PCB and semiconductor packaging materials. The Nov 4 issue reported the two as missing. The cause and any production impact have not been determined. SemiEngineering Week In Review (Nov 6)

Equipment

Nova (released Nov 5; missed in the Nov 5 issue): Third-quarter revenue was a record $287.8 million, up 28% from a year earlier and 13% from the prior quarter. Nova guided fourth-quarter revenue to $305 million to $315 million. It cited strong demand from logic customers, record memory revenue on demand for dimensional and materials metrology, and record advanced packaging revenue tied to HBM and advanced logic capacity expansion. Nova 6-K (Nov 5)

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