This weekly newsletter pulls together summaries of the top ten most-read Insights across Tech Hardware and Semiconductor on Smartkarma.
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1. Taiwan Tech Weekly: TSMC 2NM Yield Jump Rumors; Seeing Taiwan’s Starlink Alternative Firsthand in KS
- TSMC’s N2 Progress Sparks Buzz Amid Yield Improvement Rumors; If True Then 2nm Will Become Even More Successful Than 3nm
- Hon Hai & TASA Showcase Homegrown Space Technologies Including an Alternative to Starlink
- Himax: Buyback Program Lifts Shares; Auto Display Controllers, AR Displays & WLO for AI Progressing
2. Intel Ex-CEO Calls For 24 Hours Of Prayer & Fasting For Intel’s Remaining 100k Employees
- Pat Gelsinger took to X to invite us to join him in 24 hours of “praying and fasting” for Intel’s 100k employees to help them navigate “this difficult period”
- This is an unprecedented move never before seen in the semiconductor world, albeit we suspect that IBM may have dabbled in something similar to resurrect their 2nm process prowess
- This coming Thursday is the proposed date. Don’t expect miracles, this could take until the following Monday for the full impact to manifest itself in terms of share price appreciation
3. Taiwan Dual-Listings Monitor: TSMC Spread At Decent Short Level; UMC Short Interest Rises Again
- TSMC: +23.5% Premium; Decent Level to Short Relative to Historical Trading Range
- UMC: +0.1% Premium; Middle of the Historical Trading Range; Short Interest Rises Again
- ASE: +3.5% Premium; Near Middle of Recent Range, Wait for Better Levels
4. AMD’s Lisa Su Named Time CEO Of The Year
- AMD’s Lisa Su has been honoured as Time’s CEO of the year, a fitting tribute to a leader who pulled off what many thought to be impossible
- Despite flawless execution and carving out a brand new $5 billion market segment within AI Acceleration, AMD’s share prices is down 44% from its 52 week high
- AMD will ultimately face headwinds from Arm but, for the time being, their growth will come from continuing to take market share from Intel and building on their Instinct platform
5. Himax: Buyback Program Lifts Shares; Auto Display Controllers, AR Displays & WLO for AI Progressing
- Last Week: Himax Buyback Program Announced; Likely a Strong Use of Cash
- Himax Strengthening Automotive Display Leadership; Progress with Korea Display Companies
- Himax LCOS Microdisplay Technology Deepening Entrenchment in Designs of Major AR Glasses Players — Maintain Structural Long Rating.
6. Mediatek: Apple Watch Win Highlights Smartwatch Market Opportunity; Apple Supply Chain Breakthrough
- Mediatek’s Apple Watch Win Highlights Smartwatch Market Opportunity; Breakthrough Into Apple’s Supply Chain
- MediaTek’s Role in Apple Watch Connectivity; Mediatek’s TSMC Relationship to Provide a Lasting Advantage
- Mediatek Rallied But Remains Below Highs; Significant Upside Remains — Maintain Structural Long
7. MediaTek (2454.TT): D9400 Success Will Extend into 2025. Prepare to Re-Qualify IPad and IWatch.
- Although the outlook for 1Q25 might be somewhat negative, we believe that it is a reasonably typical result.
- We understand that MediaTek did not succeed in qualifying its Apple iPad and iWatch CPUs originally, but we believe it is now preparing for a re-qualification process.
- Looking ahead to 2025, we anticipate a more favorable outlook for MediaTek.
8. Nidec (6594 JP): India & Nvidia Point the Way Forward
- Shipping the first water-based cooling systems for servers equipped with Nvidia’s new Blackwell GPUs and building two new motor factories in India.
- Moving beyond excessive dependence on China while restructuring operations to reduce costs. Sales short of 1H guidnce, but operating profit up.
- Share price down 30% since May and close to its 52-week low. Selling at 17.5x this fiscal year’s EPS guidance, the lowest P/E multiple in a decade.
9. Intel. Laser Focus & No More Meaningless Life-Time Value Foundry Deal Updates
- Laser focus, transparency and adoption of a “say do” approach to measuring success are now the order of the day at Intel
- Data Center roadmap not in good shape and if IFS can’t deliver, MJ won’t hesitate to outsource DC products to TSMC alongside existing Client products.
- Gaudi is not a mass market product, Falcon Shores won’t be great either but we will listen, learn, iterate and fail quickly. Watch out NVIDIA !
