Tag - chipmakers

 
 

CHIPMAKERS

A Toyota production line in New Jersey. The U.S. is a key market for Japanese automakers, who are closely monitoring policy changes in Washington as the incoming Trump administration is likely to change the course set by President Joe Biden.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Dec 12, 2024
Japan’s auto industry looks down the road to Trump presidency
Of the cars sold in the U.S., 40% are from Japanese makers, who are determined to hold onto this market share despite Washington's policy vagaries in the auto field.
Nvidia will end the year with about 4,000 people in China, up from just about 3,000 at the start of 2024, people familiar with its operations said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 12, 2024
Nvidia steps up hiring in China to focus on AI-driven cars
The tech giant will end 2024 with about 4,000 employees in China, after starting the year with around 3,000.
Kioxia priced its stock at ¥1,455 ($9.6), at the middle of the price range it proposed before the IPO.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 10, 2024
Kioxia’s jumbo IPO shows weak sign contrary to booming market
The Bain Capital-backed memory-chip manufacturer priced its stock at ¥1,455 ($9.6), at the middle of the price range it proposed before the IPO.
The French headquarters of Huawei Technologies in Boulogne-Billancourt near Paris in 2020. Companies that maintain business ties with Huawei could lose access to work for the Pentagon, which committed nearly $460 billion on contracts in fiscal 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 10, 2024
Huawei suppliers to face further U.S. limits under defense bill
The bill's language effectively bars Pentagon contractors from selling chips and the equipment for making or designing them to Huawei or its affiliates.
A smartphone with a displayed Nvidia logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 10, 2024
Nvidia hit with China probe in global tech war escalation
The move against Nvidia is Beijing’s latest riposte to escalating U.S. technology curbs.
The Tokyo-based company Kioxia Holdings’ IPO price was ¥1,455, right at the middle of its range. That valued the firm at ¥784 billion ($5.2 billion).
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 9, 2024
Bain-backed Kioxia sets IPO price, valuing memory maker at $5.2 billion
The Tokyo-based company’s IPO price was ¥1,455, right at the middle of its range.
The departure of Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger opens the possibility of fresh deal talks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2024
Intel’s CEO departure opens door to new deal discussions
The CEO's departure is also an opportunity for suitors to take another look at acquiring some or all of Intel.
The Internet Society of China has urged domestic companies to think carefully before procuring chips from the U.S.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 4, 2024
U.S. chips 'no longer safe,' Chinese industry bodies say in latest salvo
Their advice could affect U.S. chipmaking giants like Nvidia, AMD and Intel, which have managed to keep selling products in China despite export controls.
Beijing has banned the export of gallium, germanium and antimony to the U.S.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 4, 2024
China dials up U.S. trade tension with tit-for-tat metals export ban
The targeted metals are used in everything from semiconductors to satellites and night-vision goggles.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger delivers a speech at the COMPUTEX forum in Taipei on June 4. When Gelsinger met with the Intel board last week, he was given the option to retire or be removed.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 3, 2024
Intel CEO forced out by board frustrated with slow progress
Whoever replaces Pat Gelsinger will face the same set of problems he was brought in to fix, including the fallout from decisions made by his predecessors.
The goal of the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, building on years of evolving trade restrictions, is to slow China’s domestic development of advanced semiconductors and artificial intelligence systems that may help its military.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 3, 2024
U.S. tightens curbs on China’s access to AI memory and chip tools
The new measures included exemptions for key allies such as Japan and the Netherlands.
Under new U.S. rules, chipmaking equipment made in Malaysia, Singapore, Israel, Taiwan and South Korea will be subject to curbs on exports to China, while the Netherlands and Japan will be exempt.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 2, 2024
Latest U.S. strike on China's chips hits semiconductor toolmakers
Equipment made in Malaysia, Singapore, Israel, Taiwan and South Korea will be subject to curbs on exports to China, while the Netherlands and Japan will be exempt.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives to deliver a policy address during a Lower House session in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 29, 2024
Japan earmarks extra ¥1.5 trillion for chips and AI this year
Japan is fighting to keep up in a global spending spree on cutting-edge tech led by China and the U.S.
The industry ministry plans to provide aid of up to ¥70.5 billion to auto parts maker Denso and Fuji Electric for the joint production of power semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2024
Denso and Fuji Electric to get government aid for power chips
Although Japanese companies have a large share of the global power semiconductor market, production volume per maker is smaller compared with European and U.S. peers.
A wafer on display at the Semicon China expo in Shanghai on March 20
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2024
U.S. readies China chip curbs that stop short of earlier proposals
American chip equipment makers have warned that tougher measures would bring catastrophic harm to their business.
Scale is becoming important even for distributors like Macnica Holdings, which sells chips made by the likes of Intel’s Altera.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2024
Japan’s top chip distributor eyes acquisitions in China and India
Macnica Holdings is eyeing an overseas acquisition to better hold its own against bigger competitors.
Wall Street is rotating out of the chip sector, put off by stretched valuations and trade war-related risks under Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 27, 2024
Software is in, chips are out as traders position for Trump era
Software has been on an upswing given its lower exposure to tariff risks, and as the tailwind from AI looks set to shift from infrastructure to services.
Seiji Osaka, the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's Hokkaido chapter, has expressed concern over the finances of Rapidus, which is supposed to be in full production of cutting-edge 2-nanometer chips by 2027.
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Nov 25, 2024
CDP’s gains in Hokkaido raise political questions about Rapidus
The head of the party's Hokkaido chapter has expressed concern over the finances for the project, which aims to produce 2-nanometer chips by 2027.
With its initial public offering, Kioxia is valuing the company at ¥750 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 22, 2024
Japan chipmaker Kioxia IPO set for next month
Formerly the semiconductor unit of Japanese engineering giant Toshiba, the company is the world's third-largest producer of NAND flash memory chips.
Chipmaker Kioxia, formerly Toshiba Memory, is reportedly targeting a December IPO.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 21, 2024
Chipmaker Kioxia to receive market listing approval, sources say
Bain-backed Kioxia will have a market value of about ¥750 billion ($4.84 billion) based on the indicative price for its initial public offering.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone. 
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan