01. Toshiba on track to expand capacity for automotive power chips
Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage recently has disclosed plans to set up new production lines for automotive power semiconductors at its existing Himeji semiconductor manufacturing complex in Hyogo prefecture, western Japan.
02. Qualcomm advances fast in automotive chips solutions
Qualcomm is making fast advancements in automotive chips solutions, which is increasingly hard for arch competitor MediaTek to catch up. At the just-concluded MWC 2023, the US chipmaker unveiled its new Auto 5G Modem-RF.
03. Japanese automakers suspend production due to part shortage
Feb. 28, 2023, According to Nikkei reports, Honda said that due to the shortage of automotive semiconductors, the impact of the epidemic and logistics delays, it is expected that the production of its Yorii plant in Saitama Prefecture will be reduced by 10% in March compared to the plan.
The report pointed out that the above-mentioned plant had already reduced production by 10% in February. In addition, Honda's Suzuka plant also cut production by 10% in February, and production capacity will resume in early March.
In addition to Honda, Toyota also plans to suspend some production lines at the Motomachi plant in March. In addition, Suzuki Motor Corporation said a few days ago that it will suspend the operations of the Kosai Plant and the Sagara Plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan due to supply problems such as semiconductors.
04. NXP ramps up production of S32R41 high -performance radar processor
Mar. 1, 2023, NXP Semiconductors has released the latest member of its scalable S32R radar processor family into production. Tailored to meet the more demanding processing requirements to support L2+ autonomous driving and advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) solutions, the high-performance S32R41 is central to creating high-resolution corner and front-facing long-range radars.
The NXP S32R41 radar processor meets the needs of advanced 77 GHz radar applications, not only for high-resolution long-range radar applications, but also for advanced corner radar applications for passenger cars as well as commercial vehicles such as CubTEK’s BSIS.
05. Renesas and Tata open joint innovation center to develop next-generation semiconductor solutions
Mar. 3, 2023, Renesas Electronics announced the opening of joint innovation centers in Bengaluru and Hyderabad with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), one of the world's largest IT services companies, and will focus on RF, digital mixed-signal design and software development for innovative next-generation semiconductor solutions.
The Innovation Center will combine TCS’ deep expertise in IoT and domain knowledge of the manufacturing, telecom and automotive industries with Renesas’ advanced semiconductor designs and skilled embedded software support. By joining hands and leveraging their combined strengths, the partners intend to launch innovative semiconductor designs and software solutions for the IoT, smart cities, industrial, and automotive segments.
06. Infineon announces acquisition of GaN systems
Mar. 3, 2023, Infineon Technologies AG announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with GaN Systems Inc. on March 2 to acquire GaN Systems for $830 million. GaN Systems is a global technology leader in the development of GaN-based solutions for power conversion. The company is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, and has more than 200 employees.
07. Tokyo Electronics: Chip demand will surge from next year
Mar. 1, 2023, According to Bloomberg, Japan's chip manufacturing equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electronics said that despite inflation and geopolitics uncertainty, it is expected that the semiconductor industry will return to growth next year.
Toshiki Kawai, CEO of Tokyo Electronic, said that long -term trends such as autonomous driving and the development of the Metaverse will increase the demand for data storage and processing capabilities.
"By 2030, the amount of data that must be processed worldwide will increase tenfold, and then 100 times by 2040," Kawai said.