April 24, 2025

Angstrom Ambitions and AI Tailwinds

Round-up

  1. TSMC leaps to the “A-14 Å” node and wafer-scale packaging. At its North-America Tech Symposium, the foundry previewed a 1.4 nm‐class A14 process (15 % faster / 30 % lower power vs N2) and a new System-on-Wafer X platform that stitches 16 dies and HBM on a dinner-plate-sized substrate for multi-kilowatt AI racks 12.
  2. SK Hynix posts a 158 % profit surge on record HBM demand, brushes off U.S. tariff risk. The Nvidia supplier says AI-class memory sales will “more than double” in 2025 even if reciprocal levies land 3.
  3. Lam Research beats estimates as advanced-etch and deposition orders swell. March-quarter revenue hit $4.72 bn; management guides another step-up on AI device tooling despite China license headwinds 4.

Other developments

  • ASML shareholders approve a €6.40 / share 2024 dividend 5
  • STMicro says customers are “not panicking” over tariffs and sees Q2 sales up q/q 6
  • Cadence and Synopsys certify full EDA flows for TSMC’s new A16/N2P nodes and extend support to A14 78
  • MacRumors confirms Apple is an early A14 anchor customer for 2028 iPhone silicon 9.

Did you know?
TSMC’s wafer-scale SoW-X assembly packs ≈40 × the compute density of today’s CoWoS-L packages by stretching the interposer to nine reticle fields — a feat made possible by new lithography stitching and optical power delivery layers 2.

In-depth

1. Government & Corporate Policy

  • ASML’s 2025 AGM green-lights bigger buybacks and board refresh.

    • Shareholders OK a 10 % share-repurchase mandate and €6.40 total dividend for FY-24 5.
    • PwC will audit both financials and sustainability KPIs through 2026.
    • Dutch ministers hailed the vote as proof that export-license uncertainty has not dented investor confidence.

  • Hyundai scrambles to blunt Trump’s 25 % auto-parts tariff.

    • New internal task-force evaluating U.S. sourcing for semiconductors and EV power modules 10.
    • First action: shift 16 k Tucson units from Mexico to Montgomery, AL; more model moves under review.
    • Korean trade officials meet USTR today seeking carve-outs for key micro-controllers.

  • STMicro: “urgent to wait and see.”

    • CEO Jean-Marc Chery says no customer pull-ins or cancels yet despite looming chip levies 6.
    • Warns auto supply-chain requalification is “heavy” and could freeze design-ins for quarters.
    • Sees opportunity to grab share if U.S. peers stumble on tariff compliance.

  • China-focused export-control chatter cools.

    • SK Hynix claims <5 % of HBM shipments enter the U.S. directly, limiting tariff exposure 3.
    • Korean officials say any additional BIS licenses this quarter would target networking ASICs, not memory.

2. Economics, Finance & Business Outlook

  • SK Hynix back in the black.

    • Q1 operating profit ₩7.44 tn (+158 % y/y) on 42 % revenue jump 3.
    • HBM share now >70 % of segment sales; company overtakes Samsung in DRAM market-share.
    • Guides “minimal” impact from U.S. investigations because most AI DIMMs ship via third-country integrators.

  • Lam Research rides the AI tooling wave.

    • March-quarter revenue +4 % q/q to $4.72 bn, beating LSEG consensus 4.
    • Shipments to Taiwan (read: TSMC) and China drove 55 % of the quarter.
    • FY-25 model lifted to $25-28 bn on strength in backside power-delivery and HBM etch.

  • STMicro spots the cyclical bottom.

    • Q1 revenue $2.52 bn; projects $2.71 bn in Q2 on nascent auto/industrial recovery 6.
    • Jefferies notes inventory correction “largely done” outside consumer handsets.
    • Company keeps full-year guide open while monitoring tariff pass-through.

  • ASML dividend and buyback signal cash confidence.

    • €1.84 final payout sets new annual record; repurchase envelope equals 10 % of share count 5.
    • CFO says EUV backlog “extends well into 2027 even in worst-case tariff scenarios.”

3. Technology & R&D

  • TSMC’s A14 & SoW-X steal the show.

    • 1.4 nm-class logic with backside power delivery, risk production 2028 129.
    • “Dinner-plate” SoW-X packages integrate 16 GPU dies plus HBM & photonics, >2 kW cooling envelope 12.
    • Two dedicated packaging fabs planned next to Arizona Fab 21.

  • Cadence certifies full 3D-IC design flow for A16/N2P.

    • Integrity 3D-IC platform now covers 5.5× reticle CoWoS and upcoming HBM4 test chips 7.
    • Automotive-grade IP (PCIe 5, LPDDR5X-9600) also qualified at N3A and N5A.

  • Synopsys brings Synopsys.ai to angstrom-scale nodes.

    • Digital & analog flows, 3DIC Compiler and 224 G PHY IP certified for A16 & N2P; A14 enablement in progress 8.
    • New elastic IC Validator handles 3Dblox and backside-routing sign-off.

  • RF front-end gets an N4C lift.

    • TSMC’s new “N4C RF” platform targets Wi-Fi 8 and AI audio wearables; risk production Q1 26 2.
    • Early adopters said to include Apple and MediaTek.

Footnotes

  1. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/tsmc-shows-off-new-tech-stitching-together-bigger-faster-chips-2025-04-23/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. https://focustaiwan.tw/business/202504240010 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nvidia-supplier-sk-hynixs-q1-profit-jumps-beating-expectations-2025-04-23/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/lam-research-beats-quarterly-revenue-estimates-surging-ai-chip-demand-2025-04-23/ ↩︎ ↩︎

  5. https://www.asml.com/en/news/press-releases/2025/asml-discloses-2025-agm-results ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  6. https://www.reuters.com/technology/stmicroelectronics-calls-q1-bottom-2025-predicts-better-q2-2025-04-24/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  7. https://www.techpowerup.com/335885/cadence-and-tsmc-advance-ai-and-3d-ic-chip-design-with-certified-design-solutions-for-tsmc-a16-and-n2p-process ↩︎ ↩︎

  8. https://www.design-reuse.com/news/57735/synopsys-tsmc-a16-n2p.html ↩︎ ↩︎

  9. https://www.macrumors.com/2025/04/24/apple-partner-tsmc-1-4nm-process-2028-chips/ ↩︎ ↩︎

  10. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/hyundai-motor-reports-2-rise-q1-operating-profit-2025-04-24/ ↩︎