Round-up
Highlights
- TSMC’s nine-fab blitz – The foundry will break ground on eight wafer fabs and one advanced-packaging site this year, while confirming sub-2 nm volume in Taichung by 2028 1.
- Beijing hits back at Huawei ban – China’s commerce ministry accused the U.S. of “abusing” export controls hours after Washington warned that using Huawei Ascend GPUs “anywhere in the world” is illegal 23.
- Samsung moves photomasks offshore – The company will outsource low-end masks and redirect internal capacity toward ArF and EUV work, accelerating localisation of Japan-sourced blanks and pellicles 4.
Other developments
- Dutch tool-maker ASM International tells investors it will pass new U.S. tariffs straight to customers 5.
- AI-server demand and early shipments drove Foxconn revenues to record highs in April 6.
- Qualcomm re-enters the data-centre CPU arena via Saudi-backed HUMAIN cloud projects 7.
- Deutsche Bank discreetly lifted its ASML stake to $17 million, underscoring EUV confidence 8.
- Next week’s Computex will revolve around AI alliances and tariff hedging, with Nvidia’s Jensen Huang topping the keynote slate 9.
- Huawei teases a foldable PC powered by its own Kirin X90 SoC, launching 19 May 10.
Did you know? Shrinking nodes add masks fast: a 10 nm logic chip needed ~67 masks, but 1.75 nm designs will pass 78—a 16 % jump that helps explain Samsung’s photomask rethink 4.
In-depth
1. Government & Corporate Policy
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Global ban on Huawei Ascend use
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Tariff pass-through by ASM International
- ASM told Bank of America analysts it will forward U.S. tariff costs down the chain 5.
- Management claims flexible manufacturing keeps it competitive with AMAT and Lam.
- Chinese orders may still hit the high-end of 2025 guidance despite duties.
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Samsung photomask localisation push
- Outsourcing i-line/KrF masks frees internal fab space for EUV blanks 4.
- Part of a broader drive to cut Japan dependency on ArF blanks and pellicles.
- Domestic suppliers being qualified through Q3 2025.
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Computex tariff undercurrent
- Organisers expect 1,400 exhibitors; AI-server partnerships likely centre-stage 9.
- Nvidia may unveil more Taiwan-made Blackwell systems amid U.S. tariff rhetoric.
- Qualcomm, MediaTek and Foxconn plan side events on “edge AI” resilience.
2. Economics, Finance & Business Outlook
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TSMC’s nine-plant expansion
- Facilities span Taiwan, the U.S. and Japan, lifting annual fab build-rate from five to nine 1.
- Fab 25 (Taichung) will target nodes beyond 2 nm, with mass production in 2028.
- Advanced-packaging SoIC/CoWoS capacity forecast to grow >80 % through 2026.
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AI server boom lifts Foxconn & peers
- Combined April revenue of Taiwan’s top 19 tech firms hit NT$1.61 trn, up 27 % y/y 6.
- Foxconn’s Q1 profit surged 91 %, driven by >50 % growth in AI-server sales.
- TSMC’s April revenue jumped 22 % m/m to a new record NT$349.6 bn.
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Qualcomm returns to data-centre silicon
- MoU with Saudi-backed HUMAIN positions Snapdragon-based CPUs in local AI clouds 7.
- Company will open a chip design centre in Riyadh; first deployments expected 2026.
- Marks the first server push since the Centriq cancellation in 2019.
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ASML attracts fresh institutional cash
- Deutsche Bank raised its holding by 614 shares, now worth $17 m 8.
- Move follows analyst upgrades that cite long-term High-NA EUV demand.
3. Technology & R&D
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Samsung shifts mask resources to EUV
- Internal teams redeployed from legacy i-line/KrF to ArF and EUV development 4.
- Trial partners include Toppan’s Tekscend and Photronics-owned PKL for low-end masks.
- Strategy aims to safeguard capacity for 2 nm and below.
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Huawei’s foldable PC with Kirin X90
- 10-core arm-based SoC built at SMIC 7 nm, paired with HarmonyOS-PC 10.
- Launch underscores Huawei’s pivot away from Windows after licence revocations.
- Device slots into “Ultimate Design” premium line, shipping 2H25.
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Computex AI hardware previews
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to headline, likely announcing new Foxconn and Quanta servers 9.
- Qualcomm to demo edge-AI PCs; MediaTek to outline on-device LLM roadmap.
- Intel’s Lip-Bu Tan holds private round-table on 14A and high-NA pilots.
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Ascend crackdown reverberates in R&D
- Guidance forces global labs to audit accelerator clusters for Huawei silicon 3.
- Start-ups exploring open-source tool-chains to avoid U.S. IP entanglement.
- Could shift some AI model-training demand toward domestic Chinese GPU makers.
Footnotes
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https://www.trendforce.com/news/2025/05/15/news-tsmc-to-build-9-facilities-in-2025-sub-2nm-production-set-for-taichung-by-2028/ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/china-accuses-us-abusing-export-control-measures-huawei-ai-chip-curb-2025-05-15/ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/u-s-issues-worldwide-crackdown-on-using-huawei-ascend-chips-says-it-violates-export-controls ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.trendforce.com/news/2025/05/15/news-samsung-reportedly-outsourcing-low-end-photomasks-focusing-resources-on-arf-and-euv/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.reuters.com/world/china/asm-pass-tariff-costs-buyers-says-no-disadvantage-against-peers-2025-05-15/ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.trendforce.com/news/2025/05/15/news-tariff-concerns-and-early-shipments-drive-april-revenue-surge-for-taiwans-top-it-firms/ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/qualcomm-confirms-it-is-re-entering-the-data-center-cpu-market-starting-with-saudi-arabias-ai-cloud-project ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.marketbeat.com/instant-alerts/deutsche-bank-ag-increases-stake-in-asml-holding-nasdaqasml-2025-05-15/ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.reuters.com/technology/taiwans-computex-showcase-ai-advances-nvidias-huang-take-centre-stage-2025-05-15/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.trendforce.com/news/2025/05/15/news-huawei-to-unveil-first-foldable-pc-next-monday-reportedly-powered-by-in-house-kirin-x90/ ↩︎ ↩︎