May 30, 2025

Round-up

Highlights

1. Synopsys slams the brakes on China. Hours after Washington’s new licence mandate kicked in, the EDA giant froze all sales and support to Chinese customers, warning staff the ban is “effective immediately”¹.

2. Beijing hints at relaxing rare-earth licences. China’s commerce ministry said it is “ready to cooperate” on export controls after automakers and EU fabs flagged imminent magnet shortages, a softer line than yesterday’s hard cap².

3. Marvell’s custom-AI bet pays—but investors blink. Strong cloud demand pushed the company to guide Q2 revenue to approximately $2 billion, yet shares slipped as lower-margin custom silicon dominates the mix³⁴.

Other developments

• U.S. pauses exports of selected jet-engine and semiconductor tools to China⁵.
• Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu start migrating AI workloads off Nvidia to domestic ASICs⁶⁷.
• TECHCET sees the quartzware market for etch and deposition tools growing 10% to approximately $2.33 billion in 2025⁸.
• Malaysia’s JF Technology buys an 80% stake in probe-card maker Q3 Probe to deepen test-handler integration⁹.

Did you know?

Lam Research says switching copper interconnects to molybdenum can cut via resistance by 45%, clearing a key hurdle for stacking transistor layers in 3-D logic¹⁰.

In-depth

Government & Corporate Policy

• Fresh EDA freeze bites harder than Thursday’s warning.

  • Synopsys’ internal memo instructs China teams to stop taking new orders and locks Chinese IP addresses out of the SolvNetPlus portal¹.
  • The step updates yesterday’s Commerce “red-letter” notices reported in our 29 May issue; licence revocations now appear broader than first feared.

• Rare-earth détente signals breathing room for EU fabs.

  • Beijing said it would work with “relevant regions” after Volkswagen suppliers received only partial licences and Indian automakers warned of line stoppages next week².
  • Analysts view the tone-shift as a bargaining chip ahead of stalled tariff talks.

• Broader technology export pause from Washington.

  • The U.S. temporarily halted shipments of jet-engine and semiconductor production equipment while it reviews China’s mineral restrictions⁵.
  • BIS officials told suppliers their existing licences were “under review,” echoing the EDA clamp-down.

• Chinese cloud giants plot an AI future without Nvidia.

  • Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu are testing Huawei Ascend and Cambricon accelerators as H20 inventories dwindle⁶.
  • FT sources say switching from CUDA to Huawei’s CANN could delay new models by up to three months – a timeline the companies accept as unavoidable⁷.

Economics, Finance & Business Outlook

• Marvell’s AI-heavy mix lifts guidance but hits margins.

  • Data-center revenue jumped 54% Y/Y to $1.44 billion, now 76% of the total³.
  • Custom Silicon momentum offsets a 29% slide in consumer chips; the stock fell 3% in extended trade⁴.

• Dell’s server boom and tariff hedging nudge estimates higher.

  • Dell raised its FY EPS outlook as AI server backlogs lengthen, contrasting with wider tariff-driven volatility⁴.

• Quartz process parts headed for a double-digit rebound.

  • TECHCET forecasts the quartzware market will hit $2.33 billion next year, citing HBM and backside-power roadmaps⁸.

• Probe-card consolidation in Malaysia.

  • JF Technology’s MYR 65 million (≈ $13 million) deal for Q3 Probe expands vertical integration and targets automotive-sensor sockets⁹.

Technology & R&D

• Huawei sets sights on 3 nm Kirin in 2026.

  • Company insiders say SMIC’s DUV-only 3 nm flow is “on track,” with risk wafers next year despite yield concerns¹¹.

• India’s first indigenous logic chip slated for 2025 tape-out.

  • IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw confirmed pilot runs at the government-backed fab in Gujarat, marking a milestone for the $10 billion “Digital India” incentive¹².

• Lam Research debuts molybdenum fill system.

  • ALTUS Halo uses a plasma-enhanced ALD sequence to lower line resistance and accommodate >10 stack via chains in sub-20 Å pitches¹⁰.

• Laser-sintered ultra-high-temp ceramics promise tougher etch hardware.

  • North Carolina State researchers report densifying HfC–SiC parts at 1,700 °C via short-pulse laser reactive processing, reducing porosity and prolonging chamber life¹³.

Footnotes