June 3, 2025

Tariffs, memory upsets, and materials pivots

Round-up

Highlights

  1. TSMC leans into AI demand – At its annual shareholder meeting the company forecast record 2025 earnings, saying AI orders will offset any drag from fresh U.S. tariffs and denying rumors of a Middle-East fab push.123
  2. SK hynix edges past Samsung in DRAM – A new TrendForce report shows Q1-25 DRAM revenue sliding 5.5 %, but SK hynix grabs the No. 1 spot for the first time on the strength of HBM shipments.4
  3. Renesas pulls the plug on SiC wafers – Facing a “scorched-earth” price war by Chinese suppliers, the Japanese maker abandoned its silicon-carbide line and will buy devices instead, freeing capital for advanced MCUs and AI accelerators.5

Other developments:

  • TSMC’s Kumamoto-2 build slips six months
  • Lam Research pitches de-risking at a BofA tech conference
  • Greenpeace confronts TSMC on renewable-energy pace
  • U.S.-Vietnam talks widen to Chinese content in electronics
  • Invesco’s Form 8.3 hints at Qualcomm M&A positioning

Did you know? Greenpeace says TSMC’s fabs now consume 8 % of Taiwan’s total electricity—more than Taipei City—and wants a 2030 100 % renewables target.6


In-depth

1. Government & Corporate Policy

  • TSMC tariff stance and governance tweaks

    • CEO C.C. Wei called new U.S. duties “some impact, not decisive,” and shareholders passed a charter change adding environmental KPIs to director pay.17
    • Greenpeace East Asia urged a faster green-energy timetable outside the meeting hall.6
  • U.S.–Vietnam “tough list” lands

    • A 20-page annex demands Hanoi cut Chinese-origin inputs in servers, PCBs, and batteries, or face up to 46 % tariffs from July 8.8
    • Washington also wants binding contracts for U.S. chip and tool imports.
  • Kumamoto traffic jams stall fab-2

    • TSMC blamed “logistics gridlock” around its first Japanese site for a six-month delay to breaking ground on the second plant; local officials eye new rail links.9
  • M&A watch: Qualcomm in UK cross-hairs

    • An Invesco Form 8.3 disclosure under the UK Takeover Code shows fund managers building positions ahead of any renewed Alphawave or Arm bid.10

2. Economics, Finance & Business Outlook

  • Memory market contraction, leadership swap

    • TrendForce pegs Q1 DRAM sales at $17.6 billion, -5.5 % Q/Q; SK hynix ekes out a 28.2 % share vs. Samsung’s 27.9 %, buoyed by HBM3E volume.4
  • TSMC signals “double-digit” growth

    • The firm reiterated a 24–26 % topline jump for 2025 and a NT$2.2 trillion cap-ex budget, citing tight 3 nm and CoWoS capacity.23
  • Capital shifts into equipment names

    • Capital Asset Advisory Services hiked its Applied Materials stake 27 %, mirroring broader fund rotation toward wafer-equipment plays.11
    • Separately, Switzerland’s Unigestion disclosed a fresh $3.56 million Lam Research position.12
  • Equity tape wobbles on tariff angst

    • Semiconductor indices lagged the S&P as European shares and U.S. futures slipped on trade-war headlines; bond yields ticked up and the dollar hit a six-week low.13

3. Technology & R&D

  • World-first 321-layer mobile NAND

    • SK hynix unveiled a UFS 4.1 module using its 321-layer 4D NAND (1 Tb dies), claiming 80 % write-energy cut for on-device AI workloads.14
  • China’s AMEC demos 5 nm logic without EUV

    • The domestic etch specialist showed gate-all-around samples processed on multi-patterned 193i DUV, aiming to sidestep export-controlled EUV tools.15
  • Rare-earth-free laser crystals debut

    • Fraunhofer researchers announced YAG alternatives that tolerate higher power density, targeting next-gen lithography and wafer metrology optics.16

Footnotes


  1. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/tsmc-says-tariffs-have-some-impact-ai-demand-robust-2025-06-03/ ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. https://techxplore.com/news/2025-06-tsmc-profit-soaring-ai-demand.html ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20250603PD225/tsmc-taiwan-chairman-revenue-2025.html ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/2025/06/03/news-dram-revenue-drops-5-5-in-the-first-quarter-of-2025/ ↩︎ ↩︎

  5. https://www.trendforce.com/news/2025/06/03/news-renesas-reportedly-abandons-sic-production-plan-amid-chinese-price-war-wolfspeed-uncertainty/ ↩︎

  6. https://www.greenpeace.org/eastasia/press/68062/greenpeace-calls-on-tsmc-to-accelerate-energy-transition-at-shareholder-meeting/ ↩︎ ↩︎

  7. https://www.trendforce.com/news/2025/06/03/news-tsmc-reportedly-reaffirms-2025-sales-growth-of-24-26-warns-tariffs-may-push-up-prices/ ↩︎

  8. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-made-tough-requests-vietnam-trade-talks-sources-say-2025-06-03/ ↩︎

  9. https://focustaiwan.tw/business/202506030020 ↩︎

  10. https://markets.ft.com/data/announce/detail?dockey=600-202506030652PR_NEWS_PRUKDSCL_0051-1 ↩︎

  11. https://www.marketbeat.com/instant-alerts/filing-capital-asset-advisory-services-llc-acquires-5212-shares-of-applied-materials-inc-nasdaqamat-2025-06-03/ ↩︎

  12. https://www.marketbeat.com/instant-alerts/filing-unigestion-holding-sa-invests-356-million-in-lam-research-co-nasdaqlrcx-2025-06-03/ ↩︎

  13. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-wrapup-1-2025-06-03/ ↩︎

  14. https://www.eetindia.co.in/sk-hynix-develops-ufs-4-1-solution-based-on-321-high-nand/ ↩︎

  15. https://www.trendforce.com/news/2025/06/03/news-amec-unveils-5nm-process-without-euv-targets-chinas-advanced-node-gap/ ↩︎

  16. https://techxplore.com/news/2025-06-laser-crystals-fibers-aim-reliance.html ↩︎