Intel buys back stake in Irish fab from Apollo for USD 14 billion
IRELAND 06:17

Intel buys back stake in Irish fab from Apollo for USD 14 billion

Intel has agreed to buy back the 49 percent of its factory in Ireland sold to Apollo less than two years ago. Intel agreed to sell the 49 percent in Fab 34 for USD 11.0 billion, and now will buy it back from the investor for USD 14.2 billion. The move underlines the shift in strategy at Intel since its new CEO took over a year ago and a strengthened balance sheet at the chipmaker after attracting other new investors. 

Memory price surge to impact smartphones, consumer devices in Q2
GLOBAL 05:27

Memory price surge to impact smartphones, consumer devices in Q2

Rising demand from AI and cloud infrastructure is expected to drive significant increases in memory prices in the second quarter of 2026, with implications across telecom-related end markets including smartphones, consumer devices and data centre services, according to analysis from TrendForce. Contract prices for DRAM will increase by 58-63 percent quarter-on-quarter, while NAND flash prices are expected to rise by 70-75 per cent, as suppliers prioritise higher-margin server and AI-related applications.

Nvidia and Marvell expand partnership to target AI and telecom infrastructure
GLOBAL 1 APR

Nvidia and Marvell expand partnership to target AI and telecom infrastructure

Nvidia and Marvell Technology have announced an expanded strategic partnership focused on AI infrastructure, including applications in telecommunications networks. The agreement will integrate Marvell's technologies into Nvidia's NVLink Fusion platform, enabling customers to build semi-custom AI infrastructure compatible with Nvidia's broader ecosystem. Under the arrangement, Marvell will supply custom processing units and networking technologies, while Nvidia will provide components including CPUs, network

EnSilica takes up key role in UK's Cheri secure microchips project
GLOBAL 31 MRT

EnSilica takes up key role in UK's Cheri secure microchips project

Fabless ASIC vendor EnSilica has confirmed its participation in a UK government-backed silicon project aimed at embedding microchip-hosted security protections into critical infrastructure and IT systems. The UK's CHERI Adoption Collective is spearheaded by PA Consulting in partnership with the UK's Department for Science, Innovation & Technology. Participants in the initiative, awarded GBP 24 million from the UK's Industrial Strategy in June 2025, include BT and fellow infrastructure operators National Gri

Airoha Technology ramps up prplOS silicon roadmap for fibre broadband CPE
GLOBAL 30 MRT

Airoha Technology ramps up prplOS silicon roadmap for fibre broadband CPE

MediaTek's Airoha Technology has revealed that two of its fibre broadband chipsets certified to run open source prplOS software entered mass deployment during 2025. Airoha intends to further expand prplOS support to four additional fibre silicon platforms in 2026, having won support from ecosystem players including CPE software specialist SoftAtHome. 

Sivers targets frontier 5G-A, 6G transmitters with new beamforming IC
GLOBAL 30 MRT

Sivers targets frontier 5G-A, 6G transmitters with new beamforming IC

Sivers Semiconductors announced the general release of a beamforming integrated circuit (IC) chip for directed signal transmission in FR3 bands, supporting frontier 5G Advanced and 6G network deployments. Sivers' Daybreak 0715 beamforming IC is designed to capture superior propagation associated with sub-6 GHz frequencies but delivered using wider, upper mid-band bandwidths from 7-15 GHz. The FR3 bands, nestled between sub-6 GHz and existing mmWave spectrum, are under consideration to provide incremental ca

Lumentum acquires Qorvo's North Carolina fab to produce 6-inch InP wafers
UNITED STATES 27 MRT

Lumentum acquires Qorvo's North Carolina fab to produce 6-inch InP wafers

Lumentum has bought Qorvo's former US fabrication plant in Greensboro, North Carolina. The 240,000 square foot (22,300 square metre) site will be retrofitted to produce 6-inch indium phosphide (InP) wafer components for Lumentum's optical devices targeted at AI infrastructure and hyperscale data centres, including continuous wave and ultra-high-power (UHP) lasers. Production is expected to scale up towards mid-2028.

Bosch, Cirrus, TDK join Apple US suppliers programme
UNITED STATES 26 MRT

Bosch, Cirrus, TDK join Apple US suppliers programme

Apple has added more companies to its 'American Manufacturing Program' (AMP), aimed at increasing its domestic sourcing and supply chain in the US. The new members Bosch, Cirrus Logic, TDK and Qnity Electronics will manufacture essential materials and components in the US for Apple products sold around the world, and Apple has pledged to spend USD 400 million with the suppliers through 2030.

GCT Semi targets sequential growth throughout 2026 on 5G volume production
GLOBAL 26 MRT

GCT Semi targets sequential growth throughout 2026 on 5G volume production

GCT Semiconductor said it expects to make further progress towards volume production of its 5G chipsets this year, producing a robust platform for sequential sales growth in every fiscal quarter of FY26. The firm shipped more than 1,900 commercial 5G units in Q4 2025 as part of its inaugural batch, which wrapped up in January. GCT Semi has built on this foundation, securing a key licensing deal in January to supply satellite-capable 5G and 4G RF chips to an unnamed satcom provider, described as one of the w

RANsemi powering Apeiroon's mission-critical 5G systems
ITALY 25 MRT

RANsemi powering Apeiroon's mission-critical 5G systems

UK wireless chipmaker RANsemi said its RNS802 5G baseband system-on-chip (SoC) is being deployed by Italy's Apeiroon to power mission-critical and tactical wireless systems for defence, public safety and industrial sectors. The deal is designed to help Apeiroon's platforms aim deliver high-performance connectivity in portable, low-power form factors for field-deployable operations.

SK Hynix pursues US listing to expand investor access amid AI growth
GLOBAL 25 MRT

SK Hynix pursues US listing to expand investor access amid AI growth

South Korean chip giant SK Hynix has begun preparations for a potential listing on a US stock exchange as part of efforts to broaden its global investor base and support its AI-focused growth strategy, according to Yonhap, citing company sources. The company said it has submitted a confidential filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the listing of American depositary receipts (ADRs), with the aim of completing the process within the year. ADRs allow foreign companies to have their shares tr

Arm enters silicon market with launch of data centre CPU for AI workloads
GLOBAL 25 MRT

Arm enters silicon market with launch of data centre CPU for AI workloads

Arm has announced it will design and deliver production silicon for the first time, marking a strategic shift from its traditional focus on the design and licensing of semiconductor products. The first product will be a new data centre processor targeting AI infrastructure. The company introduced the Arm AGI CPU, designed for what it describes as "agentic AI" workloads, as it seeks to address growing demand for compute capacity driven by the increasing use of AI systems that operate continuously and generat

GLOBAL 23 MRT

Ookla publishes speed data on Apple's C1X modem

Ookla has published observations about the Apple iPhone Air's C1X cellular modem, indicating that Apple's latest in-house modem is closing the gap with tier-1 mobile silicon OEMs. The data shows custom C1X modems achieved downlink and latency parity with the Qualcomm X80 across a broad selection of carrier networks globally, and remained in contention whether operating in optimal or constrained conditions. The iPhone Air's latency metric outperformed Qualcomm-powered iPhone 17 Pro Max handsets in 19 out of

CHINA 23 MRT

ST initiates Chinese STM32 output from Huahong Semi plant

STMicroelectronics has announced localised production of its general-purpose STM32 microcontroller from Chinese manufacturing lines commissioned through outsourcing partner Huahong Semiconductor. ST said an initial batch of shipments produced at Huahong's facility are making their way to Chinese customers, marking a key advance in its global supply chain roadmap. 

BELGIUM 20 MRT

Imec receives top EUV lithography system from ASML

ASML has delivered its most advanced lithography system to Belgian research institute Imec, as part of their cooperation to work on the next generation of semiconductors. The ASML EXE:5200 High NA EUV system will be available for Imec and its partners to develop sub-2nm logic and high-density memory technologies supporting the rapid growth of advanced AI and high-performance computing, the institute said. 

KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 20 MRT

Radiation-tolerant AI chip validated for space use in Korea-Europe study

A research team backed by South Korea's ministry of science and ICT has verified that a next-generation AI semiconductor device can operate in space radiation conditions, marking what the ministry described as a first such demonstration. The project, led by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute in collaboration with Chungbuk National University and Belgium-based IMEC, focused on assessing whether emerging AI chips can maintain functionality in high-radiation environments such as low Earth orbit.

KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 19 MRT

Samsung and AMD expand collaboration on AI memory and data centre platforms

Samsung Electronics and AMD have signed an MoU to expand their collaboration on next-generation memory and compute technologies aimed at AI and data centre workloads. The agreement covers supply of high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) for AMD's next-generation AI accelerator, the Instinct MI455X GPU, alongside development of advanced DRAM solutions for sixth-generation EPYC processors, codenamed "Venice". These components are intended to support integrated AI systems combining GPUs, CPUs and rack-scale architecture

GLOBAL 18 MRT

MediaTek, Microsoft Research unveil microLED transceiver design for data centre AOCs

MediaTek and Microsoft's Research arm are presenting a novel design for data centre-targeted active optical cables (AOCs) powered by co-packaged micro LED transceivers. A team of researchers from both partners and their suppliers have created an AOC micro LED silicon design intended to boost power efficiency in data centres while delivering copper-grade reliability at significantly extended reach. The innovation combines MediaTek's engineering expertise with Microsoft Research's Mosaic technology, aiming to

GLOBAL 17 MRT

Qualcomm raises dividend and announces USD 20 bln share buy-back authorisation

Qualcomm has announced an increase in its quarterly cash dividend from USD 0.89 to USD 0.92 per share from 26 March and said it will raise the annualised dividend payout to USD 3.68 per share. Its directors have also approved a new USD 20.0 billion stock repurchase authorisation on top of the one declared in November 2024, which has approximately USD 2.1 billion of repurchase authority remaining. The new stock repurchase scheme has no expiry date.

GLOBAL 17 MRT

Semtech posts Q4 net loss on goodwill writedowns, revenues grow 9%

Semtech reported results for its fiscal fourth quarter to January in line with its outlook. Revenues rose 9 percent year-on-year to USD 274.4 million, and adjusted EBITDA reached USD 57.4 million, slightly less than USD 57.8 million a year earlier. The IoT and cellular components company's bottom line moved to a net loss of USD 29.8 million from a profit of USD 39.1 million a year ago due to impairment charges totalling USD 44.6 million, mainly to write down goodwill. 

GLOBAL 17 MRT

Samsung outlines AI memory roadmap and Nvidia collaboration at GTC 2026

Samsung Electronics has presented its latest AI-focused semiconductor developments at Nvidia GTC 2026, highlighting new high-bandwidth memory (HBM) products and ongoing collaboration with Nvidia on AI infrastructure. At the centre of the showcase is Samsung's sixth-generation HBM4, which the company said has entered mass production and is designed for Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform. The product delivers data processing speeds of up to 11.7 Gbps, with potential increases to 13 Gbps. Samsung also introduced its

TAIWAN 16 MRT

Micron completes acquisition of PSMC's P5 site in Taiwan

Micron Technology reports it has completed the acquisition and assumed ownership of Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation's (PSMC) P5 site in Tongluo, Taiwan, under the acquisition agreement announced on 17 January. The new site will complement Micron's existing operations in Taiwan as an extension of the company's vertically integrated mega campus in Taichung, located 15 miles away. The site includes 300,000 square feet of existing 300mm cleanroom space and will support Micron's plans to expand

GLOBAL 13 MRT

MaxLinear to present 1.6 Tbps PHY DSP chip and PIA at OFC 26

MaxLinear says it will exhibit its next-generation physical layer (PHY) digital signal processor (DSP) for 1.6 Tbps optical links at OFC 26 in Los Angeles. MaxLinear's promo line-up is led by Rushmore, a 200G per lane DSP with PAM-4 (pulse amplitude modulation), and Washington, a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) also built for 200G lanes. MaxLinear said Rushmore is the first major high-speed DSP built entirely on Samsung CMOS technology, strengthening its supply chain with a second foundry source to give cus

GLOBAL 13 MRT

Broadcom prepares for OFC 26 showcase

Broadcom will attend OFC 2026 in Los Angeles to present its vision for the runway to next generation AI clusters, including its 102.4 Tbps Ethernet switch silicon powered by co-packaged optics (CPO). Broadcom will additionally collaborate with more than 30 partners to demonstrate various industry products across the OFC 2026 show floor.

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Background

29 MRT 22:46

The week in telecoms: Italy brings back PTT, US bans foreign routers and social media on trial

23 MRT 00:38

The week in telecoms: OFC and Nvidia events drive data centre networking talk, Orange debuts full French office stack

16 MRT 00:25

The week in telecoms: Pakistan ready for 5G, Google exits FTTH market and Canal Plus works on pay-TV turnaround

6 MRT 16:00

The week in telecom: MWC brings 5G advances, AI and satellite integration, plus first robot phone