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Shanghai Micro Electronics (SMEE) showcased its new-generation front-end dry lithography systems SSC800 and SSB800 at this year’s CIIE (China International Import Expo). The equipment features over 90% localization rate for key components, has been finalized for mass production, and multiple units have run more than 10 million wafers cumulatively at leading domestic logic and memory fabs, with an effective uptime exceeding 92%.
TSMC is facing tight CoWoS (2.5D/3D advanced packaging) capacity. Intel is pushing EMIB/EMIB-T as an alternative: it delivers over 90% silicon wafer utilization (vs. roughly 60% for interposer-based schemes), with costs up to 50% lower than CoWoS-L/R. Selected Google TPU v9 variants and AWS Trainium are reportedly considering adoption.
TrendForce forecasts that commodity DRAM contract prices will rise 10%–15% quarter-on-quarter and NAND prices 15%–20% in Q4, bringing the total 2026 price increase to approximately 270%. Memory’s share of cloud service providers’ capital expenditure has climbed from around 8% to roughly 30%.
According to CITIC Securities’ estimates, the four major North American cloud service providers (CSPs) posted total capital expenditure of about USD 208.7 billion in Q3 2026, representing an 84.2% year-on-year increase. The firm maintains a positive long-term outlook for the AI computing power industrial chain.
The EU has launched EuroCDP, a €525 million chip design platform. Silicon photonics firm Guangyin Technology closed a nearly RMB 100 million Pre-A++ financing round.
In-depth Analysis
Optical Communications / Optical Chips: Guangyin Technology secured nearly RMB 100 million in its Pre-A++ financing round, with investors including Fortune Capital and Huarui Investment. This marks its second financing within a year. Built on silicon photonics, the company develops three product lines: optical sensing, optical interconnection and optical computing. It launched a portable near-infrared spectroscopy device at the CIIE to explore consumer-grade applications of silicon photonics. Order guidance for 1.6T / CPO (Co-Packaged Optics) remains unchanged, though near-term catalysts are limited.
Advanced Packaging & Testing:EMIB (Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge) delivers approximately 90% yield, while EMIB-T is close to 90%. EMIB-T integrates TSV (Through-Silicon Via) into silicon bridges for vertical power delivery. MediaTek’s custom TPU v9x (Humu Fish) inference chip for Google has confirmed EMIB-T adoption, followed by AWS Trainium3. Google plans to outsource packaging of over 3 million TPUs to Intel before 2028. The trend toward larger packaging is clear: commercial packages in 2026 reach 120×120 mm, integrating 12 HBM stacks and more than 20 silicon bridges; the long-term target is 240×240 mm with over 70 silicon bridges. UMC fabricates silicon bridges using mature 12-inch processes. TSMC’s CoWoS with 5.5× reticle size is in mass production at yields above 98%, with a 14× version scheduled for 2028. No new price hike updates for ABF films / substrates today.
SiC / Power Semiconductors: No major developments today. onsemi scrapped its USD 2 billion SiC capacity expansion plan in the Czech Republic. SiC prices have not risen alongside other power semiconductors, as the segment remains in a phase of capacity absorption and bottoming.
Memory & Compute Chips: OpenAI’s Sam Altman visited South Korea and held discussions with roughly 50 Samsung executives; no new supply contract was announced. Samsung previously identified potential Stargate demand of up to 900,000 DRAM wafers per month. Samsung and SK Hynix together account for about 83% of global HBM revenue and roughly 70% of DRAM revenue. DRAM supply will trail demand by 1%–2% in 2026, with the gap widening in 2027. Micron forecasts the shortage could persist until 2028. PC makers have begun downgrading SSD capacity configurations.
Equipment & Materials: SMEE’s platform supports I-line and KrF lithography. Its objective lens and illumination system, dual wafer stage, reticle stage, material handling system, and alignment & leveling system have achieved full domestic supply chain independence. Shanghai Electric holds a 34.91% controlling stake. The firm was added to the U.S. Entity List in December 2022. Applied Materials will release earnings this week, serving as a key gauge for equipment sector sentiment.
Wafer Foundry: TSMC’s October sales figures will be released on November 10. CoWoS-L will remain the mainstream packaging solution through 2028, with Microsoft and AWS expected to adopt it in 2027. No new capacity or pricing updates from domestic foundries.
Policy / Macro Backdrop: The EU launched EuroCDP with €525 million (including €440 million in public grants and an imec-led cloud platform), aiming to address the gap where European chip design revenue accounts for less than 1% of the global total. The 9th China–Netherlands Export Control Dialogue was held in Shenzhen. CME data shows the probability of a Fed rate hike in December has risen to 78%.
Daily Investment Tips
1. Advanced packaging is shifting from a CoWoS-dominated single track toward parallel multi-technology routes. If EMIB-T ramps up, it will boost demand for silicon bridges, substrates and supporting 2.5D packaging segments, while compressing the scarcity premium of CoWoS. It is necessary to differentiate companies set to benefit from capacity expansion from those at risk of displacement by alternative technologies.
2. Upsides and risks within the memory supply chain are amplifying simultaneously. Driven by roughly 270% price gains, memory now accounts for 30% of cloud vendors’ capital expenditure. Downward specification adjustments by end-device manufacturers have created reverse pressure. Investors should watch for negative demand feedback in 2027 and inventory risks for module vendors holding high-cost stock. Relatively resilient themes include localization of equipment and materials, plus validation of sustained AI compute capital spending.
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