Chip Observer August 2025

Trade policies unsettled supply chains this month, but manufacturing and investment pressed forward. Multibillion-dollar commitments from Samsung, Apple, and SkyWater, alongside advances in packaging, memory, and lithography, underscored how technology and capital are converging to shape the industry’s next chapter.

What’s Inside the August 2025 Issue

• Industry Observatory

  August underscored how policy and production remain tightly intertwined. Sweeping US tariffs added fresh uncertainty, even as leading companies accelerated their commitments. Samsung secured Tesla’s $16.5B AI6 SoC deal in Texas, Apple expanded its US sourcing pledge to $600B, and Malaysia announced a $15B semiconductor strategy—signals of how manufacturing strategies are adapting under pressure. At the same time, advances in lithography from Canon and China’s PuLin, Samsung’s renewed push into Z-NAND, and a wave of acquisitions and funding—from STMicro’s MEMS purchase to raises at Ambiq and FuriosaAI—demonstrate how investment is reshaping the global landscape.
  
  Full details inside the August Chip Observer.

• Under the Microscope

  Policy developments dominated the month’s debate. Section 232 tariffs raised questions over exemptions, China duties were paused once again, and new trade frameworks began to surface abroad. Our detailed analysis in this month’s report examines how these measures ripple across global supply chains. On the corporate front, Samsung regained Tesla, SkyWater acquired Infineon’s Austin fab, and Intel signaled caution on its 14A node while scaling back projects in Europe. Meanwhile, new momentum emerged in NIL, renewed interest in Z-NAND, and continued investor confidence across startups and established players alike.

• Data Observatory

  Earnings season revealed cautious but steady recovery. Pre-tariff pull-ins lifted revenues, with IC sales on track for 9% growth in Q2 and 7% in Q3. Memory led the rebound on stronger pricing and AI-related demand, while utilization rates held steady—mid-70s overall and 85–90% at the leading edge. Yet elevated inventories and slower recovery in non-AI segments remain a watchpoint. TechInsights’ Industry Performance stream, available in the full edition, tracks these dynamics in real time.

• Editorial: The KPIs of AI

  The industry has shifted from the smartphone era, built on SoC scaling, to today’s compute era, defined by datacenter AI and advanced packaging. The next horizon may be physical AI—where systems interact directly with the real world through robotics, autonomous driving, and AR. Explore our end-market forecasts in the full edition to see how these transitions are shaping the decade ahead.

• Spotlight: HANMI Semiconductor

  HANMI Semiconductor has emerged as a leader in advanced packaging, with its thermal compression bonders critical to meeting HBM demand for AI datacenters. Strong financial performance, global expansion, and top-tier customer satisfaction rankings reflect its momentum. From its early innovations in molding equipment to new advances in fluxless bonding and micro SAW systems, the full profile details how HANMI is positioning itself at the forefront of the packaging era.

• Interesting Observations

  From US datacenter investment racing toward $1 trillion by 2028 to the pivotal role of wide bandgap power semiconductors, the scale of change is clear. Wolfspeed’s bankruptcy, meanwhile, illustrates the risks of execution missteps amid intensifying global competition. Read the complete set of reports in this edition for deeper insight into the forces reshaping power, AI, and infrastructure.