Rambus Inc. issued a press announcement ahead of the recent AI Infra Summit and was present at the summit to spotlight its new production-ready CryptoManager Root of Trust supporting the Caliptra specification. The solution introduces hardware-level security orchestration built directly around the unmodified open-source Caliptra core; by integrating a secure RISC-V processor, protected memory, and dedicated cryptographic accelerators alongside specialized drivers, it expands security visibility across the entire System-on-Chip (SoC). The stated cause is the gap between an open-source specification and production-ready, commercially deployable silicon: an open core typically lacks platform-wide security orchestration, and chip vendors otherwise shoulder all integration and schedule risks alone. The offering covers physical attack defense (side-channel analysis and fault injection countermeasures), cryptographic agility blending classical algorithms like AES, SHA, and RSA with emerging Post-Quantum Cryptography standards such as ML-KEM and ML-DSA, and readiness for certifications including FIPS 140-3, PSA, or SESIP.
According to STAR Market Daily, semiconductor testing demand is surging as increasingly complex AI chips require more intensive processes, tightening available capacity; OSAT provider Sigurd Microelectronics has posted monthly revenue above NT$2 billion for three consecutive months, and customers are increasingly signing long-term agreements to secure testing capacity — most have signed capacity agreements lasting more than a year, others have reserved capacity through dedicated equipment, and some memory customers are even willing to pay premiums to lock in capacity. On pricing, Sigurd said it could not speak for the industry but confirmed that it has already begun raising its own prices. Per TechNews, AI, CPUs, GPUs, ASICs, and silicon photonics generated about NT$3.7 billion in revenue for Sigurd in the first nine months of 2026, up from roughly NT$2.5 billion a year earlier, with their share of total revenue rising from 20% to 24%, and the company expects the share to exceed 30% in 2027. Silicon photonics is also a key growth driver: Sigurd has expanded its optical communications testing capabilities to cover EICs, PICs, and optical engines, spanning testing technology, R&D engineering, and volume production. Strong demand is accelerating capacity expansion: Sigurd's second Hukou plant began production in July, with about 40% of capacity online as of October and already locked in by customers; Zhongxing Plant 3 is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2026 and volume production in the first quarter of 2027. Sigurd has raised its 2026 capex to NT$8.8 billion, 48% above its original plan, focused on advanced testing equipment, and is in discussions with several key customers and could raise capex again in the coming months. As background: per Seoul Economic Daily citing Nomura Securities, NVIDIA Blackwell's final test time is estimated at four times that of Hopper, while Rubin could require seven times as long, with testing's share of GPU manufacturing costs projected to rise from 1.9% for Hopper to 2.5% for Blackwell and 3.3% for Rubin; per ETNews, Digital Frontier and UniTest have secured a combined KRW 283.94 billion in HBM4 wafer tester orders from SK hynix this year, and as HBM complexity increases, more test items and longer testing times could drive testing equipment demand to grow faster than HBM output itself.
AI芯片测试产能HBM4晶圆测试机硅光子（EIC、PIC、光引擎测试）Sigurd Microelectronics, SK hynix and 5 totalTrendForcePrice Movement
Related manufacturers
Sigurd Microelectronics, SK hynix, Digital Frontier, UniTest, NVIDIA
Samsung's upcoming HBM4E memory has reportedly passed testing for NVIDIA's next-generation "Rubin Ultra" AI GPU accelerator family. This is a reported test-pass result and does not confirm volume production or supply. As background, Samsung's previous HBM3E did not meet NVIDIA's requirements, leading NVIDIA to choose Samsung for GDDR7 only instead of HBM3E. On specifications, Samsung's HBM4E designs are currently running at 14 Gbps per pin and 2,048 pins per stack, achieving a maximum bandwidth of 3.6 TB/s per stack; at 16 Gbps, the maximum memory bandwidth will increase to 4 TB/s for a single stack, with about a dozen memory stacks per AI accelerator or GPU. Samsung currently offers this memory in a 12-layer (12-high) configuration with a memory density of 48 GB per stack, while future customer requirements will also include 8-layer 32 GB and 16-layer 64 GB stacks.
Micron's Taoyuan union in Taiwan secured the legal right to strike via a vote held between October 1 and 6, in which 1,994 of 2,258 registered members voted in favor, representing 88.3% of total membership and exceeding the required majority; Taoyuan is the first of Micron's separate Taoyuan and Taichung enterprise unions to secure the right to strike. The Taichung union is scheduled for a second labor-management mediation session on October 22 and could proceed to a strike vote if no agreement is reached. Union chairman Lin Che-jui called on Micron to present concrete proposals and negotiate as the company's board meets on October 8 and 9; without meaningful progress the union will discuss further action, and members will be notified by text message once the timing of any surprise strike is confirmed. The union is also planning a demonstration on Ketagalan Boulevard on October 19, encouraging employees to take leave to participate. Its demands include a profit-sharing system tied to 15% of Micron's operating profit: an additional one-time FY2026 bonus based on 15% of global operating profit, estimated at about 83 months of pay per Taiwan employee; an overhaul of the IPP system from FY2027 to distribute 15% of operating profit quarterly; plus 'no free-rider' and 'non-retaliation' clauses. The backdrop cited is compensation disparity: in 2025, Micron's global employee IPP performance factor was 93.9%, translating into about 2.3 months of performance bonuses for Taiwan employees before being adjusted to 2.6 months, while the CEO received annual cash performance compensation equivalent to 32.4 months of pay; only about 40% of Micron Taiwan employees had previously received stock awards. TrendForce notes that Micron's Taoyuan fab primarily produces DRAM; if a strike takes place and disrupts equipment maintenance and process monitoring by engineers, production yields and stability could decline, potentially affecting output, and the impact on supply could gradually increase if the strike is prolonged; however, the actual impact will depend on the scale and duration of the strike as well as Micron's contingency measures, and the outcome of labor-management negotiations still requires close attention.
Teradyne introduced the Magnum E2, a high-speed memory test system for advanced DRAM and high-speed NAND flash interfaces. Built on Teradyne's Near-DUT Test (NDT) architecture, it is applicable for LPDDR6, DDR6, GDDR7, and NAND flash interfaces, supports high-speed NRZ, PAM3, and PAM4 signalling, offers up to 64 test sites with 24.5K high-speed I/O pins, and enables both production and engineering configurations, covering qualification through high-volume manufacturing on a common hardware and software platform. The company says its design matches test demands driven by AI and high-performance computing; Ben Han, president of the Memory Test division, said that as the industry moves to advanced DRAM and high-speed NAND flash for enterprise SSDs, the Magnum E2 was built to eliminate the trade-off between signal integrity and throughput. The source does not state any price or supply impact.
According to reports/rumors, Intel is reportedly developing laptop chips based on its rumored "Raptor Lake Next" CPU core architecture, which will be branded as the Core 2000HX series. Intel is already planning "Raptor Lake Next" chips as an update to its Socket LGA-1700 desktop processors. The stated reason is that, due to the DDR5 memory pricing crisis, PC buyers are stuck with the decade-old DDR4 memory standard, and the current Core Ultra "Arrow Lake" processors lack DDR4 backward compatibility, so these chips are needed to provide options. For mobile "Raptor Lake Next" chips, Intel is expected to bring a core configuration of up to 8 P-Cores and 16 E-Cores, for a total of 24 cores, similar to the regular "Raptor Lake" and "Raptor Lake Refresh" chips. Since "Nova Lake-HX" laptop chips are expected to carry the Core Ultra 4000HX naming scheme, Intel will drop "Ultra" and downgrade the series naming to Core 2000HX to differentiate the new Intel 18A chips from the older Intel 7 "Raptor Lake" dies that will be part of the "Raptor Lake Next" designs. Slight adjustments, as seen with the "Raptor Lake Refresh," are expected to improve D2D latency and include some minor tweaks. The event remains in a reportedly developing/rumored and planned stage, not a confirmed launch or implementation.
laptop CPUsCPU core architecture "Raptor Lake Next"IntelTechPowerUp
Siemens has again sponsored a Wilson-led survey on the state of (functional) verification in the industry, and Harry Foster (Chief Scientist, Verification at Siemens) has condensed his major takeaways from the report. The survey shows an apparent revolutionary change in first-silicon trends: where an average of ~30% of designs claimed first silicon success over at least a decade, this metric has been dropping, with the latest survey now showing 5%. The analysis notes that silicon respins are expensive and risk missing market windows, and Foster breaks the trend down into 5 primary factors, including growing accelerator-based volumes (coherency issues in AI/GPU and CPU cluster designs), the increasingly intimate link between software and hardware, a changing verification language mix (System Verilog now neck and neck with C/C++ and Python, with PSS growing fast), and significant survey-reported growth in respins around firmware, safety and security. Foster does not see the language mix as a contributor to the low success rate, viewing it instead as a signal of how verification teams are responding to complexity.
SK hynix faces HBM hybrid bonding challenges, delaying sample production behind Samsung. This threatens its market leadership and risks losing high-capacity customers. Bearish for SK hynix supply chain competitiveness.
Micron has locked in most of its 2027 HBM supply at higher prices, signaling a strong demand outlook. Korean suppliers like Hanmi Semiconductor are poised to benefit from this expansion. Bullish for HBM supply chain.
HBMMicron Technology, Hanmi SemiconductorTrendForce Official (Market Data)Shortage Alert
AMD CEO Lisa Su announced plans to substantially increase chip supply in 2027, acknowledging current demand exceeds supply. She emphasized the need for more advanced wafer capacity to meet future needs. Bearish sentiment driven by future supply expansion plans.
Advanced Wafer CapacitySemiconductor ChipsAMD, TSMC and 4 totalTechPowerUpCapacity Change
ETH Zürich researchers proposed 'Terracotta', a programmable memory controller to facilitate new DRAM techniques like in-DRAM computation, addressing performance and energy efficiency limits.
Inference now accounts for the majority of data-center AI workloads, but unlike training, it requires low latency and predictability. Existing training chips focused on peak FLOPS may not meet the strict limits of inference workloads. Watch: This shift highlights the demand for chips specifically designed for inference.
AI ProcessorsInference ChipsAI Chip MakersSemiWikiMarket Analysis
Intelligent Memory partners with Sourceability to distribute DRAM, NAND flash, and modules for industrial customers facing DDR3/DDR4 end-of-life. This collaboration aims to secure supply continuity and manage allocation risks amidst market volatility.
Altman-backed Volantis plans to use photonic interposers to boost AI accelerator memory bandwidth to 240 TB/s and capacity to 10 TB, overcoming current electrical interconnect limitations.
AI AcceleratorPhotonic InterposerHBMVolantis, AMD and 3 totalThe RegisterTechnical
Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra forecasts tighter supply-demand conditions in fiscal 2027 and 2028 compared to 2026, citing delayed capacity additions from the 'Big Three' until late 2028. This outlook contradicts previous expectations of gradual supply improvement and suggests a prolonged shortage period driven by infrastructure gaps.
DRAMNAND FlashHBMMicron Technology, Samsung Electronics and 3 totalTrendForceCapacity Change
NVIDIA and Synopsys are integrating physics simulation into AI infrastructure to support the shift toward Physical AI. This collaboration aims to bridge the sim-to-real gap by providing high-fidelity digital twins for training autonomous systems. The trend indicates growing demand for AI compute and simulation tools but lacks immediate price impact.
AI InfrastructureAccelerated ComputingNVIDIA, SynopsysSemiWikiTechnical
Samsung Electronics is seeking prices for its next-generation HBM4 that are more than three times its current HBM3E prices. This significant increase is expected as the company transitions its main product from HBM3E to HBM4. Bullish. Analysts believe this shift will further boost the company's profitability.
HBM4HBM3ESamsung ElectronicsDigiTimes AsiaPrice Movement
Efinix has introduced the Sapphire RV64 SoC, adding 64-bit RISC-V processing and Linux support to its FPGA-based embedded systems portfolio. This launch aims to enhance the company's competitive edge in the embedded market. Neutral: The new architecture may stimulate demand for FPGAs and embedded components, but no immediate supply constraints or price changes are reported.
FPGARISC-V SoCEmbedded SystemsEfinixEE Times AsiaProduct Launch
China stockpiled 343 DUV systems (270 NXT:1980i) spending over $13B in 2024-25, supporting 7nm production despite export controls. This confirms strong demand for ASML equipment, with China accounting for 33-41% of its net sales.
DUV Lithography SystemsImmersion DUV SystemsASML, Huawei and 3 totalTrendForceCapacity Change
Advantest and Teradyne dominate the global memory testing equipment market, but HBM4 orders and the rise of Chinese suppliers like TBSTest are reshaping the landscape. Chinese firms secured over 300 systems from TBSTest and are targeting 15% market share by 2026, challenging the 80% import dependency. The increasing complexity of HBM4 is driving demand, with Digital Frontier and UniTest receiving over 280 billion KRW in orders.
HBM4DRAMNAND FlashAdvantest, Teradyne and 8 totalTrendForceMarket Analysis
Related manufacturers
Advantest, Teradyne, Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Micron, TBSTest, Digital Frontier, UniTest