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US eases semiconductor subsidy rules, Samsung is a big beneficiary
The US is reportedly making semiconductor subsidy rules easier, which are set to allow Samsung for getting benefited, even with operating plant in China. Recently, the US Department of Commerce announced detailed regulations of the “guardrail (safety device) clause.”
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The guardrail (safety device) clause prevents chip makers receiving subsidies under its semiconductor law from investing in China and other countries for 10 years. As reported, a significant part of detailed regulations have been relaxed through close consultations between the the US and South Korean govt.
The US director of the Commerce Department’s Semiconductor Law Program assured that the United States is not trying to become self-sufficient in semiconductor production. The rules aims to support a sound global semiconductor ecosystem in response to a wide range of threats.
Recipients of federal subsidies will also be prohibited from participating in joint research or licensing technology with foreign-related organizations. It emphasized that this measure was aimed at hostile countries such as North Korea, China, and Russia.
On questioning over the one year grade period for subsidy approval to Samsung, a US official said that the intention of the Semiconductor Act is to prevent the expansion of semiconductor production facilities or the construction of new facilities in China and elsewhere.
“We understand that some companies may need to upgrade their skill level to stay viable. Upgrades to that level are possible as long as companies comply with export controls under the Semiconductor Science Act and have export control authority permission.” (Via Chosun)
On May 31, Samsung Display announced that it is accelerating its push into the premium laptop market by supplying its highest resolution 16-inch UHD+ (3840×2400) OLED screens to MSI for the Stealth 16 Mercedes-AMG Motorsport – its new gaming laptop.
MSI Laptop x Samsung Display
Collaborated with Mercedes-Benz’s performance-oriented AMG brand, the new MSI laptop boasts strong performance and portability. First unveiled at Computex Taipei 2023, the Stealth 16 Mercedes-AMG Motorsport is aimed at both the OLED laptop market and the gaming market.
Since entering the IT market in 2019, Samsung Display has collaborated with 11 global laptop brands, launching more than 100 models of OLED laptops. Omdia analysis suggests, Samsung Display’s market share in the IT OLED market, including laptops and tablets, was 76.7% based on last year’s figures.
The South Korean display manufacturer recently announced an investment of $3.1 billion (4.1 trillion won) in building an 8.6th-generation IT OLED line, officially reaffirming its expansion plan for the future IT market.
We are supplying MSI with the industry’s highest resolution laptop OLEDs so that gaming users can experience the best HDR content on OLED,” said Brad Jung, VP and head of the Mobile Display Marketing Team at Samsung’s Display business.
Counterpoint’s component research service has recently revealed that producing Galaxy S23 Ultra (256GB) variant costs Samsung around $469. The latest BoM (bill of materials) analysis reveals that the major components driving cost are the SoC, display, and camera subsystem.
Due to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, Qualcomm’s share has increased to an all-time high after attaining design wins for the fingerprint sensor IC, key power management ICs, audio codec, RF power amplifiers, Wi-Fi + Bluetooth, GPS, and Sub-6GHz transceiver.
In addition, Samsung becomes the second-largest beneficiary, which supplied 256GB NAND flash and the 6.8-inch AMOLED display for the S23 Ultra. The company supplied a 6.8-inch AMOLED display, featuring 1750 nits of peak brightness, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and more.
In the camera sub-system, the design wins are shared between Samsung and Sony. Samsung supplied the 200-megapixel primary camera and the 12-megapixel selfie camera, while Sony offers the 12-megapixel Ultrawide, 10-megapixel Telephoto, and Periscope Telephoto sensors.
Other component suppliers
Silicon Mitus and Maxim are the providers of power management ICs that support the regulation of power for display and other key components.
For sensing components, STM has registered design wins related to the laser autofocus module, accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer, and touch panel controller.
The battery is packaged by Samsung and the cell is provided by ATL. The quick charging IC, which charges up to 45W, is sourced from NXP while the 15W wireless charging IC is from Convenient Power.
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Google Pixel Watch is a great option for those who neither prefer Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 nor Apple’s Watch Series 8. This year, Google is planning to introduce the Pixel Watch 2, a sequel to its first-gen smartwatch, which could ditch the Samsung-made Exynos processor.
According to 9to5Google sources, the Google Pixel Watch 2 will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5 series processor rather than Exynos wearable SoC from Samsung. Qualcomm released the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chip in July 2022, which powers the TicWatch Pro 5.
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On the other hand, the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1, which lacks Qualcomm’s co-processor is also powering some wearables manufactured by Chinese OEMs. It’s fabricated on 4nm process technology and brings four A53 cores at 1.7GHz with dual Adreno 702 GPUs (1GHz).
However, the original Google Pixel Watch’s Exynos 9110 chip is fabricated on 10nm process tech and features two Cortex-A53s cores. It was earlier rumored that the Pixel Watch 2 will have the W920 chip used in Galaxy Watch 5, but it’s not happening though.