July 1, 2025

China GPU IPOs, Intel HBM4 shift, EU AI fabs push forward

Round-up

Highlights

  1. China’s Moore Threads and MetaX file for a combined ¥12 bn ($1.65 bn) STAR-Market IPO, arguing that Washington’s latest GPU curbs increase their TAM. If approved, the listings would be mainland China’s biggest pure-play chip floats since 20221.
  2. Intel’s next Gaudi accelerator (“Jaguar Shores”) is tipped to jump straight to SK hynix HBM4, lining it up against NVIDIA Rubin and AMD MI400. The rumoured co-development pact surfaced at the Intel AI Summit overnight2.
  3. Brussels leans into industrial policy: the EU asked Washington for tariff relief on semiconductors even as it trumpeted 76 bids to build four AI ‘gigafactories’ that would each host ~100 k cutting-edge chips.34

Other developments

  • Hong Kong green-lights its first 200 mm SiC wafer fab with HK$200 m public funding5.
  • Wolfspeed files Chapter 11 but vows to exit by Q3 2025 with 70 % less debt6.
  • Accenture buys Germany’s SYSTEMA to beef up fab-automation consulting7.
  • BASF shifts its Electronic Materials HQ to Taipei and names Jens Liebermann SVP8.
  • pSemi appoints Go Maruyama CEO amid wider Murata-aligned revamp9.

Did you know? Those four planned EU AI gigafactories received proposals to deploy 3 million next-gen GPUs in total—almost the same number NVIDIA shipped to data-centre customers worldwide in all of 20244.

In-depth

1 | Government & Corporate Policy

  • EU-US tariff chess

    • Brussels accepts a 10 % “baseline” duty as inevitable but wants immediate carve-outs for semiconductors, aircraft parts and pharma before the 9 July deadline3.
    • Diplomatic read-outs suggest cars remain the bloc’s red-line, raising the risk of a trans-Atlantic tech-tax stand-off.

  • AI-gigafactory frenzy

    • 76 consortia from 16 member states pitched to host four EU-funded hyperscale compute hubs worth €20 bn ($23 bn)4.
    • Collectively they pledged to procure at least 3 m GPUs—signalling that chip demand tied to Europe’s AI Act could rival that of U.S. hyperscalers.

  • Hong Kong’s SiC leap

    • Jizcube Semiconductor wins HK$200 m under the New Industrial Acceleration Scheme to build an 8-inch SiC IDM line, targeting volume in 20275.
    • Move aligns with Beijing’s push to localise power-device supply amid rising EV adoption.

  • Rare-earth talent flight (update to yesterday’s licence-logjam story)

    • China Rare Earth Group confirmed a wave of senior resignations; local media link departures to overseas labs despite new passport-control rules10.
    • The churn underscores ongoing friction even after last week’s “framework” to unclog magnet export licences.

2 | Economics, Finance & Business Outlook

  • Domestic GPU IPOs

    • Moore Threads seeks ¥8 bn while MetaX asks ¥3.9 bn; filings cite U.S. entity-list status as both risk and market catalyst1.
    • Proceeds will fund advanced 7 nm tape-outs via Chinese foundries and cover heavy R&D losses.

  • Wolfspeed restructuring

    • Chapter 11 plan cuts ~$4.6 bn debt, keeps the 200 mm Mohawk Valley fab running and preserves 34 % global SiC-substrate share6.
    • TrendForce warns Chinese 12-inch rivals now ship 85 %-yield wafers, pressuring pricing.

  • Accenture + SYSTEMA

    • Acquisition adds 240 MES specialists versed in retro-fitting brownfield fabs, a hot skill as Europe races to expand legacy capacity7.
    • No price disclosed, but Accenture notes a “triple-digit-million-euro” pipeline in semiconductor automation.

  • Leadership churn

    • BASF relocates electronic-chemicals HQ to Taiwan; Liebermann takes SVP role to tighten links with TSMC ecosystem8.
    • At pSemi, incoming CEO Maruyama pledges faster RF-power roadmap amid RFFE consolidation9.

3 | Technology & R&D

  • HBM4 races to 2026

    • Intel’s Jaguar Shores may pair Gaudi cores with SK hynix’s 1.2 TB/s-class HBM4 stacks; reciprocal talks include Intel fabbing base dies2.
    • Would close the memory-bandwidth gap to NVIDIA Rubin and AMD MI400 ramps.

  • TSMC 3 nm yields hit ~90 %

    • Industry round-up notes Samsung lags at ~50 %, pushing premium smartphone and GPU design wins toward TSMC11.
    • Higher yields translate to cost headroom for N3A automotive variant due later this year.

  • Automotive 4 nm surge

    • Xiaomi’s new YU7 EV uses both Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 cockpit SoC and NVIDIA Thor AD chip—both fabbed on TSMC 4 nm, boosting the foundry’s auto run-rate12.
    • TSMC is preparing an automotive-grade 3 nm PDK to lock in next-gen design wins.

  • 8-inch SiC process R&D

    • Hong Kong project (see Policy) doubles as a pilot line for vertical SiC MOSFETs; design work already underway at Science Park site5.

Footnotes

  1. Reuters – Two Chinese chip firms plan $1.7 billion IPOs ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. TrendForce – Intel taps SK hynix HBM4 for next-gen AI chip ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. Reuters – EU wants upfront relief for key sectors in any US trade deal ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. Reuters – Europe’s AI ‘gigafactory’ push attracts 76 bids ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  5. TrendForce – Hong Kong’s first 8-inch SiC wafer plant approved ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  6. TrendForce – Wolfspeed files for bankruptcy restructuring ↩︎ ↩︎

  7. Accenture – Acquisition of SYSTEMA ↩︎ ↩︎

  8. BASF – New HQ for Electronic Materials in Taipei ↩︎ ↩︎

  9. BusinessWire – pSemi announces new CEO and restructuring ↩︎ ↩︎

  10. TrendForce – China Rare Earth execs exit amid tensions ↩︎

  11. TS2.Tech – Semiconductor industry roundup ↩︎

  12. TrendForce – Xiaomi YU7 EV lifts TSMC 4nm automotive output ↩︎