GlobalFoundries adds a $2 billion US supply route for TSMC advanced packaging

GlobalFoundries signed a $2 billion agreement to supply US-made interposers for TSMC’s CoWoS ecosystem, adding a domestic source for advanced packaging. Elsewhere, PC shipments fell by more than 20% amid chip shortages, while reports pointed to more high-end GPU silicon being directed toward enterprise customers.

Key developments

US interposer supply for CoWoS

GlobalFoundries signed a multi-year, $2 billion agreement to manufacture silicon interposers for TSMC’s CoWoS ecosystem at its Malta, New York fab. The company says the facility will become the first US-based interposer source supporting advanced packaging.

TSMC’s advanced-packaging ecosystem gains a US supply source for a critical component.

Oct 9 · DIGITIMES

PC shipments drop amid shortages

Third-quarter 2026 PC shipments fell by 15.8 million units, or more than 20%, with Lenovo, HP and Dell hardest hit. Memory manufacturers estimate shortages will not improve until 2028 or 2029.

Memory constraints are limiting PC availability and could keep production under pressure for several years.

Oct 9 · Tom's Hardware

RTX 5090 production reportedly halted

NVIDIA reportedly discontinued GeForce RTX 5090-series production, reserving GB202 chips for data-center and professional graphics boards. The report also suggests a rumored 24GB RTX 5080 could become its interim consumer flagship.

If confirmed, fewer high-end GPU chips would be allocated to consumer graphics cards.

Oct 10 · Tom's Hardware

Samsung HBM4E reportedly passes validation

Samsung’s 12-layer HBM4E reportedly passed quality validation at NVIDIA and major hyperscale data-center operators. The result remains unconfirmed, and order timing and mass-production plans are unclear.

Confirmed qualification could give AI accelerator customers another source of next-generation high-bandwidth memory.

Oct 9 · DIGITIMES

Intel and Applied Materials expand collaboration

Applied Materials and Intel expanded their collaboration on next-generation transistors, interconnects and advanced packaging, including Foveros 3D, as AI chip manufacturing demands increase.

The work targets manufacturing bottlenecks that constrain the scaling of AI compute hardware.

Oct 9 · DIGITIMES

Vicor seeks another import ban

Vicor is seeking a US import ban on AI server power hardware from Foxconn, Quanta and Delta, its second such attempt this year. The company has previously won an import ban.

A successful action could disrupt power-hardware sourcing for AI servers made by the affected suppliers.

Oct 11 · DIGITIMES

AI drives record Phison revenue

Phison reported record September revenue of NT$30.639 billion, or US$959 million, up 8% from August and 370% year over year. AI-related applications accounted for more than 50% of revenue.

AI applications now account for a majority of Phison’s sales, making them its dominant revenue driver.

Oct 10 · DIGITIMES

Glass substrates reach customer-chip testing

Samsung Electro-Mechanics reportedly completed initial reliability testing of its 100mm glass substrates and moved to package-level verification using customer chips.

Testing with customer chips moves glass substrates closer to use in packages for larger, more complex AI accelerators.

Oct 10 · DIGITIMES

Also this week

Manufacturing and capacity

• GlobalFoundries unveiled its FDX Fusion FD-SOI roadmap for physical AI, saying strained-silicon FD-SOI can deliver 7-nanometer-class performance without EUV lithography. EE Times · Semiconductor Digest

• Largan Technology dedicated its newly completed automated plant exclusively to fiber array units for co-packaged optics, following weaker smartphone demand in September and customer requests for finished FAU products. DIGITIMES

• JNTC plans to invest KRW347 billion, approximately US$259 million, in glass-substrate manufacturing and reports sharply reduced copper-filling time for thick glass cores, with customer evaluations advancing and meaningful mass-production revenue expected from 2028. DIGITIMES

• Episil said silicon carbide capacity utilization recovered from 30% to nearly 90% and plans to add capacity through 8-inch production if demand for 6-inch orders keeps rising in 2027. DIGITIMES

Products and portfolios

• Kioxia unveiled LD4-series E1.L SSDs offering up to 122.88TB of capacity for hyperscalers. Tom's Hardware

• Microchip Technology acquired Austin-based VORAGO Technologies, adding radiation-hardened and radiation-tolerant microcontrollers and microprocessors to its portfolio. Semiconductor Digest

• Gigabyte confirmed BIOS support for upcoming Intel LGA 1700 processors on B760 and H610 motherboards, while the rumored Raptor Lake Next lineup is expected in early 2027 with unconfirmed DDR4 and DDR5 support. Tom's Hardware

What to watch

• Watch for the rumored Intel Raptor Lake Next launch in early 2027, which could clarify the processors and memory support available to existing LGA 1700 motherboard owners.

• Watch whether rising 6-inch silicon carbide orders in 2027 trigger Episil’s conditional move to add capacity through 8-inch production.

• Watch for a decision on Vicor’s requested US import ban affecting AI server power hardware from Foxconn, Quanta and Delta; timing has not been announced.