Weekly News Bulletin Oct 23, 2026
Weekly Semiconductor Industry News Brief
① AMEC Ships World's First High-Selectivity Etch Tool, Filling a Domestic Gap in 3D Device Processing
On October 22, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. (AMEC, 688012.SH) announced that the world's first Primo Domingo vapor-phase high-selectivity etching system had been successfully shipped to a major domestic IC R&D and manufacturing customer. As chip architectures move to three dimensions to sustain continued scaling, high-selectivity etching has become one of the most critical processes in 3D device manufacturing. Addressing the process requirements of gate-all-around (GAA), 3D NAND and 3D DRAM devices, AMEC's breakthrough fills the gap in domestic self-sufficiency for key etching processes in next-generation 3D semiconductor device manufacturing. Primo Domingo adopts a fully symmetric chamber structure with an optimized flow field, integrating gas injection, temperature control and pressure regulation to ensure highly uniform and repeatable on-wafer etching; its unique integrated gas box shortens the gas injection path for faster, more precise pulsed gas control. AMEC's etch tools now cover applications from 65 nm down to 3 nm and beyond, with dielectric etch aspect ratios reaching 60:1 and 90:1 and silicon etch reaching 140:1, while its industry-first Dual-Station ICP etch technology has reached the single-atom level of 0.2 nm.
② NVIDIA GTC Europe Opens in Berlin; Huang Sketches a Full-Stack "AI Factory" Vision
NVIDIA's annual GTC Europe was held in Berlin, Germany, from October 20 to 22, with founder and CEO Jensen Huang delivering the keynote on October 21, shifting the focus from pure GPU hardware launches toward the systematic construction of "AI factories." The company rolled out a dense slate of new products and architectures spanning accelerated computing, agentic AI, physical AI, robotics, autonomous driving, medical research and industrial simulation. Among them, the NVIDIA OpenShell reference architecture enables organizations to build, control, observe and execute secure agents across enterprise infrastructure and edge systems. Analysts note that NVIDIA is extending from a chip and compute supplier into a full-stack AI infrastructure provider spanning underlying hardware, software platforms, industry ecosystems and end applications.
③ Huang: Memory Oversupply Unlikely Before 2029, Easing Down-Cycle Concerns
At the GPU Technology Conference, Jensen Huang said a memory oversupply is unlikely through 2029 and that NVIDIA will continue to use LPDDR and HBM in large volumes, adding that he is open to working with Chinese companies. The remarks significantly eased market concerns that the memory industry is entering a down-cycle and lifted semiconductor sentiment. On October 23, China's A-share market rebounded in response: the ChiNext Index rose 4.16%, the Shenzhen Component Index gained 2.79%, and the SSE Science and Technology Innovation Composite Index jumped over 3%, with computing-power chips and semiconductors surging and more than 4,300 stocks closing higher. Meanwhile, US technology stocks had come under pressure overnight, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index closing down 6.72%, highlighting lingering disagreement over the pace of AI capital spending.
④ TrendForce Forecasts Q4 DRAM Contract Prices Up About 20% QoQ
Market research firm TrendForce, citing multiple reports, estimates that Q4 2026 DRAM contract prices will rise about 20% quarter over quarter. The pace of increase is moderating compared with roughly 80% in Q2 and about 40% in Q3, but the DRAM market remains at a high price level, still defined by tight supply and strong demand. Mid-October channel checks also pointed to across-the-board upward revisions to Q4 memory contract price expectations, with enterprise SSD seen up 23%-28% for the quarter—the largest gain among all categories—and PC DRAM up 13%-18% QoQ, resonating with restocking demand. On the news, A-share memory chip names rebounded collectively during the afternoon session of October 22.
⑤ US Commerce Department Allocates Up to US$389 Million for Power Semiconductors and Critical Materials
On October 22 local time, the US Department of Commerce said it plans to provide up to US$389 million in R&D funding to four companies to support power semiconductor device and critical materials technology, backing emerging industries such as fusion energy and AI data centers. Fusion company Helion will receive up to US$175 million to develop high-voltage power semiconductors and advanced energy power modules needed for fusion power generation, including driving the magnets in its fusion generator. Commonwealth Fusion Systems is set to receive up to US$85 million for semiconductor technologies used in RF plasma heating, power electronics, fusion diagnostics and radiation-hardened electronics. Vertical Semiconductor will get up to US$73 million to advance vertical gallium nitride power semiconductors, mainly for AI data center racks, while Sibelco will receive up to US$56 million to develop ultra-high-purity quartz purification technology for the semiconductor supply chain. The funding comes from the US$10 billion semiconductor fund approved by Congress in 2022, and all awards carry a condition of minority government equity.
⑥ MOFCOM on Rare Earth Export Controls: Not an Export Ban; Compliant Applications Will Be Approved
On October 22, a MOFCOM spokesperson answered press questions on recent Chinese economic and trade policy measures. Regarding the October 9 announcement by MOFCOM and the General Administration of Customs imposing export controls on certain rare earth items, the spokesperson said this is a legitimate step by the Chinese government to improve its own export control system in accordance with laws and regulations. Noting that the current international situation is volatile and that medium and heavy rare earth items have important military applications, the spokesperson said China is implementing controls to better safeguard world peace and regional stability and to fulfill international non-proliferation obligations. The spokesperson stressed that China's export controls are not an export ban and that applications meeting the requirements will be licensed; relevant countries and regions were notified in advance through bilateral export control dialogue mechanisms, and China stands ready to strengthen dialogue to maintain the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains.
⑦ WESEMiBAY Visit Report: Domestic Semiconductor Breakthroughs Move from "Point" to "System"
A visit report covering 28 companies at WESEMiBAY, released on October 21, shows that an increasingly complete domestic semiconductor supply chain is taking shape—from equipment components such as seals, fluid systems and precision motion stages, to core process tools including lithography, CMP and ion implantation, and onward to supporting links such as metrology and inspection, wafer testing, ultrapure water, specialty gases and clean logistics. The notable change is that domestic breakthroughs are expanding from "point" breakthroughs by a few core tools to synchronized progress across many more supply chain segments: Ferrotec Seal is advancing localization of FFKM perfluoroelastomer seals for semiconductor equipment; Zhejiang Qier Technology is building precision fluid delivery systems for wafer wet processes; Fluorine Micro New Materials focuses on high-purity PFA and PTFE fluoropolymer components; and Chronos is tackling nanometer-precision motion control platforms. Individually unremarkable, these are nonetheless indispensable to stable equipment operation, meaning competition in domestic equipment is no longer just among whole-tool makers—a growing base of local component, materials and subsystem suppliers now stands behind them.
⑧ CITIC Securities Remains Bullish on China's Semiconductor Component and Equipment Supply Chain
On October 23, CITIC Securities noted that WESEMiBAY 2026 expanded further in scale, drawing more than 6,500 professional buyers, with a concentrated rollout of new domestic equipment and processes. New equipment orders in Q3 2026 stayed robust, and the industry remains optimistic about equipment demand for more than three years ahead, with some companies expecting the current order acceleration to extend into 2028 and 2029. Over the medium to long term, AI-driven global capacity expansion and process upgrades are expected to keep opening up equipment demand. CITIC believes global expansion and domestic substitution will jointly lift order intake and share for Chinese vendors, and it remains positive on the domestic semiconductor component and equipment supply chain. Other brokers meanwhile pointed out that semiconductor equipment and components are seeing price increases across the whole chain, with industry prosperity expected to continue.
⑨ SK hynix Q3 Operating Profit Seen Up More Than Sixfold; Memory Upside Concentrated Upstream
On October 22, a Citi report forecast SK hynix's Q3 operating profit at KRW 81.3 trillion, up 34% QoQ and 614% YoY, on sales of KRW 101.2 trillion, up 28% QoQ—which, if realized, would be a record quarterly profit for the company. The driver is strong AI inference demand, with DRAM and NAND average selling prices up 28% and 24% QoQ respectively: growth fueled by price, not shipment volume. Analysis indicates roughly 70% of global advanced memory capacity is being absorbed by AI demand, with HBM crowding out production lines previously allocated to commodity DRAM. Because depreciation accounts for the bulk of memory makers' costs and is largely fixed, each unit of price increase flows almost entirely to gross profit—so revenue can rise 30% while profit multiplies several times over. That also explains why, within the same cycle, memory makers show far greater profit elasticity than downstream module and system vendors.
⑩ 6th RISC-V China Summit Held in Shenzhen with a Wave of New Products
According to reports on October 21, the 6th RISC-V China Summit was held in Shenzhen with a dense lineup of new releases: Alibaba's DAMO Academy launched the automotive-grade enhanced processor XuanTie E908A; SpacemiT introduced the server-grade chip V100; and Lirui Micro unveiled "Everest 200," aimed at intelligent computing centers, for the first time. Responding to new AI requirements, RISC-V vendors are expanding from embedded and IoT into automotive, robotics and data centers. At the event, Lanxin Computing released a "smart-communication converged" superpod that integrates general-purpose and AI computing on a single chip and uses a unified memory architecture to reduce data movement between compute units, extending RISC-V AI capability from single chips and servers to clustered computing infrastructure. SHD Group forecasts that by 2031 RISC-V will account for 33.7% of all hardware segments, with its edge computing and data center markets exceeding US$45 billion and US$70 billion respectively.
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② https://dy.163.com/article/L9PNN0060550WHYR.html
③ https://www.sohu.com/a/1091657802_122014422
④ https://www.163.com/dy/article/L9ROAS930512B07B.html
⑤ https://www.cfi.net.cn/p20261022002762.html
⑥ http://news.gzylhyzx.com/detail.html?newsId=10419369
⑦ https://dy.163.com/article/L9PC57PA0550WHYR.html
⑧ https://www.toutiao.com/article/7699652889190400521
⑨ https://learning.sohu.com/a/1091052646_122941582
⑩ https://www.163.com/dy/article/L9PH1CJJ0552OH9Y.html
