WeakConqueror

Likely going to put in a bottom on Monday…in the short term, at least.

Israeli police prevent the Latin Patriarch from holding Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem

Guerre du Moyen-Orient: des Israéliens veulent coloniser le Sud-Liban

Samsung Completes 236-Layer 8th-Gen NAND Transition at China Xi'an Plant — 9th Gen Also Set to Operate This Year Samsung Electronics has completed the first phase of its leading-edge process transition at its NAND flash memory plant in Xi'an, China. The company has fully replaced its legacy 128-layer NAND with next-generation 236-layer products and is now in mass production, according to industry sources. A transition to the latest 286-layer NAND is also expected to be completed within the year, with full-scale operations to follow — signaling that Samsung's Xi'an facility, a core NAND production hub, is accelerating its competitive repositioning. According to industry sources on the 29th, Samsung's Xi'an plant recently commenced mass production of 236-layer 8th-generation NAND (V8). The process conversion, which began in 2024, has now been finalized — concluding production of the legacy 128-layer 6th-generation (V6) NAND and marking Samsung's full entry into the 200-layer-plus era. In NAND flash, which achieves capacity by stacking cells vertically, a higher layer count translates directly to greater storage density. Xi'an had long been producing 128-layer product, but as demand for legacy nodes steadily declined, the transition to next-generation technology became necessary. The move reflects the diminishing competitiveness of older products. China's largest NAND manufacturer, YMTC, has already reached 294-layer production in mass volume, making it increasingly difficult to fend off Chinese competition with sub-200-layer offerings. "The tightening restrictions on advanced semiconductor equipment imports into China amid the U.S.-China tech conflict likely accelerated Samsung's push to complete the transition," said one industry official. The U.S. has imposed export controls on advanced American-made equipment to curb China's semiconductor ambitions. Samsung has been granted Validated End-User (VEU) status, exempting it from certain restrictions — but since late last year, the company has been required to renew U.S. government approval on an annual basis. The surge in AI infrastructure investment has also served as a tailwind for the node transition. Rapidly growing demand for enterprise solid-state drives (eSSD) has raised the bar for high-performance NAND. Samsung's near-term plan is to shift Xi'an's primary output from V6 to V8, consolidating its competitive position. In parallel, Xi'an Plant 2 (X2) is slated for a transition to 286-layer 9th-generation (V9) NAND, maximizing next-generation production capacity. V9 represents Samsung's most current product in mass production. The company plans to complete the transition and commence volume output within this year. Xi'an accounts for approximately 40% of Samsung's total NAND output. The ongoing process conversions are expected to meaningfully expand the facility's capacity for V8 and V9 production. The transition is also seen as laying the groundwork for accelerating development of 10th-generation NAND (V10), estimated to exceed 400 layers. Samsung is currently mass-producing V9 at its Pyeongtaek campus while preparing for V10 production there as well. With a stable V8/V9 production regime now established in Xi'an, Samsung is expected to fast-track V10 and subsequent next-generation NAND readiness at its domestic facilities. A Samsung Electronics spokesperson stated: "We cannot confirm specific product production timelines," adding, "our commitment to continuously advancing next-generation NAND transitions and further strengthening our leading-edge process portfolio remains unchanged."

Prismark: "T-Glass Supply Shortage from Japan's Nittobo Set to Widen" Market research firm Prismark recently forecast that the supply shortage of T-glass from Japanese materials manufacturer Nittobo will continue to deepen. While Nittobo is expanding its T-glass production capacity, demand is growing at an even faster pace. When factoring in capacity expansion plans from competitors such as Taiwan Glass, the overall market supply shortage could ease somewhat — though competitor technology capabilities and big tech procurement decisions remain key variables. T-glass is a glass fiber yarn used as a raw material for low-CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) copper-clad laminates (CCL). As a key input material for printed circuit boards (PCBs), it is used not only in high-end smartphones such as Apple's iPhone, but also in semiconductor substrates for servers. T-glass is technically a Nittobo trade name, but given Nittobo's near-monopoly market position, the term has become the industry-wide generic for low-CTE CCL glass fiber yarn. As the substrate area used in AI servers and data centers continues to grow, major tech companies including NVIDIA, Google, and Amazon have been exclusively sourcing T-glass from Nittobo. As a result, demand for T-glass began exceeding Nittobo's production capacity in the second half of 2024. At the time, multiple big tech companies approached Nittobo directly requesting capital investment in additional capacity, and Nittobo has been ramping production accordingly — but demand is outpacing supply even faster. According to Prismark, Nittobo's T-glass production capacity stood at 500,000 square meters (㎡) as of Q1 this year. The combined capacity of all competing players in the market still falls short of Nittobo's alone. Estimated competitor capacities are as follows: Taiwan Glass (Taiwan) — 100,000 ㎡; Taishan Glass (China) — 50,000–100,000 ㎡; Grace Fabric Technology (China) — 100,000 ㎡; Nan Ya Plastics (Taiwan) — 50,000 ㎡. These companies have yet to meet big tech's technical qualification standards, leaving Nittobo in a position of effective market monopoly. Both Nittobo and its competitors are expanding capacity. Nittobo plans to invest $530 million in its T-glass segment, and by 2028, its T-glass production capacity could double from the first half of this year. Looking at 2028 capacity estimates by vendor, Nittobo's share is projected at approximately 55%, with all other players collectively accounting for the remaining 45%. However, when considering only Nittobo-qualified supply, Prismark forecasts that the T-glass shortage will persist through this year and next, and is expected to widen even further by 2028. While not included in the Prismark report, one domestic PCB industry source noted: "Competitors are also undergoing T-glass technology evaluations with big tech, but the technology gap versus Nittobo remains substantial. Unless big tech changes its policy of using only Nittobo's product, the T-glass supply shortage will be difficult to resolve for the foreseeable future." For reference, a lower coefficient of thermal expansion means less substrate warpage during high-temperature processing — an advantage for both substrate enlargement and finer circuit patterning requirements. When substrates warp during the fine circuit formation process at high temperatures, circuit traces can break. In Korea, companies such as Doosan and LG Chem produce CCL. Domestic companies that purchase CCL to manufacture semiconductor substrates include Samsung Electro-Mechanics, LG Innotek, Daeduck Electronics, Korea Circuit, and Simtech.