China in 2020: Electric vehicles rebound, the rise of the Greater Bay Area

China in 2020: Electric vehicles rebound, the rise of the Greater Bay Area
by Gordon Orr on 01-07-2020 at 10:00 am

China in 2020 Electric vehicles rebound the rise of the Greater Bay Area

This is the third of a five part series

Vehicle manufacturers in China had a tough 2018 and 2019. The overall market fell 8 percent by volume in 2018 and another 3 percent in the year to October 2019. Looking forward, demand faces several headwinds. Anyone spending time in a major city realizes just how unpleasant the experience of … Read More


Tortuga Logic Scores Role in DoD Security Programs

Tortuga Logic Scores Role in DoD Security Programs
by Bernard Murphy on 01-07-2020 at 6:00 am

DoD logo

It should be no surprise in the current climate that the US government is ramping up investment in microelectronics security, particularly with an eye on China and investments they are making in the same area. This has two major thrusts as I read it: to ensure trusted and assured microelectronics are being used in US defense systems… Read More


China in 2020: Theme parks, healthier eating, and the rise of the new Chinese consumer

China in 2020: Theme parks, healthier eating, and the rise of the new Chinese consumer
by Gordon Orr on 01-06-2020 at 6:00 am

China in 2020 Theme parks healthier eating and the rise of the new Chinese consumer

This is the second of a five part series

Consumer retail spending in the first 10 months of 2019 rose 8 percent year on year, ahead of income growth of roughly 6 percent. Over 10 million new jobs were created. With moderate house price growth and a positive year in domestic stock markets over the last year, the wealth impact on consumer… Read More


China in 2020: Trade, technology, and the path ahead for US-China relations

China in 2020: Trade, technology, and the path ahead for US-China relations
by Gordon Orr on 01-05-2020 at 6:00 am

China in 2020 Trade technology and the path ahead for US China relations

This is the first of a five part series

2019 in China brought together long running challenges, such as uncertainty over US-China tariff levels and ever more intrusive regulation of business in China, with a few unexpected ones as well: the crisis in Hong Kong and the flare up triggered by tweets from an NBA coach, to mention just two.… Read More


China Winning the Future of the semiconductor industry?

China Winning the Future of the semiconductor industry?
by Bart van Hezewijk on 09-01-2019 at 11:00 am

In this second article about China’s role in the global semiconductor industry I analyse the impact of the Chinese government’s Big Fund and compare Chinese investments in semiconductor R&D with those in other countries. In my previous article, I looked at the possible effects of a US-China decoupling in theRead More


GloFo & TSMC lawsuit- A Surrogate Trade War- Pushing TSMC into China’s open arms?

GloFo & TSMC lawsuit- A Surrogate Trade War- Pushing TSMC into China’s open arms?
by Robert Maire on 08-29-2019 at 10:00 am

Surrogate Wars
Is GloFo using the trade war as an excuse?
Does TSMC get lumped in with China on trade?
Does this alienate TSMC into China’s embrace?

Much like Vietnam and Korea before it, there have been a number of “surrogate” wars between the US and China as well as many other wars between the US and Russia using… Read More


The China trade issue is back with a vengeance!

The China trade issue is back with a vengeance!
by Robert Maire on 08-06-2019 at 10:00 am

Watching the boats go by in Shanghai-

As I write this note I happen to be looking out my hotel window over the Bund onto the brightly lit party boats cruising the Huangpu river that meanders through Shanghai.  All is well here in China and the parties on the boats with millions of LEDs go on……

The view from China is that the… Read More


Opening a new front in multi faceted trade war

Opening a new front in multi faceted trade war
by Robert Maire on 05-30-2019 at 5:00 am

We had warned in our May 10th note about the rare earth element risk.  It is one of the few remaining leverage points that China has left that has a potentially strong impact on the US much similar to the US’s impact on Huawei and perhaps even worse. Cutting the US off from rare earth elements is clearly worse than cutting Huawei
Read More

Chips are the bleeding edge of China trade war Recovery

Chips are the bleeding edge of China trade war Recovery
by Robert Maire on 05-17-2019 at 7:00 am

Last week we warned of a further down leg due to China trade. We were surprised how quickly our prediction came true as it appears we are now in the midst of giving back all the upside built in to stocks based on a peaceful resolution of the trade conflict which obviously isn’t happening.

Many of the semi stocks we cover were down… Read More


CAPEX Cuts and Microns Memory Markdown

CAPEX Cuts and Microns Memory Markdown
by Robert Maire on 12-21-2018 at 7:00 am

For those who have been paying any attention to the semiconductor industry its no surprise that memory demand and therefore pricing is down from its peak earlier in the year. Its not getting better any time fast.

After several strong years of demand and pricing, which was followed by enormous CAPEX spending we are seeing the standard… Read More