Semiconductor Market

Nvidia’s stock fell after a report that Meta is considering using Google’s TPUs in its data centers, potentially by 2027, and renting TPU capacity from Google Cloud as early as next year. Alphabet’s shares rose, highlighting Google’s gain at Nvidia’s expense in the AI infrastructure market. This move reflects Meta’s efforts to diversify its AI infrastructure and control costs. Broadcom, a TPU partner, also saw gains. While Nvidia dominates the GPU market, Google’s TPUs present growing competition, driven by a desire to avoid reliance on a single supplier.

Qnity Electronics, a recent spin-off from DuPont focused on semiconductor solutions, debuted strongly on the NYSE, drawing positive analyst attention. CNBC’s Investing Club received Qnity shares representing 2.04% of its Charitable Trust’s holdings. Freed from DuPont’s broader portfolio, Qnity aims to capitalize on the growing semiconductor market driven by AI, with 65% of its offerings linked to the sector. The company projects substantial market expansion, fueled by demand for AI data centers, and has partnerships with industry leaders like Nvidia, TSMC, and Samsung. Analysts are bullish, anticipating Qnity’s business update later this week.

WSTS forecasts a strong semiconductor market with $180 billion in sales for Q2 2025, a 19.6% year-over-year increase. This marks the sixth consecutive quarter of over 18% YoY growth. Nvidia leads the ranking of top semiconductor companies (excluding foundries and companies like Apple) with a projected $45 billion in revenue. Memory giants Samsung and SK Hynix follow. Nvidia’s stock surge, driven by AI demand, has significantly increased CEO Jensen Huang’s net worth, placing him among the world’s wealthiest individuals.

Canon will begin operations at its expanded lithography equipment factory in Utsunomiya, Japan, this September, its first expansion in 21 years. Aimed at capturing AI-driven semiconductor demand and challenging ASML, Canon invested $345M in the facility and it will use both UV and nanoimprint lithography (NIL). NIL offers cost and energy savings. Production is projected to reach full capacity by 2027, increasing Canon’s total annual output by 30%. Canon hopes NIL will give it a foothold amidst rapid growth in the AI infrastructure market.