Krypton Evening Post | Intel's Foundry Services Division Demonstrates Breakthrough Progress in Interconnect Miniaturization Technology; AliExpress Becomes the Most Popular Black Friday Shopping Platform in the UK; "Lindechuang Technology" Completes Pre-A Round Financing of Tens of Millions of US Dollars.
Big Companies:
The Negotiation Enters the Fourth Round, Volkswagen May Face a Larger-scale Strike
If the management and union leaders at Volkswagen fail to break the deadlock over job cuts at its namesake brand, the workers at the carmaker are prepared to escalate the strike. As the management and the union sit down for the fourth round of negotiations, thousands of Volkswagen employees are ready to go on strike on the morning of December 9 local time, which is the second time this month. Union representatives say the complexity of the Volkswagen issue may require more negotiations, and the labor side is open to continuing the discussions with the goal of reaching an agreement before Christmas. He also warns that if the two sides fail to make progress on the 9th, the workers are ready to escalate the protest activities. (Jiemian)
Intel Foundry Division Demonstrates Breakthrough Progress in Interconnect Miniaturization Technology
36Kr has learned that at the 2024 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting, Intel Foundry showcased several technological breakthroughs. Specifically, in terms of new materials, the subtractive ruthenium interconnect technology can reduce the interline capacitance by up to 25%, which helps improve the interconnect within the chip. Intel Foundry also took the lead in reporting a heterogeneous integration solution for advanced packaging, which can increase the throughput by up to 100 times, achieving ultra-fast inter-chip packaging. In addition, to further promote the miniaturization of the Full Surround Gate, Intel Foundry demonstrated the silicon-based RibbonFET CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) technology, as well as the gate oxide module for the miniaturization of 2D field-effect transistors to improve device performance.
36Kr has learned that MINISO has revealed that in terms of the IP reserve in the secondary dimension, it has reached authorized cooperation with the popular IPs that are loved by the secondary dimension crowd such as top Japanese comics and games. It is expected to launch self-developed and developed merchandise peripheral products monthly next year, create differentiated creative products through methods such as soliciting contributions and secondary creation, and jointly launch more genuine Japanese merchandise peripherals with Bandai. Up to now, MINISO has collaborated with more than 150 well-known IPs globally, promoting the sales of more than 800 million IP products.
AliExpress Becomes the Most Popular Black Friday Shopping Platform in the UK
36Kr has learned that according to British media reports, Similar Web data shows that the traffic of AliExpress on this year's Black Friday increased by 140% year-on-year, making it the most beloved Black Friday shopping platform for Britons. Previously, AliExpress had already rushed to the top of the UK shopping App download list due to the explosion of the overseas Double 11. It is understood that figurines, festival supplies, wigs, and automotive intelligent accessories are the most popular commodities among British consumers during this year's Double 11 and Black Friday. AliExpress has also performed well in other European markets. According to the latest RetailX report, AliExpress has joined Amazon and eBay as one of the top three e-commerce platforms in Europe.
LGD Will Supply More than 5 Million OLED Panels for iPhone SE
According to WitDisplay, LG Innotek and LG Display will respectively supply cameras and displays for Apple's iPhone SE4 to be released next year. LG Innotek has recently begun mass-producing the iPhone SE4 camera module at its factory in Vietnam. Industry insiders said that in addition to LG Innotek, Foxconn and Will Semiconductor Co., Ltd. have also entered the supply chain of the iPhone SE4 camera module. In addition, BOE has also received an order for the iPhone SE4 display, and LG Display's supply share is known to be around 25 - 35% (5 million to 7 million pieces). (Caixin)
Hong Tao, Co-founder and Commercialization Head of Baichuan Intelligence, Has Resigned
36Kr exclusively learned that several people close to Baichuan Intelligence said that Hong Tao is no longer responsible for participating in the daily operation and management of Baichuan and has resigned for some time. In response to the above information, Baichuan Intelligence replied: "Hong Tao has resigned from the company for personal reasons. At the early stage of the company's establishment, he quickly built a commercialization team, laying a foundation for the company's development. We are very grateful for his efforts and contributions." It is understood that Hong Tao once served as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Sogou. He joined Baichuan Intelligence in July 2023 and started a new business with Wang Xiaochuan, the former CEO of Sogou, and Ru Liyun, the former COO of Sogou.
Adani Group in India: Will Invest Over $88.53 Billion in Rajasthan
Karan Adani, the managing director of Adani Ports, said at an investment summit on Monday that the Indian conglomerate Adani Group will invest more than 7.5 trillion rupees ($88.53 billion) in various fields such as renewable energy and cement in the northern state of Rajasthan. (Sina Finance)
Investment and Financing:
"Lindetech" Completes Pre-A Round Financing of Tens of Millions of US Dollars
36Kr has learned that "Lindetech", an innovative enterprise in semiconductor storage and cloud computing storage, recently announced the completion of a Pre-A round financing of tens of millions of US dollars, invested by Matrix Partners China and funds under CICC Capital, with Xinghan Capital serving as the long-term exclusive financial advisor. The funds from this round of financing will mainly be used for the upgrade of the production line and supply chain, continuous investment in product research and development, and further expansion of the global market.
New Products:
Neolix Unmanned Vehicle Releases the Latest Model X12
36Kr has learned that recently, the 2024 Neolix Unmanned Vehicle Ecology Conference was held in Hangzhou. At the conference, the three key products of Neolix Unmanned Vehicle were fully presented, namely X3 suitable for narrow road transportation, X6 with efficient cargo capacity, and the newly released unmanned vehicle X12. According to the introduction, the Neolix Unmanned Vehicle X12 is benchmarked against light trucks. A single vehicle can load 1,500 - 2,000 express deliveries at a time, with a range of 200 kilometers, and has the fully autonomous driving ability of 65km/h in the urban public road scene. Yu Enyuan, the founder and CEO of Neolix Unmanned Vehicle, said that it is expected that the annual production capacity of Neolix will reach 30,000 units in 2025, with an average of one unmanned vehicle produced every 10 minutes.
Ubtech Humanoid Robot Walker S1 Helps Zeekr's 400,000th Vehicle Roll Off the Production Line
36Kr has learned that on December 7, Zeekr Smart Factory welcomed the roll-off of its 400,000th vehicle. The Ubtech industrial humanoid robot Walker S1, which is undergoing practical training at the Zeekr Smart Factory, participated in and witnessed this moment. It is understood that in July this year, the Ubtech industrial humanoid robot Walker S Lite "entered the job" at the Zeekr Smart Factory and carried out a "practical training" for 21 consecutive days, collaborating with employees to perform handling tasks at the CTU inbound and loading station. Recently, the newly upgraded industrial humanoid robot Walker S1 once again entered the Zeekr Smart Factory to start the second phase of practical training. It not only achieved a new upgrade in intelligent handling work, with the handling speed increased by about 25%, but also completed new tasks such as quality inspection.
Today's Views:
British Industry Insiders: The UK Automotive Industry Should Strengthen Cooperation with China
At the Sino-British Automotive Cooperation Forum held by the University of Birmingham in the UK on the 7th, several foreign parties called on the UK automotive industry to strengthen cooperation with the Chinese automotive industry to accelerate the low-carbon transformation of the industry. Clare Urie, the Chief Business Officer of the China-Britain Business Council, pointed out that both the UK and China recognize the urgency of addressing climate change and strengthening the research and development of zero-emission vehicles. The cooperation and joint efforts of the two countries in this field may reshape the global automotive industry, accelerate the global promotion and deployment of new energy vehicles, which will help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, promote technological innovation and economic growth. (Xinhua News Agency)
36Kr has learned that China Life announced on December 9 that the National Financial Regulatory Administration has approved Cai Xiliang's qualification as the company's director and chairman, and his tenure will take effect from December 4, 2024. According to relevant regulations, in order to ensure the standardized operation of the board of directors, from the effective date of Cai Xiliang's tenure as the company's chairman, Cai Xiliang will act as the board secretary until Liu Hui's qualification as the board secretary is approved by the Financial Regulatory Bureau.
According to Korean media ETNews and SEDaily, Han Jinman (Han Jinman), who was promoted to the president and general manager of the foundry business of Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions Division at the end of last month, said in an internal letter to employees today that Samsung's foundry department should focus on both advanced and mature processes. Han Jinman said that the most critical task for Samsung's foundry department at present is to achieve the yield improvement of the 2nm capacity. Samsung Electronics was the first to achieve the global first GAA process, but there is still a great deficiency in the commercialization of advanced processes. He mentioned, "We need to break the vicious cycle of 'the opportunity window is closed, so let's bet on the next node'." (Jiemian)
Other News Worth Noting:
The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a meeting on December 9. The meeting emphasized that to do a good job in the economic work next year, we should be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the second and third plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, adhere to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development concept, accelerate the building of a new development pattern, solidly promote high-quality development, further comprehensively deepen reform, expand high-level opening up, build a modern industrial system, better coordinate development and security, implement a more proactive and effective macro policy, expand domestic demand, promote the integrated development of technological innovation and industrial innovation, stabilize the real estate and stock markets, prevent and defuse risks in key areas and external shocks, stabilize expectations, stimulate vitality, promote the continuous recovery and improvement of the economy, continuously improve people's living standards, maintain social harmony and stability, and complete the goals and tasks of the "14th Five-Year Plan" with high quality, laying a solid foundation for a good start to the "15th Five-Year Plan". (Xinhua News Agency)