South Korea\'s semiconductor exports rose past $40 billion for the first time on a monthly basis, extending a 16-month streak of gains. But exports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China edged down in June even as memory chip shipments surged. The article points to China focusing on domestically made back-end processing equipment as the United States tightens controls on advanced lithography tools. Hybrid bonding and other back-end processes are highlighted as key areas of Chinese localisation.

Applied Materials unveiled six new semiconductor manufacturing tools spanning advanced packaging and DRAM processes, the company said on Sunday. It said AI computing faces a “memory wall” as bandwidth and capacity lag growing model sizes and data throughput, driving demand for high-bandwidth memory and 3D stacking. The lineup includes CMP, electrochemical deposition and PECVD systems, two e-beam metrology tools, and an upgraded epitaxy system for DRAM peripheral transistors.