DATAPOINT OF THE WEEK: Texas Instruments plans to lay off nearly 400 employees in December at its Dallas and Sherman fabrication plants as it phases out its remaining 150mm wafer facilities in North Texas. A state filing confirms 163 layoffs in December and another 20 in April, though the company emphasizes its long-term commitment to North Texas through investments in new Sherman and Richardson factories. TI’s broader US expansion involves over $60B in semiconductor manufacturing, supporting up to 60k jobs, despite the current job cuts. TI is also conducting layoffs in its China division, this time affecting core technical and customer-facing roles, including FAEs, not just R&D staff.
Headlines:
Auto/Transportation
- BMW posts strong 3Q sales growth in Europe and US but lowers 2025 profit forecast due to China slowdown
- BYD launches affordable EVs in Argentina, benefiting from new tariff-free import policy for 2026
- China’s car dealerships struggle as EV price war squeezes margins, prompting calls for government support, says Bloomberg
- Germany to extend EV tax exemption to 2035 amid industry pressures and Chinese competition
- GM announces it is bringing back affordable Bolt EV under $30k to boost accessible EV lineup
- GM and Ford cancel post-subsidy EV lease credit programs, according to Reuters
- Japan Auto sector confidence plunges as tariffs, costs, and China demand weigh, says Reuters Survey
- Mercedes-Benz reports 12% decline in 3Q sales as China weakness and tariffs weigh on outlook
- Tesla has filed plans in China for a longer-range version of its Model Y, named the “Model Y+,” according to China’s industry ministry website
- US imposes 25% tariff on medium- and heavy-duty truck imports starting November 2025
Datacenter
- Dell doubles profit growth target to 15% annually, driven by AI server demand; PC growth slower
- Oracle cloud margins pressured as GPU server leasing yields only 14% gross profit, though long-term margins expected to rise on scale efficiencies
Industrial
- SoftBank to acquire ABB’s robotics division for $5.4B to advance “Physical AI” strategy
- Boeing signals suppliers it may raise 737 Max production to 42 jets per month by October, says Bloomberg
- Germany industrial output drops 4.3% in August as auto manufacturing plunges 18.5%
- US electric companies to spend $208B in 2025 on grid upgrades, exceeding $1.1T through 2030, according to Edison Electric Institute
IP&E
- Chile copper production drops 25% in August after El Teniente collapse, boosting prices to $11k per ton
Semiconductors
- AMD to supply OpenAI with GPUs in multi-year $100B deal starting 2026, including equity warrants
- Amkor expands US facility investment to $7B, creating first high-volume advanced packaging campus in Arizona
- China intensifies import restrictions on Nvidia chips amid domestic semiconductor push, says The Financial Times
- China opens antitrust probe into Qualcomm over Autotalks acquisition
- Foxconn posts record 3Q revenue of $67.7B, boosted by AI demand, expects continued quarterly growth
- Intel unveils Panther Lake laptop processor with 50% performance boost, sets 2026 launch for Clearwater Forest server chips
- Lite-On reports September revenue of $504M, up 30% Y/Y, led by Cloud and IoT surge
- Microsoft to accelerate use of custom, in-house chips to reduce reliance on Nvidia and AMD, says CNBC
- Mitsubishi Electric opens $676M SiC chip factory in Japan, gradually ramping production amid slower EV demand
- Qualcomm has acquired open-source hardware and software company Arduino whose platform enables rapid prototyping with MCUs/microprocessors from multiple semi providers
- TSMC reported 3Q revenue of $32.47B, up 30% Y/Y, surpassing expectations driven by strong AI demand
- US comes to agreement with UAE, and advances talks with Saudia Arabia to expand Nvidia AI chip exports and data center investments, says The WSJ
- US proposes splitting advanced semiconductor production 50/50 with Taiwan to boost domestic output, but Taiwan rejects plan as unilateral and costly
- US adds 29 Chinese and Hong Kong firms, including Arrow subsidiaries, to Entity List over drone component supply to Iran-backed groups
- SEMI projects $374B global 300mm fab equipment spend from 2026–2028, led by AI-driven logic and microchip investments
Consumer/Other
- China tightens export controls on key rare earths and related materials again, further restricting global supply of elements critical for EVs, aircraft, and defense systems
- Global smartphone production reaches 300M units in 2Q25, up 4% Q/Q and 4.8% Y/Y, supported by seasonal demand and recovery from Oppo and Transsion, says TrendForce
- Turkey explores partnership with the US to develop rare-earth deposits in Beylikova, including cerium, praseodymium, and neodymium, after talks with China and Russia stalled, says Bloomberg
- US President Trump says he sees no need to meet China President Xi in South Korea, cites rising trade tensions; threatens potential to levy higher US tariffs on China
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