Electronics Supply Chain Weekly Digest 10-17-25.
DATAPOINT OF THE WEEK: Passenger car retail sales in China reached 2.241M in September, increasing 6.3% Y/Y and 12.3% M/M marking the third straight month of single digit Y/Y growth following 5 straight months of double-digit Y/Y growth, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). NEV retails sales came in at 1.296M units in September, surpassing 1M level for the second straight month. NEVs were up 17.7% M/M and 15% Y/Y in September.
BEV sales totaled 826k units, up 20.4% M/M and 28% Y/Y. PHEVs totaled 469k units, up 13.3% M/M, but down 2% Y/Y. September marked the third consecutive month of Y/Y declines in Hybrid vehicles, which are the only three months with Y/Y decline in the CPCA dataset. NEV penetration stood at 57.8%, up 3.9 percentage points Y/Y, and 2.6 percentage points M/M. NEV exports totaled 211k, up 7k units M/M, but more than double Y/Y. CAAM data for September came in much higher than CPCA, with total sales amounting to 3.226M units, NEV sales at 1.604M, BEV at 1.058M, and PHEVs at 546k.
Headlines:
Auto/Transportation
- BYD favors Spain for its third European car plant to support local production and avoid EU tariffs, pending Chinese regulatory approval, according to DigiTimes
- EU plans mandatory EV quotas for fleets to drive adoption and emissions targets, says DigiTimes
- Gm announced it will face a $1.6B 3Q charge amid EV strategy shift after federal tax credit loss
- Hyundai Mobis expands Mexico plant with $28.6M investment to boost EV battery and chassis production, according to DigiTimes
- Hyundai announces plans for $5.1B investment in India through 2030, focusing on hybrids and EVs
- Stellantis announces plans for $13B investment to counter tariffs, boost US sales, and shift Jeep Compass production from Ontario to Illinois, putting 4k Canadian jobs at risk
- US new-vehicle inventory climbs to highest level since 1Q25 as sales slow and prices rise to above $50k for first time, says Cox
- Volvo lowers NA truck forecast as freight slump and tariff uncertainty weigh on demand
- Scania, VW truck brand, opened $2B plant in Rugao, China with capacity for 50k vehicles annually, says DigiTimes
- Waymo plans to launch fully driverless ride-hailing in London in 2026, says Reuters
- Fatal Xiaomi SU7 crash in Chengdu raises safety concerns over electronic door systems
Datacenter
- Anthropic expects to more than double, potentially triple, annualized revenue next year, driven by enterprise AI adoption
- Aligned datacenters sold to investor group including BlackRock, Nvidia, xAI, and Microsoft for $40B expected in 1H26, according to Reuters
- Google to invest $15B in 1-GW AI datacenter in Visakhapatnam, India, part of $85B global AI infrastructure push
- Meta finalizing nearly $30B financing for Hyperion datacenter in Louisiana, part of broader AI infrastructure expansion
- Oracle projects cloud revenue of $166B by FY30, driven by broad AI demand, with overall sales reaching $225B and strong margins across AI and traditional cloud segments
Industrial
- ABB reported 3Q revenue of $9.08B, up 11% Y/Y, driven by US AI datacenter demand and a Nvidia partnership, with minimal tariff impact
Semiconductors
- AMD emphasizes open collaboration and OCP standards to support AI growth, targeting $500B market by 2028
- Broadcom launches first Wi-Fi 8 silicon suite for AI-driven edge networks across home, enterprise, and mobile devices
- Broadcom launched its Thor Ultra networking chip to connect large AI processor clusters, doubling bandwidth for AI datacenters and expanding its role in the $12.2B AI infrastructure market
- China Mobile to use only domestic chips for AI network, targeting 100k-GPU cluster by 2028, according to DigiTimes
- GlobalWafers launches 12-inch Fab300 in Italy, boosting Europe’s semiconductor self-sufficiency, says DigiTimes
- Intel unveils Crescent Island AI chip for datacenter with 2026 launch, focusing on energy-efficient inference and modular “mix-and-match” deployment
- Micron to exit China datacenter market, continuing sales to Lenovo and auto/mobile sectors while relying on global AI demand to offset lost revenue, says Reuters
- Dutch government takes control of Nexperia over tech transfer concerns, while China imposes export controls on its China operations; automakers warn disruptions could quickly impact production
- Nvidia unveils Vera Rubin NVL144 MGX open-architecture rack servers for 800Vdc AI datacenters
- OpenAI partners with Broadcom to build its first in-house AI processors, targeting 10GW capacity from 2H26, full deployment by 2029
- Renesas is exploring a $2B sale of its timing division, which produces clock and synchronization chips for datacenters, telecom, and 5G, with interest from TI and Infineon, says Reuters
- Tokyo Electron opens 27k-sqm R&D facility in Kumamoto to accelerate 1-nm chip development & strengthen ties with TSMC, says Nikkei
- TSMC posts $14.76B 3Q profit, beating expectations on strong AI chip demand, raises 2025 revenue forecast to mid-30% Y/Y growth, with capital spending guidance steady at up to $42B
- Wafer foundry utilization remains strong in 2H25 on AI demand and delayed US tariffs, prompting 4Q25 and 2026 price hikes, says TrendForce
Consumer/Other
- Apple’s China shipments rose 0.6% Y/Y to 10.8M units in 3Q, holding 15.8% market share, supported by strong iPhone 17 base model sales, says IDC
- Microsoft/AWS/Google plan to shift most hardware production out of China by 2026, targeting laptops, AI servers, and data center components, says Nikkei
- US condemns China’s expanded export controls, warns of supply-chain risks and potential retaliation, while Europe urges coordinated response and China defends its measures
- US is nearing a trade deal with South Korea, with an announcement expected within 10 days ahead of the APEC summit