["NewYear'sGreetingsfromTruthSemiGroup"]

Dear Members, Professors, and Fellows of Truth Semi Group,

Happy New Year to all!

The year 2024 is a year of arduous struggles for all humanity.

The global economic growth rate stands at 3.2%, below the average level of the first two decades of this century. The global inflation rate is 5.8%, within the high range for this century^[1].

The economic foundation determines the superstructure. The flames of war continue to burn in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, political turmoil is sweeping across the major developed countries, and populism and nationalism are gaining significant ground. The shadow of war and revolution lingers over the Eurasian continent, refusing to dissipate.

2024 is also a year of relentless pursuit by all humankind.

The holy grail of artificial general intelligence has inspired global talents to compete for supremacy, nuclear fusion energy technology is edging closer to a breakthrough, and smart electric vehicle are rapidly transforming the global automotive industry. The new technological revolution, like a brewing storm ,is poised to emerge.

Looking back over a century, humanity faces yet another crossroads in determining its future and destiny: the battle for existing resources offers no true victors, only the birth of new technological revolutions can create incremental growth and avoid the tragic fate of internecine conflict as seen in the 20th century.

Semiconductors, which embody the culmination of human knowledge in the fields of information, energy, and materials, are the foundation of this new technological revolution. As such, their historical significance has reached unprecedented heights.

In 2024, the global semiconductor capacity growth rate is 6%, with China’s semiconductor capacity growth reaching 15%^[2], far exceeding the economic growth rate. Fueled by hundreds of billions of dollars ^[3]in investments, fabs on both sides of the Pacific have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.

At the same time in 2024, the words of an industry elder that "globalization and world free trade no longer exist^[4]" still echo in our ears: behind the rapid expansion of semiconductor manufacturing capacity, the original global cooperation system within the semiconductor industry is being severed by the tangible hand across the ocean, drifting further apart.

Overbearing hegemonism, extreme populism, and shortsighted trade protectionism are severely hindering the pace and quality of development for all humankind.

In such extraordinary times, extraordinary enterprises must be established to achieve extraordinary contributions.

The Truth Semi Group, as a global interdisciplinary non-profit organization, envisions "promoting collaboration and knowledge-sharing within the semiconductor industry", adhering to the core values of "openness, sharing, internationalization, and a full cover of semiconductor supply chain" to support the development of the global semiconductor industry, especially in China.

By the end of 2024, the number of individual members of the group has reached 2,003, with 336 member organizations, spanning the industries of design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, equipment, materials, and covering all aspects of the IC industry. The group now operates eight liaison offices, located in Silicon Valley (USA), Tokyo (Japan), Hangzhou, Shanghai, Wuxi, Changzhou, Shenzhen, and Suzhou (China).

In 2024, the group elected its third board of directors and appointed a new secretariat. The group now has six advisors and 88 board members, further uniting the leading figures in the global semiconductor industry and expanding the group’s service capacity and global influence.

In 2024, the group organized or co-organized more than 50 events throughout the year, with over 3,000 participants, significantly promoting industry collaboration and industrial development. The group also extended its professional focus from the semiconductor industry to the upstream new materials sector, closely following the paradigm shifts in the semiconductor industry’s development model and advancing towards the endless cutting-edge frontiers of science.

Looking ahead to 2025, the semiconductor industry will continue to be diligent and frugal, pursuing Gordon Moore's "Kingdom of Necessity": advanced logic chips will progress toward 2nm^[5], DRAM will target nodes below 10nm, such as 1γ, 0a, and 0b^[6], and NAND Flash will stack over 321 layers^[7].

Imagining 2025, the semiconductor industry will also push forward with vigor, firmly advancing towards the unknown "Kingdom of Freedom": advanced packaging, new generations of semiconductor materials, AI-assisted design, heterogeneous integration, high-efficiency interconnects, and more.

With massive ongoing investments in R&D and capital expenditures, the global semiconductor industry will continue to grow, greatly reducing the financial and opportunity costs for downstream technological innovations. We anticipate that in 2025, we will witness the birth of the next generation of mainstream consumer electronics: AI smartphones, AI personal computers, AI wearable devices, and embodied AI robots, among others.

By then, the semiconductor industry’s upturn cycle will truly begin, and all of humanity will unlock the next door to industrial and social transformation: a new era of intelligent, human-centered, and low-carbon technologies, and a more prosperous, equitable, and sustainable future.

Never is there a transformation without a cause; Never does the new emerge without the old.

How to bring forth the new? Inspiring the people by exploring the world and innovating by our own hands.

We are fortunate to have been born in this great era, at the prime of our lives, to be part of the grand wave of the semiconductor industry’s development—one of humanity's most glorious and magnificent endeavors. We are the spearhead of all humankind.

As the old Chinese poem says: "Though China is ancient, it is destined to rejuvenate again and again."

A Western proverb goes: "Ad astra per aspera" (Through this difficult journey, we reach the stars).

Appreciate the merits of others and facilitate the success of others to achieve universal harmony. 

Let us embrace the extraordinary year of 2025 together!

Truth Semi Group