According to Bloomberg, these funds, about 75% will be used to fund Intel, TSMC and other companies to build chip manufacturing plants in Germany.

Half of the funds, or 10 billion euros, have been allocated to Intel for the construction of a new production site near Magdeburg in eastern Germany, the report said. The German government is also finalizing negotiations with TSMC for the latter to invest in a plant in Dresden to produce a variety of microcontrollers needed by German automakers. The German government is expected to subsidize 50% of the project, or about €5 billion.

In addition, about €1 billion will be used to support Germany’s own semiconductor giant Infineon in building a new chip factory in Dresden, with a subsidy of 20 percent of the total investment. In addition, German auto parts supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG and U.S. chipmaker Wolfspeed are also expected to receive government funding to build a silicon carbide chip plant in Saarland, near the French border. The joint venture seeks to receive a cost subsidy of about 25%, equivalent to €750 million.

The funding program will be in place until 2027, and it is interesting to note that these funds come from the Climate and Transition Fund, which was originally set up to finance Germany’s transition to a carbon-neutral economy, but the government has since expanded its investments to cover sustainable economic projects. Previously, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck had proposed using the Economic Stabilization Fund to provide state aid to chipmakers.

At present, the German government has not confirmed or denied its plan. If the news is true, then Germany will become Europe’s most active to chip makers to provide subsidies to the country.

The post Germany intends to invest 20 billion euros to help the semiconductor industry appeared first on TechGoing.

According to the latest news from Vivo’s German website on May 30, Vivo has decided to temporarily suspend the sale of its products in the German market

The announcement on vivo Germany’s official website reads as follows:

vivo fully respects intellectual property rights and is committed to continuous innovation through extensive research and development. In recent years, vivo has entered into cross-licensing agreements with many leading companies. We have been in negotiations with Nokia to renew our mutual licenses, but so far no agreement has been reached. We strongly believe that Nokia has not fulfilled its obligation to provide licenses on "FRAND" (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms.

We are disappointed with the Mannheim District Court's first instance decision of April 6, 2023, and have suspended sales and marketing of the relevant products in Germany following Nokia's implementation of these decisions.

We have appealed these decisions and will review other options. In the meantime, we are in close contact with Nokia to complete licensing negotiations under the terms of FRAND.

Our long-term commitment to the German market remains intact. Users can rely on customer support and future software updates for their devices. There is no impact on our business outside of Germany.

The official website of Vivo Germany and found that the site has now taken down all product introductions, leaving only the home page, and support two pages.

▲ The current official website of Vivo Germany

▲ The official website of Vivo Germany in April this year

It is worth mentioning that in July last year, the Mannheim District Court in Germany ruled that OPPO infringed on Nokia’s patents and granted Nokia a cease and desist order against OPPO, and some of OPPO and OnePlus devices were banned from sale in Germany.

In response, the person in charge of OPPO responded that sales of some products will be suspended in Germany, and he also said, “The company firmly opposes unreasonably high patent fees and the malicious behavior of using litigation to coerce licensees to negotiate and accept unreasonably high license fees.” He also mentioned that OPPO respects intellectual property rights and advocates reasonable fees, and advocates resolving intellectual property disputes between licensors and licensees in an amicable and negotiated manner, respecting each other’s patent values.

The post Vivo suspends sales of phones in the German market: loses patent case with Nokia appeared first on TechGoing.

Kevin Zhang said, “I think we need to diversify our supply for our customers, and Europe is a very important geographic area.”

Kevin Zhang did not disclose the size of the potential project’s subsidy, its cost or the names of the companies involved. A spokeswoman for Germany’s economy ministry confirmed to Reuters that talks with TSMC are still ongoing, but did not provide details.

As reported earlier this month, TSMC is in talks with partners to invest up to 10 billion euros (currently about RMB 76.1 billion) to build a chip manufacturing plant in Germany.

The post TSMC Negotiations to build a factory in Germany are still underway and a decision appeared first on TechGoing.

Reports say TSMC is currently in talks with politicians over government support. TSMC could apparently invest 7 billion euros in a new plant in Saxony. If all costs are taken into account, the total could eventually rise to 10 billion euros. According to government sources, TSMC has not yet finally chosen a site for its fab.

Infineon declined to comment on the rumors of TSMC setting up a factory. Recently Infineon’s new wafer fab in Dresden held a groundbreaking ceremony, the new factory investment amounted to 5 billion euros, the largest single investment in Infineon’s history. Scholz attended with a hint that TSMC may invest in the area.

Dresden is the capital of the eastern German state of Saxony (Sachsen), Silicon Saxony (Silicon Saxony) is the alias of the Dresden semiconductor colony, where there are 400 semiconductor-related manufacturers, chip production accounted for 1/3 of the EU, recognized as the largest semiconductor colony in Europe.

For the news of spending 10 billion euros to build a wafer fab in Germany, TSMC said that it would not comment on the rumors, and the European plant is still under evaluation.

The post German officials confirm TSMC’s proposed plant, but not yet finalized appeared first on TechGoing.

On April 11, local time, Vivo issued an announcement on its German official website and the full translation of the announcement:

Vivo fully respects intellectual property rights and is committed to continuous innovation through extensive research and development. In recent years, Vivo has entered into cross-licensing agreements with many leading companies. We have negotiated with Nokia to renew our mutual licenses, but so far no agreement has been reached. We strongly believe that Nokia has not fulfilled its obligation to provide licenses on "FRAND" (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms.

We are disappointed with the decision of the Mannheim District Court in Germany and are prepared to suspend sales and marketing of the products in question through official Vivo Germany channels if necessary. We are preparing an appeal of the decision and will review other options. In the meantime, we will continue to negotiate with Nokia to resolve this matter in accordance with the FRAND terms.

Our plans for a long-term commitment to the German market remain unchanged. vivo will continue to do business in Germany in the future and our customers can continue to rely on our services. There is no impact on our business outside of Germany.

It is worth mentioning that in July last year, the Mannheim District Court in Germany ruled that OPPO infringed Nokia’s patents and granted Nokia a cease and desist order against OPPO, and some devices of OPPO and OnePlus were banned from sale in Germany.

In response, the person in charge of OPPO responded that sales of some products will be suspended in Germany, and he also said, “The company firmly opposes unreasonably high patent fees and the malicious behaviour of using litigation to coerce licensees to negotiate and accept unreasonably high license fees.” He also mentioned that OPPO respects intellectual property rights and advocates reasonable fees, and advocates resolving intellectual property disputes between licensors and licensees in an amicable and negotiated manner, respecting each other’s patent values.

The post Vivo loses patent case against Nokia in Germany appeared first on TechGoing.

Keyvan Esfar, Intel’s global chief operating officer, said at the meeting: “We are committed to working hard to make the Magdeburg project a success. In the current environment, while we have had to adjust our pace, we will remain focused on the progress of the project.”

Last month German newspaper Volksstimme reported that the Intel plant was originally scheduled to open in the first half of 2023, but now Intel appears to be backing off a bit because it wants more public subsidies from Germany.

A spokesman for the German economy ministry said the government will continue to communicate with Intel and the European Commission. What exactly is the type of funding? What is the amount of the subsidy? Germany needs to get permission from the EU, and because of that, Germany needs clearer data and information.

Keyvan Esfar declined to comment on the issue, saying only that geopolitical challenges have increased since the project was announced, demand for semiconductors has fallen, and inflation and recession have hurt the global economy. Keyvan Esfar also said Intel has bought the land for the plant.

Intel plans to spend $88 billion (currently about RMB 592.24 billion ) to build factories in Europe, and in March 2022 it announced it would build a new plant in Magdeburg, which is part of a master plan for European investment.

Several European countries have already offered Intel an olive branch, and last month the Italian government reiterated its intention to secure Intel’s investment.

The post Intel promises to build chip plants in Germany, is discussing subsidies appeared first on TechGoing.

The Federal Cartel Office said in a statement that it sent a preliminary legal assessment to Google’s parent company Alphabet, Google Ireland Ltd. and Google Germany Ltd. on Dec. 23.

The Federal Cartel Office said Google does not currently provide users with sufficient options to decide whether and to what extent they consent to Google processing their data.

In response, a Google spokesperson said the company will continue to engage constructively with the German regulator and try to address its concerns.

The spokesperson added: “People expect us to run our business responsibly, both to maintain a user-first product experience and to continually update our services to meet the regulator’s expectations.”

Back in May 2021, the German Federal Cartel Office launched an antitrust investigation into Google. The Federal Cartel Office claimed at the time that Google’s business model relied heavily on the processing of user data. With access to competitively relevant data, Google enjoyed a strategic advantage.

To use Google’s services, users are usually required to set up a Google account and agree to Google’s data processing terms, and compliance of these terms becomes a key concern.

Andreas Mundt, director of the Federal Cartel Office, said at the time: “We will look closely at Google’s data processing terms. A key question is whether Google is giving users enough choice in the use of their data.”

The post Germany takes issue with Google data processing terms: not giving users sufficient choice appeared first on TechGoing.

From January to August this year, China exported a total of 1.91 million vehicles, up 47.5% year-on-year, overtaking Germany to become the world’s second-largest auto exporter, second only to Japan.

The exported vehicles, especially new energy vehicles, achieved a breakthrough of 340,000 units exported in January-August, up 97.4% year-on-year, becoming a new driving force for growth at sea.

CCA data show that in 2020, China’s new energy vehicle exports nearly 70,000 units, accounting for 7% of the total number of automotive exports; in 2021, 310,000 new energy vehicle exports, accounting for 15.38%; and in the first half of this year, new energy vehicle exports 202,000 units, accounting for 16.6%.

Among them, Tesla has a larger share in China’s new energy vehicle exports, with exports of about 160,000 units in 2021, contributing to half of China’s annual exports of new energy vehicles. However, even if we take out the Tesla export volume, the export volume in 2021 still doubled on the basis of 2020, and the growth rate is still obvious.

The post China overtakes Germany to become the second largest auto exporter after Japan appeared first on TechGoing.

Millions of tons of iron ore, coal, chemicals, petroleum products and other goods are known to be transported along the Rhine every year. But in recent weeks, the Rhine has continued to be at low water levels, severely hampering waterborne transport and causing disruptions to the operations of industrial facilities, including Germany’s largest oil refinery.

However, the crisis appears to be far from over. Starting tomorrow afternoon, the water level in the Kaub will drop again and is expected to drop to 119 centimeters by Friday morning local time.

The Rhine and its tributaries, which continue to be at very low water levels, are increasing the demand for additional tonnage and pushing up transport prices significantly,” container shipping company Contargo GmbH & Co. KG said in a statement on Monday. This bottleneck will continue to affect our services on the rail network and inland navigation.”

Historical data shows that, on a 20-year average, the water level in the Kaub is usually at its lowest level at the beginning of October, which indicates that it is likely to drop further in the coming weeks.

The post Germany’s Kaub Rhine briefly rises to navigable levels, but crisis will return soon appeared first on TechGoing.