Most Read – TI & AI, Digikey upbeat, Diamond interconnects

For those written in the last week, our most popular stories on the site cover Hynix starting to sample HBM3e 16hi memory, a Mannerisms blog post from Ed’s diary, a quantum interconnect startup emerging from stealth mode, Digikey being upbeat about the future of the electronics market, and an interview with Texas Instrument’s EMEA president at Electronica…

Let’s take them in reverse order:

5. Hynix to sample HBM3e 16hi in H1 2025
In H1 2025, Hynix is to start sampling HBM3e 16hi memory with 48 GB capacity per cube. HBM suppliers usually introduce two stack height options – such as 8hi and 12hi stacks for HBM3e and 12hi and 16hi stacks planned for HBM4 – in each generation, says TrendForce. With HBM4 12hi starting in the second half of 2025, Hynix’s move to add a 16hi option within the HBM3e family could be because TSMC’s CoWoS-L packaging technology is expected to support larger package sizes between 2026 and 2027, allowing for more HBM stacks per SiP.

4. Ed The Used Car Salesman
It seems to me that the used EV market is a cash cow waiting to be milked and I want to be the milkman, Ed confides to his diary. EVs lose half their value after three years and 13% of all the EV odometers in Europe are clocked. Similarly the battery life computer is easily reset. 44% of all used EVs in Europe are said to have been in an accident but most are being sold as ‘accident free’. So people are buying attractive death-traps with fiddled mileages and reset battery life readings which seem inexpensive…

3. Diamond interconnect for quantum computers
Lightsynq Technologies, a quantum interconnect startup, has emerged from stealth with $18 million in Series A funding to scale quantum computing through diamond optical interconnects. The round was led by Cerberus Ventures with participation from In-Q-Tel (IQT), Element Six, Murata Electronics North America, and others. Founded by Harvard quantum networking experts and former AWS Center for Quantum Networking leaders, Lightsynq aims to address the scaling challenges of quantum computing by developing diamond-based optical interconnects.

2. DigiKey is upbeat for an upcycle
Dave Doherty, president of DigiKey, was philosophical about the future of the electronics market at electronica. We met in Munich a week after the US presidential election result was announced. The market is cyclical, he said. “We can’t foresee Q1 or Q2 but clearly we are at the start of the next upcycle,” he told Electronics Weekly. The election result has stimulated demand, wherever you are on the political spectrum he continued, because the incoming administration is talking about continuing to stimulate the economy.

1. TI eyes AI and in-house manufacturing
Increasing direct business and ensuring manufacturing locations close to customers are two goals for Texas Instruments, confirmed EMEA president, Stefan Bruder. “The goal is to get inhouse manufacturing to 95% by 2030,” he told Electronics Weekly. The company has tripled its manufacturing capacity to 9,000 sq m, with two fabs ramping up at present and five others being built in addition to two assembly and test locations equipped and ramping up at present. It has also increased direct business sales from 30% to 70% via its website and API.