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One particular region is out of Sony's price-hike crosshairs for now: the United States.
Ars Technica
Chinese smartphone maker Oppo and its sub-brand OnePlus have halted sales of smartphones in Germany after losing a patent lawsuit with Nokia.
The Verge
Apple on Wednesday sent media invitations to an event on Sept. 7 in which analysts expect the company to reveal new iPhones, a week earlier than it traditionally holds its fall event.
Reuters
Infineon Technologies and II-VI have signed a multi-year supply agreement for silicon carbide (SiC) wafers.
Company release
China's central bank has cut its mortgage rate as officials work to support the crisis-hit property market. The People's Bank of China lowered the five-year loan prime rate (LPR) by 1.5pp, which matches its biggest cut on record.
BBC News
The UK has blocked the takeover of an electronic design company by a Hong Kong rival over national security concerns, in the latest sign of growing British anxiety about Chinese investment.
Guardian
The US has announced that they will begin formal trade negotiations with Taiwan, weeks after a controversial visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The first round of talks is expected to begin in "early fall", said the Office of US Trade Representative.
BBC News
Samsung Electronics broke ground recently for a new semiconductor research and development complex in Giheung, Korea, with plans to invest about KRW20 trillion (US$14.95 billion) by 2028.
Company release
Apple supplier Foxconn has signed a $300 million memorandum of understanding with Vietnamese developer Kinh Bac City to expand its facility in the north of the country to diversify and boost production, state media said on Saturday.
Reuters
South Korea's early exports barely rose in August as geopolitical risks and central bank tightening weigh on the world economy.
Bloomberg
China's Sichuan province has ordered all factories to shut down for six days to ease a power shortage in the region as a scorching heat wave sweeps across the country.
CNN
China's top anti-corruption watchdog has launched investigations against several executives linked to the country's largest chip investment fund, as Beijing steps up scrutiny of the sector in its race for technological self-sufficiency.
The Financial Times
Remember about two years ago, when absolutely everyone wanted to either upgrade their existing PC or buy a new one? Yeah, that doesn't appear to be the case anymore, according to the latest market report from Mercury Research. The report states that x86 chip shipments have dropped by the largest percentage year-over-year since the report began way back in 1994. Analyst Dean McCarron says it's probably the largest decline since the precipitous downturn of 1984.
PC World
China's CATL will build a ??.3bn battery plant in Hungary, increasing its foothold in Europe and cementing its status as the world's largest car battery manufacturer.
The Financial Times
Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee received a presidential pardon Friday for his role in a 2016 political scandal, a move the South Korean government says is necessary so the country's largest chaebol can help steady the national economy.
Ars Technica
There are nearly 60 countries that plan to ban the sale of internal-combustion-engine vehicles (ICEVs). There are also more than 45 cities that have ICEV bans or restrictions on future ICEV sales and/or use. In the US, ICEV bans are on the horizon in at least 12 states.
EE Times
SK Hynix aims to select a US site for its advanced chip packaging plant and break ground there around the first quarter of next year, two people familiar with the matter said, helping the United States to compete as China pours money into the burgeoning sector.
Reuters
Nvidia on Monday warned its second-quarter revenue would drop by 19% from the prior quarter on weakness in its gaming business, sending the chip designer's shares down about 5% in early trading.
Reuters
GlobalFoundries and Qualcomm have announced they are more than doubling their existing strategic global long-term semiconductor manufacturing agreement previously entered into by GF's and Qualcomm's respective subsidiaries. Today's announcement secures wafer supply and commitments to support US-based manufacturing through capacity expansion at GF's most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility in Malta, New York.
Company release
Italy is close to clinching a deal initially worth $5 billion with Intel to build an advanced semiconductor packaging and assembly plant in the country, two sources briefed on discussions told Reuters on Thursday.
Reuters
Shipments to iPhone assembler Pegatron's factory in China were being held for scrutiny by Chinese customs officials a day after the company's senior executive met with US House speaker Nancy Pelosi in Taipei.
Nikkei Asia
TSMC CEO CC Wei said he had never had an auto industry executive call him until the shortage was desperate. "In the past two years they call me and behave like my best friend," he told a laughing crowd of TSMC partners and customers in Silicon Valley recently. One automaker called to urgently request 25 wafers, said Wei, who is used to fielding orders for 25,000 wafers. "No wonder you cannot get the support."
Reuters
Samsung Electronics has scaled back production at its massive smartphone plant in Vietnam, employees say, as retailers and warehouses grapple with rising inventory amid a global fall in consumer spending.
Reuters
Despite the challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical situation, Infineon has reported another robust quarter with revenue of ??,618 million, up 10% sequentially and 33% year over year, in the third quarter of its fiscal year 2022. The Munich, Germany-based chipmaker has raised its revenue forecast for the full year 2022.
EE Times
China has begun live fire military drills - its biggest-ever in the region - in the waters around Taiwan.
BBC News
Keith Krach, former Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment in the Trump administration, speaks on the significance of the CHIPS Act, which has since been passed by the House in a 243-187 vote.
EE Times
The Biden administration has been weighing a potential ban for months, but has elected to order the Commerce Department to issue a new rule that will effectively block the export of chip design software that's required to make chips with an emerging technology called gate all around, according to a person familiar with the administration's plans.
Protocol
Washington had banned the sale of most gear that can fabricate chips of 10 nanometers or better to Chinese leader SMIC without a license. Now it has expanded that barrier to equipment that can make anything more advanced than 14 nm, Lam Research CEO Tim Archer told analysts.
Bloomberg
Apple reported an almost 11% decline in profit after weathering supply constraints and shutdowns in China, although iPhone sales continued to grow, remaining resilient despite economic challenges.
Wall Street Journal
China has signalled that it may miss its annual economic growth target, as Covid restrictions weigh on the world's second largest economy.
BBC News
China has begun a series of investigations into key figures responsible for shaping chip policy and investment, raising questions about the impact on Beijing's blueprint for challenging US dominance of a US$550 billion industry.
Bloomberg
The US economy has shrunk for the second quarter in a row, a milestone that in many countries would be considered an economic recession.
BBC News
STMicroelectronics expects its factories to run at full steam well into 2023 as the chipmaker's backlog is filled by the car and smartphone industries, prompting it to raise its 2022 outlook and build new production lines.
Reuters
The European Central Bank (ECB) has raised interest rates for the first time in more than 11 years as it tries to control soaring eurozone inflation.
BBC News
Hyundai Motor, factory robot builder ABB and Swedish fridge maker Electrolux see the semi-conductor chip shortage easing, executives said Thursday, in a boost for manufacturers after a long struggle for components.
Reuters
SoftBank has put on hold plans for a London initial public offering of Arm because of the political turmoil in the UK government, throwing doubt on Britain's place as the future home of the Cambridge-based tech giant.
The Financial Times
Intel has informed customers it will raise prices on a majority of its microprocessors and peripheral chip products later this year, citing rising costs, Nikkei Asia learned.
Nikkei Electronics Asia
China's economy contracted sharply in the second quarter of this year as widespread coronavirus lockdowns hit businesses and consumers, with its GDP falling by 2.6% sequentially.
BBC News
Intel today announced that its board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.365 per share ($1.46 per share on an annual basis) on the company's common stock. The dividend will be payable on Sept. 1, 2022, to stockholders of record on Aug. 7, 2022.
Company release
SK Hynix is considering cutting its 2023 capital expenditure by about a quarter to KRW16 trillion (US$12.2 billion) in response to slower electronics demand than anticipated, people familiar with the matter said.
Bloomberg
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