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Friday 14 August 2026
South Korea's memory-chip exports surge 277% as system chips slip
South Korea's semiconductor export boom was heavily concentrated in memory in July. Memory-chip export value surged 276.9% year over year, while system semiconductor exports slipped 0.7%, as server demand and higher memory prices created a sharp split between the two segments.
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Monday 17 August 2026
LG-Nvidia physical AI partnership speeds up as robotics chief reportedly heads to South Korea

Less than a week after LG Group and Nvidia signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MOU), Madison Huang, Nvidia's senior director of product marketing for Omniverse and robotics, is reportedly preparing to visit South Korea and head directly to one of LG's key robotics R&D sites.

Monday 17 August 2026
China's Vertilite commits US$741M to InP laser chips for AI optical interconnects
Chinese optical chipmaker Jiangsu Vertilite Semiconductor Technology is investing CNY5 billion (approx. US$741 million) in a new communications chip and device R&D and manufacturing base in Changzhou, expanding beyond VCSELs into high-end indium phosphide, or InP, laser chips for AI optical interconnects.
Monday 17 August 2026
LG, Nvidia step up humanoid push with robot data factory

Nvidia's Madison Huang is set to visit LG Electronics' Yangjae R&D campus in Seoul on August 18 to inspect the company's robot data factory and hold closed-door talks with senior LG executives on robotics cooperation, according to Yonhap and Chosun Biz.

Monday 17 August 2026
China battery makers rework costs as lithium prices fall and taxes rise
China's lithium battery industry is entering a new phase of cost restructuring as falling lithium carbonate prices, uncertain supply conditions and higher taxes squeeze manufacturers' margins, according to Chinese media reports.
Monday 17 August 2026
India draws 20 bids for rare earth magnet manufacturing scheme
India's Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) has received 20 bids from domestic and global companies under its scheme to promote manufacturing of sintered rare earth permanent magnets (REPM), a step toward building a local supply chain for a material India currently imports almost entirely from China, according to DD News and the New Indian Express.
Monday 17 August 2026
Samsung weighs Giheung R&D line for 2nm HBM foundry capacity

Samsung Electronics is reportedly considering repurposing the second line at its next-generation semiconductor R&D complex in Giheung into a foundry send-fab, a shift that would add advanced-node capacity as demand for AI memory strains leading-edge capacity.

Monday 17 August 2026
Nokia axes 1,600 jobs and Hangzhou R&D center in deepening China telecom retreat

Nokia is accelerating its retreat from China, closing its Hangzhou R&D center and cutting about 1,600 jobs as shrinking market access, geopolitical friction and a broader global restructuring reshape the Finnish telecom equipment maker's footprint in the world's largest 5G market.

Monday 17 August 2026
Fallout from Wingtech's Nexperia rupture: the price of rebuilding China's chip supply chain

Wingtech is entering a sharply different phase after dismantling much of its product-integration business and losing effective control over parts of Nexperia's overseas operations. The Chinese technology group posted a steep first-half revenue contraction and swung to a loss, while legal disputes in the Netherlands and Singapore now complicate its effort to rebuild around semiconductors and a more China-centered supply chain.

Monday 17 August 2026
Samsung Electro-Mechanics, LG Innotek substrate lines near full capacity as AI demand rises

Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEMCO) and LG Innotek pushed their semiconductor package substrate operations close to full capacity in the first half of 2026 as shipments of high-value substrates for AI accelerators, server CPUs, memory and data center networking climbed, company filings and earnings materials show.

Monday 17 August 2026
Tata succession clouds outlook for chips, clean energy, data centers

Tata's leadership transition may shape the pace of one of India's biggest industrial bets. The group's planned spending on chips, clean energy, and AI data centers is entering a critical stage, but a shift toward tighter capital discipline could slow expansion and alter priorities worldwide.

Monday 17 August 2026
US drone tariff tests whether allies can truly replace China

Washington has spent years tightening controls on Chinese technology across strategically important supply chains. That playbook is now expanding into drones, where the Trump administration's latest tariffs seek not only to restrict Chinese market access but to reshape the economics of the broader unmanned-aircraft supply chain.

Monday 17 August 2026
Apple reportedly builds China-specific AI model with Alibaba as Qwen partnership deepens
Apple has trained a large language model (LLM) specifically for the Chinese market with support from Alibaba, according to Reuters, marking a shift from its previous reliance on third-party Chinese models for Apple Intelligence.
Monday 17 August 2026
Kaynes Semicon eyes photonics, quantum security and neuromorphic chips in India tech push
Kaynes Semicon is looking at silicon photonics (SiPh) and co-packaged optics (CPO), post-quantum security, and neuromorphic computing as potential areas for expansion as India prepares the next phase of its semiconductor support program, CEO Raghu Panicker said.
Monday 17 August 2026
Modi pledges more chip plants, mass AI training, and an export push in Independence Day address
Prime Minister Narendra Modi used India's 80th Independence Day address from the Red Fort on August 15 to tie semiconductor manufacturing, artificial intelligence training, and trade policy into a single self-reliance push, framing all three as building blocks toward a "Viksit Bharat," or developed India, by 2047.
Monday 17 August 2026
OCI thins solar wafers to boost Vietnam output 39%
OCI Holdings is turning to thinner solar wafers to raise output from its Vietnam operations by nearly 40% without adding production lines, as demand from US customers outpaces existing capacity.