The US has finalized reciprocal tariffs with several countries, but supply chain sources say customer attitudes toward relocation vary. While server supply chains moving to North America continue to gain momentum, the pace of consumer electronics production shifts—such as notebooks relocating to Southeast Asia—has clearly slowed. The main reason is that increased costs from relocation are now close to the tariffs paid when producing in China, reducing the incentives to move
China's space launch program suffered a rare setback this week, as two rockets failed in separate launch attempts within hours of each other—an unusual break in a record of growing reliability for the country's rapidly expanding space sector
On January 12, 2026, Japan's scientific drilling vessel Chikyu slowly departed port, heading toward the waters near Minamitorishima Island, about 1,900km southeast of Honshu. This mission is not merely a scientific expedition but a critical test tied to Japan's national economic security and the restructuring of global critical mineral supply chains
Vietnam has officially begun construction of its first homegrown semiconductor chip manufacturing facility, marking a significant step in the country's plans to develop a domestic semiconductor ecosystem
Thailand's Board of Investment (BOI) recently approved a major investment plan led by Zhen Ding Tech (ZDT), the world's largest printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer, in partnership with local firm Saha Pathana Inter-Holding (SPI). The project involves approximately THB65 billion (US$2.1 billion) to establish advanced PCB production capacity, aiming to position Thailand as a key PCB manufacturing center in Southeast Asia
Chinese authorities have increased scrutiny on rare earth exports bound for Japan, as export volumes declined in December 2025 compared to the previous month. The move reflects Beijing's intent to exert greater control over essential materials amid escalating tensions with Tokyo
US export restrictions on advanced semiconductor equipment to China have become the biggest obstacle to China's domestic production of high-bandwidth memory (HBM). It has been reported that Chinese companies have begun investing heavily in equipment localization. For example, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is moving towards mass production of more advanced HBM in 2026, and other related equipment vendors are making all-out efforts to build an HBM equipment ecosystem
As geopolitical tensions escalate, China's AI industry development is shifting from the application layer to underlying computing power and core chip technologies, with GPU- and AI chip-related companies becoming key focal points for both capital and policy resources. The Hurun Research Institute recently released the Hurun Global Unicorns Index 2025
South Korea said it will seek negotiations with the US after Washington imposed a 25% tariff on selected semiconductor products, a move that has placed the country's leading chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, on heightened alert over potential knock-on effects
China's semiconductor supply chain is accelerating plans to bring sixth-generation low-power DRAM, known as LPDDR6, into commercial use in 2026, seeking to close a long-standing technology gap with global memory leaders as edge AI raises demand for higher bandwidth and lower power consumption
Samsung Electronics' foundry business is showing signs of a gradual recovery, with fab utilization expected to average in the low-60% range in the first half of 2026, up from the 50% range in the second half of 2025, according to a report by ZDNet Korea
The four-year Russia-Ukraine war stalemate persists, while escalating US-EU tensions linked to the US attempt to purchase Greenland have triggered retaliatory tariffs and market disruptions. Europe's imposition of tariffs and restrictions worth EUR93 billion (US$107.95 billion) on US companies is contributing to a sharp decline in global shipping indexes
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has named Foxconn Industrial Internet's (FII) Bac Ninh Province facility in Vietnam as the country's first Sustainable Lighthouse Factory, recognizing its use of generative AI (GenAI) to deliver measurable carbon reductions and set a new benchmark for green manufacturing
Amid escalating geopolitical tensions between China and Japan, China has recently imposed stricter review measures on rare earth exports to Japan. Chinese authorities now reportedly require exporters to submit more detailed declarations, including the actual use of rare earths, the products they are applied to, and whether these products are re-exported to the US or other third countries
The US' recent announcement of a 25% tariff on certain advanced computing chips, including Nvidia's H200 and AMD's MI325X, could have implications for Malaysia's semiconductor sector, though experts suggest immediate effects may be limited. The tariffs, justified by the White House on national security grounds, aim to incentivize domestic chip production and reduce reliance on overseas suppliers such as Taiwan
At CES 2026 in the US, Nvidia unveiled its open-source vision-language-action (VLA) model series, Alpamayo, signaling a new phase in the development of autonomous driving technologies. The launch has intensified competition among global automakers, which are now ramping up investment and racing to secure computing power centered on VLA architectures
