SK Hynix has unveiled a new processor architecture designed to reduce power consumption and chip area in solid-state drive (SSD) controllers, expanding its efforts to address storage bottlenecks as AI data centers demand faster and more efficient access to data.

China's Hua Hong Group has signed strategic agreements with four domestic semiconductor equipment suppliers to accelerate the adoption of locally developed wafer fabrication tools, reinforcing China's chipmaking self-sufficiency efforts. The partnerships coincide with Hua Hong's ambitious 2030 market-share targets for specialty processes, including embedded flash memory, power management, and image sensors.

Japan's Omron has agreed to acquire US industrial computer (IPC) maker OnLogic and its parent company, Interlogic, at an enterprise value of US$675 million, seeking to expand its presence in Western markets and combine rugged edge computing with its factory automation and control technologies.

Huawei's cumulative global foldable smartphone shipments have exceeded 20 million units, with the company capturing more than 70% of China's foldable phone market in the first half of 2026, according to Huawei Terminal BG CTO Li Xiaolong.

After 2013, planar NAND flash memory began reaching its scaling limits at the 15–16nm process node. Capacitive coupling between the floating gates of adjacent memory cells increasingly disrupted their threshold voltages, making stored data harder to read reliably. The problem became particularly acute with the adoption of triple-level cell (TLC) NAND, which requires precise threshold-voltage detection. Changes in the charge stored by neighbouring cells could alter those voltages, making further planar scaling increasingly difficult.

South Korean electronic materials supplier YMT is accelerating its expansion into glass-substrate electroplating. The company plans to increase related capacity to roughly four times its current level by the end of 2026 to meet customer demand for through-glass via (TGV) development.

Huawei's automotive partnerships are accelerating their overseas expansion while facing growing scrutiny over product safety and brand trust. AITO is reportedly planning to enter the European market in 2027 and has initiated the European Union's Whole Vehicle Type Approval (WVTA) process.

DeepSeek is expanding its reach beyond digital chatbots into the physical world, agreeing to lead a seed financing round for Winverse AI. According to sources familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg, the investment would value the Chinese robotics startup at approximately US$400 million.

South Korean AI startup Hamada Labs is targeting traditional manufacturers and distributors in Taiwan and Japan with its WindyFlo platform, which connects enterprise data and workflows to extend AI applications to inventory, order, and logistics management. The company, which has accumulated experience in South Korea in areas including medical devices and established a Japanese subsidiary, is also seeking proof-of-concept (PoC) opportunities with Taiwanese businesses.

Chinese CMOS image sensor (CIS) maker SmartSens completed a CNY3.2 billion (approx. US$478 million) capital increase in September 2026 to expand into automotive electronics and AI vision. The investment targets high-performance imaging, intelligent driving and on-device AI computing, extending its sensing technology into image processing and edge applications as demand for environmental perception grows in vehicles and robots.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are expected to see a sharp increase in NAND flash profits in 2026 as surging demand for enterprise solid-state drives (SSDs) drives up memory prices and improves profitability, adding another earnings boost beyond high-bandwidth memory (HBM).

As the push toward smarter vehicle systems and full electrification intensifies alongside China's strengthening position in the EV market, these trends are increasingly prompting overseas automakers to enter a new phase of operational restructuring.

China's leading artificial intelligence companies are gaining users and global recognition, but their commercial returns remain far behind those of US rivals. The growing disparity raises a question for China's AI industry: can low-cost, open-weight models generate sustainable profits, or will the greatest financial rewards flow to the platforms distributing them?

Samsung Electronics plans to pay its semiconductor employees special bonuses entirely in company shares in late March or early April 2027, with two-thirds of the stock subject to selling restrictions for up to two years. The payments, funded by 10.5% of the chip division's operating profit, remain subject to shareholder approval.

China's 15th Five-Year Plan and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's strong chip project are accelerating the domestic replacement of semiconductor equipment and materials amid intensifying US-China competition. Xiamen-based Jinai Tech, which integrates resources from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, is leveraging plasma, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and atomic layer deposition (ALD) technologies to enter the advanced process equipment market, with its pilot production line scheduled to begin operations in mid-2027.