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Friday 26 December 2025
Japan quadruples chip and physical AI spending, deepens state backing for Rapidus
Japan is preparing a major expansion of state support for advanced semiconductors and artificial intelligence, with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) set to nearly quadruple related funding from fiscal year 2026, starting in April 2026
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Friday 26 December 2025
Huawei details Ascend AI chip roadmap built around in-house HBM, massive clusters
Huawei is clarifying how it intends to compete in global AI computing despite being cut off from leading-edge foundries and US-origin GPUs. Instead of chasing rivals on single-chip performance, the company is leaning into scale, systems engineering, and vertical integration—a strategy it is now preparing to test outside China, beginning with South Korea
Friday 26 December 2025
Tariff restraint masks continued hard line as US weighs broader controls on Chinese chip capabilities
The US government has decided not to impose additional semiconductor tariffs on China for the next 18 months, despite concluding that Beijing's state-led chip industry policies involve unfair subsidies and market distortion. DIGITIMES analyst Luke Lin stressed in a recent podcast that this should not be misinterpreted as a softening stance toward China
Friday 26 December 2025
Samsung, SK Hynix reportedly accelerate HBM4 production to early 2026
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are pushing forward their production schedules for sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory to February 2026. Industry sources and South Korean media reports confirm the accelerated timeline. The two companies aim to begin volume manufacturing of HBM4 months earlier than previously anticipated. The goal is to meet surging demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. By accelerating their timelines, the South Korean chipmakers seek to solidify their dominance in the AI memory market before global competitors can scale similar technologies
Friday 26 December 2025
SK Hynix targets February HBM4 ramp-up with TSMC, ships final samples to Nvidia
SK Hynix is scheduled to deliver final samples of its next-generation high-bandwidth memory to Nvidia in early January 2025. This comes as the South Korean chipmaker nears a February target for mass production of HBM4. The delivery follows a revised wafer run intended to resolve technical issues identified during earlier integration testing, according to DealSite. It marks a critical step in supporting Nvidia's next wave of artificial intelligence accelerators
Friday 26 December 2025
South Korean giants race to mass-produce semiconductor glass substrates in 2026
As demand for artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors continues to surge, the market for glass substrates, which are widely regarded as a critical material for next-generation advanced packaging, is gaining momentum. South Korean companies such as Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEMCO) and LG Innotek are gearing up to compete for leadership in this emerging segment
Friday 26 December 2025
Google reportedly fires procurement execs amid HBM supply crunch
Google and Microsoft are stepping up efforts to secure high-bandwidth memory. Production capacity at South Korean chipmakers is approaching its limits. The supply crunch has coincided with executive dismissals and stalled negotiations. According to industry sources cited by the Seoul Economic Daily and G-enews, major cloud and artificial intelligence companies are intensifying procurement efforts. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are nearing full utilization of their advanced memory lines
Friday 26 December 2025
Domestic market stalls, Taiwan automakers pivot abroad
Taiwan's auto market slowed markedly in 2025. Yet rather than retreat, several automakers used the downturn to recalibrate—strengthening their balance sheets, accelerating transformation efforts, and pushing more decisively into overseas markets
Friday 26 December 2025
Huawei raises Chinese-made components to 60% in flagship smartphones
Huawei Technologies has lifted the share of Chinese-made components in its latest premium smartphones to nearly 60% by value, underscoring how years of US export controls have accelerated domestic capabilities across key technologies. Recent teardowns show that localization has moved well beyond low-cost or peripheral parts. Huawei is now sourcing processors, memory, and displays domestically — components that were once firmly dominated by suppliers from the US, Japan, and South Korea
Friday 26 December 2025
Xiaomi rejects US bid to add it to China Military Company list
Xiaomi stated that it is not a Chinese military-industrial company, is not affiliated with any military entity, and only provides consumer-focused civilian and commercial products, adding that the proposal to place Xiaomi on the 1260H list is unfounded, according to The South China Morning Post
Friday 26 December 2025
Huawei sets Ascend 950 launch for 1H26; China hedges ahead of Nvidia H200
As 2025 draws to a close, the US-China AI compute market is entering a phase of guarded competition and selective cooperation. While the US government has launched an inter-agency review of Nvidia's H200 exports to China—and Nvidia is reportedly planning deliveries ahead of the Lunar New Year—Huawei has already set a clear timetable. Its next-generation AI chip, the Ascend 950PR, is scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2026
Friday 26 December 2025
AI data center boom deepens reliance on Chinese components despite supply chain shifts
Rising global investment in artificial intelligence is accelerating data center construction. This is intensifying demand for power, cooling, and energy storage equipment, reinforcing reliance on Chinese-made components even as governments push to diversify supply chains
Friday 26 December 2025
FineMat pivots to drones, chip packaging amid China's display supply chain localization
FineMat Applied Materials is retooling its business as China's push to localize its display supply chain cuts into demand for the Taiwanese company's core products, prompting new investments in drones and advanced semiconductor packaging substrates, the company said
Friday 26 December 2025
Hygon outlines dual-chip roadmap for system-level AI computing

At the Hygon-initiated HAIC 2025 Artificial Intelligence Innovation Conference in Kunshan from December 17 to 19, Hygon Information Technology unveiled a "dual-chip strategy," positioning its DCU accelerator and CPU as a tightly integrated foundation for China's next phase of AI infrastructure

Friday 26 December 2025
YF Capital backs InnoStar Semiconductor, extending Jack Ma's China memory chip push
YF Capital, the private equity firm founded by Jack Ma, has taken a stake in China's memory chip sector, renewing market focus on semiconductor investment trends. As the US tightens technology restrictions, domestically developed Chinese chips are increasingly seen as strategically critical, driving a rise in related investment activity
Friday 26 December 2025
China surges ahead of US in drone patents, heightening pressure on Taiwan

China has maintained a clear lead over the US in drone-related technology patents since 2016, highlighting a widening technology gap as Taiwan seeks to expand its domestic drone industry and reduce reliance on China-centric supply chains. The divergence underscores the scale of the challenge facing Taiwan at a time when governments worldwide are accelerating procurement of unmanned systems and reassessing supply chain security