Nissan Motor said it will leverage the Giga-casting technique to produce its next-generation EVs and rapidly reduce costs. The automaker recently also invited media members to check its pilot lines for all-solid-state batteries under construction.
After securing a 27-inch OLED display sale to Hyundai Motor Group's Genesis, LG Display (LGD) also reportedly received a large-sized LCD order from a foreign luxury car brand. This LCD order represents the longest size among LGD's automotive displays and is currently in preparation, with a target to officially begin mass production in the first quarter of 2026.
SK Hynix Inc. will have to contend with high expectations when it reports next week after solid earnings from the likes of Micron Technology Inc. cemented optimism about demand for artificial intelligence chips.
On April 19, SK Hynix announced that it had recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with TSMC. The two companies will collaborate closely on producing next-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM) products and enhancing advanced packaging technologies integrating HBM with logic layers.
Samsung Electronics is reportedly expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) chip design research organization in Silicon Valley to challenge Nvidia, the current leader in the AI semiconductor market, by developing AI chips based on the RISC-V architecture.
To penetrate the Chinese mobility market, Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions Division is poised to attend the upcoming Beijing International Automotive Exhibition for the first time.
Japan-based photoresist leader JSR announced that the Take Over Bid (TOB) for its shares, led by the Japanese government and the state-backed Japan Investment Corp (JIC), had been completed. JSR will lead in consolidating the semiconductor material industry in Japan and ramping up investments in advanced semiconductor materials.
China's automotive offense has pressured legacy carmakers in Europe and other markets. Gianfranco Pizzuto, an Italian automotive veteran and the former co-founder of Fisker Automotive, predicted that Chinese carmakers will lead the mainstream market for the next 10 years. The luxury segment is where European companies can stay ahead of competitors.
According to SE Daily and Hankyung reports on April 17, starting as early as this week, subsidiaries of Samsung Group are reportedly implementing a one-day weekend policy for their senior executives to address challenges like declining performance, fluctuating exchange rates, and oil price changes.
Chinese semiconductor foundry firms are persistently adopting aggressive pricing strategies, putting relentless pressure on the market share of South Korean 8-inch wafer manufacturers. In this evolving landscape, South Korean industry insiders are eyeing potential benefits if the US expands its sanctions on China to encompass more mature semiconductor processes.
With NAND Flash demand picking up, leading players like Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Kioxia, and Western Digital have started ramping up wafer production in NAND lines. However, to prevent price impacts, memory manufacturers are cautiously adjusting capacity and setting limits on wafer production.
Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) released data showing that as of December 2023, 1,209 Taiwanese companies had invested NT$2,735.6 billion (US$84.2 billion) in China, an increase of NT$32.4 billion from the end of 2022. However, investment repatriation from China last year alone accounted for 17.5% of the accumulated amount over the past, probably due to capital needs for supply chain migration.
