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Monday 6 July 2026
Samsung said to seek up to 20% DRAM price hike as AI demand tightens supply

Samsung Electronics is negotiating with customers to raise average selling prices for commodity DRAM by as much as 20% in the third quarter of 2026 from the prior quarter, according to ZDNet Korea, which cited industry sources.

Monday 6 July 2026
Micron breaks ground on Hiroshima expansion to boost AI memory chip production
Micron Technology has begun construction on an expansion of its existing semiconductor plant in Higashi-Hiroshima, western Japan, as part of a JPY1.5 trillion (approx. US$9.3 billion) investment aimed at increasing production of advanced memory chips, particularly high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in artificial intelligence (AI) processors.
Monday 6 July 2026
Alibaba reportedly bans Claude Code for employees, citing security concerns as China shifts toward domestic AI coding tools
Alibaba has instructed employees to stop using Anthropic's Claude Code for work and remove Claude models from company computers, according to respective sources cited by Yicai, The Information, and Reuters. The move comes after concerns emerged over features in Claude Code that developers said could identify whether users were located in China or affiliated with Chinese research labs.
Monday 6 July 2026
China TPU chipmaker Zhonghao Xinying launches Xuyu AI processor to challenge GPU-based computing

Zhonghao Xinying (Hangzhou) Technology has launched its new self-developed high-performance TPU AI processor, Xuyu, alongside Taize 2.0, a software-hardware integrated AI computing platform built around the chip.

Monday 6 July 2026
Asahi Kasei to expand Taiwan photoresist film capacity for AI chip packaging
Asahi Kasei, one of the notable suppliers of Sunfort dry film photoresist in Japan, has initiated a fab expansion project in Taiwan. The newly established plant is expected to further elevate capacity performance in cutting and processing semiconductor packaging substrates.
Monday 6 July 2026
Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Sumitomo Chemical to form glass-core venture for chip substrates

Samsung Electro-Mechanics signed a final agreement on July 2 with Sumitomo Chemical's Korean subsidiary Dongwoo Fine-Chem to form a joint venture that will produce glass cores, a key material used in next-generation semiconductor package substrates, the companies said.

Saturday 4 July 2026
China's CR Micro raises power chip prices as Chinese suppliers push fresh hikes

China Resources Microelectronics (CR Micro), a Chinese power semiconductor integrated device manufacturer, has notified customers and partners that it will raise prices across its entire product lineup starting July 1, with increases beginning at 15%.

Saturday 4 July 2026
Samsung and SK Hynix seek substrate price cuts for the second half of 2026
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are reportedly pressing South Korean semiconductor substrate suppliers to lower prices for the second half of 2026, even as memory demand remains in a Super Cycle. According to ET News, the talks have intensified pressure across the supply chain as raw material costs stay high and substrate makers warn of margin erosion.
Saturday 4 July 2026
Anthropic tightens controls as Chinese firms route around Claude restrictions
Anthropic is stepping up efforts to block unauthorized access to Claude after reports that Chinese companies, including Ant Group and ByteDance, have used overseas entities, cloud services, and VPNs to work around its restrictions. Financial Times reported that the company has increased detection measures as it tries to prevent users in China from reaching its AI tools through indirect channels.
Saturday 4 July 2026
Commentary: Korea's KRW800tn chip bet risks US fab pressure while Apple profits from memory shock
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix have announced the country's largest-ever semiconductor expansion plan, while soaring memory prices have opened a separate fight between Micron and Apple.
Friday 3 July 2026
Infineon China pushes back after GaN products removed at Shanghai electronics show

Infineon China said on July 3 that it is pursuing legal remedies after several gallium nitride (GaN) products became the subject of a removal dispute at electronica Shanghai 2026, saying public accounts of the incident did not fully reflect the case's background or specific circumstances.

Friday 3 July 2026
Ubtech's U1 companion robots test whether China is ready for AI intimacy

Ubtech has launched the U1 series, its first mass-produced full-size bionic humanoid robot line, under the U World sub-brand, testing China's market for AI companion robots beyond industrial and service uses.

Friday 3 July 2026
China's polarizer makers seek price hikes as material bottlenecks bite

Chinese polarizer film suppliers are seeking higher prices from panel makers after raw-material and logistics costs rose in the second quarter, exposing a weak point in China's display-material supply chain.

Friday 3 July 2026
China's Z.ai ramps up AI rivalry with Anthropic, OpenAI via GLM-5.2

Chinese AI company Z.ai, also known as Zhipu AI, is escalating its challenge to US leaders Anthropic and OpenAI with the release of its open-weight GLM-5.2 model and a new AI coding assistant, underscoring China's growing competitiveness in frontier AI.

Friday 3 July 2026
South Korea bets on southwest semiconductor cluster, but key hurdles remain
South Korea on June 29 unveiled a large-scale investment plan for the country's Honam region in the southwest, which mainly covers the city of Gwangju and North and South Jeolla provinces, including semiconductor clusters for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, AI data centers, and regional infrastructure. The plan is seen as a key move by the South Korean government to respond to surging AI chip demand, excessive industrial concentration in the Seoul capital area, and pressure for balanced regional development.