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Friday 21 November 2025
'Qianwen': Alibaba's answer to ChatGPT
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has formally entered the global consumer-facing AI market, announcing the public beta launch of the Qianwen App, a personal AI assistant built on the company's powerful Qwen large language model (LLM)
Friday 21 November 2025
Samsung primes the ground for a major executive overhaul

Samsung Electronics has begun notifying senior executives nearing retirement, prompting expectations that its annual year-end management reshuffle is close. ChosunBiz and ZDNet Korea reported that Samsung began issuing retirement notices to selected executives on the morning of November 20. With the process underway, industry watchers expect the president-level reshuffle to be announced as early as November 21 or early next week

Friday 21 November 2025
Alibaba rebrands AI app as Qwen to challenge ChatGPT
Alibaba has revamped its AI mobile application under the new name "Qwen," aiming to compete head-to-head with OpenAI's ChatGPT by combining shopping, maps, and other functionalities into a single platform. The public beta, formerly called the "Tongyi" app, is based on Alibaba's advanced open-source model Qwen3, with users able to switch to the Qwen3-Max model for tasks requiring deeper reasoning
Friday 21 November 2025
Humanoid robots enter carmakers' factories, but key barriers slow wider adoption
The global race to deploy humanoid robots in the automotive industry has moved decisively from the laboratory into commercial reality in 2025. Yet behind high-profile demonstrations—from Tesla's Optimus to BMW's Figure 02 and BYD's Walker S—lie steep investment requirements and substantial risks, driven by technological and economic barriers that have yet to be cleared
Thursday 20 November 2025
China's top passive-component maker ignites 30% price surge
Price hikes are spreading across the passive component sector again. Following increases by several Taiwan-based suppliers, Guangdong Fenghua Advanced Technology (Fenghua Hi-Tech) has raised prices for distributors and direct customers, with new rates taking effect immediately and certain products rising by up to 30%. The move has sparked debate over whether the passive component sector is approaching a rare "once-in-a-decade" cyclical peak
Thursday 20 November 2025
Research insight: Horizon Robotics leads China's push for autonomous driving independence
China's self-driving car market is surging, with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) now installed in over 60% of new vehicles. Yet the high-end autonomous driving chip market remains dominated by American suppliers, who control nearly 70% of the sector. Against a backdrop of rising Sino-US geopolitical tensions, Chinese chipmakers and autonomous driving solution providers are ramping up efforts to reduce reliance on foreign technology and accelerate domestic innovation
Thursday 20 November 2025
South Korea joins 'Stargate UAE' project to build major data center hub
South Korea has announced a partnership with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to support the US-led "Stargate UAE" initiative, a project designed to build the world's largest artificial intelligence data center complex outside the US. The agreement focuses on establishing the necessary computing power and energy infrastructure for the massive facility
Thursday 20 November 2025
Arm China resets its AI push with the Zhouyi X3 NPU
Arm China, long under industry scrutiny following the leadership dispute involving former CEO Allen Wu, is signaling a return to stability with a symbolically significant AI product launch. The move marks its strongest effort to exit years of internal turmoil and reassert its position in China's rapidly shifting AI ecosystem
Thursday 20 November 2025
Samsung's Austin chip plant surges to record 3Q25 profit, exceeding full-year 2024 earnings
Samsung Electronics posted a sharp rebound at its Austin semiconductor plant in the third quarter of 2025. The results signal renewed momentum for the company's US foundry operations following several loss-making quarters
Thursday 20 November 2025
Amkor invests US$177M to expand AI chip packaging in South Korea
Amkor, one of the largest US-based outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, has begun investing over KRW260 billion (approx. US$177 million) in South Korea to expand capacity for rising AI chip demand. The company said it will increase back-end production in Songdo, Incheon, where it already runs a key advanced packaging facility
Thursday 20 November 2025
Yulon Nissan posts 3Q25 profit turnaround as Nissan N7 sales surge
Yulon Nissan Motor, a subsidiary of Yulon Group, held an online earnings call on November 19 to report its operational results for the third quarter of 2025 and provide updates on Dongfeng Nissan's latest market conditions
Thursday 20 November 2025
Arm face investigation in South Korea amid global antitrust scrutiny
South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has launched a surprise investigation into Arm Holdings' Seoul office following a complaint by Qualcomm alleging abuse of market dominance. This move added another dimension to ongoing probes by US and European regulators into the licensing practices of the UK-based semiconductor IP provider, according to Seoul Economy and Reuters
Thursday 20 November 2025
Europe's retailers hedge their bets as Chinese carmakers surge

Chinese new-energy vehicles, propelled by low starting bases and rapid growth, have quickly gained visibility across Europe in recent years. The shift has been swift enough that major European auto retail groups are now accelerating the introduction of Chinese models into their showrooms. Over the past year, the 50 largest dealer groups in Europe have, on average, added at least one Chinese brand each, with some adopting as many as three or four, evidence that the penetration of Chinese automakers is advancing on all fronts

Thursday 20 November 2025
Netherlands pauses Nexperia order after China talks, easing auto-chip strain—but not the hard questions
The Netherlands has suspended its ministerial order under the Goods Availability Act concerning Nexperia, signaling a potential easing of tensions with China. The move carries implications for global semiconductor supply chains, particularly for the automotive industry, but key governance and control issues at the company remain unresolved
Thursday 20 November 2025
Nvidia sees a US$500bn Blackwell–Rubin pipeline through 2026 despite a muted China quarter
Nvidia sees clear visibility to US$500 billion in revenue from its Blackwell and Rubin platforms through the end of 2026, with AI infrastructure demand continuing to outstrip supply as clouds remain sold out and the company's entire GPU fleet—spanning Blackwell, Hopper, and Ampere—runs at full utilization