Rapidus President Atsuyoshi Koike said the Japanese chipmaker will use Taiwan as a model for building a semiconductor industry cluster in Hokkaido, while IBM Japan is establishing a new office near Rapidus’ plant to strengthen support for the company.

Global AI data center construction and Taiwan Power's NT$564.5 billion (US$17.23 billion) resilient-grid initiative are driving demand for highly reliable power equipment and intelligent management. Smart-power provider Horngyu Electric is integrating hardware and software to capture opportunities in the global power-grid market.

A Seoul court has dismissed LG Chem's request for a preliminary injunction that would have halted production and sales of certain cathode materials by JS Energy, the South Korean subsidiary of Chinese cathode maker Ronbay, The Elec reported on November 7, citing industry sources. LG Chem has appealed.

India approved 12 applications involving a proposed investment of INR75.03 billion (US$796.90 million) under its Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) on November 6, broadening support for domestic materials and manufacturing equipment. The projects are expected to generate production worth INR390.45 billion and create 7,127 direct jobs, the electronics ministry said.

Hanwha Semitech has named chief business officer Kim Jin-woo as its incoming CEO after semiconductor equipment revenue more than doubled in the third quarter of 2026. The South Korean company announced the appointment on November 9 as it moves to expand its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) bonding equipment business.

Tong Hsing Electronic Industries (THEIL), a semiconductor packaging company under the YAGEO Group, said its board has approved the acquisition of a 100% stake in Singapore-listed Global Testing Corporation for approximately SGD76.71 million (US$59.88 million). The deal will take Global Testing private and is intended to transform Tong Hsing from a traditional packaging manufacturer into a comprehensive packaging and testing service provider.

SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won has defended Samsung and SK's combined KRW4,755 trillion (approx. US$3.52 trillion) investment plans, arguing that South Korea cannot keep pace in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race without committing unprecedented amounts of capital.

Nvidia, SK Telecom and South Korean AI chip startup Rebellions have agreed to develop rack-scale AI inference systems that combine Nvidia GPUs with Rebellions' next-generation neural processing units (NPUs), bringing Korean-designed accelerators into Nvidia's data center infrastructure.

Washington's case for letting Nvidia sell H200 chips to China rested on case-by-case national-security screening. A New York Times investigation published on November 7 suggests that the screening cleared companies whose listed offices stood empty and whose owners have ties to firms on the US trade blacklist. The findings sharpen doubts over whether the licensing channel can keep advanced AI hardware away from restricted entities.

Paras Semiconductors, a subsidiary of Indian defense company Paras Defence & Space Technologies, announced a strategic technology partnership with US-based BroadPak Corporation on November 6 to build advanced semiconductor packaging capabilities in India, anchored by a planned INR62 billion (US$658.77 million) OSAT facility in Madhya Pradesh.

Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron are reportedly collaborating on charging standards for mobile robots used in semiconductor fabs, seeking to accelerate factory automation and lay the groundwork for unmanned manufacturing. The initiative is unusual as it brought together major industry rivals to standardize robotic components, equipment, communications, and system interfaces, potentially drawing broader attention across the semiconductor industry.

China announced on November 9 that it would extend the suspension of an additional 24% tariff on US imports for another two months, while retaining the 10% additional tariff, following agreements reached during talks between Chinese and US leaders in Washington. The extension, announced by the State Council Tariff Commission, will take effect at 1:01pm on November 10, 2026, and is intended to maintain stability in bilateral trade relations.

Surging demand for AI computing is accelerating data center construction in both the US and China, although the US is expected to retain a substantial lead in installed capacity through 2030.

Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE) has showcased a new generation of domestically developed lithography systems spanning front-end wafer fabrication and advanced packaging, marking further progress in China's semiconductor equipment localisation. The company claims more than 90% of key components in its front-end systems are sourced domestically, with the equipment advancing into volume production.

South Korean equipment maker Naintech is expanding beyond secondary-battery equipment by entering TCL China Star Optoelectronic Technology’s 8.6-generation inkjet OLED mass-production line. South Korean media reported that Naintech secured a KRW25.4 billion (approximately US$17.5 million) supply contract with LG Electronics.