NXP will ship this year as many as five SoCs made in Samsung's 28nm fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) process, including one that has been sampling for six months. Samsung is expected to announce its FD-SOI roadmap in May and is already working on RF and in-house embedded MRAM for it.

Samsung Electronics is expecting operating profits of KRW9.9 trillion ($8.8 billion) for the first quarter of 2017, its second-highest quarterly profit, thanks to strong performance from its chip business and despite the absence of the Galaxy Note 7.

A Chinese court has ordered Samsung Electronics' mainland subsidiaries to pay CNY80 million ($11.60 million) to Huawei Technologies for patent infringement, the China firm's first victory against Samsung on its legal challenges over intellectual property.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will adopt the world's first spray-type electromagnetic interference, or EMI shielding technology, for their respective chip production lines from June, according to industry sources.

Record earnings at Samsung Electronics' chip division are set to propel the tech giant's first-quarter profit to a three-and-a-half-year high, and the quarters ahead could be even better if its newest smartphone, Galaxy S8, is a success.

This powerful platform allows the Galaxy S8 to support Gigabit LTE, for fiber-optic Internet speeds on the go, and more consistent mobile data performance in more places.

Intel says that when its long-delayed 10-nanometer Cannon Lake chips finally arrive, they'll be a "full generation ahead" of rivals Samsung and TMSC, thanks to "hyper scaling" that squeezes in twice as many transistors.

The supply of Samsung Electronics' upcoming flagship smartphone, presumably the Galaxy S8, may fail to meet demand due to the sluggish production of Qualcomm chipsets, industry sources said Tuesday.

Qualcomm prevented Samsung Electronics, its biggest client for Snapdragon chip-sets, from selling its own Exynos counterpart to third-parties, South Korea's Fair Trade Commission claimed.

High-end smartphones took up less than 30% of Samsung Electronics' combined sales of handsets, data showed Monday, although the figure is expected to rebound after the launch of the tech giant's upcoming new flagship model this week.

Samsung Electronics is considering large-scale marketing activities for the upcoming Galaxy S8, including unconditional refunds after up to three-month use.

Samsung appears to be about a quarter ahead of TSMC with the ramp of 10nm process technology, according to a veteran chip analyst.

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday its chip factory under construction in southern Seoul is expected to start production in the first half of 2017 as scheduled. The new line is expected to focus on the production of 3-D Vertical NAND (V-NAND) flash memory.

Samsung Electronics will invest about KRW10 trillion (US$8.7 billion) in Hwaseong Campus in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea to build a new line to produce memory DRAMs.

Samsung is going to make supplemental investments into its 10nm production lines in March 2017 and construct new 7nm semiconductor facilities in 2018. Its strategy is to secure ultra-fine processing technologies faster than its competitors.

As major player Toshiba's flash memory business is up for sale, global chipmakers are weighing their chances of competing against Samsung, which has a runaway lead in 3D NAND flash technology.

Evan Blass is back with information on the Galaxy S8. According to Blass, the device will now release on April 28th. This sets the date back by one week. Reasons for the delay include alleged quality control and production delays for the Snapdragon 835, on both Samsung and Qualcomm's ends. Blass isn't sure about the exact reason though, only that the rumored release will now take place a week later.

Despite the rumors that Samsung was hogging all the Snapdragon 835s for itself, Sony has brought a device with Qualcomm's top-of-the-line 2017 SoC to MWC.

Samsung will sell modified versions of the Galaxy Note 7 in emerging markets, including India and Vietnam, according to Hankyung, which claims the move is designed to help Samsung minimise losses and avoid a potential environmental fine.

The South Korea tech giant's reputation among the general public in the US fell 42 positions after the Note 7 debacle, while Amazon maintained its top spot for the second straight year.

How will this affect Samsung's businesses? For the time being, they seem to flourish or flounder no matter who the company's titular leader is.

Despite the calamities surrounding Samsung's heir apparent Lee Jae-Yong right now, the shareholders of Harman International have voted to approve the company's merger with Samsung Electronics.

Samsung hopes to avoid another disastrous recall by adding a third battery supplier for its new smartphone.

TetraVue, a company setting out to arm autonomous cars with ultra high-resolution 3D image-capturing smarts, announced it has raised $10 million from Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Nautilus Venture Partners, Samsung Catalyst Fund, and Foxconn.

Apple is in discussions with China's BOE Technology to supply next-generation displays for future iPhones, a key component that's being provided by a Samsung Electronics unit, people familiar with the matter said.

As if the earlier reports suggesting 10 million Galaxy S8 shipments wasn't sufficient that a new one pops up claiming that Samsung is aiming to ramp up production to bring that grand total up to an unbelievable 17 million units.

TSMC's paper described a test chip that could pass for a commercial part and said it had "healthy" yields. Samsung described its use of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography to repair what was clearly a research device, suggesting what it will call 7nm could still be years away.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are expected to engage in the automotive semiconductor industry in earnest as the global market is expected to grow 7.1% annually by 2020.

Samsung Electronics may build a US plant for its home appliances business, a person familiar with the matter said, the latest global firm to consider a response to criticism about imports from new US President Donald Trump.

Samsung Electronics is discussing a supply deal with Japan's Murata Manufacturing for batteries for its next-generation smartphone.

According to electronics and display industry sources, LG Display recently agreed with Samsung Electronics to supply its two to three models of 40- to 60-inch LCD TV panels. The two companies are discussing the contract details, such as model, price and supply time, and are about to enter into a final agreement.

LG Display has scored a deal to supply television displays to rival Samsung Electronics from as soon as 2017, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Breaking with recent tradition, Samsung had already said it would not be introducing its new Galaxy S8 smartphone at the massive Mobile World Congress that starts in late February. Instead, the phone will be unveiled at a separate event on March 29.

TSMC is expected to undergo risk production of 7nm chipsets this year, and mass production next year, while Samsung now also cites an aggressive roadmap for "early 2018," meaning that the Galaxy S9 will most likely flaunt a 7nm processor.

"The Snapdragon 835 won't be available in large quantities until after the Galaxy S8 launches," source said.