Hygon Information Technology and Dawning Information Industry Co. (Sugon) announced a strategic merger on May 25, 2025, a move widely seen as aligning with Beijing's agenda to consolidate its computing infrastructure and fast-track technological self-reliance. Hygon, valued at roughly CNY316 billion (US$43.95 billion), focuses on domestic CPUs and data processing units (DCUs), with five chip generations in use across finance, telecom, artificial intelligence, and enterprise data centers

Fresh off a triumphant Middle East tour, President Donald Trump reignited trade tensions on Thursday with a bold new proposal: imposing a 50 percent tariff on all European Union (EU) imports and a 25% levy on all smartphones not manufactured in the US

The impending semiconductor chip tariff policy continues to cause concern. The semiconductor supply chain believes that if US President Donald Trump insists on imposing tariffs, it would significantly impact American IC design and equipment materials sectors, while the initial target, TSMC, would face limited disruption

Following years of trailing its competitors and facing mounting skepticism, Google appeared to turn a corner at this year's I/O developer conference. Unlike previous events where the tech giant labored to explain the power of its AI models—often to the detriment of product clarity—this year's showcase offered a focused, product-forward strategy that resonated with both developers and market watchers

US President Donald Trump recently demanded that Apple relocate the assembly and production of iPhones to the US. Otherwise, a 25% tariff would be imposed on iPhones and other smartphones manufactured overseas, reigniting market concerns. Generally, it is believed that Trump's move against Apple will ultimately amount to little more than an empty threat. This reckless approach could impose greater operational pressures on the supply chain while causing unintended harm to American industries themselves

Amid intensifying geopolitical tensions and an escalating tech war, China's tech sector is undergoing a sweeping pivot. Companies like Xiaomi, Lenovo, and Huawei are accelerating the shift to in-house chips and operating systems in a bid to establish technological sovereignty

In recent years, the US government has tightened AI chip export restrictions targeting China, prompting Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to repeatedly warn that restricting Nvidia's AI chip exports to China actually accelerates the rapid rise of domestic chipmakers like Huawei. At Computex 2025, Huang told global media that Nvidia's market share in China has sharply declined, which will drive Chinese customers to support local chip companies such as Huawei

In January 2025, Qualcomm quietly reentered the competitive server CPU market, setting the stage for a high-stakes comeback nearly seven years after its first effort faltered. Now, amid a global surge in demand for AI infrastructure and ongoing legal wrangling with Arm, the chipmaker is betting that the tides have turned in its favor

The Financial Times recently reported, citing informed sources, that Nvidia plans to establish a new R&D center in Shanghai to strengthen its strategic presence in the Chinese market. The initiative not only responds to China's persistent strong demand for high-end chips but also underscores a pragmatic strategy by the US chip firm to find balance amid rising geopolitical tensions

Xiaomi is set to unveil its latest slate of strategic products at 7 pm CST on May 22, headlined by the long-awaited debut of its in-house smartphone SoC, the XRing O1—a bold play that marks a new chapter in the company's semiconductor ambitions. Xiaomi chairman Lei Jun quickly followed up with technical disclosures, noting that the XRing O1 is built on a second-generation 3nm process and packs 19 billion transistors, putting it in the same league as Apple's A17 Pro from a specification standpoint

At this year's COMPUTEX keynote, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unveiled NVLink Fusion, a new initiative to open the company's proprietary NVLink interconnect to third-party ASICs and CPUs. Huang underscored his goal of "doing business with every customer." Notably absent from the list of launch partners was ASIC and networking chip powerhouse Broadcom

Years after launching the Pinecone Surge S1 in 2017, Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun announced the company's return to in-house smartphone chip design. Its new self-developed SoC, the XRing O1, is set to debut on May 22. Lei disclosed that Xiaomi has poured over CNY13.5 billion (approx. US$1.87 billion) into developing the XRing, supported by a 2,500-strong engineering team. The company plans to invest an additional CNY6 billion in R&D in 2025

The year 2025 marks a significant moment for the Chinese-speaking semiconductor industry, presenting a striking contrast

As global telecom players across Europe, the US, Japan, and South Korea face mass layoffs and resource constraints, market contraction is accelerating. Meanwhile, Huawei is bucking the trend, expanding its R&D headcount and consolidating its lead in 5G and communications infrastructure, emerging as the sector's biggest wildcard. The growing split in the global telecom race is stark: Huawei gains strategic ground, while Western peers stall amid policy inertia and financial tightening

From the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 at the beginning of the year, Nvidia's GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in March, to TSMC's North America Technology Symposium in April, and the upcoming Computex 2025, these major tech showcases clearly demonstrate the inseparable relationship between AI server development and semiconductor advanced process and packaging technologies