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
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
The US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued fresh guidelines targeting AI chips, delivering another major blow to Huawei. The directive explicitly identifies Huawei's Ascend series, stating that using the chips globally would violate US export control laws
The documentary A Chip Odyssey, directed by Chu-Chen Hsiao and more than five years in the making, is set to premiere on June 13. The film is based on interviews with over 80 industry insiders and scholars, and had its media preview on May 13, attended by journalists as well as figures from academia, the arts, and tech
Following recent trade talks, the US and China have reached a temporary pause on escalating tariffs, with both sides retreating from previously announced increases. While the deal offers some relief, industry experts caution that disruption to global supply chains is already evident, with three major aftershocks now surfacing across the electronics manufacturing sector
Industry insiders revealed that just as the market believed the rapid growth of AI was slowing down and Nvidia's performance would no longer be spectacular, US President Donald Trump demonstrated a dual strategy of "carrot and stick" by leading several top American business leaders, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, on a visit to Saudi Arabia. The move proved highly beneficial for Huang
In the era of globalization, R&D as well as manufacturing can access capital, land, utilities, and talent locally. However, the deglobalization trend sparked by US President Donald Trump has forced some companies to bring their capital directly to target markets to find sites and recruit personnel, maintaining customer commitments amid new tariff storms. The question arises: will the industrial hollowing out and talent outflow caused by Taiwanese firms moving westward to China years ago repeat itself during the current eastward shift toward the US
The global boom in generative AI, fueled by OpenAI, triggered a surge of investment into Chinese AI startups. But OpenAI's recent decision to abandon its for-profit status—announced by CEO Sam Altman—highlights the growing difficulty of monetizing AI innovation. Meanwhile, China's so-called "AI Four Darlings," CloudWalk Technology, SenseTime Group, Megvii Technology, and Yitu Technology, are battling mounting losses and operational setbacks, with growing pressure to overhaul their business strategies
