The global 8-inch wafer foundry market has entered a price upcycle. Foundries, including SMIC and Hua Hong Semiconductor, along with major Taiwanese and South Korean mature-node players, have notified customers that 8-inch foundry prices are set to rise by around 5 to 10% starting in the first quarter of 2026, covering specialty processes such as BCD and high-voltage (HV) platforms
South Korea's battery equipment industry has secured a series of large orders tied to India's rapidly expanding battery manufacturing investments, marking a long-awaited breakthrough after months of intense competition with Chinese suppliers, according to Ddaily, TheElect, and Nate
Nvidia has reportedly asked memory suppliers to prepare for the delivery of 16-high high-bandwidth memory by the second half of 2026, according to industry sources cited by South Korean media, including ET News and eNews Today. The request sets an aggressive timeline for a product that has yet to be commercialized
China has eased listing requirements for private companies developing reusable commercial rockets, shifting regulatory scrutiny away from short-term financial performance and toward technological milestones, as Beijing steps up efforts to close the gap with the United States in launch capabilities and low-Earth-orbit satellites
As global AI compute demand pivots from large-scale model training toward application deployment, Zhonghao Xinying (Hangzhou) Technology founder and CEO Yang Gongyifan said in an interview with Chinastarmarket.cn that the company's second-generation self-developed chip has entered testing and is slated for market launch in 2026
Nvidia has accelerated its expansion into artificial intelligence inference by signing a non-exclusive licensing agreement with startup Groq. The deal gives Nvidia access to specialized chip technology while recruiting several key engineers. It signals a strategic pivot by the world's leading chipmaker toward real-time AI model processing
Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers now hold nearly 30% of the Indian EV market, marking a significant shift amid New Delhi's consideration of easing investment restrictions. This development follows years of protective policies and high tariffs designed to shield domestic players such as Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra from foreign competition
According to Nikkei, although electric vehicle (EV) demand has been below expectations, weighing heavily on Rohm Semiconductor's SiC power semiconductor equipment investments, the company has decided to expand applications into the AI server sector. Rohm's annual revenue from server-related fields is only around JPY10 billion (approx. US$64 million), but it has already started supplying new products in collaboration with Nvidia
Chinaese semiconductor supplier Guoxin Micro has moved to spin off its automotive controller chip business into a new company. It has brought in a CATL subsidiary as a strategic shareholder in a step aimed at strengthening funding capacity and positioning for rising demand from electric and intelligent vehicles
China has released draft rules to regulate human-like artificial intelligence interaction services, marking a significant step toward governing AI companions, virtual personas, and emotionally responsive systems as authorities seek to balance innovation with social stability and user protection
China has formally launched its National Venture Capital Guidance Fund, a move that signals a major policy push to reshape the country's early-stage investment landscape and strengthen long-term support for strategic technologies amid slowing private capital activity
Japanese firms like Rohm and AOI Electronics built partnerships with Indian partners. Foxconn is mimicking its strategy in China, setting up a factory city in India
South Korean PNT has secured its first mass-production order for battery copper foil in China, marking a strategic expansion beyond its core battery equipment business into materials and strengthening its foothold in the Chinese market
The global aerospace and satellite industry did not experience a single, earthshaking breakthrough in 2025. Instead, it advanced through a series of consequential developments—subtle in isolation, but collectively transformative. The year marked steady progress across multiple fronts. The race in low-Earth-orbit (LEO) communications intensified. Space militarization accelerated. Early experiments in orbital computing emerged. Together, these shifts pushed the industry toward a more crowded, contested, and commercially driven space economy
South Korea's drive to build a domestic artificial intelligence semiconductor industry is hitting a key constraint. Despite gains in power efficiency and pricing, industry executives say the lack of large-scale validation environments is slowing commercial adoption and limiting the ability of local chips to compete beyond pilot deployments
