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Wednesday 4 March 2026
Strait of Hormuz closure threatens China auto exports, triggers 15-25% cost surge
Following US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy and shipping flows. The move has lifted prices for petrochemical feedstocks, synthetic rubber and plastic components, creating 15-25% raw material cost pressure for automakers and compressing margins
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Thursday 5 March 2026
Jack Ma: AI tech evolves weekly, outpacing society's readiness
Amid the intensifying global race in generative AI, Alibaba founder Jack Ma recently appeared alongside senior executives at Hangzhou Yungu School to address the technology's rapid evolution. Ma bluntly said that AI's technological capabilities are iterating on a "weekly" basis, warning that society's preparedness is struggling to keep pace
Thursday 5 March 2026
AW 2026: Asus outlines edge AI strategy for smart city deployments

ASUS IoT is redefining the urban landscape by positioning itself as the high-performance backbone for modern smart cities, using edge AI and machine learning to transform infrastructure into proactive, life-saving networks. At Automation World (AW) 2026, ASUS said that by deploying edge computers and intelligent sensors, it facilitates real-time traffic management, automated emergency response, and energy-efficient smart poles. This is all while navigating the complex regulatory and privacy landscapes of global markets. ASUS's approach targets 40% reductions in crime, 20% shorter commutes, and 15% lower greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. It is clear the company is preparing for a counterstereotypical future of smart cities, where "intelligence" may even adopt new meanings

Thursday 5 March 2026
Suzuki to acquire Kanadevia's solid-state battery business to strengthen EV technology
Suzuki Motor Corporation said it will acquire the all-solid-state lithium-ion battery business of Japanese engineering firm Kanadevia Corporation, as the automaker steps up development of next-generation battery technology for electric vehicles (EVs)
Thursday 5 March 2026
Commentary: HBM hybrid bonding race heats up, but memory makers slow to adopt
Competition in the high bandwidth memory (HBM) market is intensifying, prompting equipment makers such as Hanwha Semitech and Semes to accelerate development of hybrid bonding tools for HBM production. These newer entrants aim to challenge the thermal compression bonding (TCB) equipment segment dominated by Hanmi Semiconductor. Industry observers, however, say significant technical and cost barriers remain before hybrid bonding can be adopted at scale
Thursday 5 March 2026
China sets 2026 growth target at 4.5–5% as supply chain risks mount
China has set a more flexible economic growth target for 2026, Premier Li Qiang said in the government work report delivered on March 5 and carried by Xinhua News Agency. The gross domestic product growth goal is between 4.5% and 5%, with consumer price index inflation expected to be around 2%, a range that marks a cautious shift from previous years' more definitive "around 5%" target
Thursday 5 March 2026
Analysis: AI PCB rivalry across four economies puts Taiwan under pressure
Rising geopolitical tensions and surging demand for AI applications are reshaping the global printed circuit board (PCB) industry. The Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA) notes that major economies, including China, Japan, South Korea, and the US, are following distinct development paths as AI-driven supply chain restructuring accelerates
Thursday 5 March 2026
AI's power problem: US tech giants seek grid solutions while China builds energy edge

On March 4 local time, the White House will host a signing ceremony that could influence the direction of global AI competition. Technology and AI leaders, including Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Google, xAI, Oracle, and OpenAI, are scheduled to gather in Washington to sign the Ratepayer Protection Pledge

Thursday 5 March 2026
Singapore's small-state strategy offers new insights for Taiwan's tech industry
Often dubbed the "Little Red Dot," Singapore is a city-state that lacks natural resources, and previously even had to turn to neighboring countries for drinking water. Yet in a span of just six decades, it has transformed from a barren island expelled by Malaysia into an advanced nation with one of the highest per capita incomes worldwide and now wields significant influence on the global stage
Thursday 5 March 2026
Samsung DRAM prices reportedly double in 1Q26, jumping from 70% to 100% increase in a month
Reports indicate that Samsung raised DRAM prices by more than 100% in the first quarter of 2026. The increase had initially been negotiated at around 70% in January 2026, but expanded further within a month
Thursday 5 March 2026
Hanmi Semiconductor strengthens ties with India amid Micron facility launch
South Korean thermal compression bonder leader Hanmi Semiconductor has announced the development of the industry's first dual-function BOC COB Bonder, capable of performing both Board-on-Chip (BOC) and Chip-on-Board (COB) processes within a single system, according to Yonhap News Agency and Maeil Business Newspaper. The company says the equipment is designed to improve process flexibility and production efficiency for high-performance memory products
Thursday 5 March 2026
Beyond EMS: Lens Technology ships PCIe 5.0 enterprise SSDs, moves into AI data center storage

Lens Technology said SSDs assembled for enterprise NVMe storage supplier DERA have entered mass shipment at its facility in the Xiangtan Economic and Technological Development Zone, marking the company's expansion into the high-end data center storage supply chain

Thursday 5 March 2026
Glass fiber shortage hits IC substrates, MGC follows Resonac with 30% CCL price hike

Demand from Nvidia and Apple has intensified shortages of high-end glass fiber cloth used in IC substrates, driving broad price increases for related materials and squeezing profit margins for copper clad laminate (CCL) suppliers. Japanese materials makers have recently taken the lead in raising prices, shifting rising costs downstream to customers and end markets

Wednesday 4 March 2026
Hisense leads 100-inch TV shipments as Chinese brands surge in 2025
The global flat-panel TV market continues to see shifting sales shares, with Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics maintaining overall leadership. However, Chinese brands like TCL and Hisense are rapidly closing the gap, breaking into the top five TV sellers worldwide
Wednesday 4 March 2026
SmartSens raises CIS prices 10-20% for Samsung, Nexchip output on memory cost pressure

China-based CMOS image sensor (CIS) supplier SmartSens Technology has notified customers of price increases, stating that from March 1, 2026, prices for its smart security and AIoT product lines will rise by 10% or 20%, depending on the upstream wafer foundry manufacturing the products

Wednesday 4 March 2026
South Korean startups propose charging hubs as AI computing resources, battery-free smart cities
South Korea's vibrant startup ecosystem is advancing the country's smart city ambitions through AI-driven infrastructure. Uniqconn—a CES 2026 Innovation Awards Honoree—and Warp Solution have proposed blueprints for distributed AI infrastructure and battery-free smart cities, respectively, aiming to address massive national computing demands and reduce maintenance costs for urban traffic sensors