The US has reportedly adjusted export control procedures for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix operations in China, easing near term operational risks at their semiconductor plants by replacing case-by-case equipment approvals with an annual authorization process, according to industry sources cited by South Korean media
ByteDance is planning to procure a mix of Nvidia H200 accelerators and Huawei Technologies Ascend chips to meet its growing artificial intelligence needs while adhering to China's push for localized hardware. The move underscores the challenge facing Chinese technology companies that must preserve high-performance training capacity while signaling compliance with domestic industrial policy
South Korea is on track to significantly increase semiconductor equipment investment in 2026 as rising demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced DRAM drives a new wave of capacity expansion, positioning the country to overtake Taiwan and regain second place globally behind China
