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Thursday 30 July 2026
Kumamoto quake exposes Kyushu auto supply-chain fault lines
Ongoing coverage: This article will be updated as new information becomes available on the operating and recovery status of affected plants.
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Friday 7 August 2026
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala weighs US$6.3B investment in Japan AI data center

The United Arab Emirates is considering investing as much as JPY1 trillion (approx. US$6.3 billion) in a 500MW artificial intelligence data center in Akita Prefecture, according to Bloomberg. Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment is expected to lead the investment in a project that could become Japan's largest data center.

Friday 7 August 2026
SK Hynix commits US$39 billion to new Yongin and Cheongju fabs as AI memory demand builds
SK Hynix has approved roughly KRW54 trillion (approx. US$39 billion) in new fab construction across two domestic sites, allocating KRW35.2 trillion to a second Yongin fab and KRW19.1 trillion to a new Cheongju NAND plant, in a move the company frames as securing supply capacity rather than chasing a cycle.
Friday 7 August 2026
China launches review of Palo Alto Networks as trade tensions with US escalate
China's cyberspace authority said it has begun to scrutinize products sold by US cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks within the country, citing risks to national security and critical infrastructure in its decision. This takes place during a time of heightened tensions between the US and China over technology supply chains and AI advancements.
Friday 7 August 2026
South Korea welcomes Trump polysilicon rules as boost to non-China suppliers
US President Donald Trump's new import rules on polysilicon, ingots, wafers, and solar products could ripple through global clean energy and semiconductor markets, affecting pricing, sourcing, and investment decisions far beyond the US. South Korean producers welcomed the measure, while analysts said it targets low-cost Chinese supply and could reshape competition.
Friday 7 August 2026
SK Hynix's Solidigm weighs up to US$7 billion in pre-IPO funding

Solidigm, SK Hynix's US NAND and enterprise storage unit, is weighing a pre-IPO funding round of KRW5 trillion to KRW10 trillion, roughly US$3.5 billion to US$7 billion, ahead of a potential Nasdaq listing, a move that could establish a standalone valuation for the business as enterprise storage demand strengthens.

Friday 7 August 2026
South Korea clears ITU hurdle for world's first SDV standard

A South Korea-backed draft standard for software-defined vehicles (SDVs) has cleared a key milestone at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), giving automakers and suppliers a common technical reference as the industry shifts toward software-centric vehicle architectures.

Friday 7 August 2026
China's MLCC supply chain ramps up as AI boom drives global component shortage

China's multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) supply chain is accelerating capacity expansion as surging demand from AI servers and automotive electronics fuels one of the industry's strongest growth cycles, with domestic materials suppliers moving quickly to capture opportunities created by tightening global supply.

Friday 7 August 2026
China's surging export numbers shows automakers pivoting from price wars to value wars

China's auto exports climbed sharply in the first half of 2026 as the sector shifted from price-based competition to a focus on product value, according to the China Association of Automotive Manufacturers (CAAM).

Friday 7 August 2026
Analysis: Five years of US polysilicon imports show why Washington set the price floor at $21
US imports of high-purity polysilicon jumped to US$190 million in 2025. Still, the bigger story is in the volume: 6,791 tonnes, more than five times the 1,286 tonnes imported in 2024, according to UN Comtrade trade data.
Friday 7 August 2026
Analysis: Trump’s polysilicon tariffs split solar industry into winners and losers
US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on August 6 imposing minimum import prices and a 15% tariff on polysilicon and its derivatives, a move that hands a durable pricing advantage to US and non-Chinese producers while squeezing Chinese manufacturers out of price competitiveness in the American market.
Friday 7 August 2026
Chinese optical suppliers confront FCC threat after US$19.1B sell-off

Chinese optical transceiver suppliers are trying to calm investors after reports that the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may restrict new China-made data-center components, threatening a supply chain central to global AI infrastructure.

Friday 7 August 2026
Huawei's Richard Yu warns of smartphone price hikes as memory costs soar
Huawei executive director and Consumer Business Group chairman Richard Yu warned on August 5 that sharply rising memory costs could trigger widespread smartphone price increases, saying handset makers risk losses if they continue selling devices at previous price levels.
Friday 7 August 2026
Ex-White House official urges South Korea to avoid excessive digital regulation
Former White House National Security Council chief of staff Alexander Gray has called on South Korea to deepen supply chain cooperation with the US and avoid following the European Union's digital regulation path.
Thursday 6 August 2026
Unitree's impending IPO draws Meituan and Tencent as investors

Chinese robotics company Unitree is entering a critical stage in its initial public offering. The IPO is expected to raise about CNY4.2 billion (approximately US$622 million), while the company's post-listing valuation could range from CNY40 billion to CNY50 billion. It would become the first company on China's A-share market whose primary investment theme is humanoid robotics.

Thursday 6 August 2026
ByteDance founder shuns AI distillation, wary of more US scrutiny

ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming recently said that the company would not use distillation to train its AI models, even if they fall behind those of other Chinese rivals. His comments come as China's advances in AI have accelerated faster than expected, leading to accusations that its developers are training them based on outputs from US models.