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Thursday 20 November 2025
Sakana AI tops Japan startup valuations with funding led by Mitsubishi UFJ and CIA-linked VC
Tokyo-based AI developer Sakana AI announced in November 2025 the completion of a JPY20 billion (approx. US$135 million) Series B funding round that doubled its valuation to around JPY400 billion (approx. US$2.635 billion), making it the highest-valued unlisted startup in Japan, surpassing previous leaders like Preferred Networks and SmartNews
Thursday 20 November 2025
Samsung's leadership shift sparks fresh scrutiny of its finance-first management model
Chung Hyun-ho, long regarded as Samsung Electronics' "second-in-command," stepped down from his frontline role on November 7, prompting renewed scrutiny of potential changes within Samsung Group's top decision-making structure
Thursday 20 November 2025
Huawei is stitching together a new Chinese chip order—one factory, fund, and startup at a time
Huawei is accelerating acquisitions, factory builds, and investment across China's semiconductor sector, advancing a multi-year effort to establish a self-reliant supply chain for high-performance chips, including its Ascend AI processors. The effort began after Washington restricted the company's access to US technology in 2019 and has since grown into one of China's largest semiconductor initiatives
Wednesday 19 November 2025
Samsung ramps up 1c DRAM output in bid to regain edge in memory market
Samsung Electronics is undertaking one of its most significant DRAM expansions in years, aggressively scaling production of its next-generation 1c DRAM as intense global AI demand redefines the memory market. This major capacity increase is poised to reshape the competitive landscape and challenge SK Hynix, which has dominated the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) segment over the past two years
Wednesday 19 November 2025
Samsung unveils first 2nm results, stepping up challenge to TSMC
Samsung Electronics confirmed the first performance results from its upcoming 2nm chip process, signaling a more aggressive push into next-generation foundry manufacturing as it tries to narrow the gap with market leader TSMC
Wednesday 19 November 2025
Samsung Display and BOE reportedly end OLED patent dispute with licensing agreement
After three years of legal battles over OLED patents, Samsung Display and Beijing Oriental Electronics (BOE) have settled. According to several South Korean media outlets, including ET News and The Elec, BOE will pay patent royalties to Samsung Display as part of a licensing contract
Wednesday 19 November 2025
RISC-V reaches data-center tier in China with StarFive's 'Lion Rock' breakthrough

China's AI server vendors are accelerating their shift toward self-developed architectures, bringing RISC-V from edge devices into data-center workloads. StarFive Technology has entered this space with the Lion Rock chip, its first RISC-V–based data-center management processor and one of the earliest large-scale commercial deployments of the ISA in China's server market

Wednesday 19 November 2025
As protectionism rises, Toyota deepens its US ties with symbolic and strategic moves

Amid an era defined by geopolitical friction and resurgent trade protectionism, the world's largest automaker, Toyota Motor, is maneuvering to secure what it considers its most crucial stronghold: the US. A recent series of high-profile moves by Chairman Akio Toyoda has been widely interpreted as a masterclass in navigating today's fraught trade environment

Wednesday 19 November 2025
Hygon steps deeper into China's AI-compute core with rising DCU adoption and a key processor upgrade

Hygon Information Technology delivered another solid revenue quarter but noted that profit growth slowed due to higher R&D spending and increased material costs. At the November 17 earnings call, GM and director Sha Chaoqun said order momentum remains strong and that recent memory-price increases mainly reflect an "explosive" rise in AI-server demand rather than structural supply shortages

Wednesday 19 November 2025
Acer CEO flags China's role in prolonging global memory shortage
Global memory prices are surging as shortages disrupt the consumer electronics supply chain, placing particular stress on PC makers. Executives across the sector anticipate that current inventories will last through the fourth quarter of 2025, but competition for components is expected to intensify in early 2026
Wednesday 19 November 2025
SMIC resurges in memory and controller orders amid deepening AI-era crunch
The global semiconductor sector is at a critical juncture as demand for AI servers and high-performance computing (HPC) accelerates. A structural memory shortage is emerging across the supply chain, pushing SMIC back into a prominent role as a foundry
Wednesday 19 November 2025
Xiaomi warns of deeper margin pressure from rising memory costs as EV business posts record deliveries
Xiaomi highlighted mounting pressure from sharply rising memory prices even as its electric vehicle business continued its rapid expansion and achieved first-time quarterly profitability. Executives said the company is balancing cost challenges in smartphones with strong performance in EVs and IoT, while preparing for continued volatility into 2026
Wednesday 19 November 2025
Xiaomi posts first EV profit in Q3, setting records as China’s price war nears
Xiaomi reported a sharp rise in net income for the third quarter of 2025, supported by strong momentum in its electric vehicle business and solid demand for its IoT and lifestyle products. The period, which ended on September 30, marked a significant milestone for the company as its EV division delivered its first quarterly profit. However, intensifying competition in the smartphone market and rising component costs continued to cloud its near-term outlook
Wednesday 19 November 2025
Huawei weighs domestic memory for Mate 80 as global chip prices jump
Global memory-chip price increases continue to intensify, putting fresh pressure on the smartphone supply chain. With DRAM and NAND prices rising across the board, several brands have halted new procurement rounds as suppliers request increases approaching 50%
Wednesday 19 November 2025
South Korea risks losing edge to China in all key exports by 2030, survey shows
South Korea's memory chip industry is enjoying its strongest upturn in years, with soaring demand for high-bandwidth memory and AI-related DRAM pushing inventories at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to multi-year lows