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Monday 9 March 2026
South Korea's IC design moves to bridge demand and local foundries
Despite holding a dominant position in the memory chip industry, South Korea's system semiconductor ecosystem remains underdeveloped, with the country's IC design market share at only about 2%. Kyung-ho Kim, the newly appointed chairman of the Korea Fabless Industry Association (KFIA), has outlined plans to build a design ecosystem closely tied to actual market demand and to strengthen collaboration with domestic foundries
Monday 9 March 2026
Tungsten prices surge nearly 6x amid China export controls and geopolitical tensions with Japan
Geopolitical strains between China and Japan have intensified following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks on "Taiwan contingencies," impacting Japanese firms' access to high-purity tungsten powder. Although companies maintain inventories, urgent material needs from advanced semiconductor process gases and PCB drill bits face price pressure, prompting some major PCB drill manufacturers to consider price hikes
Monday 9 March 2026
Industry mulls thicker HBM standards for 20-layer stacks
Global semiconductor companies are discussing relaxing thickness standards for next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) as the industry moves toward higher stack counts in future designs, according to ZDNet Korea
Monday 9 March 2026
Nvidia halts China-bound H200 production, shifts TSMC capacity to Vera Rubin

Nvidia has halted production of artificial intelligence (AI) chips intended for the Chinese market and redirected manufacturing capacity at TSMC to its next-generation Vera Rubin platform, as regulatory barriers in both the US and China continue to cloud prospects for sales to Chinese customers, the Financial Times reported

Sunday 8 March 2026
Defense chips, satellite systems now "100% localized," Chinese academics say

As conflict in the Middle East intensifies and geopolitical risks rise, governments worldwide are paying closer attention to the resilience of defense supply chains and semiconductor self-sufficiency. Against this backdrop, and as China convenes its annual "Two Sessions," an article jointly authored by several Chinese academicians and published in the state-backed journal Science & Technology Review has drawn attention

Saturday 7 March 2026
Qwen shake-up sparks AI talent war with Z.ai and DeepMind
According to TechWeb, on March 5, 2026, Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu formally approved Alibaba's core Qwen team member Jun-Yang Lin's resignation in an internal letter to Tongyi Lab, announcing the creation of a "foundation model support group" to coordinate resources and strengthen future LLM development
Friday 6 March 2026
Toyota Group's Denso bids up to US$8 billion to acquire Rohm

Japanese auto parts supplier Denso has made a takeover proposal for Kyoto-based chipmaker Rohm in a deal that could reach about JPY1.3 trillion (approx. US$8.3 billion), according to reports from Nikkei and Reuters

Friday 6 March 2026
Alibaba faces questions over Qwen continuity after sudden departures and structural shift
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s core team behind its Qwen large language model faced renewed turbulence after the abrupt resignation of its original technical lead prompted an emergency all-hands meeting on March 4. CEO Eddie Wu addressed the Qwen team in person as management sought to steady internal concerns
Friday 6 March 2026
South Korean Academia: NAND scaling nears ceiling; China seen closing gap
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is driving strong growth in the memory market. Compared with DRAM, which still has room for structural innovation, NAND flash has largely relied on vertical stacking for years and is now approaching the limits of its current architecture, according to South Korean academics. As a result, the segment faces increasing risk of being caught up by Chinese manufacturers
Friday 6 March 2026
Samsung Display's 4Q25 profit soars on BOE's KRW500 billion patent payment
Samsung Display (SDC) reportedly received over KRW500 billion (approx. US$340 million) in patent royalties from leading Chinese panel maker BOE in the fourth quarter of 2025, which would explain how the company's operating profit for the quarter exceeded market expectations by roughly KRW1 trillion
Friday 6 March 2026
AW 2026: Wonik Robotics redefines precision dexterity in humanoids

While the global humanoid race has largely focused on bipedal locomotion, Wonik Robotics is doubling down on a bottom-up strategy that prioritizes high-dexterity manipulation as the foundation of Physical AI. Following its showcase at Automation World (AW) 2026, the company is pivoting from a decade of research-led development towards a specialized hardware ecosystem for US big tech

Friday 6 March 2026
Unitree, Leju, and AgiBot showcase humanoid robots at AW 2026

China's leading humanoid robot developers gathered at Smart Factory and Automation World 2026 (AW 2026) in South Korea, where companies including Unitree Robotics, Leju Robot, and AgiBot showcased their technologies and outlined commercialization strategies for humanoid robots

Friday 6 March 2026
South Korea launches first physical AI data factory to catch up with China's robot data edge
As the robotics industry accelerates, data collection has become a critical factor in driving real-world industrial adoption and realizing true AI factories. South Korean startup Maum.AI inaugurated its first "Physical AI Data Factory" at its Seongnam headquarters in Gyeonggi-do province, aiming to accelerate the commercialization of physical AI in South Korea through a validation-centered learning infrastructure
Friday 6 March 2026
China chip leaders call for national effort to build 'Chinese ASML'

China's semiconductor industry leaders are calling for a nationwide effort to develop a domestic equivalent of ASML within five years, saying the country must move beyond fragmented development and build a more integrated industry capable of competing with global leaders

Friday 6 March 2026
Alibaba’s Qwen loses its architect, stirring questions about China’s AI drive
Alibaba's large language model ambitions have been jolted by an unexpected leadership departure. In the early hours of March 4, the head of Alibaba Group's Qwen artificial intelligence model division, Lin Junyang, posted a brief message on X: "me stepping down. bye my beloved Qwen.