DIGITIMES Asia news

Tuesday 24 June 2025

Huahong zeros in on metrology gear to shore up chip supply chain

Amid the global restructuring of semiconductor supply chains, Chinese investors are intensifying bets on critical upstream technologies. China-based Shanghai Huahong's industrial fund, Huahong Hongxin, recently led a Series A investment in Beijing's Largebeam Tech, bolstering its foothold in semiconductor metrology equipment and advancing its strategy for vertical integration and supply chain independence

Tuesday 24 June 2025

Vietnam extends VAT reduction to end of 2026 to boost economy

The Vietnamese National Assembly has approved an extension of the value-added tax (VAT) cut, reducing the rate from 10% to 8% until the end of 2026 to support domestic economic growth. This measure, first introduced in 2022 to aid post-pandemic recovery, received over 90% approval for continuation, reports Reuters and The Investor

Tuesday 24 June 2025

China's AI sprint: MiniMax, Moonshot lock horns in multimodal model race

In December 2024, OpenAI made headlines with 12 livestreams over 12 straight business days. Now, MiniMax — widely viewed as one of China's "AI six tigers" — is mounting a high-stakes product blitz. By June 21, 2025, it had launched four offerings: the MiniMax-M1 inference model, Hailuo 02 video model, MiniMax Agent, and Hailuo Video Agent. The fifth, MiniMax Audio, is due June 23, 2025

Tuesday 24 June 2025

South Korea steps up legal fight as Chinese 'red tech' pushes into key industries

As Chinese companies accelerate their entry into the South Korean market, local tech giants are intensifying efforts to protect their intellectual property (IP). From TV branding disputes to OLED patent wars and semiconductor espionage, South Korea's electronics and display leaders are responding more aggressively to what they describe as growing threats of counterfeiting, trademark abuse, and technology theft

Tuesday 24 June 2025

China’s AI firms exploit Southeast Asia detour, weakening Huawei’s domestic chip ambitions

Chinese AI firms are reportedly utilizing AI compute resources in Southeast Asian nations to bypass US sanctions, exploiting regulatory frameworks that align with local laws and limit governmental intervention

Tuesday 24 June 2025

China's solar sector faces deepening layoffs as capacity utilization falls below 50%

China's solar manufacturing industry, commanding over 90% of the global market, is undergoing another round of disruption, driven by intensifying geopolitical pressure and abrupt policy shifts. Supply chain sources at the SNEC Photovoltaic (PV) Power Expo in Shanghai report that average capacity utilization among Chinese producers has plunged below 50%, reflecting a deepening crisis

Tuesday 24 June 2025

Coretronic's rapid southbound expansion drives shipment growth outlook for 2025

Coretronic held its shareholders' meeting on June 18, 2025, successfully passing all proposals. The company expects that under its display business group, shipments of energy-saving, imaging, and immersive products will increase by 10-15% in 2025 year-over-year

Monday 23 June 2025

Huawei 5nm's hard reality check

Huawei's next-generation chip ambitions are running into technical and geopolitical headwinds. While Chinese state media CCTV recently claimed a breakthrough in 5nm production through foundry partner SMIC, the new MateBook Fold still ships with the 7nm Kirin X90. TechInsights, via Wccftech, confirms the chip is built on SMIC's N+2 node — identical to the Kirin 9020 — falling short of the 5 nm-class N+3 process. The findings cast doubt on Huawei's progress and suggest mass-market deployment of 5nm chips remains at least a year away

Monday 23 June 2025

South Korea achieves breakthrough in CNC technology localization

South Korea has successfully developed domestic computer numerical control (CNC) technology, breaking the grip of foreign suppliers on a critical manufacturing component that governs more than half the country's machinery operations

Monday 23 June 2025

Huawei HarmonyOS 6.0 preview: AI evolution targets Apple iOS 26

Huawei officially unveiled the HarmonyOS 6.0 Beta version at the "Huawei Developer Conference 2025" (HDC 2025) held in Songshan Lake on June 20, 2025, opening developer preview opportunities. The new system is expected to launch alongside the Mate 80 series in the fourth quarter of 2025

Monday 23 June 2025

Top-100 firms contribute KRW1.6 quadrillion to South Korea economy in 2024

In 2024, South Korea's top-100 companies generated an estimated KRW1,615 trillion (US$1.16 trillion) in total economic contribution, up more than KRW60 trillion from the previous year. Topping the list was Samsung Electronics, whose contribution reached KRW157.5 trillion, solidifying its position as the country's most impactful enterprise for the second consecutive year

Monday 23 June 2025

Samsung reportedly to launch first XR HMD in South Korea October 2025

Samsung Electronics is reportedly planning to hold a launch event for its extended reality (XR) head-mounted display (HMD) "Project Moohan" on September 29, 2025, in South Korea. The product is expected to be available first in the South Korean market starting October 13, before expanding globally

Monday 23 June 2025

Samsung targets HBM comeback as DRAM leadership slips to rival

Samsung Electronics wrapped up its global strategy meeting with the Device Solutions division, outlining plans to regain ground in high-bandwidth memory and foundry operations. The South Korean chipmaker faces pressure after losing its three-decade DRAM market leadership to SK Hynix in the first quarter, with results of its recovery effort expected by late 2025

Monday 23 June 2025

Xiaomi snaps up 120-acre Beijing site to scale EV output

Xiaomi is advancing its electric vehicle ambitions as its wholly owned unit, Xiaomi Jingxi Technology, secures a 50-year lease for a 485,134-square-meter (~119.88-acre) industrial site in Beijing's Economic-Technological Development Area (BETDA), also known as Yizhuang New Town. The deal, worth CNY635 million (approx. US$88.4 million), was confirmed by the Beijing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Commission

Monday 23 June 2025

YMTC beats Samsung as best SSD seller in JD.com's 618 bonanza

Chinese NAND flash manufacturer Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) has outperformed global rivals during a major domestic e-commerce event. Its consumer SSD brand ZhiTai claimed the top spot in both sales volume and revenue during JD.com's 618 shopping festival, surpassing Samsung Electronics to defend its title as the leading SSD brand in China

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