In 2013, at China's Annual Economic Person of the Year awards, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun publicly wagered with Gree Electric Appliances chairwoman Dong Mingzhu that if Xiaomi's revenue topped Gree's within five years, she would pay him CNY1 billion (US$139.8 million). Back then, Gree dominated China's air-conditioning sector, and Dong accepted the bet with characteristic confidence

South Korean display inspection equipment company Youngwoo DSP has signed a supply contract with Samsung Display Vietnam (SDV) valued at KRW17.9 billion (approx. US$13.2 million). This contract accounts for roughly 30.3% of Youngwoo DSP's forecasted revenue for the year 2024, according to reports from Korean media outlets Hankyung and EBN

As the consumer electronics market matures, leading companies are exploring new growth by entering each other's sectors. Recently, DJI Technology, Insta360, and Dreametech have expanded beyond drones, imaging devices, and cleaning appliances, hinting at a possible shake-up in the industry

Japan and India are accelerating plans to relocate production of legacy semiconductor and LCD technologies to India, aiming to reduce dependence on China and strengthen economic security

Huawei Cloud has launched a sweeping restructuring as it seeks to halt losses and return to profit, with people familiar with the matter saying the overhaul includes scrapping the enterprise intelligence division tied to its PanGu language model. The move could affect thousands of employees across dozens of units, from product management to R&D

The US has imposed 50% tariffs on Indian goods in response to New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil and defense equipment. The move is expected to hit India's IT and electronics sectors, prompting calls for government relief, while Prime Minister Modi signals upcoming reforms and policies to support domestic manufacturing

Nvidia faces uncertainty over H20 chip shipments to China despite strong second-quarter result

South Korean media report that Samsung Electronics' sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) has cleared Nvidia's preliminary tests and could enter pre-production (PP) by late August 2025. Samsung, however, struck a cautious note, saying it "cannot confirm customer-related matters." While HBM4 is seen as promising, many investors remain unconvinced, viewing Samsung's progress as something that still "needs watching.

The global surge in energy demand has brought a turnaround to South Korea's once-stagnant nuclear power industry. However, at the beginning of 2025, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) faced scrutiny for signing an unequal agreement with US-based Westinghouse Electric Corporation (WEC) while competing for the Czech Republic's nuclear power plant project. The medium- to long-term implications of the agreement have raised significant concerns

South Korean experts are raising alarms that domestic semiconductor equipment manufacturers may be falling behind in developing hybrid bonding technology—critical for advancing next-generation HBM chips. Hybrid bonding allows chip-to-chip connections without bumps, enabling thinner stacks, improved thermal management, and higher performance, crucial for AI and high-performance computing. While foreign competitors, including Dutch firm Besi and US-based Applied Materials, have completed technical development, South Korean companies face the main hurdle of high costs—estimated to be three times that of current thermal compression bonding equipment

On August 25, Nikkei Asia reported that Shanghai aims to raise the domestic semiconductor share in AI and data center operations to more than 70% by 2027. Guizhou's Guiyang, in the Gui'an New Area, has set a steeper 90% target, while Beijing has gone further still, vowing to reach full self-sufficiency by 2027 as it fast-tracks a supply chain insulated from US technology

Korea-based Rebellions unveiled its next-generation AI accelerator, REBEL-Quad, at the Hot Chips 2025 symposium in California, positioning itself as a direct rival to Nvidia's Blackwell processors. The chip is the world's first neural processing unit (NPU) to adopt the UCIe-Advanced standard for chiplet interconnect, a design that enables faster and more power-efficient data transfer

The South Korea-US summit offered a rare gathering of tech heavyweights, as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. The encounter underscored the rising importance of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and cross-border semiconductor investment in the intensifying global AI race