Samsung Electronics has never had more capital at its disposal. The company reported operating profit of KRW89.5 trillion (approx. US$67 billion) in the second quarter of 2026 and KRW107.4 trillion in the third, when its operating margin reached approximately 55%. Samsung became the first technology company worldwide to post quarterly operating profit exceeding KRW100 trillion. The company is benefiting enormously from the memory boom, but its dependence on the industry has also deepened.

Nvidia's robotics partnerships in South Korea are moving beyond initial agreements, with LG Electronics beginning partial operations at its robot-training Data Factory and LG Innotek expanding cooperation on sensing technologies. Hyundai Motor Group, another Nvidia partner, has also outlined new steps toward building AI infrastructure for robotics and autonomous driving.

South Korean companies showcased humanoid robot components, dual-arm machines, and autonomous driving systems at FIX 2026 in Daegu, offering a look at how developers are bringing automation into factories and transportation. The technologies ranged from robotic hardware under development for manufacturing applications to an autonomous taxi service already carrying paying passengers.

Ibiden on October 29 raised its fiscal 2026 forecast, projecting consolidated net profit to rise 40% year-over-year to JPY89 billion (US$563 million) and revenue to increase 36% to JPY565 billion. The company also announced an additional JPY151 billion in capital investment to expand advanced IC packaging substrate capacity for generative AI servers and CPUs.

Japan’s Renesas Electronics expects strong demand for AI data centers, industrial applications, and automotive semiconductors to drive 2026 revenue to JPY1.6668 trillion (US$10.55 billion), up 26.4% year-over-year, with its operating margin rising to 33.2%, according to its third-quarter 2026 earnings report.

South Korean AI chip developers HyperAccel and Rebellions are moving beyond standalone accelerators to develop integrated data center systems, seeking to combine domestic processors, memory, and networking technologies into infrastructure capable of handling different AI workloads at lower cost.

Doosan Enerbility is strengthening its position in the AI-driven power infrastructure market, backed by 12 gas turbine orders in the US and an expanding nuclear energy portfolio. At Smart Energy Plus (SEP) 2026 in South Korea, the company showcased technologies spanning gas turbines, large nuclear reactors, small modular reactors (SMRs), and offshore wind, highlighting delivery speed, manufacturing capacity, and long-term maintenance as increasingly critical competitive factors.

South Korean ultra-thin glass (UTG) maker Dowoo Insys is expanding its smartphone glass technology into the automotive market, developing protective glass for rollable OLED displays with a major South Korean automotive electronics company. The product could enter commercial production as early as the second half of 2027.

Nidec Corporation has provided an update on its ongoing efforts to resolve the grounds for the disclaimer of opinion issued on its financial statements, missing its initial target to submit restated reports by October 28, 2026. Despite completing several remedial measures, the company continues to address additional verification procedures requested by its independent auditor.

Despite new smartphone launches from Apple, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi, rising memory prices are weakening sales momentum and prompting Chinese smartphone brands to adjust their product mix. DIGITIMES Intelligence senior analyst Luke Lin expects smartphone shipments in China to fall more than 13.5% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2026, and total shipments by Chinese brands to decline more than 35% year-over-year.

BYD's premium Yangwang brand has named its ultra-luxury flagship sedan "Altior," with the model expected to sell for more than CNY2 million (US$300,027.8). Developed over approximately three years, the sedan is set to debut in the United Arab Emirates as Yangwang seeks to compete with Mercedes-Maybach, Rolls-Royce, and Bentley.

Chinese AI, robotics, and semiconductor stocks have suffered a steep sell-off in less than four months, casting a shadow over Beijing's push to achieve global technology leadership. According to Reuters, the Shanghai STAR 50 Index has fallen about 40% from its June peak, wiping out approximately US$480 billion in market value across AI and semiconductor components.

Chinese AI developers DeepSeek and Moonshot AI reportedly used outputs from OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra to train their latest models, raising questions about how US companies can protect their technological advantage as rivals seek to reproduce advanced AI capabilities at lower cost.

Samsung Electronics' third-quarter profit came almost entirely from charging more for memory chips, not from selling more of them. On its earnings call, the company also told investors the shortage behind those prices will last into 2028, even as chipmakers raise spending.

South Korean semiconductor packaging and testing company LB Semicon reportedly plans to invest KRW30 billion (approx. US$22.4 million) to expand its power management IC (PMIC) back-end capacity under a 10-year supply agreement with Qualcomm.