China's efforts to build a complete domestic chip-design software stack are gathering pace through acquisitions and strategic investments. Empyrean Technology's latest transactions target gaps in verification, placement and routing, and logic optimisation, strengthening its challenge to established electronic design automation (EDA) suppliers.

South Korean company UTI, the second supplier of ultra-thin glass (UTG) cover glass for Apple’s first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, has begun shipments to Samsung Display (SDC), but mass production is running about one quarter behind schedule.

LG Energy Solution expects revenue to keep rising in the fourth quarter while profit dips. On its November 3 earnings call, it told analysts that its North American energy storage system (ESS) business is improving its profitability more slowly than the market expected. Executives also said tighter sourcing rules in the US and Europe are shaping how the battery maker buys materials, chooses customers, and plans its balance sheet.

A loophole in US export controls reportedly lets high-bandwidth memory (HBM) made by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix reach China's AI chip industry. The loophole shows how much Huawei's next-generation processors still depend on foreign memory, while China's domestic suppliers struggle to close the gap.

Apple's Greater China revenue rose 21% year-over-year to a record US$17.5 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, ended September, while full-year revenue increased 28%, driven by the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro series. The results underscore the flagship iPhone's continued competitiveness in China, while rising memory prices threaten to pressure profit margins and growth.

Dutch chipmaker Nexperia is seeking US$2 billion in damages from its Chinese owner Wingtech and three other defendants, alleging they established a competing supply chain in China that disrupted its business.

Screen Holdings is expanding production of semiconductor cleaning equipment with a JPY25 billion (US$157.53 million) site in Nagaokakyo, Kyoto, while raising its capex budget for the year ending March 2027 to JPY58 billion (US$367.33 million). The new facility is scheduled to begin operating in January 2028.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics (Semco) has disclosed more than KRW5 trillion in long-term supply agreements (LTAs) this year after signing another AI server capacitor contract. The company expects such agreements to account for more than half of its multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) revenue in 2027.

South Korea should tie government support for new semiconductor fabs to commitments that benefit domestic chip designers, equipment makers, and packaging suppliers, a state-funded researcher proposed on November 2, a move that could influence chipmakers' sourcing decisions if adopted.

Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Z Fold 8 weekly sales in South Korea increased by more than 20% in the week after Apple launched its first foldable iPhone Duo, according to Seoul Economic Daily and Financial News. The increase followed the iPhone Duo's South Korean debut on October 23, 2026, as reported problems involving shipment delays and cracked internal displays created additional attention for Samsung's competing foldable device.

Electronic components maker TDK will invest about JPY100 billion (US$633.5 million) to renovate an existing factory in Ojiya, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, and expand magnetic sensor production. The company aims to double capacity by fiscal 2030, which runs from April 2030 to March 2031, to capture demand from humanoid robots and other physical AI applications.

Samsung Electronics is considering a major overhaul of its TV lineup for 2027, replacing technology-based product names with three tiers modeled on its Galaxy smartphones as it looks to increase shipments and expand its services business, South Korea's ETNews reported.

Japan's Mitsui Kinzoku has announced its third capacity expansion plan since the start of fiscal 2026 for MicroThin, its ultrathin copper foil used in optical communications equipment. The company is accelerating production expansion to meet sustained growth in market demand.

China's outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) companies entered the fourth quarter with rising sales, high utilization, and an industry-wide price upturn. Their third-quarter results also show how much reported profit growth rests on investment gains and lower taxes, and how heavily the sector is now spending to close an advanced packaging gap that AI demand has exposed.

Samsung Electronics plans to shut down its remaining 8-inch foundry lines by the end of 2030, forcing South Korean chip designers to seek alternative manufacturing capacity as competing foundries operate near full capacity, The Elec reported.