Hybrid and plug-in hybrid demand continues to grow across ASEAN, with Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand posting the strongest sales gains. The shift is drawing local Southeast Asian automakers and Chinese brands into a tougher fight for share.

Kioxia Holdings is weighing construction of a new manufacturing building at its Kitakami plant in northern Japan, as rising NAND demand pushes the memory maker toward its next phase of capacity expansion beyond 2029.

Nvidia said in its fiscal 2027 second-quarter results on the 27th that it sold a small number of H200 artificial intelligence (AI) processors to Chinese customers last quarter, marking its first renewed AI chip sales to China since shipping about US$60 million of H20 chips in early 2025. But shipments fell short of the total approved by US President Donald Trump and licenses cleared by the US government in January, amid opposition from Beijing.

China is moving to address one of autonomous driving's most contentious and long-unresolved questions: when a Level 3 advanced automated driving system is engaged and a traffic violation or crash occurs, should the driver or the automaker bear responsibility? Beijing appears inclined to align with the classification standards set by SAE International (Society of Automotive Engineers), shifting liability to the automaker while Level 3 functions are active.

China is placing artificial intelligence, industrial software and open-source ecosystems at the centre of its next phase of manufacturing digitalisation, seeking to strengthen domestic software capabilities while extending platforms such as Huawei's HarmonyOS (HMOS) across consumer and industrial devices.

China's smartphone and memory supply chains are moving closer together, with Xiaomi's new Xring O3 processor potentially providing CXMT with an early commercial entry into the LPDDR6 era.

Chinese panel makers' investment in next-generation OLED production is beginning to translate into reported sales at South Korean equipment suppliers, with several vendors posting sharp first-half revenue gains and large order backlogs providing further visibility as new Chinese fabs move through installation and ramp-up.

Moody's has sharply raised its forecast for South Korea's 2026 economic growth to 3.5%, saying the country's semiconductor boom and export strength will last longer than expected and that its high-end memory supply remains difficult to replace.

Xiaomi is expanding Xring from a smartphone chip program into a broader AI computing platform spanning consumer devices, vehicles, and edge inference, with three processors assigned to distinct workloads.

Huawei and Apple are set to intensify competition in foldable smartphones in September, accelerating demand across a supply chain spanning foldable OLED panels, ultra-thin glass, hinges, flexible printed circuits and thermal components.

China's open-weight AI models have surged in usage and have now overtaken proprietary models for the first time. South China Morning Post (SCMP), citing data from US web development platform Vercel, reported that on August 25, Chinese open-weight AI models accounted for 54% of total token usage across its own calls and the agent layer AI Gateway, surpassing proprietary models for the first time.

As the humanoid robot supply chain moves closer to mass-production readiness, Taiwan's precision manufacturing sector is gaining new opportunities to enter the US market, according to DIGITIMES observations.

Beijing is extending artificial intelligence deeper into semiconductor production, targeting chip design, wafer fabrication, packaging, testing, equipment, and materials under what local authorities describe as China's first dedicated "AI4Chip" policy.

The 2026 World Robot Conference (WRC 2026) has concluded in Beijing. While the commercial prospects of humanoid robots remain a subject of debate, they once again took center stage at the event. With China continuing to lead the world in humanoid robot shipments, more than 100 robotics-related companies showcased new technologies and unveiled their latest products, making the event not only a magnet for capital but also a window into where the industry is heading.