Huawei is reportedly preparing to launch its AI chips in South Korea for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2026, as rising demand for AI infrastructure opens a new market for alternatives to Nvidia-based systems.
Unisplendour has reset its leadership as H3C, its core ICT subsidiary, enters a tougher phase in China's AI infrastructure buildout. Demand for servers, cloud systems, and computing networks is rising, but US chip controls continue to restrict China's high-end AI server supply chain.
Samsung Electronics used its annual foundry ecosystem event on July 1 to signal that its contract chipmaking business is regaining momentum, laying out a longer-term manufacturing roadmap alongside signs of firmer near-term demand.
China's power semiconductor makers are entering a broader price-hike cycle, as AI server demand, raw material inflation, and tight mature-node capacity force suppliers to defend margins after years of low-end price wars.
Socionext announced that it would develop a high-performance compute chiplet using TSMC's A14 process technology, positioning the project as a platform for next-generation custom silicon aimed at AI data center infrastructure.
China's display makers, led by BOE Technology (BOE), are pushing deeper into semiconductors, with BOE advancing glass substrates, and a 12-inch wafer fab reportedly slated to begin mass production in the second half of 2026. Industry analysts say China is extending display technologies built up with strong government backing into semiconductors as the US tightens restrictions, adding pressure on South Korea's chip and panel industries.
South Korea plans to set up a government-backed venture fund modeled on the CIA's In-Q-Tel, betting that direct state investment can help produce homegrown security-technology companies in fields such as AI, drones, cyber defense and aerospace.
Japan's sovereign AI push is moving from policy ambition to industrial buildout, with SoftBank-backed Noetra at the center, and Foxconn emerging as a likely infrastructure partner. Backed by substantial public funding, the program signals Tokyo's intent to treat compute capacity, data centers, and domestic control over AI systems as strategic priorities.
Japan is preparing to support a Rakuten-led low-Earth orbit satellite communications project, as the country looks to reduce reliance on foreign satellite networks and build a domestic direct-to-mobile connectivity layer for disasters, remote areas, and future digital infrastructure.
