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Thursday 18 September 2025
Global power shift: How Chinese EVs are redefining the auto market

While North American consumers have yet to feel the full force of the shift, a seismic transformation is quietly rippling through the global auto industry—one that originates not in Detroit, Tokyo, or Munich, but in China. Over the past five years, Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) have surged from the fringes to the forefront of the automotive world, triggering what experts increasingly describe as a market "tsunami" that threatens to upend the status quo

Wednesday 17 September 2025
SMIC initiates testing of domestically produced lithography machines to bypass US sanctions
In response to US export controls and to reduce reliance on ASML, China has begun testing its first domestically manufactured deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machine. According to media reports, SMIC is currently testing immersion-type DUV equipment developed by a Shanghai-based startup, which can support chip production down to 7nm technology nodes
Wednesday 17 September 2025
Commentary: Handcuffing workers shocks South Korea; MAGA strategy risks backfiring
On July 30, 2025, US President Donald Trump announced that the US would reduce the "reciprocal tariff" rate imposed on South Korea from 25% to 15%. In return, South Korea pledged to invest US$350 billion in the US, with 90% of the investment profits returning to America. However, by mid-September, hundreds of South Korean workers were handcuffed and detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) due to visa violations. Could this incident severely damage Trump's "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) agenda
Wednesday 17 September 2025
South Korea scrambles to match US auto tariff deal granted to Japan
The South Korean government has reportedly decided to embark on urgent negotiations with Washington after the US slashed tariffs on Japanese automobiles, creating a potential pricing imbalance that could disadvantage South Korean automakers in the American market
Wednesday 17 September 2025
Tesla co-founder says future of EV depends on charging networks and cost curves
Martin Eberhard, Tesla's co-founder, recently shared his entrepreneurial insights and outlook on the future of electric vehicles (EVs) in South Korea. He emphasized that the key to EV adoption lies in the accessibility of charging infrastructure and the cost curve. Eberhard also praised South Korean EV brands for their global competitiveness, stating that Hyundai Motor is likely to be the maker of the next breakthrough EV
Wednesday 17 September 2025
BYD and AITO to lead China's overseas EV push
The competition in China's new energy vehicle (NEV) industry has reached a fever pitch. While domestic automakers continue to meet surging demand at home, they are now rapidly expanding their marketing and distribution networks across the globe
Wednesday 17 September 2025
Apple taps BOE for iPhone 17 Pro displays, disrupting Samsung-LG duopoly
Apple has reshaped its display supply chain with the launch of the iPhone 17, adding BOE Technology to the Pro model supplier lineup for the first time. This long-anticipated move highlights Apple's push to diversify its suppliers and could prompt South Korean rivals Samsung Display (SDC) and LG Display (LGD) to refine their strategies
Wednesday 17 September 2025
SK Hynix leads South Korean companies in operating profit and tax payments in 1H25
In the first half of 2025, SK Hynix recorded the highest operating profit and the largest corporate tax payment among South Korean companies. The surge in demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), fueled by advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) applications, significantly contributed to the semiconductor manufacturer's financial performance, according to The Chosun Ilbo
Wednesday 17 September 2025
Tesla, Valens deals boost Samsung Foundry in 4nm race against TSMC
Samsung Electronics' foundry business is quietly expanding its client roster after securing a landmark US$16.5 billion contract with Tesla in July 2025 to manufacture AI chips. Analysts believe the deal could mark a turning point for the company starting in 2026
Wednesday 17 September 2025
US Congress targets Huawei's US affiliate, ties with Nvidia under scrutiny amid US-China tech tensions
The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party has launched an inquiry into Futurewei Technologies, the US-based affiliate of Huawei, highlighting the company's close interactions with major US technology firms, including Nvidia. The investigation aims to determine whether Futurewei has acted as a proxy for Beijing, using US partnerships and research hubs to advance authoritarian technology initiatives while circumventing sanctions
Wednesday 17 September 2025
Memory prices surged in 4Q25, defying seasonal trends as AI drives demand
Driven by strong AI demand, memory contract prices for NAND and DRAM rose sharply by an estimated 15-20% in the fourth quarter of 2025, breaking traditional year-end price decline patterns. Supply shortages led to aggressive procurement from cloud service providers, with high-stack 3D NAND products nearly sold out
Wednesday 17 September 2025
Qualcomm dominates physical AI with robot and automotive chips
Robots and self-driving cars are driving the emergence of "physical AI," a new era of on-device processing that's shifting focus away from cloud-based large language models. According to South Korean startup Maum AI, this trend is creating new demands for semiconductors
Wednesday 17 September 2025
China's TI anti-dumping probe likely more symbolic than punitive
China is reportedly probing whether US-made analog chips are being dumped into its market, a move widely seen as targeting Texas Instruments (TI), the dominant US supplier of analog semiconductors
Wednesday 17 September 2025
China's Big Fund Phase III opens with Piotech Jianke investment in hybrid bonding technology
Chinese chip equipment maker Piotech said on September 12 its unit Piotech Jianke (Haining) Semiconductor Equipment has kicked off a new funding round at a CNY2.5 billion (approx. US$350 million) pre-investment valuation, seeking to raise as much as CNY1.04 billion. The deal drew in China's Big Fund Phase III, marking the state-backed vehicle's first publicly disclosed investment since its launch
Wednesday 17 September 2025
China opens anti-dumping probe into US chipmakers amid tariff tensions

China's Ministry of Commerce has announced a sweeping anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation into certain analog ICs imported from the US, in a move widely seen as both a retaliatory response to recent US tariff extensions and a strategic effort to bolster its domestic chip industry