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Thursday 24 April 2025
Unpredictable US policy fuels PC makers' continued departure from China

Despite recent conciliatory signals from the US government towards China, PC brand manufacturers already in the process of diversifying their production are not slowing down. Sources within the original design manufacturing (ODM) sector reveal that these brands are not only shifting production for US-bound products but are also beginning to move production for European markets out of China

Thursday 24 April 2025
Sk Hynix completes validation for CXL-based DRAM module, boosting server capacity
SK Hynix has completed customer validation for its 96GB Compute Express Link (CXL) Memory Module, a DRAM solution that has attracted significant industry attention for its potential to enhance data center performance
Thursday 24 April 2025
Rapid rise of Chinese cars accelerates access to European and Japanese automakers for Taiwan's E-Lead
Chinese cars have established a significant presence in Southeast Asia and started to make inroads into Europe, thanks to their attractive price-performance ratios and smart cockpit features. The fast rise of China's home-grown car vendors has come as a threat to their European competitors in the Chinese market. Japanese automakers, who have dominated the Southeast Asian car market for decades, are also coming under pressure
Thursday 24 April 2025
Trump signals major China tariff cuts; AUO's Peng warns 50% duties amount to decoupling
US President Donald Trump has eased his previously tough stance on China, announcing for the first time that US tariffs on Chinese imports will be "substantially lowered"—but not eliminated. With Trump's position shifting, analysts say the key focus now is how far the tariffs will be cut—and how this could reshape global trade dynamics and geopolitical relations
Thursday 24 April 2025
China's critical metal curbs chokes global supply; sends Europe and North America scrambling

In a bold escalation of its ongoing trade dispute with Washington, China has dramatically tightened its grip on the global supply of critical metals—imposing fresh export restrictions on rare earth elements and slashing shipments of gallium, germanium, and antimony, materials essential to technologies ranging from semiconductors to defense systems

Thursday 24 April 2025
Taiwanese businesses may trigger new wave of factory sales amidst Chinese-origin tariffs
KPMG's recent seminar highlighted that US tariffs primarily target Chinese products. Even Chinese-funded factories in Southeast Asia are under US scrutiny, suggesting a long-term trend of heightened trade restrictions. Experts advised Taiwanese manufacturers to avoid establishing plants in countries aligned with China
Thursday 24 April 2025
Sharp sells semiconductor subsidiary to Foxconn, pivots to asset-light strategy
Sharp announced on April 23, 2025 that it plans to sell its subsidiary, Sharp Fukuyama Laser (SFL), to Hon Hai Technology's (Foxconn's) investment arm. The deal is valued at JPY15.5 billion (US$109.62 million)
Thursday 24 April 2025
China's chipmakers go on the offensive: R&D blitz to break the US tech siege
Amid mounting US sanctions and export curbs, China's semiconductor sector is ramping up research and development efforts to fortify domestic supply chains, accelerate progress in advanced equipment, and reduce reliance on foreign technologies
Thursday 24 April 2025
China jumpstarts humanoid robot production with EV sector support
Fueled by the AI boom and China's tech self-sufficiency agenda, the country's humanoid robot industry is scaling rapidly. A growing wave of returnees from firms like Tesla and OpenAI are launching robotics startups in China, intensifying market competition
Thursday 24 April 2025
CATL to mass-produce first sodium-ion battery by year-end
At its April 21 Tech Day in Shanghai, CATL unveiled two major innovations poised to accelerate the EV transition past internal combustion engines. Highlights included the debut of CATL's second-generation Shenxing ultra-fast charging battery, outperforming BYD's Super e-Platform, and a strategic push to mass-produce sodium-ion batteries. These two technologies extend CATL's lead over BYD while positioning sodium-ion batteries as a safer, more affordable challenger to lithium's dominance in the EV supply chain
Thursday 24 April 2025
BYD to disrupt Japan's mini EV market with 2026 launch
Chinese EV maker BYD plans to enter Japan's insular kei (mini) car market by developing a vehicle specifically designed to meet the country's unique light vehicle standards, with a launch expected in 2026
Wednesday 23 April 2025
China's export control expands to South Korea, further escalating trade retaliation against US
China has expanded its export controls on rare earth minerals and magnets, intensifying its trade retaliation against the United States and threatening to disrupt key industries. The new restrictions affect seven rare earth elements and specialized magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and military aircraft—resources on which the US remains heavily dependent
Wednesday 23 April 2025
South Korean AI chip commercialization imminent as FuriosaAI's NPU expected to supply LG by year-end
LG Group is collaborating with FuriosaAI to develop its proprietary AI model Exaone and is testing it using the Renegade chip. According to ET News, Renegade demonstrated meaningful outcomes during LG AI Research's performance assessments, increasing the likelihood of supply
Wednesday 23 April 2025
LG Innotek unveils 'Dream Factory' to pioneer PC CPU ABF substrates and target server market expansion

LG Innotek inaugurated a new semiconductor substrate production facility on April 17 in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Named the "Dream Factory," the facility is focused on producing Flip Chip Ball Grid Array (FC-BGA) substrates, a key component for connecting semiconductor chips to mainboards. These high-density substrates are indispensable for high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, servers, and autonomous vehicles, all sectors poised for robust growth

Wednesday 23 April 2025
Unitree scales up in Hangzhou with bold bet on AI-powered robot 'brains'
Unitree Robotics, a Chinese humanoid robot startup, has opened a new manufacturing plant in Hangzhou to support its expansion. Although the company is ramping up investment in AI to enhance robotic intelligence, executives warn that current technologies still fall short of public expectations