DeepSeek is bringing more of the software used to develop its AI models to Huawei Technologies' Ascend 950 processors, deepening cooperation as Chinese technology companies seek to reduce reliance on Nvidia's hardware and CUDA software ecosystem.
A new partnership between Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and NIO in electric vehicle (EV) battery swapping is signaling potential consolidation in China's fragmented market. With multiple incompatible systems still competing for adoption, the deal could open a new path toward greater standardization and network integration.
Following US President Donald Trump's visit to China for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping from May 13 to 15, 2026, President Xi accepted an invitation to make a state visit to the United States from September 23 to 25, 2026. The bilateral meetings culminated in an agreement to extend the current trade truce, a development that could redirect orders for non-sensitive goods back to mainland China and weigh on order volumes for Taiwanese manufacturers.
China's largest dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) maker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is accelerating a CNY34.9 billion (US$5.2 billion) expansion aimed at chipmaking equipment, in-house testing and tighter control of its memory supply chain.
The Washington summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping did not produce the speculated auto deal that would have allowed Chinese automakers to manufacture vehicles in the US. While that gave incumbent automakers in the US a temporary reprieve, analysts say Chinese cars entering the US is still only a matter of time.
With the conclusion of the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, held in Washington, DC, from September 23 to 25, attention has turned to how changes in the US-China relationship will affect geopolitics, trade measures, and industrial export controls.
India's chip push is drawing the materials layer of the supply chain onshore. With Tata Electronics' Dholera fab and a cluster of packaging plants in Sanand under way, suppliers of industrial gases, wet chemicals, and photoresists from the US, Japan, and South Korea are moving to secure positions close to their future customers in Gujarat.
Samsung Electronics expects high-performance computing (HPC) to account for 66% of its foundry business by 2029, up from 28% currently, as the company shifts its contract chipmaking portfolio beyond mobile products toward AI and HPC.
Japanese motor maker Nidec has replaced president and CEO Mitsuya Kishida with chief technology officer Michio Kaida as the company moves to overhaul its business and governance following accounting irregularities and mounting losses.
India has barred semiconductor projects approved under its Semicon 2.0 program from selling, disposing of, or mortgaging project assets until commercial production of the entire project is declared, according to guidelines issued on September 17, 2026. The rules attach lock-in conditions on assets, operations, and ownership to the INR1.27 trillion (US$13.22 billion) incentive scheme.
US rare-earth magnet startup Vulcan Elements has reportedly won a supply contract for the US Army's SkyFoundry drone program, underscoring Washington's push to localize drone production and reduce reliance on China's rare-earth supply chain. Vulcan will produce high-performance neodymium-iron-boron magnets for the brushless DC motors used in small drones.
TDK and Taiyo Yuden have signed a memorandum of understanding to begin discussions on a business alliance to develop electronic components, including MLCCs and inductors jointly, the two Japanese companies announced on September 29, 2026. The talks will also cover cooperation in manufacturing and procurement, and the companies will consider a future capital alliance.
Taiwan-based chemical manufacturer Grand Pacific Petrochemical (GPPC) is optimizing its core business while actively expanding into high-tech and semiconductor materials-related industries, amid high oil prices and the reshaping of global trade flows. Company president Chia-hsiung Tseng stated that its strategic partnership with Japan-based industrial gas company Air Water (AWI) is a key move to connect GPPC to the semiconductor materials supply chain.
Advanced Substrate Technologies (AST), a joint venture between Japan's Toppan Holdings and Broadcom, officially opened a manufacturing facility in Singapore on September 29, 2026, the first in the country capable of producing high-end flip chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) substrates. The approximately 95,000-square-meter plant in the Jurong Lake District is the Toppan Group's first such facility outside Japan and is targeting the start of high-value manufacturing by late 2026, the companies said.
