As reports circulate that Apple may shift more iPhone manufacturing to India to meet US market demand, US President Donald Trump has publicly voiced dissatisfaction, urging Apple to manufacture iPhones in the US instead
Alibaba's fourth-quarter results for fiscal 2025 missed market expectations, sending shares down 7.5% in premarket trading. Revenue rose 7% year over year to CNY236.5 billion (US$32.8 billion), narrowly missing the CNY237.2 billion consensus. While net income jumped 279% to CNY12.4 billion, analysts attributed the surge to non-operational gains, including asset disposals and equity revaluations, underscoring lingering pressure on core business fundamentals
Boeing landed its largest-ever single order as Qatar Airways agreed to purchase 210 wide-body aircraft during US President Donald Trump's recent Middle East visit. The deal, announced on April 14, includes 130 Dreamliners and 30 777X jets, with options for 50 additional aircraft, alongside an agreement with GE Aerospace for over 400 engines
Microsoft is reportedly laying off around 6,000 employees, or about 3% of its global workforce, with most of the cuts concentrated in the US. The tech giant has also made organizational changes in the Asia-Pacific region, including some managerial shifts, although large-scale layoffs in markets like Taiwan appear minimal for now. At the same time, Microsoft has posted over 100 job openings across India and other countries in the region, signaling a strategic pivot toward emerging markets
Zhao Weiguo, the former chairman of China's Tsinghua Unigroup and once a high-profile figure in China's semiconductor ambitions, was sentenced on May 14, 2025, to death with a two-year reprieve by the Jilin Intermediate People's Court for embezzlement and abuse of power. The court also imposed a lifelong revocation of his political rights and the confiscation of all personal assets
In the US-China trade war, the focus of US pressure has been on curbing the development of China's high-tech sectors—especially semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum computing, with the first two being closely intertwined
Huawei is now believed to operate at least 11 semiconductor fabrication plants across China, covering memory, logic, and foundry segments—underscoring its strategic shift toward becoming a fully integrated device manufacturer (IDM), similar to Intel or Samsung
Samsung Electronics is reportedly planning to outsource the production of photomasks used in memory manufacturing. To prevent technology leaks, Samsung has traditionally produced all photomasks in-house. However, due to multiple recent factors, the company intends to adjust this strategy
China, having solidified its dominance in the LCD panel market, is now intensifying its push into organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology. A government-driven "trade-in" program has sparked a surge in the domestic smartphone market, with Chinese manufacturers rapidly expanding into the foldable device sector. This strategic focus has significantly accelerated OLED panel production
Venture Corp reported declining revenue in the first quarter, as improved product durability in its Lifestyle Consumer segment curbed replacement demand. Despite the dip, the Singapore-based EMS provider expanded margins and saw growth across other technology domains, including Networking & Communications and Advanced Industrials
India finally approved the chipmaking facility proposed by a joint venture between HCL and Foxconn, which will be the first such facility in Uttar Pradesh, as Foxconn continues to step up its semiconductor investments in India
The US-China tech conflict is intensifying even as leaders project a veneer of diplomacy. During trade talks in Geneva, President Donald Trump said the US was "not looking to hurt China," hinting at a tension pause. Yet, almost simultaneously, Washington imposed new export restrictions on AI chips, explicitly banning the global use of Huawei's Ascend processors
Chinese foundries SMIC and Hua Hong Semiconductor are reportedly stepping up efforts to expand their American presence, not by building fabs there, but by securing orders from US-based IC design companies under the local-for-local, China-for-China strategy amid intense chipmaking competition in China
Japan Display Inc. (JDI) confirmed plans on May 15 to lay off over 1,000 employees in Japan as part of a large-scale restructuring, according to reports from Nikkei Asia and Asahi Shimbun. With approximately 2,700 domestic employees as of March 2025, the move could slash the company's Japanese workforce by nearly half and reduce its global headcount—currently around 4,100—by nearly one-third
