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Tuesday 12 August 2025
Trump grants last-minute 90-day tariff truce with China, averting holiday season price surge
According to CNBC and Reuters, citing White House officials, US President Donald Trump on August 11 granted a 90-day extension to the tariff truce with China, averting a return to triple-digit duties just hours before they were set to take effect. The move spares US retailers from steep cost increases ahead of the critical year-end holiday shopping season and keeps trade talks alive through mid-November
Tuesday 12 August 2025
Samsung's potential US$50 billion US chip expansion puts pressure on TSMC
Samsung Electronics is reportedly weighing a major expansion of its semiconductor investments in the US, a move that could push total spending to US$50 billion after securing multibillion-dollar orders from Tesla and Apple, according to people familiar with the matter. The timing coincides with the August 25, 2025 Korea–US summit, where AI semiconductors are expected to be a top agenda item, giving Seoul a stronger hand in trade and technology talks
Monday 11 August 2025
Chipone circles back to STAR Market IPO after unraveling—and a CNY30B rebound

Chipone Technology (Beijing) Co., Limited, a top-tier Chinese display chipmaker valued at CNY30 billion (US$4.2 billion), has restarted its bid to go public on China's STAR Market. On August 5, 2025, the company filed its IPO counseling registration with the Beijing branch of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, now under the guidance of China Securities Co. This move comes more than two years after Chipone withdrew its initial IPO filing in March 2023 following a regulatory warning

Monday 11 August 2025
AI memory revolution: Sandisk and SK Hynix define new standard for HBF
SK Hynix is partnering with flash memory manufacturer Sandisk to jointly promote the standardization of High Bandwidth Flash (HBF) technology. The two companies plan to leverage synergies with High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) businesses and tailor solutions specifically for AI applications, aiming to capture the next-generation memory market
Monday 11 August 2025
CATL's permit lapse halts key lithium mine, jolts global supply chain
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), the world's largest EV battery manufacturer, confirmed it has halted output at its Jianxiawo lithium mine in Jiangxi after its mining permit expired on August 9, driving lithium carbonate futures and producer shares sharply higher
Monday 11 August 2025
China's EV strategy: build local, sell smart, win global

As Western automakers wrestle with supply chain bottlenecks and regulatory shifts, China's electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers are rapidly carving out a dominant position on the global stage—powered by technology, pricing, and increasingly, strategy

Monday 11 August 2025
Against the odds, Toyota and Nissan find footing in China’s EV market

After years of defense, Japanese electric vehicles are mounting a quiet yet striking comeback in China—a market now dominated almost entirely by domestic players

Monday 11 August 2025
South Korea accelerates AI data center expansion amid global compute race
With the rapid development of the global AI industry, demand for high-performance computing and GPU resources continues to rise, and the global AI data center market is expanding rapidly. The South Korean government and private enterprises are accelerating their efforts to secure technological sovereignty and industrial competitiveness in the AI era
Monday 11 August 2025
China's Qihoo 360 retools cybersecurity with AI agent swarms to meet 'machine vs. machine' threat

The 13th Internet Security Conference (ISC.AI 2025) kicked off on August 6 at the China National Convention Center in Beijing. Co-hosted by the Internet Society of China (ISC), the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence (CAAI), and the China Software Industry Association (CSIA), the event centered on the theme "All In Agent," highlighting the intersection of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity in the age of intelligent agents

Monday 11 August 2025
Toshiba's Japan Semiconductor to boost foundry output 50% by 2029, eyes SiC and GaN chips
Japan Semiconductor, a chipmaker under Toshiba, is seeking to significantly expand its contract chip manufacturing operations, aiming to lift output by 50% from 2024 levels by the end of fiscal 2029
Monday 11 August 2025
Samsung reportedly planning to produce iPhone image sensors in Texas, but keep packaging in Korea
Samsung Electronics will build a CMOS image sensor (CIS) production line at its Austin, Texas, semiconductor facility for Apple's next-generation iPhones, but the chips' back-end processing may still be handled in South Korea, according to industry sources
Monday 11 August 2025
South Korea urged to fast-track AI law to safeguard competitiveness amid US-China rivalry
South Korea recently held a public hearing on the proposed Special Act on AI Industry Development, with industry leaders urging the government to speed up its review. Youchul Kim, Head of the Strategy Unit at LG AI Research, emphasized that the nation must secure independent, high-quality AI models and platforms rather than relying on foreign technologies
Monday 11 August 2025
Goertek channels US$100M into UK microLED pioneer Plessey for AR glasses breakthrough

Goertek, a major Apple supply chain partner, is ramping up upstream AR/VR investments with a US$100 million deal to acquire UK-based microLED specialist Plessey Semiconductors. The move follows its HK$10.4 billion (US$1.33 billion) purchase of precision manufacturing assets in July, marking another step to overcome display technology bottlenecks in next-generation smart glasses

Monday 11 August 2025
Weekly news roundup: 'China for China' Strategy, Xiaomi's open-source voice AI, and Broadcom at OCP APAC
Below are the top DIGITIMES Asia stories from Aug 4 to Aug 10, 2025. The top three topics include 'China for China' drives Western chipmakers' strategy, Xiaomi releases open-source voice AI for cars and smart homes, and Broadcom exec discusses Nvidia's NVLink and silicon photonics
Monday 11 August 2025
Airtel's Xtelify unveils sovereign cloud and AI tools to target telecom and enterprise growth
India-based Bharti Airtel's digital services arm, Xtelify, has launched Airtel Cloud, a sovereign cloud platform, along with an AI-powered software suite aimed at boosting efficiency and revenues for telecom operators and enterprises, according to Reuters, Cryptopolitan, and Capacity Media