DIGITIMES Asia news

Thursday 12 June 2025

China rolls out AI chip design system 'Qimeng' to cut reliance on US EDA tools

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has introduced an AI-driven chip design system named "Qimeng" ("Enlightenment"), signaling a major move in China's drive to accelerate semiconductor innovation and cut dependence on US-origin electronic design automation (EDA) tools. The unveiling coincides with tighter US export controls targeting China's access to critical chip design software

Thursday 12 June 2025

Taiwan's Laster Tech eyes H2 boost from China's auto stimulus, Tesla Model Y deliveries

Laster Tech, a Taiwanese maker of LED automotive lighting modules, reported consolidated revenue of NT$751 million (US$23 million) in May 2025, down 7.16% from April and 12.28% from the prior year. Despite the pullback, the figure still marked the second-highest May performance on record. For the first five months of 2025, cumulative revenue rose 5.67% year-over-year to NT$3.609 billion, setting a new high for the period

Thursday 12 June 2025

Trio Technology confirms new Thailand factory as China-US tariff rush subsides

Passive component inductor giant Trio Technology announced that its operations returned to normal shipment levels in May 2025, following the urgent order effect caused by the China-US tariff war tapering off. Looking ahead, with AI applications accelerating their shift from cloud to edge computing, the company expects steady growth in both inductor specifications and usage volume. The addition of new product lines, such as transient voltage suppressor inductors, is also expected to contribute to stable operational expansion

Wednesday 11 June 2025

DDR4 crunch sends prices soaring 50%

Memory manufacturers are reducing production capacity for older processes, driving DDR4 prices to skyrocket. Although Samsung Electronics' last buy order (LBO) for DDR4 was originally scheduled to end in June 2025, with production ceasing by the end of the year, memory module makers are already struggling to secure supply

Wednesday 11 June 2025

Taiwan-Korea alliance targets semiconductor materials dominance

PCB wet process equipment and semiconductor materials agent Ampoc recently announced a strategic technical partnership with South Korean semiconductor materials leader DCT Material. The collaboration aims to expand their presence in the Asian market and capture opportunities in the global advanced semiconductor process high-end materials sector, potentially breaking the long-standing monopoly held by certain major players

Wednesday 11 June 2025

RIR Power, PASC begin 1200V SiC diode shipments from Taiwan ahead of Odisha fab ramp-up

India-based RIR Power Electronics has begun shipping 1200V silicon carbide (SiC) diodes from Taiwan, marking a key step in its global expansion strategy. The milestone follows a partnership with Pro Asia Semiconductor Corporation (PASC) and builds on IP acquired from US-based Sicamore Semi to support future production in Odisha

Wednesday 11 June 2025

Google's AR comeback: Project Aura marries dual-chip design with native 6DoF precision

Google has reentered the smart glasses arena with Project Aura, an AR headset co-developed with Chinese firm Xreal and powered by Qualcomm. First announced at Google I/O 2025 and later detailed at the Augmented World Expo (AWE), the device features a dual-chip architecture and native support for six degrees of freedom (6DoF) spatial tracking

Wednesday 11 June 2025

Japan's chip comeback gains ground, but industry group warns of gaps beyond logic ICs

Japan has made meaningful strides in reclaiming its semiconductor competitiveness with the establishment of the Leading-edge Semiconductor Technology Center (LSTC) and Rapidus, aiming to build a domestic ecosystem for advanced logic IC development and mass production. However, the Semiconductor Division of the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) says the country's efforts remain too narrowly focused

Wednesday 11 June 2025

Xiaohongshu enters open-source AI arena with dots.llm1 model launch

Xiaohongshu—internationally branded as RedNote—has officially entered the open-source AI landscape, joining a surge of Chinese tech firms releasing large language models. The company recently published its inaugural model, dots.llm1, on the developer platform Hugging Face, signaling its growing ambitions in generative AI

Wednesday 11 June 2025

CXMT accelerates DDR5 memory production, phases out DDR4

In a sign of China's accelerating ambitions in the semiconductor race, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), the country's leading DRAM manufacturer, is rapidly advancing development of next-generation memory technologies. Departing from its original plan to commercialize DDR5 using a 17-nanometer process, CXMT is now opting for a more advanced 16-nanometer node. A 15-nanometer process is also under development, with mass production targeted for late 2026

Wednesday 11 June 2025

US-China trade talks enter stalemate phase as tariff tensions encroach on tech

US-China trade negotiations resumed in London on June 9, following a joint statement issued in Geneva on May 12. In that agreement, both sides committed to lowering reciprocal and retaliatory tariffs, cutting the previous peak rate of 125% to 34%. Of this, 24% was suspended for 90 days, while 10% remains in effect

Wednesday 11 June 2025

SK Hynix weighs TCB suppliers: Hanmi, Hanwha face off for 2H25 HBM3E equipment orders

SK Hynix is approaching the final delivery deadline for its May orders of thermal compression bonding (TCB) equipment from Hanmi Semiconductor and Hanwha Semitech, as the industry focus shifts to which vendor will secure contracts for the second half of 2025

Wednesday 11 June 2025

China's STAR Market reforms spark record M&A wave as tech firms seek scale and strategy

Marking the first anniversary of China's "Eight Measures for the STAR Market"—a landmark reform package aimed at boosting tech innovation and industrial upgrading—the country has recorded its biggest-ever merger in the computing power sector

Wednesday 11 June 2025

Samsung and Groq to produce world's fastest AI chip using 4nm process, mass production slated for 2H25

Samsung Electronics' foundry division is targeting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip market with a new collaboration alongside Groq, aiming to bring their jointly developed chip into mass production. Groq CEO Jonathan Ross recently stated that together with Samsung Foundry, they have created a truly outstanding chip on a global scale

Wednesday 11 June 2025

China IC exports up 18.9%; ASEAN overtakes US as largest trade partner

China is ramping up trade ties with ASEAN and the EU as US-China tensions deepen and global supply chains continue to shift. According to June 2025 data from the General Administration of Customs, China's total trade reached CNY17.94 trillion (US$2.5 trillion) in the first five months of 2025, marking 2.5% year-over-year growth. Exports climbed 7.2%, while imports declined 3.8%

8/49 pages

BIZ FOCUS

Jun 17, 09:30

From Discord to digital wallets: Transformation of interactive gaming communities

AROUND THE WEB

MOST-READ
7 DAYS NEWS

Full list

RESEARCH INSIGHTS

Intel signals overhaul of IDM 2.0 and foundry strategy with Lip-Bu Tan's appointment, says DIGITIMES