Global helium supply is under renewed strain. Nippon Sanso, Japan's largest industrial gas supplier, announced it will raise prices across its helium product line by an average of more than 30% starting July 2026, citing persistent tightness in global supply driven in part by rising geopolitical risks in the Middle East.
South Korea's government is in talks with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix over a potential new phase of large-scale semiconductor investments, as the two chipmakers review plans that could include front-end fabrication plants and packaging facilities across the country's Honam and Chungcheong regions. Both companies say no final decisions have been made.
Samsung Electronics' System LSI division is pressing its mobile business to expand adoption of the in-house Exynos 2700 processor beyond the standard Galaxy S27 and S27 Plus models and into the premium Galaxy S27 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 8, according to The Bell.
China's push to build a domestic semiconductor equipment industry is beginning to cut into revenue at major Japanese toolmakers, with five major Japanese suppliers posting a combined 12% drop in China sales for the fiscal year ended March 2026, Nikkei reported.
Samsung Electronics' foundry plant in Taylor, Texas, is showing signs of moving into equipment-level execution. Key engineers from ASML Korea, the Dutch lithography equipment giant's South Korean unit, have been dispatched to the Taylor facility and are expected to remain on site for roughly six to eight weeks, according to Korean industry publication DealSite.
Industrial gas manufacturer Nippon Sanso Holdings announced it will raise prices for all helium products in the Japanese market starting in July 2026, with an average price increase of more than 30%. Affected products include helium used in key applications such as semiconductor front-end process wafer cooling and medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment. The move is mainly driven by geopolitical instability in the Middle East.
