GlobalFoundries announced on May 19 that it is making a limited partner investment in Playground Global's Fund IV through GlobalFoundries Accelerate, the company's venture capital program focused on early-stage semiconductor and deep-technology innovation. The investment represents an expansion of GlobalFoundries' strategy to engage with emerging technologies and promising startup ventures in the semiconductor ecosystem.
Xiaomi warns memory costs could push flagship phone prices past CNY10,000 (approx. US$1,468) in 2026, a development that would affect global consumers as higher-capacity models become more expensive and manufacturers adjust portfolios. The company also withheld an ultra-thin, Apple Air-style device after concluding trade-offs would harm battery life and camera performance.
The global semiconductor industry has been focused on a memory supercycle, with some forecasts suggesting the upturn could last until 2030. However, Kye-hyun Kyung, former head of Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) division and currently a standing advisor to Samsung, has cautioned against overly optimistic sentiment in the memory market.
Recent media reports say Google is set to team up with Blackstone to form a new cloud computing leasing company, with Blackstone as the main shareholder. The new venture aims to build about 500 MW of computing capacity by 2027, most of it using Google's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), a move industry watchers say supports Google ASIC partners such as MediaTek, Broadcom, and TSMC.
Photonic semiconductors have become indispensable to modern defense — prized for their ultra-high-speed data processing, high capacity, low power consumption, and exceptional reliability. Yet despite their growing strategic importance, South Korea remains almost entirely dependent on foreign suppliers for these critical components. Industry leaders are now sounding the alarm: as global supply chains fracture along geopolitical lines, photonic semiconductors are no longer just industrial goods — they are national security assets, and South Korea's access to them is far from guaranteed.
Samsung Electronics faces a major labor disruption after its union said about 48,000 workers would walk off the job on May 21, beginning an 18-day strike after last-ditch government-mediated talks over performance-based bonuses collapsed, according to Reuters and Yonhap News Agency.
Trump has once again accused Taiwan of "stealing" the US semiconductor industry — his second such broadside in as many months.
As artificial intelligence reshapes the global economy, demand for data centers is rapidly redrawing the export map of nations.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) chair and CEO Lisa Su led the company's China team in Shanghai for AMD AI DevDay 2026 on May 19. The event marks the first time it has been held outside the US, drawing large crowds of Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) developers, supply chain partners, and corporate customers.
Supply chain optimism grows as Blackwell shipments ramp, Rubin approaches, and Intel CPUs re-enter the AI server spotlight.
South Korean media commentary has highlighted a structural shift in Apple's influence over memory chip pricing, arguing that its long-standing bargaining power over suppliers is weakening as demand for artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes global semiconductor priorities.
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