CONNECT WITH US
Sep 17
CXMT cashes in on the DRAM shortage — and takes aim at HBM
ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is emerging from the memory shortage with sharply higher profits and greater pricing power, giving China's largest DRAM maker more resources to expand into LPDDR6 and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) while China's domestic memory supply chain moves further upstream.
Corning, the US glass substrate supplier, will raise prices for its yen-denominated display glass substrate products by 15% or more worldwide starting in the fourth quarter of 2026, according to industry sources. The company confirmed the move amid persistent cost pressure across the electronics supply chain.

ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is preparing to expand beyond DRAM into NAND flash, a move that would push China's leading DRAM supplier closer to the core market of domestic rival Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) as enterprise storage becomes a bigger part of the memory growth story.

Doosan is investing KRW968.4 billion (approx. US$701 million) to expand high-end copper-clad laminate (CCL) production in South Korea and China, its largest-ever investment in the business, as growing demand for AI accelerators, network switches and optical modules pushes key production lines beyond full utilization.

AI is reshaping the global memory industry, tightening supply while creating an opening for China's domestic suppliers. With Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron prioritizing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and high-end server memory, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) are gaining ground in conventional DRAM, mobile memory, and NAND Flash.

The semiconductor industry's capacity crunch is moving deeper into the equipment supply chain, with shortages of specialized components stretching delivery times as chipmakers accelerate fab investment.

Samsung Electronics is deepening its relationship with Dutch chip startup Euclyd after the company reportedly reached the test-chip stage at Samsung Foundry, adding a manufacturing dimension to Samsung's recent investment in the two-year-old company.

CPO raises PCB downgrade concerns but switches stick with M8 CCL
Sep 18, 11:07

As the industry shifts toward greater use of optical interconnects and less reliance on copper, market speculation has emerged that wider adoption of co-packaged optics (CPO) could reduce high-speed transmission requirements for AI server motherboard printed circuit boards (PCBs).

Mobile SoC battle for 2026 centers on NPUs
Sep 18, 10:31

More technical details on 2026 mobile systems on a chip (SoCs) from major vendors are emerging, and the biggest changes in chips such as Apple's A20 Pro and MediaTek's Dimensity 9600 Pro are clearly concentrated in the neural processing unit (NPU). Qualcomm also published a technical article on NPU development on September 10, saying its next-generation NPU will expand shared memory capacity to improve access efficiency and speed for model data, helping mobile AI maintain fast response times.

As the AI boom spreads from data centers to edge devices and robotics, Micron Technology executives are warning that memory has become a core bottleneck determining the upper limits of AI performance. With new capacity taking years to build and manufacturing processes growing increasingly complex, meaningful new memory supply may not begin arriving until 2028.

GlobalFoundries (GF) and Marvell Technology have expanded a multi-year agreement to increase production capacity for silicon germanium (SiGe) technology at GF's facility in Burlington, Vermont, as demand grows for optical connectivity used in AI and cloud data centers.

If the project under discussion goes ahead, it would be the first time Japan's US$550 billion tariff-linked investment pledge is directed toward chip manufacturing rather than the energy and industrial-materials projects announced so far — and the clearest sign yet that the two countries that once dominated chipmaking could rebuild some of that capacity jointly.