DIGITIMES Asia news

Friday 9 January 2026

Commentary: China redirects AI race to manufacturing systems

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with eight other government departments, has released the plan for "AI + Manufacturing." While framed as an industrial upgrade policy, it functions in practice as a strategically significant AI roadmap

Iluvatar CoreX IPO highlights China's race to scale general-purpose GPUs

Friday 9 January 2026

Commentary: How fragile is the China–Japan semiconductor supply chain?

Friday 9 January 2026

China turns to rare earths in escalating Japan dispute

Friday 9 January 2026

Apple antitrust case in India heads to court over US$38 billion potential fine

Friday 9 January 2026

LATEST STORIES

Friday 9 January 2026

AMEC chairman plans share sale after restoring Chinese citizenship

AMEC disclosed on January 8, 2026, that its founder and chairman, Gerald Yin, plans to reduce his personal shareholding over the next three months to meet tax obligations following his restoration of Chinese citizenship. The filing shows that Yin plans to sell up to 290,000 shares via centralized bidding starting 15 trading days after the announcement, with the sale window running from January 30 to April 29, 2026. The transaction represents 0.046% of AMEC's total outstanding shares

Friday 9 January 2026

AMIES Technology acquires SMEE affiliate in US$32m deal, clarifying China's lithography split

China's domestic lithography sector is entering another phase of internal restructuring, with AMIES Technology consolidating industrial assets originally spun out from Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (Group) Co., Ltd. (SMEE). Corporate filings and Shanghai Securities News show that AMIES has acquired 100% of Shanghai Weiyao Industrial Co. for CNY228.5 million (US$32.5 million), replacing SMEE as the sole shareholder. The transaction completes SMEE's exit from Weiyao while keeping the asset within the SMEE-origin corporate structure

Friday 9 January 2026

FCC drone exemptions exclude DJI, blocking new US product launches

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has updated its Covered List to exempt certain uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and critical drone components from import and authorization restrictions, but the revised exemptions do not include products from Chinese drone maker DJI, reinforcing regulatory pressure on the company's US business

Friday 9 January 2026

Commentary: China's DCS probe against Japan shows where substitution is viable

China's Ministry of Commerce said on January 7, 2026, that it has launched an anti-dumping investigation into Japanese-origin dichlorosilane (DCS). While framed as a routine trade-remedy case under existing rules, the decision reflects a more specific reality in the semiconductor materials supply chain: China now has domestic fallback capacity in this critical process material, allowing policymakers to act selectively at a sensitive juncture

Friday 9 January 2026

Carmakers circumvent Beijing's pricing ban with creative discounts

Barely a month after China's top market regulator moved to clamp down on price wars, the policy's resolve is already showing signs of strain

Friday 9 January 2026

China tests US-Japan-South Korea alliance with export controls

China is testing the extent of support US President Donald Trump would extend to Japan by imposing export controls on the country, just months after Trump boasted that he had solved the rare earth issue for the whole world. Beijing has announced a ban on exports of all dual-use items that could potentially be used for military purposes. The move could impact approximately 40% of China's exports to Japan and pose a threat to its automotive industry, which relies heavily on rare earths. Shortly following this announcement, China launched an anti-dumping investigation into dichlorosilane, a key chipmaking material originating from Japan

Friday 9 January 2026

Limited H200 access signals Beijing's calibrated approach to foreign AI technology due to security concerns

China is preparing to approve limited imports of Nvidia's H200 AI chips as early as this quarter, potentially reopening a key market for the US chipmaker while maintaining strict national security safeguards, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter

Friday 9 January 2026

Tata Power to launch India's largest solar ingot and wafer facility

Tata Power Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of Tata Power, plans to establish a greenfield 10GW ingot and wafer manufacturing facility in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh, with an investment of INR66.75 billion (US$810 million), making it the largest facility of its kind in India. The project, approved by the State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB), will be developed in two phases across 200 acres within the IFFCO Kisan Special Economic Zone, with 120 acres allocated for the initial phase and 80 acres for future expansion, according to PTI, CNBC-TV18, and the Economic Times

Friday 9 January 2026

How China's carmakers are pushing imported cars to the margins

China's market for imported passenger cars continues to shrink, underscoring a profound shift in consumer preferences and industrial power. According to the latest data from the China Automobile Dealers Association, cumulative passenger car imports totaled about 440,000 vehicles through November 2025. This represents a decline of 29.7% from a year earlier

Friday 9 January 2026

Samsung Foundry eyes auto chips for growth beyond data centers

Samsung Electronics is positioning its contract chipmaking business to win automotive orders, a move industry analysts view as a practical entry point into the emerging "Physical AI" market. While TSMC remains the leader in AI processors for data centers, Samsung is focusing on the specific demands of vehicles and robotics

Friday 9 January 2026

China targets 2027 self-sufficiency in core AI technologies

Amid escalating US–China technology competition, China at the start of 2026 formally unveiled new objectives for its AI industrial policy. Eight government bodies, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), jointly released an implementation plan for "AI + Manufacturing." The plan sets a clear target: by 2027, China aims to secure a fully "safe and reliable" domestic supply of core AI technologies and integrate three to five general-purpose large language models (LLMs) deeply into manufacturing and other industrial sectors

Friday 9 January 2026

South Korean startup WARP Solution advances Wi-Fi-like wireless charging

South Korean startup WARP Solution is advancing the commercialization of radio frequency (RF) wireless power transfer (WPT) chips and components, via applications such as electronic shelf labels (ESL). The company has already begun collaboration and validation efforts with consumer electronics brands such as Samsung Electronics and is showcasing its products at CES 2026, aiming to expand partnerships worldwide

Thursday 8 January 2026

India's OSATs are comfortable with materials today, but that may not last

India's backend semiconductor manufacturers are benefiting from a narrow window of materials comfort that is closely tied to the use of legacy packaging technologies

Thursday 8 January 2026

CES 2026: Power shift on display as TCL takes center stage while Samsung steps back

CES 2026 opened on January 6 (Pacific Time), offering not only a snapshot of technology trends but also a clear signal of shifting industry power. Ahead of the show, industry watchers had widely expected Japanese and South Korean brands to scale back. DIGITIMES on-site reporting confirms that Samsung Electronics and SK Group — both major Central Hall exhibitors in 2025 — were absent from the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) this year, with their former prime locations taken over by Chinese companies led by TCL

Thursday 8 January 2026

China's 'Neuralink rival' raises US$286 million in BCI funding

China's brain–computer interface (BCI) unicorn BrainCo has completed a funding round of about CNY2 billion (US$286 million), making it the world's second-largest single BCI financing, behind only Neuralink's US$650 million raise in mid-2025

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MSI Unveils Full Lineup of AI Products at CES 2026

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