As China's automotive market embarks on a new wave of intelligent driving democratization, a fresh tug-of-war has begun between car manufacturers and specialized third-party suppliers. This development threatens to push many of these suppliers to the brink of elimination, with estimates suggesting that only three major players will ultimately remain in the market

Samsung Electronics has reportedly signed a patent licensing agreement with Chinese NAND Flash manufacturer Yangtze Memory Technology Corp (YMTC) to license its Hybrid Bonding technology for use in YMTC's next-generation NAND products

SK Hynix will finalize its acquisition of Intel's NAND flash business, now rebranded as Solidigm, in March 2025. This strategic move strengthens its enterprise SSD (eSSD) market position and accelerates its NAND business expansion

Huawei's Ascend 910C AI chip has reportedly reached a 40% manufacturing yield, marking the first time the Ascend production line has turned profitable. The company aims to improve the yield to 60%, bringing it closer to industry standards

Reports indicate that Chinese AI chip manufacturer Biren Technology is considering an initial public offering in Hong Kong with a target of raising US$300 million. The company is currently in discussions with China International Capital Corporation, Bank of China International, and Ping An Securities, aiming for a potential listing in 2025. However, details regarding the scale and timing may still change, and there is even a possibility that the company might ultimately decide against the IPO

Samsung Electro-Mechanics (Semco) has officially shut down its smartphone motherboard (HDI) factory in Kunshan, China, as part of a broader strategy to pivot toward higher-value business segments. The company confirmed that it completed the liquidation of the Kunshan facility by the end of 2024, effectively ending its presence in the smartphone HDI market

The Japanese government will send officials to the US in March 2025 to discuss various tariff issues, including potential exemptions for the 2nm chips produced by Rapidus. They believe that due to their technical collaboration with IBM, these products should qualify for exemption from Trump's tariff regime

The global electric vehicle (EV) market is evolving rapidly, and Japan's legacy automakers are at the center of the latest industry shakeup. Following the collapse of the Honda-Nissan partnership, reports suggest that a new "four-party collaboration framework" may be in the works

DeepSeek, China's open-source large language model (LLM), is rapidly gaining momentum as state-owned enterprises eagerly embrace the AI platform. More than 20 Chinese state-owned firms have already integrated DeepSeek across the energy, telecommunications, automotive, and financial sectors

Suzuki Motor Corporation unveiled its new mid-term business plan in February 2025, detailing an ambitious investment of JPY4 trillion (US$26.5 billion) through the end of March 2031. The plan aims to position India at the heart of the company's strategy, as it seeks to establish a robust growth foundation in emerging markets across the Global South

The 2025 Global Developer Conference (GDC) was held in Shanghai from February 22 to 23, gathering top executives, developers, and industry professionals. Unlike other participants, DeepSeek chose not to participate in open forums or exhibits, preferring closed-door meetings and seminars. Industry insiders were caught up by its unusual "low-key" manner

The emergence of China's DeepSeek has shocked the US market and impacted Nvidia's market value. Now, with the official launch of Grok 3 by xAI, a company founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, it is evident that the US generative AI (GenAI) industry is still reliant on Nvidia's advanced AI chips to provide powerful computing capabilities

The swift progression of AI is accelerating automation within the manufacturing sector. Contributing significantly to this trend is China's DeepSeek, which provides a cost-effective solution that is prompting Chinese manufacturers to embrace this technology, fostering an industrial transformation

Samsung Electronics and its largest labor union have tentatively agreed to a 5.1% wage increase and stock awards for staff in 2025, signaling efforts by the two sides to defuse tensions that triggered the company's first-ever labor strike last year

The global AI boom is set to keep high bandwidth memory (HBM) in short supply through 2025, as demand surges across AI and data-intensive applications, according to experts at SEMICON Korea 2025. Industry forecasts project a 67% expansion in the HBM market by 2025, reinforcing AI's role as the driving force behind semiconductor sector growth