The escalating tensions between major powers are reshaping global investment and trade patterns, leading to a surge in companies facing divestment, relocation, and investment shifts. This trend suggests an impending rise in production and trade costs, coupled with intensified competition for localized investments. Nations that previously benefited from global supply chain shifts should remain vigilant, as they may become potential targets in the United States' evolving trade strategies

On September 20, 2024, Advantech announced the expansion of its operations in Singapore. The move aims to strengthen the company's position in the region's semiconductor and high-tech sectors while fostering local talent development

Huawei's rotating chairman, Zhijun Xu, has publicly recognized for the first time that China's limited chip manufacturing capabilities hinder the company's ability to develop advanced computing solutions. This acknowledgment highlights a significant bottleneck in Huawei's pursuit of greater computing power

With China's electric vehicles (EVs) gaining a strong foothold and automotive sales in the European Union (EU) slowing down, traditional large Germany-based automotive manufacturers are facing an increasingly bleak business outlook. Their sales and competitive power are being eroded by local China-based EV manufacturers in their main markets

Vietnam has unveiled its semiconductor roadmap for 2025-2050, aiming to establish three fabs, 20 integrated circuit (IC) backend houses, and 300 IC design houses as part of its goal to build a self-reliant semiconductor ecosystem

Foreign auto joint ventures (JVs) that once dominated China's car market are rapidly losing market share to local electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, according to industry sources. JVs formed by foreign marques and local partners have seen their combined share in China's car market fall to less than 30%, the sources said

China's automobile manufacturers are reportedly asking silicon carbide (SiC) module vendors to cut prices by as much as 30% amid growing supply, according to industry sources

Following a Reuters report revealing anti-competitive practices by Amazon and Flipkart, the Indian antitrust regulator has reportedly requested financial results from both companies, potentially signaling a move toward imposing fines

Leading technology companies in the US, including Nvidia and Google, have announced their commitment to India as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited them to seize opportunities arising from India's growth during his three-day visit to the US

Solar energy industry personnel pointed out that after N-type tunneling oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) became the trend in 2024, there was a severe supply surplus. Many businesses turned to production decreases and staff layoffs to reduce loss. However, how the rest of the year will progress is still unclear

China's Alibaba has announced the launch of a new generation of open-source large language models (LLMs), titled the Qwen2.5 series. Notably, Qwen2.5 has outperformed Meta's Llama 3.1 in several tests, and the Qwen-Plus model's performance rivals closed-source models like GPT4-o and Claude-3.5-Sonnet, garnering widespread attention

Japan is the industry leader in materials and equipment, while Taiwan maintains an overwhelming advantage in semiconductor manufacturing, according to Takashi Hattori, deputy representative of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association. There is room for further collaboration between Japan and Taiwan

India-based RRP Electronics inaugurated an INR120 billion (US$1.4 billion) OSAT facility in Maharashtra, the second chipmaking project after Adani-Tower Semiconductor's wafer fab in the state

China has successfully circumvented US tariffs on DRAM modules through South Korea, leading to a sharp drop in direct exports of Chinese DRAM modules to the US and a corresponding surge in shipments to America from South Korea, according to market investigations

Samsung Electronics reportedly plans to restructure its Semiconductor Research Institute, transferring the DRAM and NAND flash memory development teams to the business division's development office