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Aug 19
SK Hynix to cancel record KRW40tn in shares, signalling confidence in a long AI memory cycle

SK hynix said on August 19 that its board had approved a plan to repurchase and cancel KRW40 trillion (roughly US$29 billion) of its own shares, the largest share buyback and cancellation ever undertaken by a company listed in South Korea.

Marvell Technology has issued Google a warrant to purchase up to 58,970,907 shares of its common stock at US$206.58 per share, according to a Form 8-K signed on August 19, 2026, by Mark Casper, the company's executive vice president, chief legal officer, and secretary. The filing does more than register a financing detail. It puts a company signature under a set of supply-chain reports that have circulated since the spring, and it attaches a dollar meter to how far the relationship is expected to run.

Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics Group reported a sharp first-half earnings increase in 2026, helped by stronger semiconductor demand, rising sales across its chip portfolio and investment gains, while tightening global FPGA supply is creating fresh opportunities for Chinese suppliers.
A former Samsung Electronics researcher has testified that ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) intended from its earliest days to develop DRAM using Samsung process data, an account that contrasts with the Chinese memory maker's description of its technology development in the prospectus for its recent Shanghai listing.
Tech leaders converged at the 2026 International Robotic Forum on August 19, where they laid out their visions for the evolution and next stages of physical AI. They noted that a robot's success does not lie simply in demonstrations or prototypes, but in whether it can function in real-world settings like factories, address safety concerns, and meet the needs of real customers.

South Korean export data showed a sharp shift in high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, shipments toward Malaysia and away from Taiwan, according to SemiAnalysis ChipBook. The shift suggested that some HBM shipments previously sent to Taiwan for TSMC's CoWoS packaging might be redirected to packaging plants in Malaysia.

The Gujarat government's approval of 12-hour work shifts at Micron Technology's Sanand assembly and test plant is more than just a single-factory ruling. It is the clearest sign yet that Indian states are willing to reshape decades-old labor rules to fit the round-the-clock demands of semiconductor manufacturing, as they compete for a slice of a global chip supply chain shifting away from China.

Samsung Electronics fully repaid a KRW20 trillion unsecured loan from Samsung Display ahead of schedule in the second quarter of 2026, according to South Korean publication ZDNet Korea and filings in the Financial Supervisory Service's DART system. The early repayment came as AI-related demand lifted memory prices and strengthened the company's cash position.

Yangtze Memory Technologies Holding, the parent of Chinese NAND flash maker YMTC, has completed a key stage of its pre-IPO process just as the memory maker gains global market share, expands enterprise storage products and prepares another round of capacity growth.

Innolux is accelerating its dual-track transformation and asset-light strategy, with second-quarter 2026 earnings per share rising 185% sequentially to NT$0.57. After disposing of Fab 2, Fab 5, and a small module plant, chairman Jim Hung said the company had reached an optimal stage in external asset sales and would now focus on repurposing existing production space for semiconductor processes, particularly fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP).

Taiwan-based IC distributor WPG Holdings expects AI-driven semiconductor demand to remain strong into 2027, with capacity tight across both advanced and mature process nodes, even as rising memory prices weigh on smartphone and PC shipments.

High-end PCB supply tightens as CCL expansions face delays
Aug 20, 08:13
As AI applications demand faster data transmission from PCBs, M8 and higher-grade copper-clad laminate (CCL) materials are becoming increasingly mainstream in server boards. The shift is creating a supply gap, prompting suppliers in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and China to race to add capacity for higher-margin materials.