The memory industry is entering a super cycle as prices keep soaring, with industry sources saying third-quarter 2026 contract price gains show no sign of slowing amid tight supply from upstream vendors. Overall increases could reach 30% to 40%, after second-quarter 2026 contract prices already climbed 40%. As market prices continue to stack higher in the second half, profits at the top three memory manufacturers are set to expand sharply, driving a surge in full-year memory business earnings.
Industrial gas manufacturer Nippon Sanso Holdings announced it will raise prices for all helium products in the Japanese market starting in July 2026, with an average price increase of more than 30%. Affected products include helium used in key applications such as semiconductor front-end process wafer cooling and medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment. The move is mainly driven by geopolitical instability in the Middle East.
Infineon and InnoScience are escalating their global GaN patent dispute across the US, Germany, and China, with each side scoring wins in infringement suits that are already affecting real-world sales. Sources familiar with the matter say the latest rulings are effectively pushing the two companies into separate market territories.
Dutch semiconductor metrology specialist Nearfield Instruments has secured US$380 million in Series D funding, marking the largest fundraising round ever completed by a deep-tech company in the Netherlands.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics has begun mass production of advanced package substrates for Qualcomm's first data center AI accelerator, extending the companies' supply relationship from mobile and PC chips into server-class semiconductors, ZDNet Korea reported.
SK Hynix's semiconductor production base in Cheongju, South Korea, has seen a string of accidents since 2026, prompting questions over whether its safety management system has gaps. The incidents have drawn scrutiny because many occurred after the M15X fab began operation, as the company ramped up production to meet surging high-bandwidth memory (HBM) demand.
Founded in 2014, Oppstar is one of the few Malaysian companies operating at the front end of the semiconductor value chain as an IC design house. The company was established by three founders with extensive experience in the IC design industry: Meng Thai Ng, Hun Wah Cheah, and Chun Chiat Tan. Headquartered in Bayan Lepas, Penang, Oppstar opened an office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2022. From its inception, the company positioned itself as a one-stop IC design service provider, initially focusing on 16nm design nodes.
