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Wednesday 25 February 2026

Without memory chips, Korea's semiconductor edge over China erodes, KIET warns

As the AI era accelerates, South Korea's competitive position is weakening relative to China. Even semiconductors, long a pillar of the Korean economy, are now assessed as being in a state of co-opetition rather than clear leadership.

Wednesday 25 February 2026

SK Hynix signals seller's market as memory prices set to climb all year

SK Hynix, one of the world's top three memory chip makers, told investors on a recent Goldman Sachs conference call that the global memory market has fully shifted to a "seller's market," with prices expected to climb throughout 2026.

Wednesday 25 February 2026

HP posts AI-driven revenue gains, but memory costs cloud outlook

HP reported first-quarter results for fiscal year 2026 (ending January) that exceeded expectations, driven by the Windows 11 upgrade cycle and surging demand for AI-powered PCs. Yet the company cautioned that escalating memory prices and the US trade policy uncertainties could push full-year profits to the lower end of guidance, while overall PC shipments for FY26 are expected to decline in the double digits.

Wednesday 25 February 2026

ChipMOS raises memory test prices again, signs 3-year capacity contract

ChipMOS returned to profitability in 2025 after a fourth-quarter 2025 rebound driven by memory shortages and higher test prices, and the company forecasts a stronger second-half performance in 2026 despite a weaker first quarter. The firm reported its highest quarterly revenue since the third quarter of 2022 and plans significant capital expenditure to expand testing and packaging capacity.

Wednesday 25 February 2026

Korean suppliers brace for Apple's staggered iPhone 18 rollout

Emerging reports suggest that Apple is preparing its most significant shift in iPhone release strategy in more than a decade — a recalibration shaped not only by product ambition but by mounting supply-chain constraints.

Wednesday 25 February 2026

Apple's budget MacBook set for March debut as component costs increase

Apple is expected to hold a product launch event in March 2026, with a budget MacBook anticipated to take center stage. Supply chain sources indicate volume shipments are projected to begin that same month, with some key components already delivered since late 2025. Rising prices for critical components — memory in particular — are making it harder to keep the model affordable, and could weigh on shipment volumes.

Wednesday 25 February 2026

Elon Musk recruits South Korean chip talent as HBM sparks global war

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has amplified recruitment of South Korean semiconductor talent via social media, deepening competition for engineers as global tech firms increasingly target the country's skilled workforce.

Tuesday 24 February 2026

Japan courts Samsung, SK Hynix with subsidies, but memory giants hold back

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have in recent years received repeated invitations from Japan's central and local governments to build semiconductor fabs, but neither has advanced the proposals, citing South Korea's domestic political environment and public sentiment.

Tuesday 24 February 2026

AI devours DRAM supply, SK’s Chey expands “monster chip” push

Artificial intelligence infrastructure spending is tightening global memory supply and reshaping the semiconductor cycle. Speaking at the 2026 Trans-Pacific Dialogue in Washington, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said demand for AI memory is distorting supply chains and pledged to expand production of what he described as "monster chips."

Tuesday 24 February 2026

Apple and Samsung tighten grip on premium smartphone segment as rivals rethink product mix

Memory supply shortages and rising prices for electronics components are expected to weigh on smartphone and notebook shipments in 2026, industry sources say. Mid- to low-end smartphone vendors face pressure to cut specs or raise prices amid thin margins and price-sensitive consumers.

Tuesday 24 February 2026

Nvidia reportedly adopts tiered HBM4 supply strategy, Samsung set to secure high-end GPU orders

Just ahead of the launch of Nvidia's next-generation GPU Vera Rubin, market sources indicate that the company will differentiate high-bandwidth memory (HBM) suppliers based on product performance tiers. Analysts suggest that Samsung Electronics may exclusively supply the sixth-generation HBM4 used in the highest-end products.

Tuesday 24 February 2026

Memory chip shortage will last until mid-2026, says Acer CEO

Acer chairman and CEO Jason Chen stated that the PC industry faces multiple headwinds in 2026, with both memory chips and processors experiencing shortages and price hikes. He expects these supply issues to remain unresolved at least until mid-2026.

Monday 23 February 2026

Lenovo hits North American partners with price increases driven by memory shortage

Global memory supply shortages are forcing PC and server vendors to pass higher component costs on to customers, with Lenovo notifying North American partners of planned price adjustments on selected commercial client devices and server products from March 2026. Resellers were urged to order by February 25, 2026, and ensure delivery by February 28, 2026, to preserve current pricing.

Monday 23 February 2026

Samsung regains DRAM lead with 40% revenue jump in 4Q25, eyes HBM4 to strengthen edge

Samsung Electronics reclaimed the global DRAM market crown in 4Q25, just one year after losing it to SK Hynix. Industry watchers are closely monitoring whether Samsung can further solidify its leadership by being the first worldwide to mass-produce and ship sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4).

Monday 23 February 2026

Kioxia sells out 2026 NAND capacity as AI demand tightens global memory supply

As the global memory market tightens under the weight of artificial intelligence (AI) demand, Japanese NAND flash maker Kioxia Holdings has emerged as one of the clearest beneficiaries of the current upcycle, with its 2026 production capacity already fully booked and supply constraints expected to persist into 2027, according to KST Components, an electronic component distributor.

Monday 23 February 2026

Weekly news roundup: memory impacts, AI infrastructure, and policy uncertainty

Below are the most-read DIGITIMES stories from the week of February 16-22, 2026.

Monday 23 February 2026

PSMC shifts beyond mature nodes to power next wave of AI memory innovation

Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (PSMC) is emerging as a central manufacturing partner in a new initiative to develop next-generation AI memory, marking a strategic shift for the Taiwanese foundry from mature-node contract manufacturing toward advanced 3D integration for artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Monday 23 February 2026

Jensen Huang's missed India summit and Valentine's dinner in Korea spotlight Nvidia's shifting priorities

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's absence from India's AI Impact Summit and his appearance at a late-night engineer gathering in California have drawn attention to the chipmaker's strategic priorities amid intensifying competition over next-generation memory and artificial intelligence hardware.

Friday 20 February 2026

SK Group chairman Chey meets US tech leaders to secure core AI chip supply chain

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won recently traveled to the US for a series of high-level meetings with CEOs from Nvidia, Broadcom, Microsoft, Meta, and Google. The strategic focus extends beyond expanding high-bandwidth memory (HBM) sales; it aims for a head start in the design phase collaboration for next-generation AI chips, aiming to capture key leadership in future AI accelerator architectures.

Thursday 19 February 2026

MediaTek CEO at ISSCC: solo chip era is over, system-level efficiency is the next frontier

The rules of winning in AI are changing, and one of the semiconductor industry's most prominent executives is calling time on the old playbook.

Thursday 19 February 2026

DIGITIMES Insight: US tariff-credit design could pressure Korean memory makers to localize production

A proposed US tariff and duty-exemption framework could force Korean memory suppliers to accelerate US fab investments or risk losing AI server market share, according to DIGITIMES analyst Luke Lin, speaking on a DIGITIMES podcast.

Wednesday 18 February 2026

Micron expands capacity to counter worst memory supply shortage in 40 years

Micron Technology is accelerating capacity expansion in response to what executives describe as the most severe memory supply shortage in more than 40 years, driven by surging demand for AI infrastructure.

Wednesday 18 February 2026

Samsung advances LPDDR5X-PIM, signaling memory's new role in AI computing

Artificial intelligence is shifting the center of gravity in semiconductors. For decades, processors defined performance. Now memory bandwidth, capacity and energy efficiency increasingly determine how much of a GPU's power can actually be used.

Tuesday 17 February 2026

Global memory chip shortage reportedly forces Sony PlayStation and other tech launches to delay

A global shortage of memory chips is beginning to reshape product launch timelines across the tech industry, impacting everything from smartphones and laptops to gaming consoles and data center hardware, according to Bloomberg and other reports.

Tuesday 17 February 2026

Pentagon's brief blacklist reversal could ease US OEM access to Chinese memory suppliers, complicating Trump-Xi summit dynamics

Pentagon's brief blacklist reversal could ease US OEM access to Chinese memory suppliers, complicating Trump-Xi summit dynamicsWith President Donald Trump set to visit China in just over a month, the US Department of War's recent listing and rapid retraction of several Chinese firms has intensified tensions and exposed internal contradictions within the administration.

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