South Korea’s chip crown becomes a strategic burden

South Korea’s leadership in DRAM, NAND, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is becoming a strategic liability amid rising US-China friction. With SK Hynix and Samsung holding a combined 70% of DRAM and more than half the NAND market, the country anchors a supply chain vital for AI training and HPC workloads. A single disruption could trigger global price shocks and shortages, particularly in AI computing and mobile devices.

Continue reading

Modem independence proves elusive as Apple and Xiaomi grapple with custom designs

Apple’s first real effort to cut ties with Qualcomm’s modem dominance appears to have stumbled out of the gate. Qualcomm commissioned Cellular Insights to run real-world 5G tests on T-Mobile’s sub-6GHz standalone network in New York City. The results, reported by Bloomberg, MacRumors, TrendForce, and Mobile World Live, showed Android devices with Qualcomm modems consistently outperforming Apple’s iPhone 16e—Apple’s first handset powered by its self-developed C1 modem.

Continue reading

Taiwan Cement hit by battery losses and Chinese competition; turns to AI and robotics for growth

Under intense competitive pressure from plummeting battery prices and aggressive Chinese market strategies, Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) has yet to achieve breakeven in its battery division, sparking significant shareholder concern. At the company’s annual general meeting on May 27, Chairman An-Ping Chang addressed these challenges head-on, responding candidly to investors’ queries about operational hurdles, strategic investments, and market prospects.

Continue reading

Xiaomi’s XRing O1 stirs ‘self-developed’ chip debate with Arm DNA and custom AI engines

Xiaomi Chairman Lei Jun unveiled the company’s debut in-house mobile SoC, the XRing O1, on May 22, calling it Xiaomi’s “first answer sheet” in semiconductor design. Built on TSMC’s second-generation 3nm (N3E) node, the chip features 19 billion transistors and a 10-core Arm-based architecture, positioning it as a technical milestone for the company.

Continue reading