As AI business opportunities continue to develop, many industry insiders admit that the current landscape remains dominated by large corporations, particularly in the chip sector. Leading companies like Nvidia and other cloud-based AI chip makers, such as those focusing on ASICs, remain the biggest winners. On the other hand, smaller chipmakers, especially those from Taiwan focusing on edge devices, have yet to experience significant momentum in the AI market.

The sudden imposition of hefty tariffs by the US has caught Taiwanese manufacturers off guard, particularly those who have recently shifted production capacity to Southeast Asia. Thailand and Vietnam have been hit with tariffs as high as 37% and 46%. With 2025 marking the peak of new PCB production capacity expansion in Thailand, this tariff news has shaken the industry.

A looming 32% reciprocal tariff from the US on Taiwan is set to reverberate through the memory module industry, with consumer electronics demand likely to bear the brunt. Industry insiders report that US distributors, constrained by lean inventories and depleted low-cost stockpiles, are scrambling to shore up supplies. Upstream memory manufacturers continue to push for price hikes, but the looming tariff costs may precipitate a decline in overall demand, potentially upending the anticipated supply constraints in the latter half of the year.

Nissan, long a pillar of Japan’s automotive industry, is facing deepening financial troubles and is now turning to an unexpected potential lifeline: Saudi Arabia’s powerful sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF).