Musk backs Cook as AI memory crunch drives Apple price hikes
Apple has abruptly raised prices for Mac computers, iPads, and Vision Pro in the US, underscoring how the AI infrastructure boom is spilling from data centers into consumer electronics.
China’s first diamond semiconductor supply chain project lands in Zhengzhou
China is accelerating its push into fourth-generation semiconductors, with the country’s first fully integrated industrial project for ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductor materials set to be built in Zhengzhou. The project aims to strengthen domestic capabilities in diamond-based semiconductor materials for AI chips, advanced communications and electric vehicles, while expanding China’s presence beyond silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN).
Taiwan smartphone shipments rose in May despite higher component costs
Taiwan optics makers eye humanoid robot vision market as deployments accelerate
BYD’s in-house smart driving chip reportedly faces long road to production vehicles despite vertical integration push
Apple reportedly seeks CXMT approval to secure DRAM supply amid memory crunch
DRAM and NAND Flash supplies are tightening as global AI data centers continue to expand. Apple is actively lobbying the Trump administration to allow it to buy DRAM from Chinese memory maker CXMT, underscoring the cost, supply, and geopolitical pressures bearing down on the global technology supply chain.
Samsung, SK Hynix to build KRW800 trillion chip hub in South Korea’s southwest
South Korea is pushing to establish a second national semiconductor production base in Gwangju and South Jeolla in the country’s southwest, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix planning to build two memory fabs each as part of a KRW800 trillion (approx. US$517.87 billion) national chip ecosystem project, Yonhap reported.