NXP Semiconductors reported a sequential recovery across most end markets in its fourth-quarter results, yet its core automotive business grew more slowly than anticipated. This performance highlights an uneven semiconductor rebound, where strength in the mobile and industrial sectors must offset persistent instability in the vital automotive segment.
Geopolitical tensions between the Netherlands and China led to Nexperia halting shipments at the end of 2025, raising concerns over potential disruptions in the automotive semiconductor supply chain and affecting multiple global carmakers. To meet customer demand for a "non-China supply chain," the company is reportedly planning to expand its packaging and testing capacity in Malaysia. The move aims to reduce reliance on its current "European wafer, China packaging" model and prevent future shipment interruptions.
Automobiles are rapidly transforming into servers/smartphones-on-wheels with the advancement of autonomous driving technologies, which has led to a surge in demand for automotive memory. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are viewing the automotive sector as the next major battleground after AI, with both South Korean memory giants taking proactive measures to gain a foothold in this emerging market.
The global energy storage system (ESS) market based on lithium-ion batteries expanded in 2025. According to ET News and Ddaily, SNE Research reported that global shipments of lithium-ion batteries for ESS by manufacturers totaled 550 GWh in 2025, up 79% from 307 GWh in 2024, reflecting strong growth momentum. However, China alone accounted for more than 60% of the total. Unlike electric vehicle (EV) batteries, which are installed in vehicles and then sold to consumers, ESS batteries are typically deployed directly into regional projects. As a result, there is little discrepancy between shipment volumes and actual installed capacity.
Tesla reported fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday that topped Wall Street's profit expectations despite the fact that its revenue had slipped and vehicle deliveries continued to decline.
The Covid-19 pandemic once sparked a wave of upgrades for personal computers and smartphones, fueling strong demand for semiconductors. However, it also exposed vulnerabilities in supply chains, leaving companies like TSMC entangled in the global automotive chip crunch and prompting the US and Europe to invite TSMC to build factories on their soil.
Tesla's latest earnings showed softer vehicle demand but improving margins, while management and analysts focused on the company's accelerating investments in custom chips, AI compute, and robotics as key to sustaining growth across its automotive, autonomy, and energy businesses.
In a recent post on social media, Elon Musk unveiled Tesla's latest roadmap for artificial intelligence chips, declaring that development of the company's AI5 chip was progressing well and that work on Dojo 3 would resume. The brief statement masked a significant strategic pivot. Encouraging news around AI5—described by Musk as existential to Tesla—came alongside the revival of the Dojo project, which had been suspended in August 2025. After a five-month hiatus, Tesla's in-house chip strategy appears to be changing course once again.
Chinese automaker BYD is reportedly exploring options to expand its presence in India, including local assembly, as demand for its electric vehicles (EVs) continues to rise, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is evaluating semi-knocked-down (SKD) assembly and working to obtain local safety and regulatory approvals for additional models, according to Bloomberg, in order to navigate import quotas.
By the end of 2025, a political dispute between the Netherlands and China had rippled through the global automotive industry. Nexperia, the Dutch semiconductor manufacturer owned by China's Wingtech Technology, was forced to temporarily halt shipments, triggering fears of supply-chain disruptions across the automotive sector.
Texas Instruments' (TI) latest results and guidance suggest a cautious rebound in demand, particularly in industrial and automotive markets, even as profits remain under pressure. Analysts say resilient cash flow and constructive capital allocation help steady investor sentiment amid an uneven recovery.
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