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Tuesday 12 May 2026
Commentary: Trump-Xi summit may offer China a pause, not a truce

Ahead of the expected Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, the US and China are first holding preparatory talks in South Korea, placing trade, technology, and semiconductor export controls at the center of the negotiation track

LATEST STORIES
Tuesday 12 May 2026
AI drives IC price hikes, lifts China chip exports 83.7% in April
Global investment in AI computing power is continuing to boost semiconductor demand, and China's chip exports are surging in tandem. Data from China's General Administration of Customs show that China's IC export value rose 100.1% year-over-year in April 2026, marking the first time it has doubled and reflecting how price hikes in AI servers, data centers, and memory are spreading rapidly through the IC supply chain
Tuesday 12 May 2026
Kuaishou targets US$20B Kling AI spin-off to tap video generation demand
Kuaishou is holding talks with potential investors to spin off its Kling AI video unit in a pre-IPO funding round valuing it at US$20 billion, according to The Information. The Chinese social media company aims to capture investors' growing interest in AI stocks as video generation platforms reshape the face of social media and entertainment
Tuesday 12 May 2026
Altos targets South Korean AI server market with software edge
Altos Computing, Acer's AI server subsidiary, is targeting South Korea's relatively mature demand for high-end computing with flagship systems based on Nvidia Blackwell architecture. The company is also leaning on its in-house Altos aiWorks software as a key differentiator, as it transitions from a hardware maker into an AI infrastructure solutions provider
Tuesday 12 May 2026
China NEV retail penetration tops 60% in April as oil prices dent gasoline car demand
China's retail penetration rate for new-energy vehicles, including battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, reached 61.4% in April, the highest on record and the first time it crossed 60%, according to the China Passenger Car Association. The surge from 52% in March coincided with rising international oil prices linked to the Middle East conflict, which supply chain sources said accelerated the shift away from gasoline cars
Tuesday 12 May 2026
Nvidia's modular AI strategy fuels Delta Electronics supplier boom

AI infrastructure demand is reshaping the electronics manufacturing sector, pushing component makers to move up the value chain into module production and system integration. Delta Electronics has emerged as a prominent example, with its aggressive global expansion plans also accelerating capacity investments by suppliers, including rack maker JPP Holding and battery module supplier Dynapack International Technology in Thailand

Tuesday 12 May 2026
Commentary: SEA semiconductor industry pivots towards AI as a strategic hub
SEMICON SEA 2026 drew heavy crowds, underscoring Southeast Asia's emergence as an indispensable "strategic hub" in the global AI compute supply chain. The region's semiconductor players are now moving from "capacity substitution" to "technological self-reliance" in what is shaping up to be a long-distance race
Tuesday 12 May 2026
GaN patent fight between China and Europe extends beyond courtroom

As the global patent battle over gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors intensifies, a recent ruling by the US International Trade Commission has deepened the rivalry between Infineon Technologies and China's Innoscience while also underscoring how geopolitics is increasingly shaping the future of the power semiconductor industry

Tuesday 12 May 2026
Japan's diamond chip startups move toward production as factory and samples advance

Japan's diamond semiconductor sector is moving closer to practical use, as university-backed startups advance factory construction, sample production, and device demonstrations for high-frequency, high-power, and harsh-environment applications

Tuesday 12 May 2026
Interview: Cyient Semiconductors CEO on Kinetic acquisition — why power is the new compute bottleneck
As the semiconductor industry grapples with the growing energy demands of artificial intelligence, Cyient Semiconductors is repositioning itself away from being a primarily semiconductor engineering and ASIC services provider and toward a more product-oriented hybrid model centered on intelligent power and proprietary semiconductor products
Monday 11 May 2026
Samsung strike threat puts memory output at risk as 18-day walkout looms
A planned 18-day strike at Samsung Electronics is shifting investor attention from labor negotiations to the risk of memory-output disruption, as estimates from Korean media point to significant potential losses across the company's semiconductor operations
Monday 11 May 2026
For India's chip dream, Lam Research points beyond fabs
As India's semiconductor ambitions move from policy announcements to execution, Lam Research sees the country's opportunity extending beyond fabs to the less visible ecosystem that will determine whether it can become a meaningful part of the global chip manufacturing supply chain
Monday 11 May 2026
China's cybersecurity AI charges ahead despite US model lockout
AI is upending the world of cybersecurity, as more capable models and agentic capabilities bring about new ways to exploit vulnerabilities, along with new ways to discover and patch them. While major US AI companies have so far led the race, Chinese firms are also using AI to stay competitive and create similarly powerful tools, even as they are officially shut out of the most advanced American models
Monday 11 May 2026
DeepSeek's US$7bn funding bid puts China's AI race on notice
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is seeking to raise as much as CNY50 billion (US$7.35 billion) in its first external funding round. The deal could value the company at more than CNY350 billion (US$51.5 billion), potentially the largest funding round in Chinese AI history
Monday 11 May 2026
Samsung strike talks resumed with US$29 billion on the line
Samsung Electronics' labor and management have returned to the negotiating table under South Korean government mediation, as the company faces a planned general strike and a widening dispute over how profits from its semiconductor rebound should be shared
Monday 11 May 2026
Analysis: Forget the hardware race — Unitree wants to own the robot platform
When Unitree Robotics added "Mantis Boxing", Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do and even "Kamehameha" moves to its humanoid robot application store, the immediate reaction from many observers was amusement