Japan's latest election is being read by global markets as a turning point in industrial policy, capital flows, and technology sovereignty across Asia — not a routine political cycle. Following the February 2026 lower house election, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party secured 316 seats, crossing the two-thirds threshold and delivering one of the strongest mandates in postwar Japan. The broader ruling bloc with the Japan Innovation Party reached about 352 seats, giving the coalition effective legislative control in the 464-seat chamber

China's foundry sector is accelerating expansion across mature and specialty nodes. Nexchip Semiconductor, the country's third-largest foundry, plans to invest CNY2 billion (approx. US$288 million) in Hefei Jingyi Integrated via equity transfer and capital injection to secure full ownership. Upon completion, Hefei Jingyi Integrated will become a wholly owned Nexchip subsidiary

With China's solar products set to lose a 9% export tax rebate in April 2026, compounded by raw material inflation, a wave of pre-rebate-cancellation stockpiling should theoretically emerge. Instead, this buying momentum has mainly come from overseas players. Meanwhile, many other foreign customers, faced with being passed on higher raw material costs, have ultimately chosen to stay on the sidelines. Survival in the industry is increasingly dependent on cash reserves rather than technological superiority

According to The Economic Times, India's Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) inaugurated its largest pre-silicon validation facility in Bengaluru on February 6, 2026. Named PRITVI-ACE (Platform for Reconfigurable Integrated Testing and Validation of IPs – Advanced Chip Evaluation), the facility offers large-scale, near-silicon-speed prototyping and validation of complex semiconductor designs before fabrication. It addresses a critical bottleneck in India's chip design ecosystem

On February 9, Synopsys' China office circulated an internal memo announcing that Qun Ge, global senior vice president and chairman and president of Synopsys China, will leave the company, a move that has prompted significant discussion within China's technology industry

Phison Electronics CEO Khein-seng Pua met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 8, 2026, to discuss leveraging their respective strengths to advance the deployment of NAND flash storage and edge artificial intelligence (AI) technologies

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reportedly hosted a "fried chicken and beer" meeting in Silicon Valley on February 5, 2026, with SK Group chairman Tony Choi, according to industry sources cited by Yonhap News Agency and The Hankyung. The informal dinner in Santa Clara took place at the restaurant "99 Chicken" and followed a similar high-profile gathering Huang held in Seoul in October 2025 with Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Eui-sun

China-based foundry SMIC will release fourth-quarter 2025 results on February 10 and hold its first 2026 investor briefing on February 11. Market focus is expected to center on its advanced packaging push, which is shifting from a supporting function toward a core manufacturing strategy

Despite possessing a land area roughly one-fiftieth the size of Taiwan, Singapore has established itself as one of the most closely watched economies and supply chain hubs in Asia. This ascent is the result of a long-term strategy to internationalize its education system and labor force

Technological iteration is supposed to symbolize progress. Yet N-type (Tunnel Oxide Oxide Passivated Contact) TOPCon technology, which has been in commercial deployment for only about three years, is now in survival mode. Supply chain players on both sides of the Taiwan Strait point out that this crisis is no longer a simple imbalance of supply and demand figures, but rather a zeroing effect because of policy shifts, surging raw material costs, and intense technological infighting

Wingtech Technology said a dispute with Luxshare Precision over the transfer of its India business asset package has entered international arbitration, while the rest of its major asset divestment has been completed without litigation

RISC-V is gaining commercial traction in automotive and industrial electronics, though its adoption remains constrained by execution risk and uneven ecosystem maturity, according to IT services firm UST

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi secured a decisive victory in the February 8, 2026, lower house election after her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won 316 seats, surpassing the two-thirds threshold required to control parliamentary committees and initiate constitutional revisions

Global competition in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure is intensifying, and SK Group is accelerating its strategic expansion. Korean media report that SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won and senior SK Hynix executives recently traveled to the US to discuss cooperation with major technology companies, including Nvidia, while advancing plans for the proposed "AI Company" (tentative name)