In 2014, 3D NAND flash was introduced to the industry with 24 layers, and it co-existed with 2D NAND flash until 2017. 3D NAND flash gradually came to dominate the market with its high-density storage capacity and technologies, and its manufacturing process completely diverged from that of DRAM. The synergy of utilizing the same processes and equipment for the two memory types - DRAM and NAND - was completely gone, and the core of competitive strategies in the memory industry changed.

Let's take a moment to review the rise and fall of Taiwan's DRAM industry. Taiwan's DRAM industry came into being in the mid-1990s. In the beginning, although some companies wanted to self-develop related technologies, most companies chose to become competitive by exchanging production capacity for technology licensing with partners. This method certainly had some drawbacks, including that companies obtaining the licensed technologies could be controlled by their partners.

NAND flash was invented by Toshiba in 1989 and entered commercial mass production in the early 2000s. Since NAND flash has much faster access speed than mechanical hard drives, and since small-storage persistent memory products were gaining popularity, memory companies began placing increased focus on NAND flash.

Autonomous driving and intelligent cockpit are two key application areas of artificial intelligence (AI), which can be used to transform camera and sensor data into actionable information.

Semiconductor is a high-tech industry that requires continuous investment in the development of cutting-edge technologies to create new economic value. With the advantage of entering the market early, leading semiconductor companies can generate significant profit and use that profit to develop more advanced manufacturing processes to extend their lead. By increasing their capital spending, they can build up stronger economies of scale. This virtuous circle is the winning formula for businesses competing in high-tech industries.

The capital market and investor relations have been impacted by the regulations of MiFID II beginning in January 2018. What is MiFID II and why will it continue to have an impact on all the market participants? In this article, we will discuss what MiFID II is, and what you need to know.

The massive new nodes created inside and outside self-driving cars will bring new business opportunities for AI solutions, and the entire creation process can be seen as a combination of "kitchen wastes" and "indestructible cockroaches," according to Wei-Bin Lee, CEO of Hon Hai Research Institute under the Foxconn Technology Group.

Before commenting on the intrinsic strength of China's semiconductor industry, we must have an elaborate study on China's semiconductor market and industrial structure. According to Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the total output of the global semiconductor market in 2021 was US$555.9 billion, up 26.2% from 2022, of which US$192.5 billion was generated from the Chinese market, accounting for 34.6% of the global total. However, this figure refers to the sales to local Chinese companies plus sales into China's domestic market, excluding the demand brought by foreign companies assembling diver products such as notebooks and mobile phones in China.

AI has permeated well into the modern society playing a crucial role in a wide variety of applications, but AI systems, just like all kinds of computer operating systems, can hardly avoid being hacked. Therefore how to make them stay immune to attacks has become a common goal for all those engaged in the AI technology development, Wei-Bin Lee, CEO of Hon Hai Research Institute under Foxconn Technology Group, has said.

China, the second-largest electric vehicle(EV) market, is aggressively deploying charging infrastructure, including battery swapping stations. Multiple businesses have launched swapping services backed by government subsidies. However, challenges like lacking standardized batteries may slow down the democratization.

Within the corporate organization, the investor relations officer (IRO) is one of the most interesting and challenging roles and can offer a strong sense of accomplishment. Whether you are a junior IR staff or a senior spokesperson, to co-work efficiently with C-level executives is a crucial factor in being a successful IRO. The IRO encounters many different topics during their daily IR routine: the company's long-term strategy, industry outlook, technology development, capacity planning and results/guidance. Preparing an IR SOP covering the above topics is definitely a great starting point for most IR officers, thus communicating and building an internal network within the company is essential to being an effective IR. Below is an overview of how an IRO can work and communicate with the C-suite management:

The world's largest EV battery maker CATL is under great pressure from rising material costs, heating competition, and slowing demand amid city lockdowns in China.

"There are a lot of places where Asia will be the first," observed Nicolas Sauvage, president, and founder of TDK Ventures. For Ken Forster, executive director and founder of Momenta Ventures, Asian hardware manufacturers will have a large role to play in a future characterized by edgeware – software that runs on hardware at the edge.

TSMC founder Morris Chang again made the headlines by giving frank opinions on the semiconductor policy of the United States. But shrewd readers should definitely read between the lines. Basically, what he is saying is no need to spend big money to build chips in America just because of the fear of war, and the ecosystem for chip manufacturing, especially talents, matters.

The first three volumes of 'Inside Investor Relations' have focused on practical matters, such as identifying the different types of institutional investors and targeting investors. In this edition of Inside Investor Relations, we focus on an ESG-related topic that strikes at the very heart of why businesses are created. We ask the question, "Should purpose or profit be the key ambition of a company?"