Samsung Electronics is betting big on artificial intelligence and foldable phones. The company hopes these technologies will drive what it calls a "second peak" in its smartphone business by 2026. This strategy comes as Samsung posts a sharp earnings rebound, fueled by surging demand for high-end memory chips

The surge in AI computing has led to a significant price increase in DRAM and NAND Flash, with major manufacturers raising prices by up to 30% in late 2025, putting cost pressure on Chinese smartphone brands and retailers

Edge AI startup Anaflash has unveiled a new AI microcontroller built on Samsung Electronics' 28nm foundry process. The move marks another design win for Samsung as it works to revive its contract chipmaking business

China's DRAM maker CXMT plans to start mass production of fourth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM3) in 2026 using mass reflow molded underfill (MR-MUF) packaging, the same technology employed by South Korea's SK Hynix, now the global HBM leader

Hanmi Semiconductor announced it will release a dedicated device called the "Wide TC Bonder" by the end of 2026, designed specifically for next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM). Industry sources expect this equipment to be officially adopted starting with the eighth-generation HBM5

Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Matt Garman has announced an additional US$5 billion investment in South Korea, bringing AWS's total commitment to US$9 billion to expand AI data centers. Garman highlighted South Korea as a prime market for AI innovation and positioned AWS as a key "AI innovation partner" for local enterprises, expressing particular optimism about the development of agentic AI

Samsung is reportedly manufacturing Nvidia's robot application processors (APs), a move that could accelerate its expansion in physical AI, the convergence of artificial intelligence and robotics. As this new era unfolds, industry watchers are questioning whether Samsung's robotics division, one of its four strategic pillars, can deliver concrete outcomes

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has launched its largest recruitment campaign in nearly a decade, planning to add approximately sixty new officials in 2026. According to a MOFCOM announcement, the Bureau of Industry Security, Import and Export Control plans to recruit at least five new staff members in 2026, the highest number since 2022. Despite the current US-China trade war truce, MOFCOM's rare earth control division continues its expansion

SK Hynix has reportedly increased the price of its sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) supplied to Nvidia by over 50% compared to the previous generation HBM3E. Industry sources say this successful pricing negotiation with Nvidia will further solidify SK Hynix's dominant position in the HBM market and drive revenue growth

Nvidia's evaluation of sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) has sparked a fierce contest among suppliers. ETNews reports that the company plans to finish testing HBM4 chips from SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Micron by mid-November 2025, a decision that will determine who secures orders for Nvidia's next-generation AI accelerator, Rubin, scheduled for launch in the second half of 2026

Nintendo has revised its sales forecast for the Switch 2 console for fiscal year 2025 (April 2025 to March 2026), projecting significantly higher overall performance. However, because hardware gross margins are lower than software, and software sales have yet to match the hardware's popularity, overall profit margins are expected to decline. Substantial profit gains will only materialize once the hit software titles are released

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has acknowledged the critical role of Taiwanese partners in domestic AI chip production in the US, while cautioning that China's technological progress has been underestimated. Huang highlighted the importance of supply chain collaboration during an interview with Fox News, as reported by Wccftech and FreeMalaysiaToday

Since US President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, his administration has escalated technology export restrictions with unprecedented aggression. Beyond raising overseas H-1B visa application fees to US$100,000 and demanding that Nvidia and AMD remit 15% of their advanced chip revenues from China to the US Treasury, Trump has now banned sales of Nvidia's cutting-edge Blackwell AI chips to China entirely

China has escalated its campaign to reduce dependence on foreign technology. The country now requires all new state-funded data centers to use domestically produced artificial intelligence chips, according to Reuters. The regulatory directive impacts projects worth tens of billions of dollars