Just as US and Chinese officials resumed trade negotiations in London, China's state-run People's Daily did something unusual: it ran a rare front-page interview with Huawei's founder, Zhengfei Ren. Although a rather peculiar timing, but not likely a coincidence

The Economic Times reported that Applied Materials is set to establish a cutting-edge Innovation Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing (ICSM) in Bengaluru, India, with the potential to catalyze over US$2 billion in future investments, according to Suraj Rengarajan, managing director and head of the semiconductor products group at Applied Materials India. His remarks follow the Karnataka government's recent approval of three semiconductor projects, including Applied's proposal

India has granted a license to Elon Musk's Starlink, paving the way for the satellite internet service to operate in the country. India's Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia announced this on social media, calling it a "next frontier of connectivity" for India. The licence follows the recent issuance of the GMPCS permit from the Department of Telecommunications

Takisawa Machine Tool, a subsidiary of Japan's Nidec Corp., is leveraging its parent company's extensive sales networks and industrial connections to expand its presence in China's rapidly developing automation and humanoid robotics market. The move is designed to boost sales of Takisawa's high-precision lathes and machining tools in a competitive landscape dominated by both Japanese and Chinese firms

Global Brands Manufacture (GBM), a PCB and EMS subsidiary of Walsin Technology, recently held a shareholders' meeting led by chairman Yu-Heng Chiao to discuss acquiring Japan's Lincstech. The deal aims to boost the company's presence in AI servers, semiconductors and expand production in Singapore

In a continued push to stimulate domestic demand, China is set to release an additional CNY138 billion (approx. US$19 billion) in the second half of 2025 to fund subsidies for its nationwide "old-for-new" consumer trade-in program. The policy covers a wide range of household and consumer electronics, including home appliances, kitchen and bathroom equipment, smartphones, and automobiles

South Korea's Dongjin Semichem has licensed its OLED material patents to major companies, including Germany's Merck and Japan's Idemitsu Kosan, highlighting its technological prowess and strong patent portfolio

Foxconn is preparing to manufacture iPhone enclosures in India for the first time, marking a significant expansion of its local operations. According to sources cited by the Economic Times, the company plans to set up a dedicated unit at the ESR Industrial Park in Oragadam, Tamil Nadu, adjacent to its upcoming display module assembly plant

The Semiconductor Assembly Test Automation and Standardization Research Association (SATAS), spearheaded by Intel Corporation in Japan, announced on June 19, 2025, that it has begun constructing a pilot semiconductor back-end production line at Sharp Corporation's Kameyama facility in Mie Prefecture. In addition to equipment installation, SATAS has initiated environmental preparation work for several buildings within the site

Samsung and SK Hynix are advancing vertical channel transistor (VCT) technology through 4F² DRAM prototypes as a transitional step toward 3D DRAM, while Micron is bypassing VCT entirely to focus directly on true 3D DRAM development, signaling a strategic divergence in next-generation memory architectures

The rapid growth of the global generative AI industry has sharply increased electricity demand, straining national power grids and energy security worldwide. South Korea faces particular challenges in maintaining a stable power supply amid rising consumption. President Lee Jae-myung's recent energy policies addressing this issue have drawn significant attention domestically

Chinese automakers are moving to align with government directives by planning to mass-produce vehicles equipped exclusively with domestically developed and manufactured automotive chips starting in 2026, as Beijing pushes to reduce its reliance on foreign semiconductor technologies

LG Display (LGD) has announced a KRW1.26 trillion (approx. US$918 million) investment aimed at strengthening its OLED technology portfolio. A large portion of the capital is expected to go toward 6th-generation small-to-mid-sized OLED production, a surprising move given the saturated competition in the smartphone display market