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Feb 23, 12:40
Samsung Foundry rebounds with utilization above 80% in 1Q26
Samsung Electronics' foundry utilization exceeded 80% in the first quarter of 2026, its highest level in over a year, increasing the probability of a quarterly profit turnaround this year.

The US government will halt the collection of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) starting February 24, 2026, following a February 20 executive order titled "Ending Certain Tariff Actions." While the rollback removes a major cost burden for importers, President Donald Trump's plan to impose a broad 15% tariff on most global imports threatens to offset much of the relief, especially for the technology sector.

The US Supreme Court ruling invalidating broad reciprocal tariffs has shifted President Donald Trump's trade focus toward Taiwan and the semiconductor sector, a key supplier to the US AI industry.
Global memory supply shortages are forcing PC and server vendors to pass higher component costs on to customers, with Lenovo notifying North American partners of planned price adjustments on selected commercial client devices and server products from March 2026. Resellers were urged to order by February 25, 2026, and ensure delivery by February 28, 2026, to preserve current pricing.
Samsung Electronics reclaimed the global DRAM market crown in 4Q25, just one year after losing it to SK Hynix. Industry watchers are closely monitoring whether Samsung can further solidify its leadership by being the first worldwide to mass-produce and ship sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4).
As the global memory market tightens under the weight of artificial intelligence (AI) demand, Japanese NAND flash maker Kioxia Holdings has emerged as one of the clearest beneficiaries of the current upcycle, with its 2026 production capacity already fully booked and supply constraints expected to persist into 2027, according to KST Components, an electronic component distributor.

To accelerate the expansion of its Snapdragon X series processors in the PC market, Qualcomm has recruited former AMD corporate vice president Jason Banta as vice president of global compute sales. He will oversee channel sales strategy across consumer and commercial markets and expand OEM partnerships.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is making a bold pivot by guaranteeing a US$300 million loan for cloud startup Crusoe, signaling a shift from pure hardware competition to financial engineering in the AI chip market. The loan, arranged by Goldman Sachs, will allow Crusoe to purchase AMD AI accelerators — including the Instinct MI450 series — for installation in a new Ohio data center being built by Canadian firm 5C, backed by Brookfield.
Below are the most-read DIGITIMES stories from the week of February 16-22, 2026.
Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (PSMC) is emerging as a central manufacturing partner in a new initiative to develop next-generation AI memory, marking a strategic shift for the Taiwanese foundry from mature-node contract manufacturing toward advanced 3D integration for artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's absence from India's AI Impact Summit and his appearance at a late-night engineer gathering in California have drawn attention to the chipmaker's strategic priorities amid intensifying competition over next-generation memory and artificial intelligence hardware.
In a dramatic escalation of global trade tensions, President Donald Trump abruptly raised his newly announced global tariff to 15% on Saturday, effective immediately.