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Jul 28
SK Hynix's HBM paradox: DDR5 surge builds leverage for HBM4 price hikes

AI spending is broadening the memory upcycle beyond high-bandwidth memory, lifting prices for conventional DRAM, NAND flash and enterprise SSDs while reshaping earnings at SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.

Seagate's fiscal fourth quarter was by almost every measure its strongest in over a decade — US$3.6 billion in revenue, US$1.1 billion in free cash flow, and gross margins pushing toward 53%. But for supply chain watchers, the more important story is what the results reveal about where demand is heading, who is driving it, and how the hardware ecosystem needs to prepare.

Electronics suppliers across Japan's Kumamoto semiconductor cluster halted production, evacuated employees, or began safety inspections after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the prefecture at 4:27 p.m. on July 28.
NXP finds new AI data center role beyond GPUs
Jul 29, 12:44

NXP Semiconductors' physical AI strategy extends beyond vehicles, factories and robots. The same control, connectivity and real-time processing capabilities are also giving the company a larger role in AI data center infrastructure, where it is targeting the systems that manage networking, cooling, security and power around increasingly complex accelerator platforms.

SK Hynix is advancing a high-KRW40s trillion capital expenditure plan for 2026 to expand AI memory capacity, but has stopped short of committing to new production investments in the US or Japan. The company said future overseas expansion decisions will depend on business feasibility, infrastructure availability, semiconductor ecosystems, and customer needs as it builds a flexible global manufacturing footprint.
China has begun producing domestically developed immersion deep-ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines, moving a critical semiconductor-equipment programme beyond prototypes and towards limited commercial deployment.

Corning expects AI infrastructure to become an increasingly powerful growth engine, outlining how its glass technologies will move beyond traditional optical fiber and into silicon photonics (SiPh) and co-packaged optics (CPO) for next-generation AI data centers.

China's semiconductor self-reliance push has notched new gains, with Chinese AI giants expanding purchases of domestic AI chips and facing direct pressure from Beijing to use more local silicon, market sources say. Industry players say the trend toward chip substitution has been building for years, but whether it truly accelerates will depend on how strong the "chilling effect" becomes.
Samsung Electronics is considering using low-cost Chinese mobile DRAM in smartphones sold in China as it looks to cut manufacturing costs and expand its presence in the country's budget handset market, according to Asia Time.

On July 28, ASM International raised its revenue outlook for 2027 and issued third-quarter guidance above market expectations after reporting higher second-quarter revenue and profit, supported by continued investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure and advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

Macronix International posted a sharp earnings increase in the second quarter of 2026, with gross margin reaching a record 64.4%. Its board also approved an additional NT$15.8 billion (approx. US$490 million) in capex to expand 12-inch wafer capacity.

SK Hynix reported record second-quarter revenue, underscoring the firm's strong demand for AI-related memory despite supply constraints and shifting customer buying patterns. The South Korean chipmaker said it is expanding long-term agreements with major customers to lock in demand and support investment planning. The company also expects HBM and DRAM to remain key growth drivers into the second half of 2026.