Under pressure from low-cost competition in China, many application sectors are struggling to turn a profit. Recently, the compound semiconductor gallium nitride (GaN) industry has seen reports of major manufacturers experiencing fatigue and reduced willingness to invest, even considering more aggressive strategies. This could trigger sectoral shifts within the "non-China GaN supply chain."

Loongson has launched its next-generation processors at the 2025 Product Launch and User Conference in Beijing, introducing chips built on its proprietary LoongArch instruction set. The lineup includes the flagship 3C6000 server CPUs and the 3B6000M and 2K3000 processors for industrial control and edge applications, reinforcing China's ambitions in AI infrastructure, secure computing, and homegrown IT systems.

Ericsson announced an expansion of its Research and Development (R&D) team in Bengaluru, India, focusing on ASIC development, aiming to leverage local expertise and enhance Ericsson's semiconductor design capabilities to maintain its leadership in future communication technologies.

US semiconductor giant Nvidia has recruited two leading artificial intelligence (AI) specialists from China as part of its ongoing efforts to broaden its research team, according to a report by the South China Morning Post on June 29.

ThinTech Materials Technology (TTMC), a subsidiary of China Steel Corporation, experienced conservative shipment momentum in the first quarter of 2025 due to delays in customer verification schedules from IDM giants and panel manufacturers, as well as the recycling use of FOPLP (Fan-Out Panel Level Packaging) carriers.

Samsung Electronics has secured a broad license to a portfolio of semiconductor patents originally developed by Intel, a move industry analysts view as both a defensive strategy against potential litigation and a step toward strengthening its global technological competitiveness.

Facing external challenges such as US tariffs, exchange rates, and interest rates, IC distributor GMI stated that despite numerous market uncertainties, it expects its operational performance in the second half of 2025 to be on par with the first half. The company is striving for full-year revenue growth, particularly targeting double-digit increases in new projects within the AI servers and automotive markets.

Samsung is pushing its second-generation 2nm process, SF2P, promising notable performance and efficiency gains. As its chip business faces mounting pressure, the company is betting on advanced AI and mobile applications to revive its foundry momentum and attract major clients amid stalled 3nm adoption and scaled-back capital investment.

CoAsia, a Taiwan-based semiconductor company, announced that its subsidiary, CoAsia SEMI, will partner with Rebellions, a South Korean AI chipmaker, to co-develop a next-generation Processing-In-Memory (PIM) server-grade semiconductor as part of a national-level research and development initiative led by South Korea.

IBM is seeking a long-term partnership with Japan's Rapidus to develop sub-1nm chips, according to Yomiuri Shimbun. Building on their 2nm collaboration, IBM has deployed engineers to Rapidus's Hokkaido site, signaling deeper ties as both companies pursue next-generation semiconductor production and Japan ramps up investment in chip innovation.

South Korean artificial intelligence chip startup Rebellions has unveiled a prototype of its next-generation neural processing unit (NPU), integrating Samsung Electronics' 12-stack HBM3E high-bandwidth memory in a strategic move to challenge Nvidia's high-end accelerators.