Semiconductor News 20260305

Main News

1. Intensifying conflict in the Middle East has severely impacted the global tech and financial markets.
   Intensifying conflict in the Middle East has had a widespread impact on the tech industry, with NVIDIA closing its Dubai office and a strike at an AWS data center. This geopolitical risk is pushing up logistics costs and putting pressure on the smartphone market. The entire global financial and industrial community is becoming increasingly wary of order delays, with South Korea’s KOSPI falling 12 percent in a single day, its largest drop since the attacks.
2. AI Demand Accelerates Memory Price Spike; Supply-Demand Tightness Continues Through 2026
   Exploding demand for AI infrastructure continues to drive memory prices skyrocketing, with some products experiencing exceptional hourly price volatility. Memory shortages and price hikes are expected to continue through 2026, with Apacer indicating plans to more than double its average selling price, driving earnings growth for related companies.
3. Asian Semiconductor Giants Plan Huge $136 Billion Investment in 2026
   According to a report by TrendForce, major Asian semiconductor manufacturers are considering a total of $136 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, a 25 percent increase over the previous year. This massive investment, spanning both the foundry and memory sectors, is intended to meet surging AI demand, further solidifying the region’s dominance as a semiconductor manufacturing hub as TSMC maintains its dominant lead in the foundry market and leads the way in price increases.
4. Apple Announces MacBook Neo, a Low-Priced Notebook PC Under 100,000 Yen
   Apple has announced a new low-priced notebook PC, MacBook Neo, with a price under 100,000 yen (starting at about 990,000 won in the Korean market). This is a strategic product designed to reduce costs by daring to suppress basic semiconductor performance in order to cope with the serious rise in memory prices. With the growth of high-end products slowing down, this is a noteworthy move aimed at maintaining and expanding market share by capturing demand from the entry-level segment.
5. Tesla Considering Doubling Production of AI6 Chips and May Place Additional Orders with Samsung
   Tesla is considering doubling production of its next-generation AI6 infrastructure from its original plan. As the company’s management is preparing for a meeting, it is reported that additional orders may be placed with Samsung Electronics’ foundry division in order to expand production capacity. In this connection, Samsung has been strengthening its operations at its P5 plant in Pyeongtaek and its plant in Texas, U.S.A., and is committed to increasing orders for AI semiconductor manufacturing from major hyperscalers.
6. Broadcom Ships World’s First 2-nano-adopted 3.5D Custom SoC
   Broadcom has begun shipping an advanced custom SoC that uses a state-of-the-art 2-nanometer manufacturing process and proprietary 3.5D packaging technology. Fujitsu of Japan has been selected as the first customer for this groundbreaking high-performance chip. The growing demand for ultra-high-performance and high-efficiency dedicated semiconductors to replace standard GPUs in data centers and AI infrastructures has intensified competition for development in the custom chip market.
7. AMD Expands MI450 Mass Production and Strengthens Deals with Major Hyperscalers
   AMD is rapidly expanding mass production of its next-generation AI accelerator, MI450, in an effort to ensure it can meet rapidly growing demand for AI infrastructure through large-scale supply deals with major hyperscalers such as Meta and OpenAI. The company aims to regain market share and dramatically grow its revenue base in the AI chip market, where NVIDIA has a dominant share, by taking advantage of the tech giants’ desire to diversify their procurement sources.
8. U.S . Military Utilizes AI from Palantir and Anthropic for Target Selection for Iranian Attack
   The U.S. military has reportedly utilized the latest artificial intelligence technology provided by Palantir and Anthropic for sophisticated target selection in its offensive operations against Iran. Military diversion of cutting-edge AI technologies in the national security domain is gaining momentum at the real-world level. While cooperation between the defense industry and big tech companies is deepening, ideological conflicts and ripples between the companies’ ethical guidelines and actual military use may spread further in the future.
9. Chinese Semiconductor Firms Announce Simultaneous Price Hikes to Build Self-Sufficiency
   Several semiconductor companies listed on China’s A-share market have notified a series of simultaneous price hikes for their products, reflecting a severe supply crunch caused by surging demand for AI. In addition, fabless AI chip makers have recorded rapid revenue growth in 2025. While strict U.S. export controls continue, Chinese companies are expanding production lines to meet domestic demand and are making progress in building their own supply chains to become more self-sufficient in semiconductor components.
10. Intel Appoints Former Qualcomm Executive Craig H. Barratt as New Chairman
    Intel has announced the appointment of Craig H. Barratt, who has held key positions at Qualcomm and Google, as its new chairman, effective May, as part of a restructuring of the company’s management and a reorganization to strengthen its technology capabilities. At the same time, the company is also bringing in a new GPU division leader from a competitor. In order to compete in the intensifying AI chip and foundry market, the company is bringing in strong leadership veterans from outside the company to hasten a fundamental overhaul of the organization.

News List