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According to South Korean media reports, Samsung Electronics plans to increase prices for process nodes such as 4nm and 8nm, with industry estimates suggesting a price increase of around 10%. On the one hand, the production capacity of mature and sub advanced processes remains tight, with high market demand and limited resources available for expansion. On the other hand, the 4nm and 8nm processes have successfully passed the stage of yield ramp up and process stability, entering the mature mass production cycle. By adjusting prices, the overall profit of mature and high-yield processes is higher.   In terms of specific positioning, Samsung's 4nm process is mainly aimed at customers who have higher requirements for performance and energy efficiency, while the 8nm process focuses more on large-scale production and cost control, suitable for products that are price sensitive but have a large shipment scale. By distinguishing the application scenarios of different nodes and synchronously raising prices, Samsung Electronics hopes to further improve long-term profitability while ensuring stable customer structure. Since entering 2026, multiple global wafer foundries have successively initiated price increases. TSMC has previously stated that it plans to launch a four-year continuous price increase for advanced processes of 5nm and below starting from January 2026, with an average annual increase of about 3% to 5%.   SMIC will increase the price of 8-inch BCD process outsourcing by about 10% in December 2025, and multiple customers have confirmed the relevant adjustments; Huahong Semiconductor, on the other hand, raised the prices of mature processes as early as the second quarter of 2025 and gradually reflected it in subsequent performance. The current increase in wafer foundry prices is still due to the continued surge in demand for artificial intelligence. The demand for AI chips and related accelerators is driving the overall order scale to continuously increase, while advanced processes such as HBM and advanced packaging capacity are being prioritized, further squeezing the available resources of mature and sub advanced processes. In addition, the continuous increase in labor costs, raw material prices, and energy costs has also raised the overall cost of wafer manufacturing.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently retweeted a job posting from Tesla's South Korean division, officially announcing the company's efforts to recruit key semiconductor talent in South Korea. In the increasingly fierce global AI chip market, this move is widely interpreted by the industry as a significant strategic move by Tesla to strengthen its semiconductor design and manufacturing capabilities and solidify its competitiveness in the AI ​​chip field. On February 17th local time, Musk retweeted Tesla South Korea's job posting for AI chip design engineers on his social media platform X, actively seeking talent. He stated, "If you want to work in chip design, wafer manufacturing, and AI software related fields in South Korea, you are welcome to apply to Tesla." This talent recruitment plan aligns closely with Tesla's long-term strategy of developing its own chips. Currently, Musk's AI company xAI is fully engaged in developing the Grok large-scale model, directly competing with OpenAI's ChatGPT. High-performance AI chips are the core foundation for supporting the development of large-scale models and achieving efficient processing of massive amounts of data, making Tesla's need for such chips extremely urgent. It is widely believed that Tesla's targeted recruitment drive in South Korea aims to tap into the country's top semiconductor design and process engineers. South Korea boasts a strong foundation in the semiconductor field, particularly in high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a core component of AI chips, where it holds a leading global position. With the explosive growth in global demand for AI computing power, the market demand for HBM is also soaring, making it a key reason for Tesla's focus on the South Korean talent market. Currently, Tesla is collaborating deeply with Samsung Electronics and TSMC to advance the production of AI chips. Samsung Electronics will supply Tesla with the AI5 autopilot chip, which boasts 40 times the performance of its predecessor, designed for the fully autonomous driving system. Reportedly, Tesla initially planned for TSMC to exclusively manufacture this chip, but later adjusted to a joint production model with Samsung Electronics (using a 2nm process), further deepening its ties with South Korean semiconductor companies.

On February 10, 2026, STMicroelectronics (ST) officially announced the completion of its acquisition of NXP's MEMS sensor business. This transaction was first announced in July 2025 and has now received full approval from global regulatory agencies, marking a crucial step in ST's strategic layout in the global sensor field. It is reported that the acquisition transaction amount is as high as 950 million US dollars in cash, including 900 million US dollars in advance payment and 50 million US dollars to be paid after specific technological milestones are achieved. NXP's MEMS sensor business generated approximately $300 million in revenue in 2024, primarily focused on automotive safety products, non safety automotive applications, and industrial applications. ST acquires NXP MEMS sensor business to form technological complementarity According to the "MEMS Industry Status -2025 Edition" report released by Yole, ST ranks 6th and NXP ranks 13th among the top 30 MEMS manufacturers worldwide. NXP has long been recognized as a leading supplier of automotive MEMS inertial sensors and pressure sensors in the industry. Marco Cassis, President of STMicroelectronics' Analog Devices, Power Devices, Discrete Devices, and MEMS Sensors Division, stated that this acquisition will form a strong technological complement to the company's existing MEMS product line, particularly in the areas of automotive safety and industrial technology. By integrating the advantageous resources and customer networks of both parties, we will further consolidate our sensor market position in key application areas such as automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics. ” According to preliminary assessment, this acquisition is expected to bring approximately $45 million in revenue contribution to ST in the first quarter of 2026. And it will bring significant gross profit and operating profit growth to the company. This acquisition not only strengthens ST's position in the automotive safety field, but also consolidates its comprehensive advantages in the MEMS sensor field of the automotive and industrial end markets. As a global vertically integrated semiconductor manufacturer (IDM), ST has 48000 creators and innovators of semiconductor technology, with expertise in semiconductor supply chains and advanced manufacturing equipment. The company collaborates with over 200000 customers and thousands of partners to develop products and solutions. Its technology makes people's travel smarter, power and energy management more efficient, and cloud connected autonomous devices more widely used. ST 2025 Q4 has resumed year-on-year growth momentum In terms of financial performance, ST announced its fourth quarter and full year financial results for the fiscal year 2025 on January 29, 2026. According to the company's official financial report and Reuters, ST achieved a net revenue of $11.8 billion for the full year of 2025, a decrease of 11.1% from 2024 due to the weak automotive sector and slowing industrial market demand. The annual gross profit margin was 33.9%, with an operating profit of $175 million (including $376 million in impairment, restructuring expenses, and other related business exit costs). According to non GAAP accounting standards, the annual operating profit margin was 4.7%, net profit was $486 million, and diluted earnings per share were $0.53. It is worth noting that despite facing challenges throughout the year, ST achieved a net revenue of $3.33 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, a year-on-year increase of 0.2%, successfully restoring its year-on-year growth momentum. The gross profit margin for the fourth quarter reached 35.2%, with a non GAAP operating profit margin of 8.0%. The company maintained a stable cash flow performance throughout the year, achieving a free cash flow of $265 million, which was the result of investing $1.79 billion in net capital expenditures. As of the end of 2025, the company's net financial position is $2.79 billion, total liquidity is $4.92 billion, and it has received investment grade credit ratings of BBB+(negative outlook) from Standard&Poor's and Baa1 (stable outlook) from Moody's. Jean Marc Chery, President and CEO of STMicroelectronics, stated, "2025 has been a challenging year, but we have resumed year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter. Our strategic focus remains on accelerating innovation, executing a company wide manufacturing restructuring and global cost structure optimization plan, and strengthening the generation of free cash flow." Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2026, the company expects a midpoint net revenue of $3.04 billion and a gross profit margin of approximately 33.7%. Summary: Industry analysts point out that the acquisition of NXP MEMS business will help ST further expand its sensor product line in high growth areas, especially in key markets such as automotive safety and industrial automation. With the continuous development of global electric vehicles and intelligent driving technology, the demand for MEMS sensors is expected to maintain strong growth, which will provide strong support for ST's medium - and long-term development.

On February 5th, Infineon issued a price increase notice to its customers, stating that demand for its power switches and integrated circuit products has surged, leading to shortages, driven by the deployment of AI data centers. Due to the need for significant additional investment in wafer fabs for capacity expansion, coupled with the continued rise in raw material and infrastructure costs, the company will adjust the prices of some products starting April 1, 2026. Infineon pointed out that in the past, the company has always responded to increased input costs through internal efficiency improvements, but it has now reached a stage where it can no longer fully absorb these costs. Therefore, it must share this cost increase with its valuable customers and partners. Infineon stated that for power switches and IC products affected by the earlier investment and increased manufacturing costs, the company has taken all feasible measures to keep the price adjustment to a minimum. The new prices will take effect on April 1, 2026, and all new orders placed on or after that date, as well as existing orders shipped on or after that date, will be subject to the adjusted prices. In its price increase letter, Infineon stated that to meet the continuously rising market demand, it needs to make substantial additional investments to increase wafer fab capacity. According to the company's investment plan, capital expenditure for fiscal year 2026 will be increased to €2.7 billion to expand data center chip production capacity. The company expects its AI business revenue to reach €1.5 billion this fiscal year and €2.5 billion in the next fiscal year. Infineon CEO Jochen Hanebeck stated, "Amid relatively sluggish markets elsewhere, strong demand for artificial intelligence has provided a significant boost to Infineon. Currently, power solutions for AI data centers remain our focus; in the coming years, the expansion of grid infrastructure will also be a new key area. To better serve our customers, we are adjusting manufacturing capacity to meet the continued growth in demand in this area and investing in related fields in advance. A large portion of this will be used to accelerate the mass production process of our new Smart Power Fab in Dresden. This Fab will officially open this summer, perfectly aligned with market developments." Infineon's revenue last quarter was €3.66 billion, slightly higher than analysts' forecast of €3.62 billion. Its segment profit margin (Infineon's preferred metric for measuring operating profitability) also exceeded expectations, reaching 17.9% in the first fiscal quarter ending in December.

STMicroelectronics announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2025. Net revenue for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $3.33 billion, a 0.2% increase year-over-year; gross margin was 35.2%; and operating profit was $125 million. By segment, the Analog, Power & Discrete, MEMS & Sensors (APMS) products segment generated $1.861 billion in revenue, a 4.6% decrease year-over-year; while the MCU, Analog-Digital Integrated Circuits & Radio Frequency (MDRF) products segment generated $1.464 billion in revenue, a 7.0% increase year-over-year. STMicroelectronics' sales growth was driven by customers seeking chips for personal electronics, communication equipment, computer peripherals, and industrial machinery. However, it's worth noting that semiconductor demand in the automotive industry is still struggling to recover. CEO Jean-Marc Chery stated that demand in the automotive industry remains below expectations. For the full year 2025, STMicroelectronics' revenue was $11.8 billion, an 11.1% decrease; gross margin was 33.9%; operating profit was $175 million; and net profit was $166 million. The company expects net revenue of $3.04 billion for the first quarter of 2026, a decrease of 8.7% sequentially, plus or minus 350 basis points; gross margin is expected to be 33.7%, plus or minus 200 basis points. Revenue for the next quarter is expected to be approximately $3.04 billion, higher than $2.52 billion in the same period last year. The strong performance outlook from Texas Instruments, another analog chip giant, echoes the better-than-expected outlook from STMicroelectronics, indicating that the analog chip market appears to be recovering. Texas Instruments expects revenue of $4.32 billion to $4.68 billion for the first quarter of 2026, with the midpoint of the forecast slightly higher than the market expectation of $4.42 billion; earnings per share are expected to be $1.22 to $1.48, with the midpoint of the forecast better than the market expectation of $1.26. Analog chip prices have also entered a period of intensive price increases. At the end of last year, Texas Instruments and Analog Devices (ADI) mainly announced price increases. After January, domestic companies such as Ingenic Semiconductor, Microchip Technology, and Bi-Micro Technology successively issued price increase notices. The overall consensus on price increases has been basically established, and it is expected that a recovery cycle with both volume and price increases will be entered in the later period.

On January 20th, PSMC officially announced that it would sell the entire P5 factory in Taiwan's Tongluo factory to Micron for $1.8 billion (currently about 12.601 billion RMB). The Tongluo factory has been in operation for less than 2 years, with an investment of over 300 billion New Taiwan dollars (approximately 66.06 billion yuan), and has the ability to produce 50000 12 inch wafers per month, supporting three process nodes: 55nm, 40nm, and 28nm. It is also equipped with a 300mm wafer fab cleanroom with an area of approximately 300000 square feet, which is a highly controllable production environment required for high-end chip production. Source: Economic Daily According to the information disclosed by both parties, the transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026. At that time, Micron will gradually introduce DRAM production lines. The first phase of the project is expected to be officially put into operation in the second half of 2027, and its production capacity contribution will be equivalent to more than 10% of Micron's global production capacity in the fourth quarter of 2026. Meanwhile, PSMC will transfer its production line from the Tongluo factory to another factory located in Hsinchu City, and Samsung will also assist PSMC in improving its existing niche DRAM process technology at the Hsinchu P3 factory.   PSMC assures its OEM customers that selling factories will not affect their normal operations, and also states that it will gradually phase out low profit products in the future, reduce its dependence on mature process outsourcing business, and accelerate the development of new products for artificial intelligence applications.   PSMC hopes to build a more robust financial foundation in the semiconductor industry with significant cyclical fluctuations. Seize the window period of global memory market recovery, combine advanced packaging technologies such as 3D wafer stacking and intermediate layers with new material solutions, and gradually enter the key links of AI related supply chains. In addition, last Friday, Micron officially broke ground in central New York State, preparing to build a $100 billion wafer fab.

Texas Instruments (TI) has laid off its MCU team in China (marketing and applications were retained, while R&D was abandoned) and moved its entire MCU product line to India.   It is said that all team members have been reassigned to other product lines, nominally with their positions and salaries remaining unchanged.   The company gave employees two choices: accept the reassignment to other product lines or voluntarily resign. This move is rather cunning, indicating that the company had no intention of going through a layoff process and would not offer any compensation to employees who voluntarily resign.   Reports indicate that TI's MCU R&D team in China mainly focused on the MSP430 product line, a series of 16-bit ultra-low-power, low-cost MCUs that TI launched to the market in 1996. Now, some team members have been laid off, while others have been merged into the LED DRIVER chip team. The domestic MCU industry is now engaged in a fierce "talent war." Fang Jing, chief electronics analyst at Minsheng Securities, stated that TI's MCU team was once one of the best-performing localized product lines, based in the Chinese market, specializing in localized customized development, and with very fast customer response. However, starting in early 2018, TI's MCU business began to decline, with the market gradually being taken over by emerging domestic MCU manufacturers, squeezing its survival space. "This team was mainly based in Shanghai, and the pandemic made operations even more difficult, so they simply withdrew," he said. He believes that although some employees could choose to transfer to other teams, the transition from digital to analog is significant, so "it was more of a stopgap measure for TI, as they didn't want to pay severance." He added, "The rise of domestic MCUs is accelerating, putting pressure on overseas leaders. This comprehensive layoff will likely further promote the substitution of domestic MCUs." Data shows that in 2020, Texas Instruments' general-purpose MCU market share was around 7%, far less than the top five companies such as Renesas Electronics, NXP, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, and Microchip Technology, while domestic MCU manufacturers have made rapid progress in this field in recent years.   Fang Jing, chief electronics analyst at Minsheng Securities, stated that TI's MCU team used to be one of the best-performing localized product lines, based in the Chinese market, specializing in localized customized development, and responding very quickly to customers. However, starting in early 2018, its business began to decline, with the market gradually being taken over by emerging domestic MCU manufacturers, squeezing its survival space. Furthermore, this team is primarily based in Shanghai, making operations even more difficult during the pandemic.   He believes that this complete layoff will further promote the substitution of domestically produced MCUs, and TI's withdrawal is just a trend; he expects more similar events to follow.

Nittobo, a Japanese company that originated in the textile industry, has ventured into the research and development of T-Glass, a key material for AI chip packaging. This material is crucial for the stable operation of high-end chips. Nittobo monopolizes 90% of the global high-end fiberglass cloth market, with no competitors in the T-Glass field. With the explosive growth in AI demand, the material is in short supply, creating a supply gap. This "cloth-selling company" has thus secured a crucial link in the global AI chip industry. Today, let's learn about Nittobo:   I. A Century of Transformation: From Textile Mill to AI Material Giant Nittobo's history can be traced back to a textile company founded in 1898. Officially established in 1923, it is one of Japan's oldest silk textile companies. In its early years, it relied on surplus electricity from irrigation canals built by the Meiji government, generating electricity while simultaneously producing textiles, focusing solely on textile-related products until 1963. 1969 was a crucial turning point. With the rise of computer and chip technology, the company targeted market demand and ventured into the field of glass cloth for printed circuit boards. After decades of dedicated development, Nittobo has transformed from a traditional textile factory into a leading supplier of core AI materials, achieving a remarkable industrial upgrade.   II. Flagship Product T-Glass: The "Stable Cornerstone" of AI Chips Nittobo's core competitiveness stems from its T-Glass material, launched in 1984. Simply put, T-Glass is a high-performance glass fiber cloth, characterized by its high strength and minimal expansion under heat. Initially used in composite materials, it was later found to be particularly suitable for the electronics field—AI servers and high-end smartphone chip packaging substrates all rely on it. Chips generate heat during operation, and ordinary materials are prone to deformation and warping, while T-Glass effectively solves this problem, ensuring high-speed computing and long-term stable operation of chips, making it a key material for high-end chip packaging.   III. Market Monopoly: The "Hidden Hegemon" of High-End Global Glass Fiber Cloth In the high-end glass fiber cloth sector, Nittobo holds a near-monopoly. With only a handful of manufacturers worldwide capable of producing high-end NE glass fiber yarn, Nittobo alone controls 90% of the global high-end glass fiber cloth market share. Especially T-Glass, specifically designed for high-end ABF substrates, is unmatched by Nittobauer in this field. With the explosive growth in demand for AI servers, T-Glass is in short supply, even causing a shortage in BT substrates used in mobile phone chips. Goldman Sachs predicts a double-digit percentage shortage of T-Glass for BT substrates in the coming quarters.   IV. Industry Impact: The "Pricing Power Controller" Behind the Price Hike As an industry leader, Nittobauer's moves directly impact the global supply chain. In June 2025, Nittobauer announced a 20% price increase for glass fiber starting in August, triggering a chain reaction across the industry. This is driven by the explosive growth in AI demand—a single AI server requires 5-8 times more high-end glass fiber cloth than a regular server, while overseas manufacturers like Nittobauer have adopted a conservative approach to capacity expansion, leading to supply shortages. Currently, global demand for low-dielectric electronic cloth continues to rise, and Nittobauer's production capacity and pricing strategy directly affect the costs and supply cycles of downstream industries such as PCB and chip packaging.

Samsung Exynos 2600 Heavy Release: 2nm 1、 On Friday, Samsung Electronics dropped a bombshell in the mobile semiconductor industry and officially announced the complete details of the industry's first 2-nanometer process smartphone application processor, Exynos 2600. This chip, which carries Samsung's top semiconductor strength, not only marks the official entry of mobile chips into the 2nm new era, but also relies on the surround gate (GAA) architecture as the cornerstone, in terms of performance AI、 Disruptive breakthroughs have been achieved in the four dimensions of imaging and heat dissipation, redefining the technological ceiling of flagship mobile computing cores. As the "super brain" of smartphones, the Exynos 2600 is built by Samsung's LSI department, with precision manufacturing of the GAA architecture guaranteed by the OEM factory, which will directly empower the Galaxy S26 series flagship models to be released early next year. The 10 core CPU configuration based on the latest Arm architecture is luxurious: led by one 3.8GHz Cortex-C1 Ultra super core, paired with three 3.25GHz Cortex-C1 Pro performance cores and six 2.75GHz Cortex-C1 Pro energy efficiency cores, forming a golden combination of "ultra-high performance+balanced energy efficiency", with overall computing performance skyrocketing by 39% compared to the previous generation. Significant improvement in AI and graphics performance: the integration of a 32K MAC NPU AI engine doubles the performance of generative AI workloads; With the support of Samsung Xclipse 960 GPU, the graphics performance has skyrocketed by 100% compared to Exynos 2500. Coupled with Kinetic Reality technology, ray tracing performance has been improved by 50%. Exynos Neural Super Sampling frame generation technology enables game smoothness to exceed 300%, achieving a console level experience. Full imaging capability: single camera supports up to 320 million pixel CMOS and 108MP@30fps Continuous shooting, dual camera 64MP+32MP to meet professional needs; Top display and encoding/decoding capabilities, supporting 4K/ WQUXGA@120Hz High refresh rate, 8K codec, integrated full format codec covering audio and video scenes. The core highlight is that the Exynos 2600 has implanted a heat dissipation path module (HPB) in a mobile SoC for the first time, using high dielectric constant materials to reduce thermal resistance by up to 16%, solving the pain point of high-end chip heat dissipation. At the same time, as the first 2nm GAA smartphone chip, it is the first to support hybrid quantum encryption to ensure security, and will become the foundation platform for future Exynos chips, laying a technological advantage. 2、 Samsung's mobile phone strategy: Half of the S26 models are equipped with Exynos 2600 for mass production, which is not only a technological breakthrough, but also a heavyweight signal for Samsung to revive its self-developed mobile processor strategy. According to a previous report by the Korea Economic Daily, Samsung plans to equip about half of its Galaxy S26 series models with this chip, which is a radical counterattack measure after its self-developed chip suffered setbacks. According to the plan, the entire Galaxy S26 series (including Ultra version) in the Korean and European markets will be equipped with Exynos 2600, while Qualcomm Snapdragon will still be used in the US, Japan, and China markets. This balanced distribution means that Samsung has deployed Exynos chips on a large scale in its flagship Galaxy series for the first time since 2021, marking a comprehensive return to its self-developed strategy. Looking back at history, Samsung's flagship Galaxy used Exynos chips before 2015, but switched to Qualcomm in 2016. The heat dissipation issue and low yield of the 2022 Galaxy S22 series Exynos chip have dampened consumer confidence and accelerated the transition. Since last year, Samsung has launched a self-developed comeback: the Galaxy S24 Basic/Plus version is equipped with Exynos 2400, and the subsequent Galaxy Z Flip7 (sold only in Korea) is equipped with Exynos 2500, gradually rebuilding trust. The mass production and large-scale adoption of Exynos 2600 is a crucial step for Samsung's return to self-developed technology. This reflects its confidence in its semiconductor capabilities and is also an important measure to restructure the mobile chip market landscape. With its first mover advantage in 2nm technology, Samsung is attempting to regain the voice of high-end mobile chips and reverse its passive situation. As the Galaxy S26 approaches, this direct confrontation with Qualcomm will become the biggest highlight of the high-end mobile phone market in 2025.

"It’s bad, and it’s getting worse right now."   SSDs will continue to rise, with the upward trend running through the entire year of 2026. According to TomsHardware, Cameron Crandell, SSD Business Manager at Kingston Data Centers, warns that the shortage of NAND Flash may worsen within 30 days, directly driving up SSD prices. He also predicts that memory and SSD prices will rise throughout 2026. Crandell, who has 29 years of experience in Kingston, said that the storage price increase this time is "unprecedented". He suggested that consumers with storage upgrade needs should take immediate action and not wait and see. The industry points out that NAND Flash, which accounts for 90% of the material cost of traditional SSDs, has price fluctuations as the core influencing factor of terminal prices.   Since the beginning of this year, NAND Flash has skyrocketed, and cost pressure has been transmitted to the end market. Enterprise grade SSDs have entered a stage where both quantity and price have risen. The latest survey by global market research firm TrendForce Consulting shows that the overall atmosphere of the storage market in the fourth quarter of 2024 has shifted from "recovery" to "material grabbing". The core reason is that after experiencing previous market cycle fluctuations, NAND Flash suppliers generally adopt a cautious strategy for capacity expansion, resulting in a much lower growth rate of enterprise SSD capacity than the market demand growth rate.   The outbreak of the AI industry is the key driving force behind the supply-demand imbalance in the storage market. For core buyers such as cloud service providers (CSPs), an active inventory reserve plan has been launched recently to avoid delays in the costly AI server construction schedule due to SSD shortages. In this supply-demand pattern, Jibang Consulting predicts that the average contract price of enterprise SSDs in the fourth quarter will achieve a quarterly increase of over 25%, and the overall revenue of related industries is expected to reach a historical high. It is worth noting that the price surge in the storage market is not limited to the SSD field. According to media reports, driven indirectly by the demand for AI, the price of traditional HDD (mechanical hard disk) has also increased. Industry insiders point out that the current storage shortage has surpassed the scope of a single NAND Flash chip and evolved into a comprehensive impact on all available storage devices in the market. The entire storage industry is facing a global supply-demand imbalance challenge.

US senators recently proposed the "Safe and Feasible Chip Export Act", requiring the US Department of Commerce to completely suspend the issuance of advanced artificial intelligence chip export licenses to countries such as China and Russia within the next 30 months. Recently, Republican Senator Pete Ricketts and Democratic Senator Chris Coons jointly proposed the "Safe and Feasible Chip Export Act", which requires the US Department of Commerce to completely suspend the issuance of advanced artificial intelligence chip export licenses to countries such as China and Russia in the next 30 months, and explicitly include Nvidia H200 chips and new chips based on the Blackwell architecture in strict control. As a key computing carrier supporting large-scale artificial intelligence model training, the closure of the export channels for the above-mentioned products is widely regarded by international observers as an important policy tool for the US government to suppress the upgrading of China's artificial intelligence industry from the source of technology supply.   The "Congressional Supervision Clause" set up in the bill has more institutional features, stipulating that after the 30 month policy implementation period expires, any rule adjustments made by the Ministry of Commerce must be reported to Congress 30 days in advance. This will strengthen the institutional rigidity of the export control of chips to China. The joint proposal by senators from both parties essentially forms legislative constraints on the executive branch's policy easing tendency, continuing the evolving characteristics of the US chip control policy towards China, which alternates between looseness and tightness. This policy dynamic can be traced back to early 2025, when Nvidia's customized H20 chip for the Chinese market was included in the regulatory list. After a brief policy adjustment, the regulatory system is now further strengthened through legislative procedures. Facing the chip export control policy, AMD CEO Su Zifeng announced on December 4th local time that some of AMD's MI 308 chips have obtained permission to be exported to China and are ready to pay a 15% tax to the US government when shipped. Previously, AMD had estimated that the US government's export restrictions on MI 308 chips would result in a loss of approximately $800 million. NVIDIA continues to be at the forefront of opposition. Huang Renxun has repeatedly emphasized publicly that "the Chinese market cannot accept technology products with limited performance", and through quantitative analysis, pointed out that the continuous export restrictions have caused the company to lose $15 billion in revenue in China. If the new law takes effect, it is expected that the revenue in the Chinese market will return to zero in the next two quarters. And just one day before the proposal of the Safe and Feasible Chip Export Act, Nvidia successfully lobbied Congress to suspend the GAIN AI Act. This core argument, which emphasizes that "artificial intelligence technology is different from nuclear weapons and should promote global technology sharing," emphasizes the important supporting role of technology circulation in the US job market and industrial ecology. However, this business oriented policy proposition has not gained widespread recognition.   Republican Congressman John F. Kennedy of the United States Senate Banking Committee publicly questioned the objectivity of his proposed policies, arguing that his views overly focused on corporate commercial interests; Hardliners, represented by Steve Bannon, advocate for strict measures similar to the Cold War era nuclear technology control. From a global perspective, this chip regulation game is essentially a strategic competition for technological dominance, but it may result in a "lose lose" situation. The restricted flow of technology will slow down the pace of global artificial intelligence technology innovation, while supply chain fragmentation will drive up industry operating costs. At a critical stage of the development of artificial intelligence technology, seeking a balance between maintaining national security and promoting global technological cooperation tests the strategic decision-making wisdom of China and the United States. The ultimate direction of this game will have a profound impact on the future global technological development pattern and international economic order.

Global semiconductor giant Samsung Electronics recently announced a major organizational restructuring, disbanding its high bandwidth memory (HBM) special development team that had only been established for one year, and integrating the team's personnel and overall business into the design team of the DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) development department. Adjustment details: Smooth transition of personnel and business. According to multiple media reports, this adjustment marks Samsung's HBM business returning from an independent "special attack team" model to the mainstream research and development system of storage chips. Samsung Electronics stated that this move aims to optimize resource allocation, enhance synergies between HBM and core DRAM products, and improve overall operational efficiency and competitiveness.   Samsung Electronics urgently established an independent HBM development team in July 2024. At that time, Samsung was clearly lagging behind its main competitor SK Hynix in the rapidly growing HBM market, and the establishment of this team was seen as a key measure to concentrate resources and accelerate technological catch-up. HBM is a core component in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) servers and high-performance computing, and market demand has exploded with the AI wave. According to the adjustment plan, all members of the original HBM development team will be transferred to the design team under the DRAM development department. Son Young soo, the Vice President (EVP) who previously led the HBM team, has been appointed as the head of this design team and will continue to lead the original team in advancing the research and development of the next generation of HBM products.   Despite the change in team organization, the core research and development tasks, including the development of cutting-edge technologies such as HBM4 and HBM4E, will remain continuous. Industry analysis indicates that this restructuring reflects a change in Samsung's assessment of the development stage of its HBM technology. After more than a year of concentrated research and development, Samsung believes that its HBM technology has gained core competitiveness and no longer needs to "make up for shortcomings" in the form of an independent team. Instead, it is shifting towards deeper integration with basic DRAM technology to strengthen long-term technological advantages. This move is also interpreted as Samsung having full confidence in the upcoming next-generation HBM products, such as HBM4. Market impact: Consolidating position and catching up with market share. Market data shows that in the second quarter of this year, Samsung's market share in the global HBM market fell to 17%, ranking third, far behind SK Hynix, which holds 62% market share. However, with Samsung's HBM3E successfully entering Nvidia's supply chain and all HBM4 product orders sold out, the company is optimistic about its market performance next year. Samsung's Executive Vice President of Storage Business, Kim Jae joon, revealed during a recent earnings conference: 'Compared to this year, we have significantly increased our HBM production capacity for next year, but customer demand still exceeds supply.'. The company expects that as the supply scale of HBM4 gradually expands, its market share will steadily rebound from next year. Market research firm TrendForce predicts that Samsung's market share in the global HBM market is expected to exceed 30% by 2026. It is worth noting that this organizational adjustment coincides with the global storage market entering a super cycle. According to supply chain sources, the price of DDR5 16Gb chips increased by as much as 102% in October, while Counterpoint Research predicts that by the second quarter of 2026, memory module prices will rise by 50% compared to the current level. While consolidating the traditional DRAM market, Samsung continues to lay out its high-end HBM product line, demonstrating its dual track strategy of "bread and the future".   At present, Samsung has a strong foundation in DRAM production capacity and order fulfillment. In the HBM field, its HBM3E product has achieved mass production and been delivered to customers such as Nvidia and AMD, and orders for the next generation HBM4 have also been sold out. Although Samsung ranked third in global HBM market share in the second quarter of this year, behind SK Hynix and Micron, market research firm TrendForce predicts that with the expansion of HBM4 supply, Samsung's market share is expected to exceed 30% by 2026. This organizational adjustment is Samsung's strategic layout to more effectively integrate internal resources, seize market opportunities, and achieve market share growth. The Korean Economic Daily reported that Samsung's HBM4 product is rapidly expanding its market share and benefiting from a 56% annual increase in standard DRAM prices, resulting in a significant increase in overall storage revenue; In addition to the rebound in storage prices, the price of NAND Flash has also rebounded, which will help improve the overall gross profit structure. It is reported that Samsung Electronics plans to complete the organizational restructuring this week and is expected to hold a global strategic meeting in early December to review next year's business plans.