Following Tesla’s lead, Samsung breaks through Apple’s lead, signaling a semiconductor revival.
According to the IT industry on the 7th, Samsung Electronics plans to produce Apple’s next-generation chips at its foundry plant located in Austin, Texas, USA.
Apple announced in a press release that day that it was “collaborating with Samsung at its semiconductor factory in Austin to develop innovative chip manufacturing technology that will be the first of its kind in the world.” The company went on to emphasize that “this will provide chips that optimize the power efficiency and performance of Apple products, including the iPhone.”
ADTech wins order for German Ubitium 8nm processor
AD Technology announced on the 6th that it has won an 8-nanometer (nm) project from German fabless semiconductor design company Ubitium. AD Technology will be responsible for the backend design of the ‘UB410’, a next-generation general-purpose processor based on RISC-V, and coordination of the FinFET manufacturing process.
The two companies plan to complete prototype tapeout by the second half of this year and begin mass production at Samsung Foundry in late 2026 or early 2027.
Intel CEO Under Pressure to Resign: “I’m Working to Address Concerns”
When US President Donald Trump called for his resignation, Intel CEO Lip Bu Tan responded by saying, “We will work with the Trump administration to address the concerns that have been recently raised.”
On the morning of the 7th (local time), President Trump wrote on his ‘TruthSocial’ account, “Intel’s CEO has created a major ‘conflict of interest’ problem and must resign immediately. There is no other solution.”
Earlier, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (Republican) of Arkansas sent an open letter to Intel Chairman Frank Yeary on the 6th, demanding an explanation of CEO Lip Bu Tan’s past investments in China by the 15th.
OCI expands semiconductor phosphoric acid production, anticipating increased orders from its largest customer, Samsung.
OCI announced on the 5th that it plans to increase its semiconductor phosphoric acid production capacity by 5,000 MT through debottlenecking (increasing production through process efficiency). The company plans to expand production capacity from the current 25,000 MT to 30,000 MT per year.
OCI is the leading company in the domestic semiconductor phosphoric acid market share, and with over 18 years of experience and technological prowess, it supplies phosphoric acid to all domestic semiconductor chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics, SK Key Foundry, and DB HiTek.
Semiconductor phosphoric acid is one of the key materials used in the wafer etching process during semiconductor production.
Semiconductor small business group Mico acquires hydrogen plant powerhouse Plantec.
Mico Group, a semiconductor and display materials and components specialist, has acquired Plantec, a steel and plant engineering company. Following last year’s acquisition of Hyundai Heavy Industries Power Systems (HPS), the company is accelerating its expansion into the hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) value chains through a series of mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
Miko announced on the 6th that it had signed a share purchase agreement (SPA) with Plantech’s major shareholder, Union Asset Management (UAMCO), to acquire Plantech Management. The transaction involves a 71.93% stake held by UAMCO, and the acquisition price amounts to KRW 154.2 billion.
Plantec started out as a maintenance specialist for Pohang Iron and Steel Company in 1982 and then entered the plant engineering business. However, it went through a workout in 2015 due to poor overseas business performance and was acquired by Yuamco in 2020.
IST continues to receive orders for semiconductor equipment, including HBM.
IST announced on the 7th that it is continuing to receive orders from SK Hynix for semiconductor equipment used in manufacturing HBM (high bandwidth memory).
According to the company, IST announced today that it had received a 2.8 billion won order for semiconductor equipment from SK Hynix. This represents 6.90% of last year’s sales, and the contract expires on November 10th.
Yoon Seok-hee, Vice President of Semiconductor Sales at IST, said, “The semiconductor equipment announced for this order is a FOUP cleaner. It is the company’s main product, supplied to 13 global customers since its delivery to SK Hynix in 2016.”
Dinoticia sued for semiconductor technology leak: “We did not use the data.”
Dinoticia, a startup whose founder was indicted by prosecutors on charges of stealing core AI (artificial intelligence) semiconductor technology from his former workplace, explained, “We have never used any semiconductor data from the founder’s former workplace.”
On the 7th, Dinoticia released an official statement, stating, “The founder has never used the previous company’s technology without permission or established a company based on it,” and “The semiconductor currently under development is an independent technology with a completely different design purpose and technological structure from the semiconductor of the victim company.”
The previous day, the prosecution indicted without detention Dinoticia, its founder, CEO Jeong Mu-gyeong, and two team leader engineers on charges of violating the Industrial Technology Protection Act and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.
GM Imports Chinese Electric Vehicle Batteries Despite High Tariffs, Strategies to Secure Price Competitiveness
According to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report on the 7th (local time), GM plans to import batteries for its second-generation Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle from CATL, a major Chinese battery manufacturer, for approximately two years. This contract is expected to fill a gap in production and manufacturing until Detroit Auto and LG Energy Solutions in Korea begin producing low-cost batteries in the United States.
The Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle is expected to begin production at GM’s Fairfax, Kansas, assembly plant later this year and go on sale next year. It is expected to be GM’s most affordable electric vehicle, starting at around $30,000.
Electric vehicles outside of China surge 21.9% in the first half of the year, with Volkswagen, Tesla, and Hyundai taking the lead.
Market research firm SNE Research announced on the 7th that the total number of electric vehicles registered in countries around the world, excluding China, from January to June this year reached 3.488 million, a 21.9% increase compared to the same period last year. This statistic includes pure electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs).
By group, Volkswagen surpassed Tesla to take first place, selling 591,000 units, a 66.2% increase. Second-place Tesla saw sales decline 17.2% year-on-year to 457,000 units, driven by sluggish sales of the Model Y and Model 3.
Hyundai Motor Group ranked third, continuing its steady growth by selling 293,000 units, up 9.4%.
Xiaomi, a leader in the electric vehicle industry, hires a BMW designer.
According to Elective on the 7th (local time), Kai Langer, who has worked at BMW for over 20 years, joined Xiaomi on August 1st. He will reportedly work at the research and development (R&D) center that Xiaomi established in Munich, Germany this year.
He played a key role in building BMW’s electric vehicle lineup from the early 2000s through the launch of the i3 in 2013.
Langer said on his LinkedIn page that he is joining Xiaomi, “one of the world’s most progressive and emerging large technology companies.”
Ecopro BM’s operating profit surges 1,159% in Q2… “Second half also looks promising.”
EcoPro BM, Korea’s largest cathode materials company, expanded its operating profit in the second quarter of this year, achieving a second consecutive quarter of profitability. With cathode material sales expected to increase in the second half of the year, the company is poised to achieve annual profitability.
EcoPro BM announced on the 5th that its operating profit for the second quarter reached 49 billion won. This represents a 1,159.1% and 2,058.7% increase compared to the same period last year and the previous quarter, respectively. Sales for the same period reached 779.7 billion won, a 3.7% decrease year-on-year but a 23.8% increase compared to the previous quarter.
The performance improvement was influenced by the launch of new vehicles by major automakers, as well as increased sales of cathode materials due to increased demand for replacement of power tools and energy storage systems (ESS) for data centers and renewable energy sources.
Solus Advanced Materials sells its Luxembourg plant to China’s Defu Keji.
Solus Advanced Materials (336370) has sold its Luxembourg copper foil plant to Chinese copper foil manufacturer Defu Technology (Jiujiang Defu Technology). This move aims to streamline its non-core copper foil business and focus its efforts on battery foil, a new growth engine.
According to Solus Advanced Materials on the 6th, it announced on the 29th of last month that it had decided to sell all of its shares in Circuit Foil Luxembourg (CFL), a Luxembourg-based subsidiary, to China’s Guangdong Caohua for 278.4 billion won. The two companies plan to close the deal within the fourth quarter. The acquiring entity, Defu Keji, is a Chinese manufacturer of copper foil for secondary batteries. In Korea, it is also known that LG Chem invested in the company in 2019 to strengthen its secondary battery materials supply chain.
China’s largest rental car company introduces CATL’s “swappable” battery vehicles, targeting 100,000 units.
CATL, the world’s largest battery manufacturer, announced plans to operate over 100,000 battery-swappable vehicles in cooperation with China’s largest rental car company, Shenzhou Rent-a-Car. According to CATL’s official social media account on the 5th, CATL Chairman Cheng Yuqin, Shenzhou Rent-a-Car Chairman Yu Hongfei, and China Merchants Bank President Wang Liang signed a strategic cooperation agreement.
Shenzhou Rent-a-Car is introducing CATL’s ‘chocolate swappable battery’ and plans to begin pilot operations this year, gradually increasing the number of vehicles with swappable batteries to over 100,000.
CIP Energy Enters Kenya’s Energy Market with Sodium Battery Packs
CIP Energy announced on the 4th that it will enter the Kenyan energy market with its self-developed sodium battery pack.
CIP Energy is a company pursuing the commercialization of sodium-based battery packs. The Kenyan government is promoting the establishment of pilot villages for home energy storage systems (ESS) utilizing sodium batteries, focusing on rural areas with insufficient power grids. CIP Energy will participate as a key ESS module supplier for this project.
Baidu robotaxi plunges into 3-meter crater in Chongqing, China
According to Hong Kong media outlet HK01 on the 7th (local time), a Luobo Kuaipao vehicle fell into a 3-meter-deep ditch while driving in the Yongchuan District of Chongqing the previous day. The ditch was caused by road construction by the city government, and the vehicle was driving autonomously at the time of the accident. After the accident, Baidu used a crane to extricate the vehicle. There has been no official statement regarding the cause of the accident.
Luobo Kuaipao operates a “cloud-based autonomous driving” system, which allows remote control over a 5G network. The system is designed to allow remote drivers to respond to emergencies through 360-degree real-time monitoring, even when safety personnel are not on board the vehicle.
Musk: Tesla’s Autonomous Driving Upgrade to Launch as Early as Next Month
Tesla, the American electric car company, is training an upgraded Full Self-Driving (FSD) model and could launch it as early as next month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said.
According to CNBC, Musk said in a post on social media X (formerly Twitter) on the 6th (local time), “Tesla is training a new FSD model with about 10 times the parameters and greatly improved image compression loss,” and “If the test goes well, a public launch will be possible at the end of next month.”
Autonomous A2Z Knocks on the Doors of Japan’s Autonomous Driving Market
Autonomous A2Z announced on the 5th that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Japanese general trading company Kanematsu Co., Ltd. on the 4th for joint commercialization of autonomous driving technology and will make a full-scale entry into the Japanese market.
Through this agreement, the two companies will promote the introduction and demonstration of Autonomous A2Z’s autonomous driving technology in the Japanese market, jointly address local certification and regulations, and explore the possibility of establishing a joint venture (JV). Kanematsu will focus on mobility sales activities in Japan and other global markets and establishing local systems in Japan, while A2Z will integrate the latest autonomous driving technology locally and, when necessary, dispatch experts to support practical cooperation.
Lyft also partners with Baidu to launch robotaxi service in Europe.
Bloomberg News reported on the 4th (local time) that American car-sharing company Lyft is planning to launch a self-driving car service in Europe starting next year in partnership with Chinese tech giant Baidu.
The two companies announced in a statement that day that they plan to launch a self-driving car service using Baidu’s sixth-generation robotaxi in Germany and the UK next year. However, this is subject to approval from regulatory authorities in each country.
The two companies plan to expand the number of service vehicles to thousands across Europe within a few years.
Tesla disbands its supercomputer development team, deepening its relationship with Samsung and Nvidia.
Tesla is disbanding its Dojo supercomputer development team, a key component of its artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. Dojo, a supercomputer designed by Tesla for fully autonomous driving (FSD) and the development of its humanoid robot, Optimus, was a symbol of Tesla’s AI self-reliance strategy.
This decision is considered a major turning point in Tesla’s technology development strategy, and is expected to strengthen cooperation with external partners such as Samsung Electronics and Nvidia in the future.
Merck Korea Unveils Deuterium Substitution Technology That Doubles OLED Lifespan
On the 7th, Merck Korea met with reporters at ‘K-Display 2025’ and explained the deuterium substitution technology used in OLED.
This technology converts the hydrogen primarily used in existing OLEDs into deuterium. OLEDs use glass compounds to convert electricity into light, and among these organic compounds is hydrogen. While hydrogen is readily available in nature, it has low stability, which is one of the reasons for the short lifespan of OLED panels.
On the other hand, if deuterium, which has high stability, is used, the lifespan of the OLED panel increases by about two times.
Samsung Display’s mid- to large-sized OLED shipments surge 58.2% in Q2.
According to UBI Research on the 5th, Samsung Display’s mid- to large-sized OLED panel shipments in the second quarter of this year totaled 4.9 million units, a 58.2% increase from the previous quarter (3.1 million units). By product, notebook OLED panels accounted for the largest portion of shipments at 2.5 million units, more than doubling the figure from the first quarter.
UBI Research forecasts that shipments of OLED panels for laptops will continue to increase in the second half of the year, reaching 10 million units this year.
Avaco posts record-breaking second-quarter results, benefiting from Chinese OLED demand.
Avaco, a display and secondary battery equipment specialist, announced on the 6th that it achieved its best quarterly performance ever in the second quarter of this year.
Avaco’s second-quarter sales surged 174% year-on-year (KRW 57.9 billion) to KRW 159.1 billion, and operating profit reached KRW 20.1 billion. Net income for the period was slightly lower at KRW 7.4 billion, but the company explained that this was due to losses on accounts receivable conversion resulting from the sharp decline in the Korean won/dollar exchange rate, and that there were no actual cash flow issues.
This strong performance is the result of full-scale shipments of OLED deposition logistics system equipment to Chinese customers, reflecting the recognition of sales.
Source: kipost.net