China’s chip equipment sector is accelerating its push for greater self-reliance. According to Newsswitch, the country has been a key driver of global semiconductor investment in recent years and is now moving to localize critical technologies long dependent on overseas suppliers, including lithog...

Japan has long been strong in semiconductor materials, and some unexpected players are now entering the field. According to Nikkei, Oji Holdings plans to launch a materials business targeting chips at 2nm and beyond. The company has developed a photoresist made using wood-based components, with comm...

As conventional HBM designs continue to face thermal and stacking limits, major semiconductor players are exploring innovative memory architectures. In early February, Intel, in collaboration with SoftBank’s subsidiary SAIMEMORY, showcased a prototype of Z-Angle Memory (ZAM). Meanwhile, ZDNet repo...

As TSMC upgrades its second Kumamoto fab to 3nm, Japan’s homegrown foundry Rapidus is also drawing market attention. Hokkaido Shimbun reports IBM is backing the effort, planning a new office in downtown Chitose this spring to support Rapidus’ next-gen chip ambitions. IBM maintains a close par...

While memory titans vie for HBM4 contracts with NVIDIA, another front in the memory race is heating up. According to TechPowerUp, SK hynix and Samsung are preparing to showcase their next-generation LPDDR6 memory at ISSCC 2026 in San Francisco, taking place from February 15–19. The report notes...