Hello everybody! That is Cheng Ting-Fang, your techAsia host, saying hiya from Taipei!
I simply returned from a brief journey to Hong Kong, the place I attended a gala dinner and awards ceremony. I’m excited to share some great information with you: Nikkei Asia received the prime prize in expertise reporting from the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) — a prestigious competitors that locations us alongside the most important world information publications like Bloomberg, Reuters, The Wall Avenue Journal and The New York Instances.
I vividly bear in mind the journey that this award-winning protection entailed. It was loads of the arduous work and collaboration with my unbelievable colleagues. One small anecdote I wish to share entails the subsea cable map we produced, tracing Chinese language funding and involvement in undersea cables courting again to the Nineties. This undertaking began with digging by decades-old Chinese language authorities and telecom paperwork to determine each cable with Chinese language participation. We then wanted precise uncooked map knowledge to permit our artwork workforce to visualise and illustrate these cables.
At one level, the undertaking was nearly useless after we found that the map knowledge would price $20,000, far past our finances. However after discussing technique with my colleagues, I nervously took on the position of procurement specialist and managed to barter the value all the way down to about $800 for simply the information we wanted. Lauly Li, Shunsuke Tabeta, Tsubasa Suruga and I interviewed a number of Chinese language and international executives in numerous areas to achieve perception from throughout the subsea cable sector in China and south-east Asia, views hardly ever heard in world media.
One other standout undertaking was our mapping of China’s electronics provide chain, highlighting the areas the place the nation has constructed aggressive alternate options to world leaders. Trying again on the six years since Huawei was added to the US Entity Record, it’s exceptional how a lot the worldwide provide chain has shifted and the way quickly China’s localisation drive has taken off.
The launch of that function was not as clean as we had hoped. It coincided with breaking information that Nissan and Honda had been in merger talks, and confronted a technical glitch that prevented our graphics from displaying correctly for the primary 50 hours the story was up. However as soon as that was resolved, we acquired nice suggestions from the {industry} for the depth and element of our reporting.
The third story within the package deal checked out how China constructed a aggressive superior show {industry} beforehand dominated by Samsung.
There’s a saying in Taiwan that goes, “Eat sugarcane from the underside up,” which suggests every chunk turns into sweeter than the final. And one other acquainted line sums up my emotions: “Each cloud has a silver lining.”
I wish to specific my deep gratitude to our artwork workforce, led by MinJung Kim and Michael Tsang, for reworking our uncooked analysis and reporting into clear and highly effective graphics that our readers persistently discover helpful. Particular thanks additionally to Katherine Creel, our tech editor, and the whole Nikkei Asia editorial workforce for his or her limitless assist and collaboration in making these initiatives attainable.
Hong Kong has at all times introduced again fond reminiscences. I hadn’t been again to town since 2019, earlier than Covid, and in some methods it felt like stepping right into a time capsule, particularly by way of digital tech. Most taxis, for instance, nonetheless solely take money — no Apple Pay or bank cards. I used to be fortunate to search out some leftover Hong Kong {dollars} in an previous pockets earlier than the journey.
After the awards ceremony, I joined colleagues from Nikkei and the Monetary Instances on the Overseas Correspondents’ Membership. Over late-night drinks, I used to be reminded that Hong Kong was as soon as a very powerful hub for worldwide media. Whereas many retailers have since moved workers to Singapore, Seoul or Taipei resulting from shifting geopolitics, the harbour view and historic structure nonetheless say so much in regards to the metropolis’s vibrant good previous days.
Chopping-edge issues
Chipmakers from Taiwan and South Korea are looking for their subsequent progress drivers amid world macroeconomic uncertainty. Taiwan’s second-largest contract chipmaker, United Microelectronics Corp, is evaluating whether or not it ought to enter cutting-edge chip manufacturing, Nikkei Asia’s Cheng Ting-Fang writes. UMC’s CFO confirmed the corporate is exploring extra superior chip manufacturing, however famous that partnering with others to share the funding burden can be a key technique.
UMC is eyeing chip manufacturing tech as superior as 6nm, a degree at present dominated by TSMC, Samsung and Intel, sources mentioned.
Samsung, in the meantime, continues to be searching for prospects for a brand new plant within the US, Kim Jaewon and Cheng Ting-Fang report. The world’s second-largest contract chipmaker is constructing a cutting-edge fab in Taylor, Texas, that it says will begin manufacturing in 2026, 4 years after development started. Sources say Samsung is holding off on tools set up, nevertheless, because it has but to safe sufficient prospects to utilise the deliberate capability.
Each UMC and Samsung, like many different chipmakers, face rising stress from Semiconductor Manufacturing Worldwide Corp, China’s prime chipmaker, which has benefited from the nation’s push to localise chip manufacturing and strengthen provide chain resilience.
Son’s succession alerts
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has dropped his largest trace but in regards to the future management of the expertise conglomerate he began greater than 40 years in the past, writes the Monetary Instances’ David Keohane.
Son, who indicated he had the drive to remain in cost for one more 10 years, mentioned his successor was somebody already working beside him inside SoftBank.
“Deciding when to declare these two, three or 4 individuals are candidates is a matter of timing, and I wouldn’t need them getting overconfident or performing entitled. I additionally nonetheless have the need to remain on a bit longer, so it’s about managing that delicate stability,” Son mentioned on the group’s annual assembly in Tokyo.
Son referred to Junichi Miyakawa, the pinnacle of SoftBank Corp, the group’s listed telecoms unit, as somebody doing an “extraordinarily good job” and in whom he positioned nice belief.
Folks near the group denied it was a sign that Miyakawa was in line for the highest job. As a substitute, they mentioned he was given for instance of how Son had already entrusted somebody with one key a part of the enterprise.
Cat-eared, quadraped or humanoid?
Robots are shaping as much as be the subsequent large factor within the tech {industry}, however approaches are assorted. Japan is specializing in sensible, task-specific automation to handle its labour shortages, significantly in sectors like eating places and workplace upkeep, writes Ryohtaroh Satoh of Nikkei Asia. Tokyo-based analysis agency Fuji Keizai estimates the home service robotic market will greater than double from 2024 to 2030, reaching ¥400bn ($2.7bn), outpacing industrial robots.
In the meantime, Apple provider Foxlink goals to shift from being a conventional electronics element maker to an AI robotics options supplier by 2030, Freddy Kou, head of its robotics division, advised Nikkei Asia’s Lauly Li. The transfer goals to diversify income, cut back publicity to shopper electronics volatility, and capitalise on AI progress. Foxlink is investing in AI-powered robots for safety and industrial automation and is leveraging Nvidia’s platform to speed up improvement.
BYD vs Tesla
BYD continues to guide world electrical automotive gross sales, outperforming main US rival Tesla for the third consecutive quarter, Yifan Yu of Nikkei Asia writes.
Each firms confronted industry-wide headwinds, reminiscent of intensifying competitors in China and rising macroeconomic uncertainties. However whereas BYD’s shipments jumped 42.5 per cent on the 12 months for the April-June quarter, pushed partly by a collection of value cuts, Tesla gross sales fell round 13 per cent. The US firm is dealing with some distinctive challenges, specifically CEO Elon Musk’s more and more strained relationship with US President Donald Trump, which buyers see as an overhang on the corporate’s inventory and enterprise prospects and buyer pushback towards Musk’s political actions.
Advised reads
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US lifts curbs on chip design instrument gross sales to China amid commerce talks (Nikkei Asia)
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Amazon developer performs down buzz over humanlike robots (Nikkei Asia)
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BYD holds on to EV crown as Tesla faces robotaxi, Trump uncertainties (Nikkei Asia)
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Crypto-crazy buyers make South Korea the best-performing market in Asia (FT)
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Donald Trump says he has discovered group of ‘rich folks’ to purchase TikTok (FT)
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The Asian factories on the frontline of Trump’s tariffs (FT)
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Malaysia seeks to spice up VCs with new fund, tax incentives (Nikkei Asia)
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The vulnerabilities holding again Chinese language {industry} (FT)
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Japan’s utilities pour billions into energy grid amid knowledge centre progress (Nikkei Asia)
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US consumers ditch Shein and Temu as Trump closes tax loophole (FT)
#techAsia is co-ordinated by Nikkei Asia’s Katherine Creel in Tokyo, with help from the FT tech desk in London.
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