Honda’s car assembly plants in Japan and China to suspend operations Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda) announced by December 18 that its car assembly plants in Japan and China will temporarily suspend operations due to the shortage of semiconductors. In China, three plants of GAC Honda Automobile Co., Ltd., a joint venture with GAC Group, will stop operations from December 29 to January 2. While the names of Japanese plants have not been disclosed,...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/19

Elmos, Germany, opens new development site in Brno, Czech Republic On December 10, Elmos Semiconductor SE announced that it has opened a new R&D center in Brno, Czech Republic, on November 1, 2025. With this new location, Elmos is strategically expanding its development capacities and creating additional innovative strength for the next generation of highly integrated mixed-signal solutions. The new R&D team in Brno brings comprehensive expertise...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/17

EU approves EUR 623 million German State aid to support two chip factories On December 11, the European Commission approved EUR 623 million in German State aid to support the set-up of two new semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Dresden and Erfurt. The aid consists of a EUR 495 million measure for GlobalFoundries and a EUR 128 million measure for X-FAB. GlobalFoundries project involves the creation of new 300 mm wafer manufacturing capacity...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/17

ity Plan 2026), you are working to improve profitability. While expanding your business globally, how are you working to achieve profitability in the on-going, challenging business environment? A1. We have been dealing with a difficult situation for several years. This includes issues such as CASE, semiconductor shortages, the coronavirus, and the Ukraine war, which either have caused or are still causing raw-material and labor costs to rise. Whi...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/17

Japanese and Belgian research institutions announce strategic collaboration for automotive semiconductors Japan’s Advanced SoC Research for Automotive (ASRA) and Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (imec), an international research institution headquartered in Belgium, officially announced their strategic partnership on December 16. They will begin by promoting the standardization of architectures for automotive semiconductors using a techn...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/17

Musk reportedly looks to deepen collaboration at Samsung semiconductor plant in Texas On December 11, Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong reportedly toured the company’s semiconductor plant in Taylor, Texas with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, signaling future cooperation as competition intensifies in the advanced chipmaking industry for AI and autonomous driving. Lee and Musk reviewed production lines and discussed yield targets and poten...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/16

November totaled 400,586 units, a year-over-year (y/y) decrease of 4.6% for the first time in 5 months. Sales of three automakers other than Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) declined. Especially. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda) reported a 15.3% y/y decrease. The decline was affected by the issue of semiconductor supply. Toyota sold 212,772 units, an increase of 2.7% y/y for nine months in a row. In November, sales of models such as the Corolla an...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/12

ON Semiconductor to partner with Innoscience in GaN power device sector ON Semiconductor Corp. (ON Semiconductor) and Innoscience (headquartered in China) announced that they will enter into a partnership in the field of gallium nitride (GaN) power devices. ON Semiconductor will manufacture GaN power devices by utilizing Innoscience’s 200mm GaN-on-silicon process. They will collaborate to supply high-performance GaN power devices for electric v...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/12

longs to the previous generation of its technology that has since been replaced by NVIDIA’s latest Blackwell chips. Since Trump’s posting, Chinese regulators in Beijing have reportedly been discussing ways to permit limited access to the H200 as the country pushes to achieve self-sufficiency in semiconductor production. China had been using the ban to push domestic chipmakers to develop products to compete with NVIDIA. Official moves have inc...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/12

EIB and STMicroelectronics announce EUR 1 billion agreement to strengthen the semiconductor industry On December 11, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and STMicroelectronics signed a EUR 500 million financing agreement. This represents the first tranche of a broader EUR 1 billion credit line recently approved by the EIB in favour of STMicroelectronics.  The tranche will support acceleration of R&D and high-volume chip manufacturing in Italy and...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/11

VisIC Technologies, Israel, raises investment from Hyundai and Kia On December 10, VisIC Technologies Ltd. announced the successful second closing of its Round B funding, securing USD 26 million. The round was led by a global semiconductor leader, with Hyundai Motor Company and Kia joining as strategic investors. The lead investor's focus on advancing critical semiconductor technologies complements VisIC's proprietary D³GaN platform. HKMC's part...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/10

Denso to integrate electrification and internal combustion business groups Denso Corporation (Denso) announced that it will implement organizational changes effective January 1, 2026. The company will establish a new “Powertrain Systems Business Group”, and also a “Semiconductor Business Group” to strengthen its semiconductor business. The company will reorganize its “Mobility Electronics Business Group” to strengthen its advanced dri...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/05

CES 2026: Elmos, Germany, to present semiconductor innovations On December 2, Elmos Semiconductor SE announced that it will present its latest semiconductor innovations at CES 2026. Elmos is showcasing a variety of demonstrators that bring the capabilities of Elmos ICs to life in key applications for the mobility of tomorrow. Its compact E527.06 system-on-a-chip (SoC) sensor reliably detects rain and darkness. The OLED taillight demonstrator show...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/03

llowing the expiration of the USD 7,500 federal EV purchase tax credit at the end of September. Additionally, as tariffed vehicles gradually replace non-tariffed inventories, prices have been rising and sales have slowed. Furthermore, some OEMs faced production and sales disruptions from the global semiconductor shortage linked to China-backed Dutch chipmaker Nexperia, as well as a fire at Novelis’s New York plant, which constrained aluminum su...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/03

ca. The divestiture aligns with the company’s “Trailblaze Together” management plan, which emphasizes capital efficiency and profit growth by generating returns from investments, following earlier moves such as exiting the methyl methacrylate (MMA) business and expanding capacity for advanced semiconductor materials. (Asahi Kasei press release on December 2, 2025)...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/03

ota’s Lexus brand saw growth, but all the other seven passenger vehicle brands saw declines in their sales volume from the previous year. Demand is slow due to rising commodity prices and higher vehicle prices. In addition, some manufacturers’ sales were slowed by the supply restrictions due to semiconductor shortages. By brand, Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) topped the others with 122,639 units, down 1.2% year over year, marking four cons...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/02

EIB supports Prodrive, Netherlands, for high-tech electronic products and systems On December 1, the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a EUR 40 million lending agreement with Prodrive Technologies, a Dutch-based company. Prodrive will utilize the financing to develop innovative technologies for high-tech electronic products and systems, particularly in the semiconductor, medical, energy, and automotive sectors. The project is expected to pre...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/01

European and Chinese ministers discuss Nexperia chip issue On November 26, the Minister of Commerce, China discussed trade and economic issues, such as Nexperia, with the European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Affairs. The Minister of Commerce stated that the root cause and responsibility for the current chaos in the global semiconductor supply chain regarding the Nexperia issue lies with the Netherlands.  Recently, the Netherlands announc...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/01

Vector and Realtek partner on Ethernet switch Vector Informatik GmbH (Vector) has collaborated with Realtek Semiconductor Corp. (Realtek) to integrate Realtek’s Ethernet switch devices with Vector’s MICROSAR Switch stack. Both companies are developing the Switch Driver for the RTL907xD (Condor Mini-Family), building on Vector’s existing and well-established switch driver architecture. This approach accelerates the enablement of MICROSAR Swi...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/01

Fujifilm completes new building related to semiconductor materials business at Shizuoka plant Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm) has held a ceremony to celebrate the completion of a new building related to the semiconductor materials business at its plant in Shizuoka Prefecture. The company has been strengthening the business for semiconductor materials, such as image sensors used in in-vehicle cameras and others. The new building is designed to enh...

News  Updated at: 2025/12/01