# supply%20chain
Latest news and articles about supply%20chain
Total: 59 articles found
Washington Ploughs $1.6bn into U.S. Rare-Earth Mines — But Can It Break China’s Grip?
The U.S. is buying a roughly 10% stake in USA Rare Earth for $1.6 billion to hasten domestic rare-earth mining and processing and reduce dependence on China. While the investment is sizeable and politically significant, technical, environmental and resource-quality challenges mean breaking China’s dominance will be a slow and uncertain process.
Memory Makers Ride an AI-Fuelled Supercycle as Prices Soar — and Few Can Stop It
A surge in demand for AI‑related storage is driving rapid price rises across DRAM and NAND, with suppliers shifting to flexible, quarterly pricing and prioritising high‑margin AI products. Limited capacity growth — because investment is being spent on process upgrades rather than volume expansion — means the shortage looks structural and could persist through 2026–27, benefiting memory vendors but squeezing OEMs and raising the cost of scaling AI services.
AI’s Hunger for Memory Could Keep Global Chip Shortages Dragging On Until 2027
Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi warns that the current memory-chip shortage, driven by heavy demand from AI data centres, is likely to last through 2026 and potentially into 2027. Concentrated production, long lead times for new fabs and booming demand for HBM mean elevated prices and allocation pressures may persist, benefiting memory suppliers but squeezing device makers and other industries.
China Rare Earths Foresees Return to Profit as Price Swings Pinch Q4 Gains
China Rare Earths forecasts a net profit of RMB 143–185 million for 2025, reversing a RMB 287 million loss the prior year. The recovery was driven by a stronger first-half market and inventory write-backs, but fourth-quarter price falls in medium and heavy rare-earths triggered additional impairment charges that tempered full-year gains.
Yonghui’s Costly Copycat Gambit: Why Mimicking Pangdonglai Is Deepening Its Losses
Yonghui’s 2025 results reveal a RMB 2.14 billion loss and the fifth straight year of deficits after an aggressive refit programme modeled on Pangdonglai. Traffic gains from the refits have not translated into profit because Yonghui has replicated the superficial features of Pangdonglai without its deep labour, procurement and trust‑based economics, leaving the chain cash‑strained and dependent on a risky RMB 3.1 billion fundraising round.
LEO Satellite Boom Sparks High‑End PCB Arms Race in China
China's PCB industry is racing to capture a rising share of the booming low‑Earth‑orbit satellite market by investing in high‑frequency, high‑reliability boards and scaling production. Domestic firms have manufacturing scale and supply‑chain advantages, but still face certification and materials hurdles before they can fully capitalise on mass deployments.
Haidilao’s Founder Returns as Cash‑Strapped Youth Sap Growth
Haidilao’s founder Zhang Yong has returned as CEO after four years amid a sharp deterioration in traffic and profitability: first‑half 2025 revenue fell 3.7% and net profit 13.7%, with customer visits down 10 million. The chain’s high labour costs, failed expansion, and mixed results from incubated sub‑brands have left it vulnerable to increasingly price‑sensitive young consumers, forcing a management rethink on efficiency and product strategy.
Xpeng Delegation Visits Dong'an Power as Talks on Mass Production and Next‑Gen Engines Advance
Xpeng’s vice‑president Gu Jie led a delegation to Dong'an Power to discuss moving a production project into mass manufacture and cooperating on next‑generation engine technology. The meeting, attended by senior technical and commercial leaders from Dong'an, resulted in alignment on core issues and reflects a broader trend of EV makers partnering with traditional suppliers to secure hardware options and de‑risk production.
Intel’s CEO Concedes Yield Shortfalls as AI Demand Outpaces Supply
Intel CEO Chen Liwu admitted on the Q4 2025 earnings call that the company has not fully met skyrocketing AI-driven demand because product yields are below his expectations. Intel has pledged to make yield improvements a top priority in 2026, but the admission triggered a sharp market reaction and raises competitive and supply-chain risks.
JD.com Bets on an AI Consumer Boom: 2025 Named the Year Smart Products Exploded
JD.com executives said 2025 marked a breakout year for AI consumption, with platform searches for “AI” up about 100x and sharp sales gains across smart devices. The company is consolidating AI products under a new business arm, investing in embodied-intelligence firms and leaning on a C2M supply-chain approach to scale consumer AI rapidly.
China’s Unitree Says It Shipped Over 5,500 Humanoid Robots in 2025, Signalling a Shift to Mass Market Scale
Unitree Technology said it shipped over 5,500 pure humanoid robots in 2025 and produced more than 6,500 robot bodies, clarifying earlier online confusion. The disclosure, if borne out, signals a shift in robotics from proof-of-concept demos toward mass production, but questions remain about verification, commercial viability and post-sale support.
China’s Robotics Race Turns Inward: Zhiyuan Spins Off Dexterous‑Hand Unit as Component Competition Intensifies
Zhiyuan Robotics has spun off its dexterous‑hand division into a new, majority‑owned company led by an industry veteran, reflecting a sectorwide pivot from whole‑machine integration to component specialisation. The move, alongside regulatory changes for surgical robots and advances across clean energy and machine tools, signals China’s industrial strategy shifting toward manufacturable, high‑performance subsystems that underpin next‑generation robotics and automation.