Hello, this is Kenji, presenting the latest #techAsia newsletter from Tokyo.
This Friday marks a month since the M7.1 earthquake that hit the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto, taking 38 lives and affecting over 26,000 residences.
Donations from around the world have been pouring in, but Taiwan -- as usual -- stands out. The International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF), an arm of Taiwan's Foreign Ministry, announced on Monday that a campaign initiated on the island had raised more than 300 million New Taiwan dollars ($9.4 million) for relief efforts.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which operates a chip factory in Kumamoto, has separately pledged 250 million yen ($1.6 million), while its charity foundation has launched a fundraising campaign among employees to help the community rebuild.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung, who doubles as chairman of the ICDF, highlighted the "longstanding, deep and profound friendship between Taiwan and Japan."
Taiwan's outstanding generosity has been widely remembered in Japan, especially after the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011, when its donations reached 25 billion yen, equivalent to more than $200 million at the time.
Japan has responded in kind whenever disasters have hit Taiwan, further enhancing the sense of affinity between the two populations. This stands in stark contrast to chillier attitudes toward China under the rule of President Xi Jinping.
Mutual cooperation and collaboration have also been reinforced in tech and economic security, with an aim to forge a "China-free" supply chain. The theme of the fifth annual Japan-Taiwan Innovation Summit, which was held last week in Osaka and Tokyo, was "driving economic growth through technological innovation by strengthening economic security and supply chain resilience."
The event attracted 46 startups from Taiwan, in fields ranging from artificial intelligence and autonomous driving to semiconductors, space technology, digital health and deep tech. A special emphasis, however, was on aligning with the U.S. and its Pax Silica initiative launched last December to create an international alliance with like-minded partners on artificial intelligence and tech supply chain security. Japan is one of the 25 signatories, while Taiwan is a non-signatory partner.
John Speaks, regional technology officer for East Asia at the U.S. State Department, said that creating a trusted tech ecosystem with trusted partners like Japan and Taiwan is "not a slogan" and "no longer optional." While China was not specifically mentioned, it is not hard to imagine that he had in mind the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, or WAICO, founded in Shanghai in July with 29 members.
Tomohiro Takashima, executive vice president of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), a co-sponsor of the annual Taiwan startup event, said that 10 years ago the favorite foreign destinations of Taiwanese tech startups were the U.S., China and Southeast Asia. But due to ongoing geopolitical changes, they have now shifted to the U.S. and Japan. "I am convinced that this trend of investing in like-minded countries, sharing values and the way of thinking, is only going to strengthen," he said.
Simple but vital
The latest example of supply chain cooperation between Japan and Taiwan involves seemingly simple yet vital plastic tubing, Nikkei Asia's chief tech correspondent Cheng Ting-Fang reports in her most recent scoop. Japan's Nichias and Taiwan's Gold Stone Development are building a plant in Taiwan to produce these special plastic components critical to the chipmaking industry.
Both companies are suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. The new facility will be in the chip manufacturing hub of Hsinchu and is expected to commence operations in early 2027, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the plan. Nichias and Gold Stone will be making fluoropolymer tubes, commonly known as PFA tubes, which are essential for transporting chemicals throughout the chip production process.
While making plastic tubes may sound rather trivial to industry outsiders, these components are vital for building chip plants and equipment. During the severe supply chain crunch at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, PFA tubes became a major bottleneck in chipmaking, triggering shipment delays of various everyday products such as cars, medical equipment and home appliances.
Memory moves
YMTC aims to overtake Samsung and SK Hynix to become the world's largest NAND flash memory producer as the Chinese company gears up for a stock market listing, the Financial Times' Zijing Wu and William Sandlund write.
The Wuhan-based group told investors and stakeholders in recent IPO preparation meetings that it wants to take the global NAND crown by as soon as the end of 2027, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
Last week, YMTC filed for an IPO to raise 33 billion yuan ($5 billion), mostly to upgrade production facilities as well as for research and development, according to a prospectus published on the Shanghai Stock Exchange website.
The chipmaker had operating revenue of 47 billion yuan in the first quarter. Net profit was 33 billion yuan, more than double the total for the whole of 2025, according to its IPO prospectus.
YMTC, which is yet to set a timeline for its market debut, is expected to reach a market valuation above 1 trillion yuan after trading begins, making it the second-largest IPO in China this year. However, the shares will probably be priced conservatively under regulatory guidance, according to a banker involved in the process.
Market consensus put its IPO valuation at between 200 billion yuan and 300 billion yuan, while the exact figure was yet to be finalized during the listing process, the banker added.
To claim or not to claim?
While companies around the globe are receiving refunds on the "reciprocal" tariffs they had paid to the U.S., many Chinese peers are deterred from claiming theirs as Washington is heightening scrutiny over trade fraud, according to Nikkei Asia's Pak Yiu and Kenji Kawase.
As of Thursday afternoon, only 17 publicly traded companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen -- mostly in the tech sector -- had been spotted receiving tariff rebates. The refunds offered a boost to their bottom lines this year, with the total amount adding up to almost $160 million.
Zhejiang Cfmoto Power, a manufacturer of motorcycles, off-road vehicles and components, is the largest beneficiary so far, receiving $38.6 million. Hanshow Technology, which provides digital systems for retailers, and Leyard Optoelectronic, a maker of LED video walls and displays, recovered around $20 million each, while Hitevision, which assembles interactive displays, in early July was the first Chinese listed company to disclose receiving U.S. tariff reimbursement, pulling back over $4 million, more than half of its 2025 net profit.
Samsung's bonus problem
What has been a key driver of Samsung's rise as a global electronics and tech powerhouse is facing a crossroads, as Nikkei's Seoul correspondent Nami Matsuura reports. The skyrocketing profit of its semiconductor division is causing employees' annual bonus payments this year to be 100 times larger than those in the smartphone division, creating severe discord within the company.
The South Korean company was established in 1969 by Lee Byung-chul, who founded the precursor of the Samsung conglomerate that started out in the late 1930s selling products including fruit and dried fish. He adopted a management philosophy based on a strict reward-and-punishment system using incentives such as bonuses to encourage good work and penalties or other consequences to correct poor performance. His successor and son Lee Kun-hee inherited his father's style, enabling Samsung to grow rapidly from home appliances into the semiconductor and telecommunication businesses.
Faced with growing internal strife, Lee Jae-yong, the founder's grandson and the current chairman, said, "All union members and Samsung employees, we are one family."
Whether he was hinting at a softening of the company's management approach remains unclear, as Samsung is walking a tightrope between rewarding the market -- it recently announced an unprecedented $79 billion shareholder return plan -- investing in the artificial intelligence race and sharing the benefits with employees.
Suggested reads
1. US robot curbs lay bare industry's dependence on Chinese parts (Nikkei Asia)
2. Nvidia employee charged with smuggling advanced chips into China (FT)
3. Huawei licenses key Wi-Fi tech to HP ahead of Trump-Xi meeting (Nikkei Asia)
4. Shanghai's answer to Nasdaq outstrips Hong Kong amid Chinese tech frenzy (FT)
5. Thailand, Singapore exchanges seek tech listings as AI booms (Nikkei Asia)
6. Shein's IPO pitch should be more Meta than H&M (FT)
7. Powertech eyes world's first panel-level packaging for AI chips in 2027 (Nikkei Asia)
8. Alibaba announces $10.2bn share placement as Chinese companies expand AI investment (FT)
9. India's Varroc developing rare earth-free EV motor to cut China reliance (Nikkei Asia)
10. Inside South Korea's chipmaking cram schools (FT)
Podcast: Tech Latest
Google waves goodbye to China
Welcome to the Tech Latest podcast. Hosted by our tech coverage veterans, Katey Creel and Shotaro Tani, every Tuesday we deliver the hottest trends and news from the sector.
In this episode, Shotaro speaks with Taipei correspondent Lauly Li about Google's plan to stop making Pixel devices in China, why it's accelerating production in countries such as Vietnam and India, and what the move reveals about the changing geography of global tech manufacturing.
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