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March 31, 2025
 

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Ian King
Up until very recently, the business of packaging semiconductors — encasing chips in materials that both protect them and connect them to the electronic device they’re part of — was, at best, an afterthought for the industry.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 22, 2023
A new front is opening up in the U.S.-China conflict over chips
The process of packaging semiconductors is increasingly seen as the "secret sauce" — a path toward achieving higher performance.
Washington is taking steps to prevent U.S. chipmakers from circumventing government rules in order to sell to China.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 16, 2023
U.S. to tighten rules aimed at keeping advanced chips out of China
The Biden administration is aiming to close loopholes that might help its geopolitical rival gain cutting-edge technologies.
Arm CEO Rene Haas rings the opening bell, as Softbank's Arm, a chip design firm, holds an initial public offering at Nasdaq MarketSite in New York on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 15, 2023
Chip designer Arm soars 25% in IPO win for owner SoftBank
Shares in the chip designer, still 90% owned by SoftBank, closed at $63.59 in New York trading Thursday, giving it a market value of over $65 billion.
Arm U.S. headquarters in San Jose, California
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2023
Arm’s CEO is pitching a made-for-you chip strategy ahead of IPO
The company is shifting its strategy, now focusing on doing complex design work on specific products, tailored for what it sees as key areas of growth.
The initial public offering for Arm Holdings is set to be the biggest in the United States this year.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 22, 2023
SoftBank’s planned IPO for Arm set to be biggest of 2023
Arm didn’t disclose proposed terms for the share sale in the document, but it’s expected to seek a valuation of $60 billion to $70 billion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 29, 2023
Micron delivers strong forecast in sign that glut is easing
Sales will be as much as $4.1 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, the company said in a statement. That compares with an average analyst estimate of $3.87 billion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 31, 2023
Nvidia's market value touches $1 trillion amid AI gold rush
The chipmaker’s artificial intelligence prospects briefly vaulted it into an elite club of just five American companies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 28, 2023
ASML, Europe’s most valuable tech firm, is at the heart of the U.S.-China chip war
The tech firm practically owns the market for a critical piece of equipment needed to produce the brains of everything that makes modern life possible.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 3, 2023
China hits Micron with review of chips, citing security risks
Beijing said it will conduct the review into America’s largest chipmaker to ensure the integrity of China's information infrastructure supply chain and national security.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 11, 2023
Biden administration set to further tighten chipmaking exports to China
The rules may as much as double the number of machines that require special licenses for export, creating fresh hurdles for makers of the equipment.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 31, 2023
Biden team weighs fully cutting off Huawei from U.S. suppliers
Sales from U.S. firms to Huawei have been limited for four years, since former U.S. President Donald Trump added the firm to the so-called U.S. 'entity list.'
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 6, 2023
Western Digital and Kioxia revive merger talks as flash memory demand slides
The companies, which have a joint venture that produces flash chips, have been circling each other for years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2022
U.S. blacklists more Chinese tech companies, escalating trade fight
The latest restrictions are part of the recent push to limit China's access to advanced chipmaking and artificial intelligence technology.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 5, 2022
U.S. chip-gear makers told to wait for relief from China curbs
The U.S. is working on a deal that would make firms in the Netherlands and Japan subject to limits on sales of the equipment to China, something that could take six to nine months.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 9, 2022
China says Biden’s new chip technology curbs will harm recovery
The measures, which include restrictions on chips used in artificial intelligence and supercomputing, seek to stop China's drive toward its own chip industry and military advancements.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 4, 2022
Samsung launches five-year plan to tempt U.S. buyers with smaller chips
The company, based in the city of Suwon, South Korea, is the world's largest chipmaker by revenue, but its foundry business is playing catch-up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 15, 2022
SoftBank plans additional London listing for Arm IPO
The company is adjusting plans for an initial public offering of its chip technology division and will likely still list the majority of what it offers for trading on U.S. exchanges.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 14, 2022
China’s chipmaking power grows despite U.S. effort to counter it
Chinese orders for chip-manufacturing equipment from overseas suppliers rose 58% in 2021, making it the biggest market for those products for a second year running.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2022
SoftBank plans to retain controlling stake in Arm after IPO
Softbank's raising of an $8 billion term loan has provided it with enough financial leeway to hold onto a bigger portion of the company, sources say.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 25, 2022
SoftBank is seeking at least $60 billion in Arm IPO
Valuing Arm at more than $60 billion is a gambit for SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, who acquired the business in 2016 for about $32 billion.
Japan's biggest beef bowl chain Sukiya to shut nearly 2,000 stores after rat and bug contamination
Zensho Holdings, operator of fast-food chain Sukiya, said it will close all of its stores in Japan, except for a small number in shopping centers, between Monday and Friday following recent contamination incidents.
School-age suicides in Japan hit all-time high
A volunteer handles an incoming call at the Tokyo Befrienders call center, a suicide hotline center in Japan's capital.
Japan considers all possible options as Trump threatens new auto tariffs
Subaru cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama on Thursday.
In Tokyo, Pentagon chief provides assurances that Japan-U.S. alliance remains robust
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (left) and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo ahead of their talks Sunday.
Japan, South Korea and China vow to strengthen trade ties amid looming U.S. tariffs
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto (left), South Korean Trade Industry and Energy Minister Ahn Duk-geun (center) and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao during a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Sunday
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Tokyo tech failures lean into misfortune, mistakes and missteps
Tsuyoshi Domoto in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on March 28. As an entrepreneur, Domoto experienced plenty of setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and continues to pursue his dreams.
Who among the opposition would join the ruling coalition?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Friday.
Traveling the Three-Star Road, the tourist route made from thin air
Scenes like this snow-covered bridge leading to the village of Shirakawa-go are what make the Three-Star Road worth traveling — its name notwithstanding.
Recent spate of wildfires in Japan and South Korea linked to climate change
Smoke and flames rise from a wildfire in Andong, South Korea, on Tuesday.

Podcast

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