Samsung Electronics' third-quarter profit came almost entirely from charging more for memory chips, not from selling more of them. On its earnings call, the company also told investors the shortage behind those prices will last into 2028, even as chipmakers raise spending. The shortage is the explicitly stated cause of the higher prices and profit, and the persistence of the shortage into 2028 is a company expectation, not an achieved fact.
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Mercedes-Benz will once again offer its voluntary severance programme for indirect functions in Germany, starting in December, as part of stepped-up productivity measures while the carmaker cuts its profitability outlook for the year. According to the group's quarterly report, since June Mercedes-Benz has intensified its global productivity measures with a particular focus on its German sites, building on a reduction in fixed costs of around 25% since 2019. The company has not said how many employees it hopes will take up the new offer. The previous round was already costly: in the first nine months, Mercedes-Benz paid out around EUR 1.1 billion for restructuring, mainly related to the severance programme in Germany. As the outlook for the car business weakens, Mercedes-Benz Cars now expects an adjusted return on sales of 2–3% for 2026, down from 3–5% previously; the group cites a tougher market in China and higher costs for raw materials and product lifecycle measures in the fourth quarter, and Group EBIT is now expected to be at last year's level rather than significantly above. In the third quarter, the car division's adjusted EBIT halved to EUR 560 million and its adjusted return on sales fell to 2.5% from 4.8%; car sales fell 8% to 407,232 vehicles, mainly because of intense competition in China, while outside China sales rose, with growth of 5% in Europe and 6% in the US, and sales of fully electric cars reached a quarterly record, up 61% year on year.
South Korean company Taihan announced that its U.S. subsidiary, T.E.USA, has been awarded an extra-high-voltage (EHV) power grid project in the United States on a turnkey basis. Under the project structure, T.E.USA will oversee the entire project, including local engineering and construction, while Taihan's headquarters will manufacture and supply key materials, including EHV cables and cable accessories. In connection with the project, Taihan has executed a material supply agreement valued at approximately KRW 120 billion (about USD 90 million) with its U.S. subsidiary. The total contract value of the turnkey project, including engineering and construction, as well as the client's identity and other project details, will not be disclosed pursuant to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the client.
Jaejune Kim, EVP of Memory at Samsung, said on the Q3 call that the company's 2027 HBM supply is already sold out and that tight supply should last through 2028. The same Q3 call disclosed operating profit of KRW 107.4 trillion, topping KRW 100 trillion for the first time. The source does not state the cause.
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Bloomberg reports that Marvell is in advanced talks to acquire optical communications component maker Lumentum, with an announcement potentially coming as soon as next week; whether the deal will be completed remains undetermined. Marvell is already a customer of Lumentum's laser products, while NVIDIA invested US$2 billion in each company earlier this year. TrendForce views the potential acquisition as a strategic move by Marvell to position itself early for optical interconnects at both the scale-in level (within servers and packages) and the scale-up level (within racks) in the CPO/NPO era. Marvell already offers electronic components such as DSPs and has gained optical I/O technology spanning package-to-rack connectivity through its acquisition of Celestial AI, while Lumentum supplies the indium phosphide (InP) lasers used as external light sources in NVIDIA's CPO switches. TrendForce notes that DSP functions are expected to gradually migrate into ASICs or electronic integrated circuits (EICs) as optical interconnects move deeper into racks and packages, while light sources remain difficult to integrate directly into silicon chips; with CPO penetration still low, the acquisition would represent a long-term positioning play.
optical communications componentsindium phosphide (InP) lasersDSPsMarvell, Lumentum and 3 totalTrendForce Official (Market Data)Partnership/M&A
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are undertaking their largest-ever equipment investments in 2026, with the investment amount stated as KRW110 trillion in the title, but the memory supply increase is not expected to materialize until 2028. By then, new South Korean plants and expanded capacity at China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) are expected to come online simultaneously, potentially triggering price competition in commodity DRAM. The source does not state the cause of the delay in the supply increase.
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Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT)
Samsung Electronics reported consolidated revenue of ₩195.3T and operating profit of ₩107.4T for 3Q26, becoming the first global technology company to post quarterly operating profit exceeding ₩100T. Its Device Solutions (DS) division contributed ₩106.5T in operating profit, which Samsung attributed primarily to broad-based memory price increases and a significant expansion in HBM4 sales. DS division revenue was ₩147.1T, up 344% YoY, with a 72% operating margin; memory revenue reached ₩140.7T, up 427% YoY. Samsung attributed the growth to its focus on AI-related products amid capacity constraints, with server demand the strongest and prices rising across end markets. In foundry, higher revenue from HBM base dies and advanced process technologies improved performance; utilization for processes below 8nm is expected to exceed 100%, and 2nm orders secured this year are projected to more than double from 2025. During the earnings call, Samsung stated all HBM supply for 2027 has been committed at target prices, with customers continuing to request additional volumes. HBM4E global sampling began in May, with volume production expected to start in 1H27 and a ramp-up in 2H27; in 4Q27 Samsung plans to further increase sales of HBM4, high-speed DDR5, and server SSDs. Samsung expects the 2027 supply shortage to be more severe than in 2026, with full-year CapEx budgeted at ₩84.4T, of which ₩76.8T is allocated to the DS division.
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On October 27, 2026, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong marked his fourth anniversary as chairman by visiting a robotics research center, where he reviewed humanoid robot technology and preparations for commercialization, instead of holding a commemorative event. As Samsung integrates its research organizations and plans manufacturing-floor applications, robotics is emerging as a key pillar of its physical AI strategy. The source does not state any direct impact on component supply or prices.
According to TrendForce's post dated Oct 29, 2026, Samsung's HBM momentum is strong: its 2027 HBM supply is effectively sold out, HBM4 sales more than tripled in 3Q26, and its HBM market share is reportedly matching its broader DRAM standing. The post also notes that, hot on the heels of SK hynix's record quarter, Samsung's DS unit posted a 72% operating margin, while 10 major customers have signed memory LTAs, with 10 more in talks. The source does not state the cause for the sold-out supply or the sales growth.
HBMHBM4DRAMSamsung, SK hynixTrendForce Official (Market Data)Inventory Shift
Soaring memory prices have pushed some IC design firms to develop and manufacture their own SRAM as a substitute for DRAM. Meanwhile, electronics assemblers and brand manufacturers that still need DRAM face challenges in passing on higher costs and securing supply through long-term contracts. The title states the memory surge leaves CPI stable and hits consumer electronics hardest. The source does not state the cause of the price increase.
Next-generation semiconductor process data of Samsung Electronics was allegedly removed without authorization by a university-industry research partner in South Korea, raising concerns over security vulnerabilities in industry-academia collaborations. The researcher, who reportedly retained Samsung employee access while working on the project, was indicted after allegedly transferring extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography information to a personal cloud account for use in the collaboration.
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On its third-quarter earnings call held on October 28, LG Electronics added physical milestones to its two main AI bets; these remain plans and were not stated as implemented. In data center cooling, the company named a US production site and new Korean lines, and listed the Nvidia qualifications its liquid-cooling units have won. In robotics, it outlined an actuator production ramp, a robot-data hub opening this quarter, and a plan to enter the home humanoid market around 2030. The company did not provide a revenue target for either business.
According to new research from the Global Electronics Association and Accuris, an engineering intelligence and electronic component data provider, applications for silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) power devices are expanding across the electronics industry, affecting not only component selection but also product design, manufacturing capabilities and supply chain planning. The source provides no specific figures, companies or event status changes beyond this stated demand-driven trend.
Taiwan-based Phison Electronics received two awards at Micron Supplier Day 2026, marking the third consecutive year the company has earned recognition from the US memory chipmaker. The source does not state the specific award categories or the products involved.
Samsung Electronics' latest results show AI infrastructure demand increasingly determining the group's earnings, with soaring semiconductor profit offsetting continued losses in its consumer-device division. The company said a sharp expansion in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) sales and rising memory prices drove another record quarter, while its outlook pointed to supply pressure further as customers expand AI investment.
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Apple is ending its touchscreen holdout with an OLED MacBook Pro, its first touchscreen Mac, reversing a design stance the company defended for more than a decade. Samsung Display is reported to be supplying all of the panels. The product is premium-priced and serves as a test of whether touch and tandem OLED can lift Mac demand in a shrinking PC market. The supplier claim is a report (reported), not a confirmed fact; the source does not state a cause beyond these facts.
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Defense technology startup Anduril Industries and chipmaker Qualcomm Technologies announced a partnership to launch BlueChip, a new line of American-built computing hardware, in an effort to reduce national security vulnerabilities tied to foreign electronics supply chains. The source only announces the partnership and provides no specific product models, timeline, or implementation details.
On Oct. 29, 2026, Samsung Electronics reported results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2026: consolidated revenue of KRW 195.3 trillion, an all-time quarterly high, up 14% QoQ, and operating profit of KRW 107.4 trillion, making it the world's first tech company to exceed KRW 100 trillion in quarterly operating profit. The DS Division posted revenue of KRW 147.1 trillion and operating profit of KRW 106.5 trillion, with QoQ sales up 15%; the Memory Business set an all-time high for quarterly revenue and operating profit, managing its product mix toward AI products amid capacity constraints, with strong server demand leading to higher market prices across all applications, and significantly scaled up HBM4 sales. The DX Division posted QoQ revenue growth of 8% and an operating loss of KRW 0.8 trillion. MX and Networks posted combined revenue of KRW 37.7 trillion with an operating loss of KRW 0.6 trillion; SDC posted revenue of KRW 8.0 trillion and operating profit of KRW 1.1 trillion; VD/DA posted combined revenue of KRW 13.9 trillion with an operating loss of KRW 0.2 trillion. Q3 capital expenditure was KRW 29 trillion, up KRW 12.2 trillion QoQ and KRW 19.8 trillion YoY; the January-September cumulative total was KRW 56.9 trillion, up KRW 24.7 trillion YoY; full-year 2026 capex is expected at approximately KRW 84.4 trillion (KRW 76.8 trillion for DS, KRW 3.9 trillion for SDC) — an expectation, not an achieved result. The company projects that in Q4 2026 memory demand growth will revolve around new CPU and GPU platform-related products and surging QLC SSD demand, and that in 2027 AI-driven demand will far exceed industry supply compared with 2026; these are forward-looking outlooks.
LG Electronics' latest quarter shows that appliances, vehicle components, and an improving television business are supporting the company's earnings, while it builds new positions in data center cooling and robotics. However, the limits of that protection are visible: profit improved from a year earlier but fell sharply from the preceding quarter, and management expects consumer demand to remain difficult. The source does not state the cause beyond weak consumer demand, and no specific financial figures or percentages are provided.
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In a technical explainer, Samsung states that zHBM, currently under development, is a next-generation AI memory architecture designed around AI inference, reasoning, long-context processing and agentic AI workloads that place greater demands on memory through more generated tokens and larger KV caches. Moving beyond conventional HBM architectures in which memory sits beside the AI chip, zHBM directly stacks memory on the processor. The article says zHBM uses direct 3D integration and a Distributed I/O architecture to create shorter, denser connections intended to deliver high bandwidth with greater energy efficiency; core technologies include Wafer-on-Wafer (WoW) stacking combined with Hybrid Copper Bonding (HCB) for direct copper-to-copper connections at fine pitches, and reduced size and pitch of Through Silicon Vias (TSVs) for higher interconnect density, with shorter interconnects lowering data-transfer energy. The article notes that direct stacking creates new thermal challenges, as heat generated by the processor may need to pass through the memory stack, and that Samsung is exploring stack-height optimization; it emphasizes co-design and co-optimization of memory with the AI chip from early development stages and aims to work with customers and ecosystem partners on zHBM solutions tailored to their AI chips' performance, power, thermal and architectural requirements. The article is informational only, with no specific timeline, capacity or pricing figures and no statement of market supply-demand conditions.