Samsung Drops Its Next-Gen AI Memory Roadmap
On August 4th, local time, Samsung Electronics took the stage at the 2026 Future Storage and Memory Conference (FMS) in Santa Clara, USA, to lay out its next-generation storage technology roadmap for AI infrastructure. The company gave the world a first look at its zHBM and zNAND-O concept products, and also introduced a 400-plus-layer V10 BV-NAND that uses wafer bonding technology.
Here’s the deal with zHBM: it’s designed to stack HBM directly on top of AI accelerators, which slashes the distance data has to travel between the processor and memory. That means a serious boost in AI training and inference performance. Samsung says the zHBM, equipped with a next-gen interface system, could deliver roughly 8 times the performance of HBM5. On top of that, thanks to new wafer bonding tech, it packs over 10 times the memory density of HBM5 while also improving energy efficiency.
On the NAND front, Samsung debuted its V10 BV-NAND architecture for the first time. By stacking memory cells with wafer bonding technology and pushing past 400 layers, it delivers about a 58% jump in memory density compared to the previous V9 generation, along with better read/write and input/output performance.
AMD’s Q2 Revenue Hits $11.54 Billion, Up 50% Year-Over-Year
On August 4th, local time, AMD reported its financial results for the second quarter of 2026. The company pulled in total revenue of $11.536 billion for the quarter, a 50% year-over-year surge that set a new all-time single-quarter record. Under GAAP, net income came in at $2.297 billion, up 163% year-over-year, with diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.38. On a Non-GAAP basis, net income was $2.76 billion, climbing 253%, and EPS landed at $1.66—beating what analysts on the street were expecting. The data center business was the absolute growth engine, bringing in $6.72 billion in Q2 revenue, a staggering 107% year-over-year jump, which now accounts for 58% of the company’s total revenue.
Looking ahead, AMD guided third-quarter 2026 revenue to approximately $13 billion (give or take $300 million), which translates to about 41% year-over-year growth—another number that came in above market expectations. AMD Chair and CEO Lisa Su said that with accelerating EPYC demand, expanding Instinct deployments, and Helios architecture ramping up, the company is seeing strong momentum in the second half of the year and is well-positioned to seize the massive opportunities from the explosion in AI computing demand.
Memory Shortage Leaves MacBook Air in Short Supply
According to a recent report from well-known tech journalist Mark Gurman, the MacBook Air is facing severe supply constraints due to the ongoing memory and chip shortage crisis, with a large number of new orders not expected to ship until September. Back in June, Apple had already raised the MacBook Air’s price by 1,500 yuan for the exact same reason.
Gurman wrote in his weekly newsletter: “Sources at physical retail stores say Apple’s laptop has been persistently out of stock, and the shipping delays on new units are the worst they’ve seen in their careers.”
Signs of the MacBook Air shortage are already visible on Apple’s official website. Gurman pointed out that all configurations of the 13-inch and 15-inch M5-chip MacBook Air on Apple’s US online store are showing as pre-order only, with the latest shipments not expected until early September—a wait of over a month. The higher the memory spec, the longer the delivery wait.
Zhiyuan Robotics Hands Out Mid-Year Bonuses—Even to Ex-Employees
Word on the street is that Zhiyuan Robotics held its 2026 mid-year all-hands meeting and awarded mid-year bonuses to all employees.
According to a report from 21st Century Business Herald, a Zhiyuan representative confirmed the news. Because the company’s performance targets for the first half of the year were surpassed, the management team decided to give all full-time employees a “Mid-Year Special Performance Bonus” equivalent to one month of fixed salary, which will be paid out alongside July salaries. What’s more, even employees who have since left the company are eligible, with the bonus prorated based on their working days from January to June this year. Zhiyuan currently has around 1,500 employees.
ByteDance Launches 2027 Campus Recruitment, Adds AI Full-Stack Engineer Roles
On August 3rd, ByteDance officially kicked off its 2027 campus recruitment drive, targeting students graduating between September 2026 and August 2027. The company is opening up positions across eight categories: R&D, product, operations, design, marketing, functional/support, sales, and game planning. ByteDance noted that tech and product roles make up over 70% of the total demand this year. On the R&D side, algorithm-related positions have seen even more demand than last year, with brand-new roles like AI Full-Stack Engineer and AI Agent Developer being offered for the first time. For non-R&D roles, product positions are up 20%, with more than half of those being AI product roles. The top three non-product roles by demand are sales, operations, and functional/support.
National Big Fund Phase III-Backed Funds Invest in Zhengxin Semiconductor
According to the Tianyancha App, on July 30th, Shenyang Zhengxin Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd. underwent industrial and commercial changes, adding new shareholders including Guotou Jixin (Beijing) Equity Investment Fund (Limited Partnership)—a fund under the National Big Fund Phase III—and Jinshi Growth Equity Investment (Hangzhou) Partnership (Limited Partnership). At the same time, the registered capital was increased from 100,000 yuan to approximately 11.34 million yuan.
The company was established in March 2025, with Zheng Guangwen as its legal representative. Its business scope includes superconducting material sales, superconducting material manufacturing, and electronic product sales. Shareholder information shows the company is now jointly held by Shenyang Fuchan Precision Equipment Co., Ltd. and the newly added shareholders mentioned above.
TSMC, Sony, Renesas and Others Resume Operations at Kumamoto Plants
On August 4th, local time, Renesas Electronics’ Kumamoto Kawajiri plant resumed phased operations ahead of schedule. The company still plans to restore production capacity to pre-earthquake levels within about three weeks of restarting.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation said in a statement late last month that the Kumamoto Technology Center, which had suspended operations due to the July 28th Kumamoto earthquake, has completed safety inspections and repairs. The facility is set to resume operations in phases starting August 4th, with full recovery to pre-earthquake capacity expected by mid-August.
According to reports from earlier on the 4th, TSMC’s Kumamoto Fab 1 has returned to normal operations after conducting inspections and adjustments following the earthquake. Reports indicate that the safety of the building has been confirmed, though equipment adjustments caused some delays.
Tokyo Electron’s two factories in Kumamoto Prefecture had already resumed operations starting August 3rd.
OPPO A7 Pro Max Officially Launches, Starting at 2,199 Yuan
On August 4th, the OPPO A7 Pro Max smartphone was officially unveiled, featuring a massive 10,000mAh battery. The official retail price starts at 2,199 yuan, with sales officially opening on August 7th.
SoftBank Corp. Reports Q1 Net Profit of ¥150.07 Billion, Missing Expectations
On August 4th, SoftBank Corp. released its first-quarter results for fiscal year 2027. The company posted net sales of ¥1.81 trillion for the first quarter, versus an estimate of ¥1.76 trillion; operating profit of ¥302.30 billion, versus an estimate of ¥275.54 billion; and net profit of ¥150.07 billion, versus an estimate of ¥152.52 billion.
SoftBank still expects full-year FY2027 net sales of ¥7.50 trillion, operating profit of ¥1.10 trillion, net profit of ¥560.0 billion, and dividends of ¥8.80 per share.
