LENOVO GROUP (00992.HK) is not only a long-term agreement customer of Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US), but has also signed long-term supply agreements for storage products with Samsung and SK Hynix, Shanghai Securities News cited sources as saying.

LENOVO GROUP's China infrastructure business is radically raising its server business growth expectations, according to hearsay. The company previously set a server business target of RMB100 billion for FY2027/2028.

Based on currently executing orders, the confirmable revenue delivery scale from only two major customers next year has already approached RMB200 billion.
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Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) are facing an antitrust lawsuit in the US. The three companies are accused of manipulating DRAM prices by deliberately reducing the supply of conventional DRAM under the pretext of expanding production of HBM, thereby driving up prices.

The plaintiffs include 14 US consumers and three small and medium-sized PC assembly and distribution companies. They alleged that the three companies have systematically restricted DRAM supply since 2022, giving rise to prices surging by about 700% over the past four years.

The plaintiffs contend that the defendants used inventory management as a justification to cut output, while in reality artificially creating shortages to raise prices.
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The South Korean stock market has experienced wild swings recently, with circuit breaker triggered five times so far this year. The Korea Exchange has postponed the launch of weekly options products linked to four heavyweight stocks, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Since the start of this year, about one-fifth of trading days in the MSCI Korea Index have marked single-day moves exceeding 5%, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mathieu Racheter, head of equity research at Julius Baer, said recent market movements have sounded an important alarm over concentration risk. When investor positioning becomes excessively crowded, markets inevitably enter periods of heightened volatility.

Retail investors borrowed funds to buy shares of the two major index heavyweights, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. This could expose individual investors to margin calls. With market risk highly concentrated in just two stocks, institutional investors may also withdraw capital, potentially amplifying downside pressure on share prices.

Compared with other markets along the AI supply chain, the concentration level in the South Korean market is strikingly high. Currently, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics together account for a record 60% of the Korean Kospi. In the US Nasdaq market, the two largest companies by market cap, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) and Apple Inc. (AAPL.US), together account for only about 20% of the index.

Goldman Sachs analysts Timothy Moe and John Kwon noted that, under the diversification requirements stipulated by the US Investment Company Act, a further 1% hike in the combined weighting of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix could trigger approximately USD2 billion in outflows from foreign investors in the Korean market.

Goldman Sachs added that substantial inflows into leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETF), coupled with rising options trading and margin financing by retail investors, created a fragile structural environment. In such conditions, daily price swings in the equity market derailed immensely from levels justified by corporate fundamentals.
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AS Watson Group, the world’s largest international health and beauty retailer, announced the appointment of 31 global strategic technology partners to accelerate the next phase of its AI-powered O+O (Offline plus Online) transformation. Strategic partners include Oracle Corporation (ORCL.US), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US), and NCR Voyix.

Malina Ngai, Group CEO of AS Watson, said that AI is not a standalone technology layer. It is a core capability that runs across the organisation. The Group's priority is to use AI to remove friction, accelerate execution and help its people focus on creating value for customers. Its 31 global technology partners play a critical role in this journey. Together, they are combining data, technology and human judgement to build a more agile, scalable and future ready organisation.
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OpenAI is inclined to postpone its IPO to next year, as the company’s banking advisers warned that recent sharp swings in technology stocks and in shares of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX.US) following its listing could dampen retail investors’ enthusiasm for an OpenAI IPO, New York Times, citing sources, reported.

The news weighed on SoftBank (9984.JP), whose shares once plunged nearly 13% this morning (26th) and closed down more than 12% at midday. SoftBank’s investment in OpenAI is expected to reach approximately USD65 billion by October. The market has been anticipating that an OpenAI listing would generate substantial gains for SoftBank.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman urged advisers, including bankers and lawyers, to set a target valuation of USD1 trillion for the company, report said.
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Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) said that it announced price increases for Mac, iPad and home devices, in light of memory chip woes which prompt soaring prices. Its share price closed down 6.1%. Apple-related concept stocks listed in Hong Kong declined broadly.

AAC TECH (02018.HK) opened 1.53% lower today, hitting a trough of HKD42.6. It last stood at HKD42.74, down 6.48%, with 3.5167 million shares traded, involving HKD152 million.

SUNNY OPTICAL (02382.HK) announced plans to issue RMB-denominated bonds. It opened 2.99% lower today, hitting a trough of HKD58.3. It last stood at HKD58.9, down 12.09%, with 19.4982 million shares traded, involving HKD1.188 billion.

COWELL (01415.HK) opened 1% lower today, hitting a trough of HKD22.02. It last printed at HKD22.2, down 7.65%, with 2.621 million shares traded, involving HKD59.0832 million.

TONGDA GROUP (00698.HK) opened 6.7% lower today, hitting a trough of HKD1.74. It last traded at HKD1.74, down 10.31%, with 151,400 shares traded, involving HKD273,700.

FIH (02038.HK) opened 0.99% lower today, hitting a trough of HKD20.78. It last stood at HKD21, down 5.49%, with 1.2525 million shares traded, involving HKD26.4175 million.

FIT HON TENG (06088.HK) opened 2.51% lower today, hitting a trough of HKD6.66. It last quoted at HKD6.84, down 9.64%, with 49.627 million shares traded, involving HKD340 million.
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Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) shares slumped 6.1% overnight (25th), marking the steepest downfall among S&P 500 and DJIA constituents, after the company announced that rising memory and storage chip costs would prompt higher prices for iPad and MacBook products.

In Hong Kong, the iPad Air 128GB recorded the largest increase, with the price rising from HKD4,599 to HKD5,999, representing an increase of 30.4%.

The price of MacBook Neo rose by 14.6%, or HKD700, to HKD5,499; that of MacBook Air 512GB added by 16.7% to HKD10,499; and that of iPad mini climbed by 21.1% to HKD4,599.

Apple stated that the consumer electronics industry is facing challenges. Rapid expansion of AI data centers has driven exceptionally strong demand for memory and storage chips, making it necessary to raise prices for certain products, with the possibility of further price increases in the future.
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While SK Hynix is pushing ahead with a US listing, the market is focused on the potential for a higher valuation that could narrow the gap with US competitor Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US).

Analysts believed SK Hynix’s leadership in HBM is becoming increasingly solid. Together with the US listing scheduled for next month, which is expected to attract more new investors, this could help narrow the company’s valuation discount to Micron.

Currently, SK Hynix trades at 7.8x PE in Seoul, lower than Micron’s 9.2x and another US memory chip supplier Sandisk Corporation (SNDK.US)’s 10.1x.

Eugene Asset Management and Jupiter Asset Management forecast that if SK Hynix’s PE catches up with Micron next year, its Seoul-listed shares could have as much as 30% upside over the coming year. Meanwhile, HSBC said that the upcoming US ADR listing of SK Hynix, which offers greater accessibility to global investors, could see the ADR trade at a 20% premium to SK Hynix’s shares in South Korea.
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HSI opened down 23 pts this morning (25th). With losses widened, the index once slid more than 430 pts in the afternoon to miss the 23,000 level, hitting an intraday low of 22,978. The HSI closed at 23,076, down 335 pts or 1.43%. Full-day turnover totaled HKD325.785 billion. HSTECH closed at 4,405, down 73 pts or 1.63%, while HSCEI closed at 7,608, down 156 pts or 2.02%.

Dotcom bellwethers broadly came under pressure. BABA-W (09988.HK) hit an intraday low of HKD94, a 52-week low, and closed down 4.43% at HKD95. BIDU-SW (09888.HK) lost 3.45%. MEITUAN-W (03690.HK), JD-SW (09618.HK) and NTES-S (09999.HK) shed more than 2%. KUAISHOU-W (01024.HK) and TENCENT (00700.HK) declined over 1%.

BANK OF CHINA (03988.HK) was reported by the National Audit Office for alleged tax evasion involving RMB2.37 billion. Its shares once slumped 7% to a near three-month low of HKD4.9, and closed at HKD4.99, down 5.31%. CCB (00939.HK), ICBC (01398.HK) and ABC (01288.HK) also sagged more than 2%.

Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) delivered quarterly results beat, with its shares swelling 15% in after-hours trading, shoring up Asia-Pacific chip stocks. SMIC (00981.HK) rose over 1%. GIGADEVICE (03986.HK), whose TP was raised to RMB1,254 by CLSA, soared 12.32%, while MONTAGE TECH (06809.HK) rallied 6.69%. South Korea's SK Hynix announced plans to issue ADRs to raise USD29.4 billion and seek listing on July 10. In Hong Kong, XL2CSOPHYNIX (07709.HK) jumped up 18.44%, and XL2CSOPSMSN (07747.HK) proliferated nearly 10%.
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Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) reported quarterly results and guidance that beat expectations and was blessed by brokers. Morgan Stanley raised its TP to USD1,200. The stock leapfrogged 17.5% in pre-market trading to USD1,232.29.

Peers also advanced, with Sandisk Corporation (SNDK.US) up 12.1% pre-market, Seagate Technology Holdings PLC - Ordinary Shares (Ireland) (STX.US) up 8.9%, and Western Digital Corporation (WDC.US) up 11.8%.

Nasdaq futures jumped up 2.3% to 30,202.
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