The domestic semiconductor sector in China is nearing a landmark breakthrough. According to a report, Apple is testing memory chip products from China's leading manufacturer for use in its iPhone and MacBook lines, aiming to alleviate memory shortages driven by the AI boom. The report indicates that Apple has initiated preliminary discussions with the country's largest chipmaker regarding component supply, with a goal of using these chips in devices sold in the Chinese market first. Meanwhile, PC manufacturers like HP and Acer have also started adopting DRAM chips from CXMT in models sold outside the US market. This marks the first time domestic memory chips have entered the top-tier global consumer electronics supply chain. If Apple's testing proceeds smoothly and leads to adoption, it would directly confirm that domestic DRAM has reached a level close to international first-tier standards in performance, yield, and reliability. This could catalyze a market revaluation of the entire domestic semiconductor supply chain.
Overseas memory chip giants are continuing their expansion. On August 7, SK Hynix announced a plan to invest $38.4 billion in its domestic operations in South Korea to expand its chip business, aiming to meet the growing demand for memory in the AI era. Specifically, SK Hynix plans to invest 19.1 trillion won ($13.47 billion) in the M17 chip plant in Cheongju, with investments to be completed by 2031. It also plans to invest 35.2 trillion won ($24.9 billion) in Yongin for the second phase of chip factory construction. Recently, memory chip manufacturers including SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Kioxia have reported their second-quarter 2026 financial results, with the reports showing a high level of prosperity driven by AI computing power. For example, SK Hynix saw its average DRAM price rise by 30% quarter-over-quarter, and its average NAND price increase by 50% quarter-over-quarter. This directly boosted its revenue by 51% quarter-over-quarter and its operating profit by 61% quarter-over-quarter.
Supported by the long-term prosperity logic of the semiconductor equipment and materials track, capital continues to increase its positions in the core upstream semiconductor segment. Data from Wind and exchanges shows that the popular product, the Semiconductor Equipment ETF Huatai-PineBridge (588710), received nearly 600 million yuan in net capital inflows on a single day last Friday (August 7). It has accumulated 9.538 billion yuan in net inflows since June 15, and its average daily turnover last week exceeded 2.5 billion yuan. This active capital deployment has driven the ETF's latest shares to 3.448 billion, with a scale of 10.783 billion yuan, reaching a new historical high. The scale has grown by 505% and 1117% year-to-date, respectively.
The Semiconductor Equipment ETF Huatai-PineBridge (588710) tracks the STAR Semiconductor Materials and Equipment Index. It focuses highly on the upstream "materials and equipment" sector of the semiconductor industry (accounting for 89% of the Shenwan third-level industry classification). The index also has an 80% weighting in the "memory chip" concept and a 67% weighting in the "advanced packaging" concept. This gives it high sensitivity to wafer fab capital expenditure, memory chip capacity expansion, and the domestic substitution process. Off-exchange investors can consider the Huatai-PineBridge STAR Market Semiconductor Materials and Equipment Theme ETF Feeder Fund (Class A 024974 / Class C 024975).
The 100% STAR Market stock selection may endow the STAR Semiconductor Materials and Equipment Index with strong resilience. Its historical performance has surpassed some mainstream similar indices. Over the past year, the index has accumulated a gain of 184%, outperforming the Semiconductor Materials and Equipment Theme Index (171%), the CSI All Share Semiconductor Index (100%), the STAR Chip Index (125%), and the Guozheng Chip Index (90%) during the same period.
Semiconductor equipment and materials are a high-resilience sector, and investors need to be aware of the risks associated with high valuations and trading volatility. It is important for investors to make rational judgments and invest cautiously based on their own risk tolerance. A possible strategy is to consider a portfolio approach, combining the Huatai-PineBridge "Red Dividend Family" to create a barbell layout. On the offensive side, invest in high-growth tech sectors to capture industry dividends. On the defensive side, use dividend-type assets to help smooth portfolio volatility. Huatai-PineBridge Fund is one of the first ETF managers in China, with over 19 years of deep experience in index investing. It has provided investors with transparent, easy-to-trade, and low-cost index tools such as the CSI 300 ETF Huatai-PineBridge (510300) and the A500 ETF Huatai-PineBridge (563360). As of the end of June 2026, the company's ETFs have accumulated over 180.6 billion yuan in profits for holders over the past two years, making it one of only three public fund companies in the A-share market to have accumulated over 160 billion yuan in profits during that period.
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