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Chinese automaker <a href="/company/byd">BYD</a> is transforming the <a href="/industry/ev">electric vehicle</a> market, surpassing <a href="/company/tesla">Tesla's</a> sales in more than 20 countries and regions over the past five years as it embraces risk and expands globally to overcome waning sales at home.
A dramatic reversal occurred last year in the UK as BYD's annual sales surpassed Tesla's for the first time. That spring, at a dealership in west London, BYD founder and chairman Wang Chuanfu posed for a photo with a customer who bought an Atto 3 EV.
The Atto 3, which BYD chose as its first passenger export vehicle in 2021, gets its name from the word "attosecond," a unit of time equivalent to one quintillionth of a second. The company chose the name to convey its rapid pursuit of technology and performance.
In 2021, Wang often spoke about speed in company meetings.
"Toyota Motor and Volkswagen are a little slow in electrifying their vehicles, but once they make a leap, the impact will be huge," he said at the time. "BYD absolutely has to be faster." Outpacing other companies was necessity for survival.
The plan worked. Global sales expanded rapidly, and in the four years from 2021, BYD entered 113 countries and regions.
Nikkei compared BYD and Tesla's sales figures for 2020 and 2025 using data from S&amp;P Global Mobility. BYD overtook Tesla in 22 countries and regions. In addition to European nations like the UK, Spain, and Italy, the automaker also passed Tesla in Hong Kong and Singapore, where luxury vehicles are said to have a large market share. Last year, BYD toppled Tesla as the world's top EV seller.
The average price of BYD's passenger vehicles in China last year was RMB 114,000 (USD 16,478.8) according to a Chinese research company. The automaker has kept costs down by producing batteries and core components in-house. Its highly price competitive EVs have flowed into the global market in a steady drip.
One such destination is Uruguay, with a population of about 3.4 million and a new-vehicle market of just 70,000 units.
BYD laid the groundwork for its full entry into Uruguay by conducting road tests of electric buses in the early 2010s. It has since delivered large electric buses and electric taxis and built relationships with the local government and dealers.
Elsewhere in South America, at Peru's port of Chancay—about 80 kilometers north of the capital, Lima—Chinese-made vehicles are neatly lined up on the quay.
The port, built with Chinese capital as a component of Beijing's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, began full-scale operations in June 2025. Much of the cargo bound for South America from Asia previously passed through ports in Central or North America.
The China-backed port opened a direct route. Transport times have been slashed to about 25 days, down by around 10 days.
During its expansion, BYD has encountered friction in North America and Europe. Plans for a passenger vehicle factory in Mexico, which BYD hoped to use as an avenue into North America past high tariff barriers, <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/electric-vehicles/mexico-blocks-byd-ev-factory-putting-us-tariff-talks-first" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were scrapped</a> last year as US President Donald Trump's administration put pressure on the Mexican government.
In his election campaign, Trump had blasted the construction of factories in Mexico by Chinese companies looking to sell cars in the US Mexico could have been hurt during tariff negotiations with Washington if it gave the impression of welcoming Chinese businesses.
Meanwhile, the European Union has set its own standards in a bid to keep Chinese players out, giving preference to <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/eu-to-launch-compact-ev-class-to-cut-costs-and-counter-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">compact electric vehicles</a>.
Even when faced with such walls, BYD has little choice but to keep expanding overseas, as the rapid growth in domestic sales that fueled its investment has come to a halt.
The automaker sold about 3.5 million passenger vehicles in China last year, down roughly 10% from 2024. Sales for the July-September quarter sank 3% on the year to RMB 194.9 billion (USD 28.2 billion), the first decline in 22 quarters.
Free cash flow sank to minus RMB 44 billion (USD 6.4 billion), the largest negative figure of the past 15 or so years. Lower free cash flow risks leaving the company with less capital to invest overseas.
To avoid trade friction, BYD is shifting from exports to local production. It is slated to open a passenger vehicle factory in Hungary as early as this year, following new plants in Thailand in 2024 and Brazil in 2025.
Other Chinese players also have picked up overseas production facilities from other automakers. <a href="/company/great-wall-motor">Great Wall Motor</a> acquired the site of a former Mercedes-Benz plant in Brazil, and <a href="/company/chery">Chery Automobile</a> is buying <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/nissan-to-sell-plants-in-south-africa-to-china-s-chery-automobile" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plants in South Africa</a> from Japan's Nissan Motor.
China in 2023 surpassed Japan to become the world's top auto exporter. Japanese automakers built more than 16 million vehicles overseas in 2024, but their Chinese competitors are catching up fast.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/electric-vehicles/byd-redraws-global-ev-map-overtaking-tesla-in-20-markets">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.92 = USD 1 based on estimates as of March 10, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

BYD redraws global EV map, overtaking Tesla in 20 markets

Tesla

East Asia

China

Transportation

Electric Vehicles

Mobility

Joyy reported its fourth-quarter 2025 results on March 10, with figures suggesting its long-awaited return to growth may be approaching, albeit on different terms than before. The company reported USD 581.9 million in revenue for the three months ended December 31, up 5.9% year-on-year (YoY) and 7.7% from the prior quarter. It was Joyy’s first quarterly revenue increase on a YoY basis since the second half of 2024. The rebound, however, was driven less by its legacy live streaming business than by a rapidly expanding advertising operation.
That shift matters because it changes both Joyy’s growth profile and its cost structure. Advertising revenue jumped 62.4% YoY to USD 145.4 million in the quarter. Live streaming revenue still declined from a year earlier, falling to USD 394.4 million from USD 422.4 million, though it rose 1.5% sequentially. Non-live streaming revenue reached USD 187.5 million, or 32.2% of group revenue, up from 23.1% a year earlier. The figures show that Joyy’s diversification is becoming more visible in the numbers.
The center of that shift is Bigo Ads. Joyy said the unit generated USD 128.1 million in fourth-quarter revenue, up 61.5% YoY and 23.3% from the previous quarter. Its Audience Network business expanded even faster. Management linked the growth to broader traffic coverage, deeper penetration across advertiser verticals, and algorithm improvements that increased delivery efficiency and advertiser spending. SDK ad requests rose 166% YoY, while demand from North America and Western Europe strengthened sequentially.
The tradeoff is already visible in profitability. Gross profit was broadly flat YoY at USD 205.6 million, pushing gross margin down to 35.3% from 37.1% a year earlier and 35.8% in the third quarter. Joyy attributed the pressure mainly to higher revenue-sharing fees and content costs tied to third-party traffic acquisition for its advertising business.
The pressure extended below the gross line. Non-GAAP EBITDA was unchanged from the previous quarter at USD 50.6 million but declined from USD 55.7 million a year earlier. Non-GAAP EBITDA margin narrowed to 8.7% from 10.1%, while non-GAAP operating income margin fell to 7% from 8.4%. Sales and marketing expenses rose to USD 81.4 million as Joyy resumed user acquisition spending after unusually low spending in the same quarter a year earlier, when a temporary app store interruption created one-off savings.
That leaves the quarter mixed beneath the headline beat. Operating income improved to USD 18.3 million from a USD 427.9 million loss a year earlier, while net income from continuing operations attributable to Joyy reached USD 54.3 million compared with a USD 304.1 million loss a year earlier. The comparison, however, is partly skewed by the absence of a USD 454.9 million goodwill impairment charge recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024. On a more comparable basis, profitability was steadier rather than sharply stronger. Non-GAAP net income from continuing operations slipped to USD 70.3 million from USD 72.4 million in the third quarter and USD 96.1 million a year earlier.
Live streaming, meanwhile, is recovering only gradually. Joyy highlighted a third consecutive quarter of sequential growth in the segment, supported by localized operations, a broader content mix, and <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence</a>-driven improvements to recommendations and payment systems. Bigo paying users rose 1.5% sequentially to 1.54 million, while ARPPU reached USD 222.8. Even so, live streaming revenue remains below last year’s level, suggesting the core business has stabilized more than it has reaccelerated.
The full-year figures show the same pattern. Joyy’s 2025 revenue declined to USD 2.12 billion from USD 2.24 billion in 2024 as live streaming revenue fell to USD 1.53 billion from USD 1.79 billion. Advertising partly offset that drop, rising 37.1% to USD 442.7 million, while Bigo Ads revenue increased 38.5% to USD 398.5 million. Non-GAAP EBITDA rose 10.9% to USD 189.8 million, indicating that the company maintained earnings discipline even as its revenue mix shifted.
The balance sheet gives Joyy room to continue that transition. The company ended 2025 with USD 3.26 billion in net cash and generated USD 116 million in operating cash flow in the fourth quarter. It also returned USD 332 million to shareholders during 2025 through buybacks and dividends, and has since declared a cash dividend of USD 1.38 per ADS (American depository share) for the first quarter of 2026.
The next question is whether advertising can keep scaling without further eroding group margins. Joyy guided first-quarter 2026 revenue to USD 538–548 million, implying a sequential decline from the fourth quarter. The company also plans to refine its segment reporting beginning in the first quarter of 2026, which may provide a clearer view of how much growth is coming from advertising, commerce software, and its still-dominant social entertainment business.

Joyy revenue rises in Q4, but margins hit by advertising growth costs

Short Video

Live Streaming

Video

Creative

Content

Creator Economy

… returns.
For now, the market is rewarding the milestone. But investors will likely watch whether Nio can keep vehicle margins near current levels, absorb raw material inflation without giving back too much profitability, and grow deliveries without rebuilding its cost base too quickly. The fourth quarter of 2025 showed that Nio’s model can work under favorable conditions. It did not yet prove those conditions will last.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.88 = USD 1 based on estimates as of March 11, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

Nio hits first operating profit in Q4 as turnaround begins to show

… for Labor Education &amp; Research criticized Grab for profiting off an already financially disadvantaged workforce.
"It knows that riders are cash-strapped and that the nature of work requires constant financial maintenance. It's betting on the future labor of a rider, who bears the real risk and repeating crises of debt, stress, and dependency," she told Nikkei Asia.
Cheryll Soriano, a professor at De La Salle University and principal investigator of Resilient Platform Work Philippines, added: "Platforms promote loans through push notifications based on tenure and driving data. We have evidence from workers who were pushed loan invitations while still completing a previous loan cycle," she told Nikkei Asia.
She also said that it's hard for riders to grasp the gravity of the interest when they mostly only see the daily deductions.
Lawyers approached by Nikkei Asia said a court could force Grab to lower its interest rates.
Soriano said that a platform like Grab can "incentivize workers to take the longest payment period with higher interest rates."
Grab denied this, saying, "At no point are partners incentivized, nudged, or algorithmically steered toward higher-interest products or longer tenure options."
Grab holds monthly raffles and offers rewards for its riders who take loans with certain terms. To enter Grab's recent Christmas raffle, a rider had to have taken out a loan with the maximum repayment period.
One rider demonstrated that for a chance to win prizes, it was necessary to take out a PHP 13,000 (USD 218.8) loan that must be repaid through daily deductions of PHP 62.07 (USD 1) over 360 days, totaling PHP 22,343 (USD 376.1). The rider would pay almost double the principal amount with an effective annual interest rate of 234%.
Riders face a critical decision if they fall ill or if one of the on average 20 annual typhoons in the country hits their area: stay at home or risk the consequences of working just to keep deductions from piling up.
The motorcycle taxi association leader urges platforms to "have a heart. We can't stop force majeure and the apps should understand and suspend deductions."
Grab asserts it follows a "standard calamity response [which] can include offering loan payment holidays to driver-partners with existing loans." Riders told Nikkei they have seldom experienced this. The Philippines experienced 23 tropical cyclones in 2025. Grab did not provide the number of loan repayment holidays it gave during the year.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/asean-money/grab-charges-philippine-bike-riders-over-230-interest-for-in-app-loans">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.
Note: PHP figures are converted to USD at rates of PHP 59.4 = USD 1 based on estimates as of March 10, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

Grab charges Philippine bike riders over 230% interest for in-app loans

Grab

Southeast Asia

Fintech

Lending

Philippines

<a href="/company/catl">Contemporary Amperex Technology</a>, better known as CATL, saw its shares climb after posting 2025 profit ahead of expectations, offering investors a fresh sign that growth in energy storage and overseas markets is helping the Chinese battery maker cushion a weaker <a href="/industry/ev">electric vehicle</a> backdrop.
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Net income rose 42.3% year-on-year to RMB 72.2 billion (USD 10.4 billion), while revenue increased 17% to RMB 423.7 billion (USD 61.2 billion), according to the company’s disclosure. CATL also reported lithium battery sales of 661 gigawatt-hours, up 39% from a year earlier.
The results suggest CATL is navigating the industry slowdown better than many battery peers, even if the recovery still rests mainly on its EV battery business. Revenue from EV batteries rose 25.1% to RMB 316.5 billion (USD 45.8 billion) and accounted for nearly three-quarters of group revenue, while energy storage battery revenue grew 9% to RMB 62.4 billion (USD 9 billion).
That puts CATL in a stronger position as battery makers look for growth beyond China’s crowded EV market. Energy storage has become a key part of that shift, helped by renewable power buildout and rising electricity demand from data centers, though CATL’s own revenue mix still shows a company far more battery-led than its broader positioning implies.
Overseas expansion remains central to CATL’s narrative. Revenue from international markets rose 17.5% to RMB 129.6 billion (USD 18.7 billion) in 2025, accounting for 30.6% of total sales. The company’s overseas gross margin also remained above its domestic margin, indicating that international growth is supporting profit as well as scale.
Margins improved at the group level, though not because CATL suddenly made more on every core battery sold. Gross margin rose to 26.27% from 24.44%, but the annual report said the main lift came from battery materials, recycling and other businesses. Gross margin in EV batteries and energy storage batteries was broadly flat.
CATL is also trying to hold its lead through technology and infrastructure. The company highlighted sodium-ion batteries, battery swapping, electric vessels and zero-carbon industrial projects as future growth areas, while R&amp;D expenses rose 19% year-on-year to RMB 22.1 billion (USD 3.2 billion). Global production capacity reached 772 GWh, with another 321 GWh under construction.
That spending reflects a broader ambition. CATL wants investors to look beyond cells and packs toward battery swapping, energy infrastructure and other operating platforms. The company said it had built more than 1,000 Choco-Swap stations for passenger vehicles across 45 cities, over 300 heavy truck battery swapping stations across 26 provinces, and deployed close to 1,000 electric vessels globally, while also highlighting progress in eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicles and zero-carbon industrial parks.
The direction is clear enough, but the financial evidence is thinner. Without more granular disclosure, those newer businesses are easier to treat as growth options than as proof that CATL has already built a meaningfully broader earnings model.
The balance sheet, however, gives it time to keep building. Monetary funds rose to RMB 333.5 billion (USD 48.2 billion) at the end of 2025 from RMB 303.5 billion (USD 43.9 billion) a year earlier, while net assets attributable to shareholders increased 36.5% to RMB 337.1 billion (USD 48.7 billion). Fourth-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders also rose to RMB 23.2 billion (USD 3.4 billion) from RMB 14 billion (USD 2 billion) in the first quarter, suggesting earnings strengthened through the year.
CATL’s business is broadening, but the financial engine is still familiar. 2025 was a strong year. It just was not yet proof that the company’s newer platforms matter as much as its core battery business.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.92 = USD 1 based on estimates as of March 10, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

CATL’s business is broadening, but EV batteries still drive profit

Deep Tech

Batteries

Energy

… Series B1 funding from Hefei Luzhou Industry Fund. The company develops AI-driven systems for transportation management and smart mobility. Prior to this investment, Sinoits had received backing from investors including Qualcomm Ventures, Glory Ventures, Seashell Capital, Soaring Capital, Highsea Capital, and CCCC Capital, as well as support from Nanjing Communications Group to build regional smart transportation ecosystems. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3706859579486597">36Kr</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.lemanbio.com/en">Leman Biotech</a>, a cell therapy developer, has raised nearly RMB 200 million (USD 28 million) in a new round jointly led by Yuecai Zhongyin Private Equity and XtalPi. Other participants include Kuangshi Zhixing, Mony Valley, Tailong VC, Zhongshan Investment Holdings, and individual investors, with existing shareholder Fuho Capital increasing its stake. The company is advancing low-dose metabolism-enhanced CAR-T cell therapies and operates two proprietary platforms that combine AI and metabolic reprogramming technologies to develop cell therapy treatments. Proceeds will support clinical trials, automated manufacturing process development, and the clinical translation of therapies targeting solid tumors. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3707151883382917">36Kr</a></li>
</ul>
whereRelatedArticle
<h3>Aonic, Dyna.Ai, Spirit AI, and others made recent headlines:</h3>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Aonic, a Malaysia-based drone technology company, raised USD 10 million in a Series A funding round led by Kairous Capital, with backing from Jelawang Capital.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Dyna.Ai, a Singapore-based developer of agentic AI systems, has closed a Series A round led by Lion X Ventures, raising an undisclosed eight-figure USD sum. The round included participation from tech company Adata, an unnamed South Korean financial institution, and several finance industry veterans.</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.spirit-ai.com/en/">Spirit AI</a>, one of China’s embodied intelligence companies, secured nearly RMB 2 billion (USD 280 million) across two consecutive rounds. Investors include Yunfeng Capital, HongShan, Chaos Investment, and industrial and state-backed funds such as Synstellation Capital, TCL Capital, Mornway Capital, Chongqing Industrial Parent Fund, and Hangzhou Finance and Investment Group. Existing backers Shunwei Capital and Prosperity7 also participated.</li>
</ul>
If there are any news or updates you'd like us to feature, get in touch with us at: <a href="mailto:hello@kr-asia.com">hello@kr-asia.com</a>.

Deals in brief: Gobi Partners backs Cortical Labs, TVS invests in Vietnam’s Dat Bike, 11 China deals, and more

Venture Capital

Private Equity

Investment

Merger &amp; Acquisition

Singapore

Vietnam

Indonesia

Oceania

… Children's tableware costs nearly RMB 400 (USD 56.0) per set. Ovens priced at RMB 50,000 (USD 7,000) are used primarily to prepare lamb ribs.
One investor noted that Xibei's lamb spine contains about 30% meat, compared with an industry norm closer to 10%. The cost difference can exceed fivefold.
“Consumers may not need that much meat,” the investor said. “Even if it's better, if it's too expensive, it may not be what I want.”
The same tension applies to frozen broccoli, sourced at RMB 8 (USD 1.1) per jin, or about 600 grams.
“Many of the frozen ingredients from the central kitchen are processed using very advanced rapid freezing equipment,” said Li Ni (pseudonym), a former Xibei store manager. “They actually move quickly through inventory.”
A similar example comes from a well-known seafood buffet eatery in Dalian that invested heavily in liquid nitrogen freezing technology. The restaurant promoted the idea that nitrogen-frozen crabs could taste even better than live ones, but few diners were convinced. One consumer who visited the restaurant told 36Kr that locals overwhelmingly chose live river crabs instead. For most diners, seafood simply needs to be alive and fresh, just as many consumers today expect restaurant food to be freshly prepared and reasonably priced.
When consumption was broadly upgrading, higher costs were easier to justify. In the current environment, they risk becoming misaligned with demand.
“Sometimes we wondered whether the boss focused more on what he wanted to sell than on what customers wanted,” Weng Yang said.
Li Ni said Jia had long insisted on paying above-market wages. “If the market pays a server RMB 5,000 (USD 700) a month, we would recruit at RMB 5,500 (USD 770) or RMB 6,000 (USD 840),” he said. After recent adjustments, each store is expected to employ about ten ambassador-style roles earning more than RMB 10,000 (USD 1,400) per month, pushing labor costs toward 35% of revenue. That figure is comparable to Haidilao's 33.8%.
Ultimately, the virtuous cycle of well-paid staff, better service, and satisfied customers breaks down when traffic falls.
Jia once argued that being expensive is not the problem, being expensive without delivering value is. Yet in today’s consumer environment, Xibei’s pricing has arguably become the main source of customer dissatisfaction.
<h3>Jia Guolong’s sweeping bets</h3>
For Jia, learning to make things cheaper has never been a natural instinct.
Before returning to the core business in early 2025, Jia spent roughly a decade experimenting with new formats. His ambition was sweeping, for every city in the world, every street, to have a Xibei outlet.
A 300-square-meter Xibei Youmian Village store could not support that vision, so Jia began experimenting with smaller formats and new brands.
Zhou Luo (pseudonym), a former Xibei employee who worked on the Jia Guolong Kung Fu Cuisine project, said the company spared little expense. “We spent more than RMB 100 million (USD 14 million) in a single year,” he said. “There were more than 300 R&amp;D consultants. Our only task was to map the country and find the best dishes, then pay high prices to buy the recipes and turn them into standardized operating manuals.”
“A single mapo tofu recipe could cost tens of thousands of RMB,” Zhou Luo said. “And that wasn’t the end of it. One chef said his version was the best, another said theirs was the best, so we bought both to compare.”
After acquiring the recipes, Xibei began building factories to mass produce the dishes. “We manufactured a large number of products,” Zhou Luo said. “At the time, in the consumer-facing pre-prepared meal market, Jia Guolong Kung Fu Cuisine was among the most advanced.”
Despite high expectations, the ventures struggled. Fast food and casual dining concepts followed similar trajectories: ambitious launches followed by abrupt closures.
In total, the company spent more than RMB 1 billion (USD 140 million) on new ventures.
“One reason many projects failed is that the founder’s will is extremely strong,” Zhou Luo said. “Senior managers execute forcefully, and while Xibei may be a large company, sales cannot always support the costs when spending becomes excessive.”
<h3>The path ahead</h3>
Investors said some progress is visible: fewer side ventures, greater founder oversight, and a stated willingness to prioritize customer preferences. Yet doubts remain over whether Jia can fully recalibrate the company's strategy.
Some argue Xibei must lower prices. Others counter that, given its current margins, deeper price cuts could accelerate financial decline.
The challenge may not be competing on price alone, but delivering stronger value within an RMB 80–100 (USD 11.2–14.0) average ticket range.
If Xibei moves upmarket, it must rebuild consumer trust. If it moves downmarket, it must dismantle years of operational buildup around premium inputs.
“From zero to one, Xibei was built by energetic, capable people alongside Jia,” Zhou Luo said. Many of those early standouts have since moved on.
In 2022, an IPO by 2026 once seemed plausible. That ambition has faded.
Even if Xibei survives the current moment, Jia may first need to change himself.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3711330673242249">article</a> was written by Ren Cairu, Li Xiaoxia, and Xiao Sijia for 36Kr.

Can Jia Guolong save Xibei by stepping back?

Consumer Economy

Asian stocks were hit hard on March 9 as the US and Israel's war on Iran drove up oil prices and worries swirled over the economic fallout from the conflict amid signs tensions are broadening across the Middle East.
South Korea and Japan led falls in the region.
The KOSPI had dropped almost 9% at one point, triggering the Korea Exchange to issue a circuit breaker on trading, before ending the day down 6%. KOSPI heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics declined nearly 10% and 8%, respectively.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei Stock Average tumbled as much as 4,200 points, or 7.6%, to hit a two-month intraday low. The blue chip gauge trimmed some of its losses but ended the day down 2,892.12 points, or 5%, at 52,728.72. In terms of the absolute point drop, that marked the third biggest fall in the index's history. The broader Topix also declined close to 4%.
Both countries' stock markets were trading at historic highs before the Iran war erupted. Compared to their February all-time closing highs, South Korean equities have fallen 17% while Japan's are down 10%.
Other Asian stock markets were also under pressure. Vietnam's VN Index was down over 6% while Taiwan's TAIEX and the Philippines' PSEi were lower by around 5%. Australia's equity benchmark and Thailand's SET Index were down by around 3%, and India's BSE Sensex, Singapore's STI, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index were lower by about 2%.
The steep selloff came on the back of higher oil prices. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude breached USD 110 per barrel, touching its highest level since July 2022. The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, has also surged, with futures up nearly 20% to over USD 100 per barrel.
Energy prices are continuing to climb as the Iran conflict shows few signs of easing. Vital desalination plants in Iran and Bahrain have reportedly been attacked in what many analysts call a serious escalation that could have a major impact on civilian life and could make it even harder for the region to sustain oil and gas production on which the rest of the world depends.
Countries like South Korea and Japan, who heavily rely on energy imports, are likely to be significantly affected. Oil shipments from the Persian Gulf are currently suspended due to fears that tankers could come under attack from Iran, which occupies the entire northern coast of the key Strait of Hormuz.
In a report on March 5, Kpler's director of oil and tanker research, Andon Pavlov, pointed out that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz "represents one of the most significant crude oil supply disruptions in modern history" as roughly 16 million barrels per day of petroleum products have stopped flowing through.
"Asia faces a combined reduction in refining throughput of close to three [million barrels per day]" and countries with the highest exposure include South Korea, Thailand and India, he noted.
Japan also imports 95% of its oil from the Middle East, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia its two biggest suppliers.
In the Tokyo market, shares declined across the board, including electronics makers, retailers, tech stocks, and energy-related companies. The risk-off sentiment pushed investors to take profits on tech stocks, which have been enjoying a rally on the back of the <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence</a> boom.
Shares in oil company Idemitsu Kosan declined almost 3%. In a sign of the broadening repercussions of the war on the Japanese economy, Idemitsu has notified business partners that it may stop domestic ethylene production if the Strait of Hormuz blockage continues to prevent raw material imports. Without ethylene, plastics cannot be churned out, which in turn could hamper production of autos and electronic appliances.
Goldman Sachs strategists warned in a note that there is "the risk of a major correction in the Japanese equities market given the relatively benign market conditions since last April's Liberation Day-related volatility," referring to trade tariffs announced in early April by US President Donald Trump.
Since April 2025, Japanese equities have had no major correction, which is "extremely unusual in historical terms," the investment bank wrote in a note on March 9. "This changed last week however, and we think that these elevated levels of volatility could continue from here until the geopolitical situation in the region becomes clearer."
The Iran conflict is continuing to unnerve investors. Along with the intensifying attacks, Iran over the weekend chose Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the strikes. Mojtaba is known for having close ties to the country's hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
<a title="" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/markets/currencies/asian-currencies-weaken-as-iran-conflict-intensifies2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Currencies were also trading weaker</a> against the dollar on March 9 as investors rushed toward safe-haven assets like the greenback. The Japanese yen depreciated about 0.6% into the range of JPY 158 per USD 1. The Korean won has also fallen near the KRW 1,500 per USD 1 mark.
"Global markets are firmly in risk-off mode," according to Lloyd Chan, senior currency analyst at MUFG Global Markets Research in Singapore. "Net oil-importing economies in Asia are particularly exposed, with currencies and equity markets likely to face downward pressure."
"Based on net oil trade balances and dependence on Middle Eastern oil supply, Thailand, [South] Korea, and the Philippines appear especially vulnerable to oil price shocks and potential supply disruptions," he added.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/markets/asia-stocks-dive-as-crude-oil-spikes-on-iran-crisis">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.

Asia stocks dive as crude oil spikes on Iran crisis

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… needed specifically for AI server deployments. However, we estimate that a single Nvidia GB200 server rack requires around 120 NOR flash chips, roughly equivalent to the amount used in some 120 personal computers. That gives you a sense of the scale and the enormous appetite for memory driven by AI," Winbond's Chen said.
An executive with an optical module supplier serving Nvidia and Amazon Web Services said supply crunch concerns are growing. "Not just the large chips but also some small chips related to AI are in short supply, and we are very worried about it, as it will affect the smoothness of our shipment to end customers," the executive said. "Those small, overlooked chips and components not only are in constrained supply, but also much more expensive now."
Nanya Technology, the world's fifth-ranked DRAM memory chipmaker, said it would more than double its capital spending for 2026, after nearly three years of a severe market downturn.
President Lee Pei-Ing said there are supply gaps in almost every type of DRAM and in all types of markets.
"Some more urgent ones are from consumer electronics and automotive solutions," Lee said. "We see overall market demand as strong across every region worldwide, particularly from the US and China, as well as in Japan and South Korea."
Joseph Tung, CFO of ASE, said that demand currently far exceeds supply, creating a favorable pricing environment. He added that the company's leading-edge chip packaging business is expected to double in 2026, while its mainstream packaging segment, some of which supports chips used in building out the AI ecosystem, is also experiencing solid growth.
While many component makers in the AI space are racing to expand capacity, they also warn there is still some uncertainty.
Ping Cheng, chairman and CEO of Delta Electronics, the world's biggest maker of power supply solutions, said the company plans to spend more than TWD 46.1 billion (USD 1.5 billion) in 2026 capex, its highest level ever, and is scouting locations to build new plants.
Cheng said Delta always builds facilities two to three years in advance to prepare for visible future demand. "But in the past two years, the demand for AI came so sudden and ferocious that it occupied many of our prepared new capacities ahead of our plans. We have to look for locations now to build more plants for the 2028 demand and beyond," he said last week at an investors conference.
"The growing momentum for data center buildup is likely to continue this year, but the market is also moving very dynamically," he added. "The AI data center buildup could still face many challenges, and there's a shortage of construction crews as well as issues surrounding water and power supplies in many places. Those can all be issues that hinder the speed of massive construction."
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/technology/tech-asia/chip-price-hikes-spread-as-asia-s-chipmakers-plan-record-136bn-spending">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.

Chip price hikes spread as Asia's chipmakers plan record spending

Semiconductors