Samsung Ends Home Appliance Sales in China Amid AI Business Focus

South Korean technology firm Samsung Electronics has ceased sales of all home appliance products in mainland China. This strategic move follows dwindling market share amid intense competition from domestic rivals and an accelerating pivot towards more profitable semiconductor operations.

Credit: UNSPLASH

Samsung's home appliance portfolio in China included televisions, monitors, air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, vacuum cleaners, and air purifiers. The company stated on its official website that after-sales services would continue as normal, attributing the decision to rapidly changing market conditions.

Smartphone products will remain available for sale in China. However, the world's leading handset maker faces significant challenges competing with local rivals and Apple in the market, with its market share falling from nearly 20% in the early 2010s to less than 1% today, according to IDC data.

Samsung's withdrawal from the Chinese home appliance market aligns with a broader strategic shift towards its lucrative semiconductor business. The company has faced consistent pressure from lower-cost and increasingly sophisticated Chinese brands.

Earnings have soared recently amid the global artificial intelligence boom, which drives demand for memory products. Samsung reported revenues of 133.87 trillion won (US$92.3 billion) and an operating profit of 57.23 trillion won for the first quarter of 2026, exceeding its earnings for the whole of last year.

The firm’s share price in Seoul has increased 107% this year, with Samsung’s market capitalisation reaching a record high of 1,710.8 trillion won. Its memory business recorded quarterly sales of 74.8 trillion won, a 292% increase year on year.

This growth was driven by surging demand for high-performance memory products used in AI infrastructure. Continued increases in average selling prices also contributed, due to tight supply.

Samsung’s Device Solutions division, which encompasses its semiconductor operations including memory and foundry businesses, accounted for 61% of the company’s total revenue in the quarter. In contrast, its television and home appliance business generated 14.3 trillion won in revenue, representing approximately 11% of the group’s total sales.

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• Samsung Electronics has stopped selling home appliance products in mainland China.

• The decision is due to intense local competition and a strategic pivot towards its semiconductor business.

• Smartphone sales will continue in China despite a significant drop in market share.

Source: SCMP

OpenAI Unveils Real-Time Audio Models for Conversational AI

OpenAI is set to introduce three audio models for its developer platform on Thursday, May 7, 2026, which are designed to make voice-based software agents more conversational and capable of completing tasks in real time. The launch of the application programming interface (API) moves the ChatGPT-maker beyond transcription and chat, toward agents that can listen, translate, and act during live conversations.

Credit: OPENAI

These new models enable agents that can listen, translate, and act during live conversations. The models are GPT-Realtime-2, GPT-Realtime-Translate, and GPT-Realtime-Whisper.

OpenAI stated the models are available to test in its developer playground. GPT-Realtime-2 manages harder requests, calls tools, handles interruptions, and maintains context across longer voice sessions.

GPT-Realtime-Translate supports translation from more than 70 languages into 13 output languages. This model targets customer support, education, and other settings.

GPT-Realtime-Whisper provides live speech-to-text functionality. This allows captions, meeting notes, and workflow updates to be generated as a speaker talks.

Customers testing the models include online real estate marketplace Zillow, online travel agency Priceline, and European telecommunications firm Deutsche Telekom.

Pricing for GPT-Realtime-2 starts at USD 32 per million audio input tokens. GPT-Realtime-Translate costs USD 0.034 per minute, and GPT-Realtime-Whisper is USD 0.017 per minute.

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• OpenAI introduced three new audio models: GPT-Realtime-2, GPT-Realtime-Translate, and GPT-Realtime-Whisper.

• These models are designed to enable real-time, conversational voice-based software agents.

• Key functionalities include managing complex requests, translating over 70 languages, and live speech-to-text.

Source: REUTERS

TechTuber Builds Colossal PC Case, Housing Human 'Figurine

TechTuber Soda Baka constructed a colossal PC tower large enough for a human to work and play inside; the TechTuber posed within, making it appear as if a figurine was inside the RGB-lit structure. The build was influenced by Baka’s little cousin being barked at by his mom, 'You play computer games all day, why don’t you just live in a computer!' or something similar.

Credit: Soda Baka on Bilibili

Shared on Bilibili, the elaborate project also suggested a strategic video sponsorship deal for air conditioners, coinciding with warmer months in the Northern Hemisphere. The human-habitable PC tower project began with Baka sketching and modeling before construction of huge components like case fans, GPUs, AiO CPU coolers, and RAM sticks.

Baka incorporated splashes of RGB lighting and installed real-PC elements, including a compact desk where he was seen playing a game on a screen attached to the AiO. To simulate PC-scale heat, hot-coal sauna installations were used. Baka boosted heat and humidity with a bottle of water, and apparently, it didn’t take long for the enclosed room’s temperature to rise above 38 degrees Celsius.

With the colossal fans and coolers being non-functional, Baka activated an installed 12-kilowatt AC unit, which offered 820 cubic metres per hour air circulation to cool the "PC system." The atmosphere inside swiftly changed to become "like a spring evening in the North," of China, leading to the impression that the project might have been a promotional video for a Midea 3rd Gen Pro AC unit.

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• TechTuber Soda Baka built a human-sized PC tower.

• The project allowed Baka to work and play inside the RGB-lit case.

• Internal temperatures rose above 38 degrees Celsius, requiring a 12-kilowatt AC unit.

Source: TOMS HARDWARE