tech rout in Asia and Wall Street

SoftBank Group plunged more than 12% on Friday, leading a broad selloff in Asian technology stocks, amid mounting concerns over the rising cost of artificial intelligence infrastructure. 

The Japanese conglomerate led losses across the region after the Nasdaq Composite fell for a fourth straight session overnight. The tech-heavy index dropped 0.46% as a 6% plunge in Apple overshadowed Micron‘s stronger-than-expected earnings. 

SoftBank Group could remain under pressure after its chip designer Arm Holdings fell 3.2% overnight, underperforming the broader semiconductor sector even as AI-related stocks rebounded sharply.

Andrew Jackson, an equity strategist at Ortus Advisors, said investor enthusiasm for SoftBank may also be capped by reports that OpenAI could delay its initial public offering until next year as it struggles to secure demand at a $1 trillion valuation.

Qualcomm‘s new AI data center chip deal with Meta is ultimately positive for Arm through royalty payments, Jackson added. However, Arm also faces growing competition as Qualcomm expands more aggressively into the central processing unit market.

The weakness also spilled into Asia’s semiconductor sector. South Korea’s SK Hynix fell more than 3%, while Samsung Electronics lost nearly 3%. Technology-focused investment holding company SK Square was down around 7%, while LG Electronics and Seoul Semiconductor also traded lower. 

Japan’s Advantest declined over 6%, while Tokyo Electron was similarly down more than 2%.

Overnight on Wall Street, Apple led declines after announcing price increases for its MacBook and iPad products, citing higher component costs, including chips.

This has fueled concerns that soaring semiconductor prices could eventually squeeze the margins of major technology companies.

Microsoft fell 3.5% after raising prices on Xbox consoles, while Alphabet and Meta Platforms also declined.