MetaX posted its first half-year profit since listing, with rising GPU shipments and the mass production of its C600 accelerator strengthening its commercial position while China's domestic AI chip sector increasingly splits between profitable vendors and peers still absorbing heavy R&D costs.

On August 26, the Shanghai municipal government released its 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Strategic Emerging Industries, setting a target for added value in strategic emerging industries to reach CNY2.1 trillion (approx. US$312.5 billion) by 2030. The plan puts ICs, biopharmaceuticals, and artificial intelligence (AI) at the center of the city's industrial strategy, while shifting policy focus from expansion to higher-value areas such as advanced chips, advanced packaging, industrial software, and critical materials.

Co-packaged optics (CPO) is emerging as a critical next-generation technology for AI infrastructure, but unless South Korea strengthens its integration and validation capabilities, it risks being left with component-level capabilities while overseas players retain control of platforms and higher-value parts of the ecosystem.

China's CXMT has begun mass production of its LPDDR6 memory and will supply the first batch to Xiaomi's upcoming 18 Fold flagship, marking what the company says is the first commercial deployment of LPDDR6 worldwide.

The 2026 Global Automotive and Technology Expo (GATE 2026) closed on August 28 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) in Kuala Lumpur. It highlighted Malaysia's contradictory but pragmatic stance toward China in the auto sector. Over the three-day event, the main story for ASEAN's auto industry was not a new car or new technology. It was Malaysia's balancing act around the "China factor."

A Chinese autonomous driving vendor is set to take a commercial position in a market whose own robotaxi industry has yet to clear the hurdle to commercialization. Pony.ai and South Korea's FutureLink signed a strategic cooperation agreement on August 28 at the Conrad Seoul in Yeouido to introduce 200 seventh-generation robotaxis, targeting fully driverless operation in Seoul by 2028, The Asia Business Daily reported. Pony.ai co-founder and chief executive James Peng attended the signing alongside FutureLink chairman Nam Kyung-pil and chief executive Cha Doo-won, according to SBS.

Seven Chinese silicon wafer producers reported first-half 2026 results in the second half of August, indicating an uneven sector recovery. Several semiconductor-grade wafer makers swung from losses to reported profits, though how much of that improvement came from core operations rather than one-off items varies widely by company. The two solar-wafer producers in the group, meanwhile, remain far deeper in the red amid a separate, unrelated downturn.

India's semiconductor ambitions are expanding from packaging and testing to chip design, materials, mobile devices and data centers. New investments by CG Power, Infineon, Foxconn, Samsung and LG highlight rising industrial activity, while skills shortages, environmental constraints and import dependence remain challenges. Government incentives increasingly seek deeper domestic capabilities and higher value creation.

Can Xiaomi's in-house chip reach 2nm? Is HBM rerouting to Malaysia TSMC giving Intel a pass? Can Nvidia hold a 75% gross margin or protect market share? Ahead of Apple's September 10 event, the pre-event technology lull was anything but quiet, and DIGITIMES analyst Luke Lin broke down three stories and the industry logic behind them.

Server rail maker Repon began shipping Nvidia's Vera Rubin rack products in August 2026, with ASIC server rack rails set for mass production in September. The higher average selling price of Vera Rubin rack rails, along with a growing number of end customers, is expected to lift the company's second-half performance.

MCE Holdings Berhad (MCE) is expanding its product lines and capacity as Chinese competitors intensify pressure on Malaysia's auto parts industry, with the company aiming to defend its position as a leading local supplier.

Taiwan's Legislative Yuan on August 27 passed amendments to parts of the Industrial Innovation Act, extending the startup eligibility period from under 5 years to under 8 years and raising the tax deferral cap on employee stock compensation from NT$5 million to NT$10 million. The changes, aimed at strengthening corporate talent retention and recruitment amid global competition, will take effect from January 1, 2027.

Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corporation (SSFC) is taking a cautiously optimistic view of operations in the second half of 2026. Despite geopolitical volatility and disruption to Middle East oil supply keeping international crude prices elevated in the short term, the company said its business should gain support from the US market's relative tariff advantage, gradual ramp-up of new higher-value products, recycled materials, AI applications, and the group's diversified investments.