India has barred semiconductor projects approved under its Semicon 2.0 program from selling, disposing of, or mortgaging project assets until commercial production of the entire project is declared, according to guidelines issued on September 17, 2026. The rules attach lock-in conditions on assets, operations, and ownership to the INR1.27 trillion (US$13.22 billion) incentive scheme.

US rare-earth magnet startup Vulcan Elements has reportedly won a supply contract for the US Army's SkyFoundry drone program, underscoring Washington's push to localize drone production and reduce reliance on China's rare-earth supply chain. Vulcan will produce high-performance neodymium-iron-boron magnets for the brushless DC motors used in small drones.

TDK and Taiyo Yuden have signed a memorandum of understanding to begin discussions on a business alliance to develop electronic components, including MLCCs and inductors jointly, the two Japanese companies announced on September 29, 2026. The talks will also cover cooperation in manufacturing and procurement, and the companies will consider a future capital alliance.

Taiwan-based chemical manufacturer Grand Pacific Petrochemical (GPPC) is optimizing its core business while actively expanding into high-tech and semiconductor materials-related industries, amid high oil prices and the reshaping of global trade flows. Company president Chia-hsiung Tseng stated that its strategic partnership with Japan-based industrial gas company Air Water (AWI) is a key move to connect GPPC to the semiconductor materials supply chain.

Advanced Substrate Technologies (AST), a joint venture between Japan's Toppan Holdings and Broadcom, officially opened a manufacturing facility in Singapore on September 29, 2026, the first in the country capable of producing high-end flip chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) substrates. The approximately 95,000-square-meter plant in the Jurong Lake District is the Toppan Group's first such facility outside Japan and is targeting the start of high-value manufacturing by late 2026, the companies said.

GlobalFoundries (GF) is expanding its Singapore footprint following its acquisition of local silicon photonics foundry Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF), integrating 200mm and 300mm silicon photonics technologies while transferring its existing US 300mm capabilities to Singapore.

Energy, AI robotics, and autonomous vehicle maker Tesla is reportedly replicating its electric vehicle (EV) playbook by turning to Chinese manufacturing to support the supply chain ramp-up for its Optimus humanoid robot. In addition to conducting factory audits at three auto parts manufacturers in East China, a Tesla delegation also inspected related suppliers in cities such as Hangzhou and Shanghai.

China's push into 3D DRAM is moving from early-stage research into wafer processes and equipment, with efforts spanning the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMECAS), the Beijing Superstring Memory Research Institute (SAMT), CXMT, and equipment maker NAURA Technology Group. The coordinated advance highlights both the momentum behind 3D DRAM and the technical hurdles still blocking mass production.

Vietnamese electric scooter brand Dat Bike has launched its family-oriented ERA model with a starting price of VND29.9 million (US$1,151.22), pairing it with a self-developed "integrated charger" that builds the charger directly into the vehicle's power system. The launch comes as Vietnam's electric two-wheeler market accelerates and Dat Bike sets its sights on market leader VinFast.

Meta reached several agreements to source AI compute capacity from Firmus, an Australian neocloud, which will lease GPU compute capacity at its AI factories in Southeast Asia. The deal is said to support Meta's AI expansion across the Asia-Pacific region, while Firmus notches another order from a major customer in the run-up to a potential public listing.

The US-China trade truce was extended after last week's Trump-Xi summit, but China's dominance of rare-earth supply chains remains a key pressure point as Washington tries to stabilize economic ties while reducing its dependence on Chinese critical minerals.

Saimemory, a SoftBank subsidiary, has brought Shinko Electric Industries into its effort to commercialize Z-Angle Memory (ZAM), adding packaging-substrate, high-density integration and manufacturing expertise to a next-generation memory project that already includes Intel and Japan's RIKEN.

Amid the ongoing restructuring of the global semiconductor supply chain, Singapore is focusing on advanced packaging, heterogeneous integration, silicon photonics, and optical interconnects, aiming to leverage nearly six decades' worth of manufacturing and supply chain expertise. In contrast with industry players in Taiwan, South Korea, and the US, who have continued to pour resources into 2nm and 1.4nm advanced processes, Singapore's semiconductor firms see no need to replicate Taiwan's foundry model. Instead, they aim to harness Singapore's existing strengths in mature and specialty processes, assembly and testing, equipment, materials, and multinational R&D clusters to secure their foothold in the supply chain for next-gen semiconductors.

Samsung Electronics is reshaping its next-generation dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) roadmap, elevating its B1b wafer-to-wafer (W2W) hybrid bonding technology from a project-specific development to the core technology behind D0a, its first sub-10nm DRAM generation. Industry observers believe Samsung's push to commercialize B1b DRAM earlier could also benefit its next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) products, including HBM5.