Japan's three major power semiconductor makers — Rohm Semiconductor, Toshiba, and Mitsubishi Electric — have failed to complete integration talks on the original schedule, as leadership disputes and a surge in AI demand slow the effort to boost the competitiveness of Japanese manufacturers.
SK Hynix has reiterated that no decision has been made on a potential US initial public offering (IPO) or other external financing for its Solidigm subsidiary, as the company weighs investment needs driven by growing demand for AI data center storage.
Toshiba plans to double production capacity for hard disk drives (HDDs) used in AI data centers by fiscal 2027, investing about JPY60 billion (US$379.4 million) to expand its Philippine operations, according to Nikkei Asia. The expansion will mark Toshiba's first major HDD investment in roughly five years and is intended to strengthen supplies as AI workloads drive demand for high-capacity storage.
CTBC Bank and GMI Cloud on October 1 announced the closing of an NT$14.05 billion (about US$445 million) syndicated credit facility to fund Taiwan's first AI factory. The deal is the first in Taiwan to fully back GPU financing with a commercial banking syndicate.
Swancor Holding subsidiary Swancor Regener is jointly exhibiting with Aeraxa Aerospace Technology at the Taichung AI and Smart Manufacturing Show in Taichung, Taiwan, showcasing products and technologies including recycled raw materials, drone structural components, and smart flight-control core modules.
The aggressive rollout of large-scale infrastructure projects has brought increasingly visible changes across global economies and major technology supply chains, with much of that transformation now unfolding under the expanding influence of AI.
Huawei has regained momentum across its consumer device business, but its position in the global wearables market is becoming increasingly uneven: the Chinese technology giant has taken the global smartwatch crown, while its wireless earbuds remain a more distant fourth behind Apple, Xiaomi, and Samsung Electronics.
Taiwan energy management startup NextDrive said that it has secured the No. 1 market share in Japan's home energy management system (HEMS) segment and has received key support from the Tokyo Stock Exchange for three straight years, adding momentum to its Japan IPO plans.
Champ-Ray Industrial is stepping up efforts to expand in Japan's drone market, using a recent sponsorship tie-in with the Oita Trinita professional football team in Japan's J2 League to open deeper exchanges with the Oita Prefectural Government and local drone operators. The DC motor and ceiling fan maker said it is mapping local drone industry needs and evaluating whether to submit samples for testing as it moves toward practical cooperation.
General Motors (GM) has started trial runs at a new battery cell line in Warren, Michigan, moving into the validation stage of its next-generation mass production plan. The line at the Battery Cell Development Center (BCDC) is being built with main process equipment sourced from South Korean suppliers.
Topco Scientific said its Japanese subsidiary, Shunkawa, officially opened its Fukuoka office on October 1, making it the company’s third base in Japan alongside its Tokyo headquarters and Kumamoto office. The move is designed to leverage Fukuoka’s location and industrial clustering to strengthen real-time technical support and new business development in Kyushu’s semiconductor hub.
Taiwan is moving to align its Green Mark ecolabel with international certification systems in an effort to reduce green trade barriers and shorten time to market for electronics products.
As smart glasses draw growing market attention, Chinese suppliers including BOE, SeeYA Technology and Sidtek are expanding Micro OLED production. Display industry sources caution, however, that demand for the panels remains uncertain and that capacity coming online ahead of proven demand could leave the market oversupplied.
Infineon Technologies officially inaugurated a new backend manufacturing site in Samut Prakan, south of Bangkok, on October 1, expanding the German chipmaker's production network in Southeast Asia starting with an initial investment of over EUR100 million (US$113.1 million).
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) held its 11th Automation Industry-Academia Project Results Presentation on September 30, unveiling 12 technology projects developed with six Taiwanese universities as it works to advance smart outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) and digital manufacturing. The projects were designed to support semiconductor factory efficiency, quality control, resilience, and climate adaptation.
