As artificial intelligence (AI) technology advances, the robotics market is maturing rapidly. South Korean electronic component makers are reportedly viewing robots as their next growth engine. According to ChosunBiz, major South Korean component manufacturers now consider parts for humanoid robots among key mid-to-long-term growth drivers.

Seagate Technology posted record revenue, profit, and total storage capacity shipped in the second quarter of fiscal year 2026 (2QFY26, ended January 2), fueled by strong AI-driven data center demand, with its nearline storage capacity for 2026 fully booked.

The surge in AI demand is driving massive memory consumption, pushing the memory industry into a bullish phase. Market consensus expects tight memory supply and demand conditions to ease only by 2028. This shift is impacting industrial PC (IPC) manufacturers not just through short-term inventory fluctuations but evolving into mid- to long-term structural changes. IPC players are now comprehensively adjusting pricing mechanisms, product platforms, and procurement strategies to adapt to this new environment.

The Japanese government has agreed to become the first international partner in a US-led initiative accelerating scientific research through AI. According to media outlets including Nikkei and The Register, on January 27, 2026, Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) announced its formal participation in the Trump administration's Genesis Mission program.

After preparing for half a year, China-based smartphone maker Vivo has reportedly decided to terminate its AI glasses project. Its exit was not due to a lack of technical capability, but rather the identification of three fundamental challenges facing the smart glasses market.

I describe the close integration of Taiwan's semiconductor and electronics industries as the spillover of chip economic value. In earlier phases of the industry, economic value creation in electronic systems was highly concentrated at the chip level. Advancing process nodes alone was sufficient to capture most of the value. That model no longer holds. Today, improvements in manufacturing technology must propagate beyond wafer fabrication to packaging, testing, and ultimately system-level integration to translate into tradable economic value.

Global technology companies, including Google, are increasingly shifting new product introduction (NPI) stages away from China to reduce geopolitical risks, with recent reports indicating Google has begun relocating NPI for its premium smartphones to Vietnam. Industry insiders note initial progress but emphasize significant structural hurdles in this complex transition.

Taiwan's leading NAND controller and storage solution provider, Phison Electronics Corp., recently announced that its enterprise SSD brand Pascari has partnered with US space data company Lonestar Data Holdings on the award-winning Freedom Mission, a milestone project highlighting the rising strategic importance of secure and resilient data storage in the AI era.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on X that the AI5 chip design is "almost done and AI6 is in early stages," with AI7, AI8, and AI9 "aiming for a 9-month design cycle." Musk stated that the AI5 chip achieves performance comparable to Nvidia's Hopper with a single SoC configuration, and with a dual-SoC configuration, it rivals Nvidia's Blackwell, while maintaining lower cost and pricing. He said that the AI5's development faced challenges, with Musk himself working consecutive weekends for months with minimal days off.

Mouser Electronics, a global authorized distributor of electronic components and industrial automation products, added 63 new manufacturers to its line card in 2025, further increasing the range of components available to design engineers and purchasing professionals. The distributor also introduced more than 40,000 new part numbers over the year.

Corning and Meta Platforms have agreed to a multiyear deal valued at up to US$6 billion to supply optical fiber, cable, and connectivity solutions for Meta's US data center expansion. The agreement aims to support Meta's applications, technologies, and AI infrastructure needs.