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Jun 26
Qualcomm HBC takes aim at HBM costs in AI data centers

Qualcomm has unveiled its latest AI data center platform, Dragonfly, at its annual investor day, highlighting a new technology it calls High Bandwidth Compute, or HBC, as a key weapon in its challenge to Nvidia, AMD and AI chip startups.

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued a request for information (RFI) on June 18 seeking concepts for "low-resource computing" that can operate with almost no electricity, minimal memory, and continued function despite hardware damage. The RFI invited input from academic institutions, companies, and individual inventors and set a July 17 deadline for replies; DARPA said it will follow up with an invitation-only workshop in August in Hanover, New Hampshire, to review promising proposals.
As physical AI enters a pivotal growth phase in 2026, deployment of robotic systems is rapidly accelerating across the industry. Beyond established applications such as inspection, healthcare, and service robots, humanoid robots are emerging as a major demand driver. As AI moves toward practical deployment, demand for robot vision modules is expected to rise sharply, with volume production set to accelerate.
Taiwan's smartphone market saw shipments expand in May as Mother's Day buying and demand for AI-enabled premium models offset rising upstream component costs, industry participants said. Total shipments reached nearly 430,000 units in May 2026, up about 7% from 402,000 in April, while cumulative shipments for January through May hit 2.12 million units, a 2.7% increase year over year, according to handset channel players.
Global revenue for the semiconductor industry's "Foundry 2.0" market reached US$86 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 23% year-over-year, driven by strong demand for AI accelerators and advanced packaging, according to Counterpoint Research.

Chinese 3D vision sensor maker Orbbec is expanding its global manufacturing network with a new production base in Vietnam, as robotics suppliers increase overseas capacity to strengthen supply chain resilience and serve international customers.

China has imposed new export control measures on 40 Japanese entities, placing 20 organizations on its export control list and another 20 on a separate watchlist, citing national security concerns and the need to strengthen oversight of exports of dual-use items.

Wistron is stepping up factory spending in the US, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia to meet rising demand for AI servers. The expansion signals how global supply chains are shifting to support faster deployment of AI hardware, with California emerging as a key hub for its customers globally.

Below are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories from the week of June 22-28, 2026:

With growing demand for AI server cooling and power management solutions, power semiconductor design company Potens reported that revenue from its server-related business has risen from 4.5% of total revenue in 2025 to 13.5%, a significant jump that reflects strong momentum in the segment. The company also remains optimistic about continued expansion in the AI, automotive, and motor control markets. Order transfers from Western manufacturers seeking to reduce reliance on China are also materializing.

Malaysia's southern state of Johor could see data centers account for about 40% of its electricity demand by 2035, highlighting mounting pressure on power infrastructure as the region emerges as one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing digital infrastructure hubs, according to a report by energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Taiwan's Hsinchu Science Park is still attracting semiconductor service companies even as major foundries run short of land, underscoring the park's role in a global supply chain centered on advanced chips. New approvals for testing, materials, and equipment research point to rising demand for services that support production at below 2nm nodes.