DIGITIMES news - Southeast Asia

Friday 2 October 2026

Taiwan pledges to help TSMC expand domestic investment amid Singapore rumors

Rumors that TSMC is weighing a new semiconductor investment in Singapore have reignited concerns over its overseas expansion, while the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said on October 2, 2026, that the government will help the chipmaker expand investment in Taiwan.

Life after Meta: Manus regains independence, debuting Manus 2.0 and 'Cue' AI agent

Friday 2 October 2026

Toshiba reportedly to double HDD production as AI drives storage demand

Friday 2 October 2026

Infineon opens new backend chip plant in Thailand, eyes growth to up to five modules

Thursday 1 October 2026

How a TSMC veteran is steering Singapore's lab-to-fab chip strategy

Thursday 1 October 2026

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Monday 5 October 2026

Exclusive: A*STAR IME's Yu-chieh Chien targets next-gen SiC through 8-inch R&D, reliability gains

Singapore is building a semiconductor R&D hub by attracting both multinational investment and overseas research talent. Dr Yu-chieh Chien, a Taiwanese scientist at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's Institute of Microelectronics (A*STAR IME), is one example.

Thursday 1 October 2026

SG Semiconductor builds brand and talent for Singapore chip industry

Singapore has launched the SG Semiconductor brand to strengthen its semiconductor profile and attract talent, aiming to create a globally recognizable industry identity beyond its existing R&D system. Yee-Chia Yeo, A*STAR vice president for innovation and enterprise, said the initiative is not just a website or information platform, but a way to connect Singapore's wafer manufacturing, equipment, materials, research institutes, and universities into a more visible ecosystem.

Wednesday 30 September 2026

ASE Technology buys Singapore factory for AI chip testing expansion

ASE Technology Holding's Singapore unit has approved the purchase of a factory in Yishun Industrial Park from Dutch LED maker Lumileds Singapore for about US$68.44 million, or about NT$2.152 billion. The site is intended to support future capacity expansion.

Wednesday 30 September 2026

VSMC bets on value over cost as Singapore fab builds next-generation R&D and IP capabilities

VisionPower Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (VSMC), the joint venture between Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) and NXP Semiconductors, opened its 12-inch wafer fab in Tampines, Singapore, on September 28.

Wednesday 30 September 2026

Broadcom-Toppan venture opens Singapore's first high-end FC-BGA substrate plant

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.

Wednesday 30 September 2026

GlobalFoundries Singapore capacity utilization tops 90% as silicon photonics expansion hits equipment lead-time bottleneck

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.

Wednesday 30 September 2026

Dat Bike challenges VinFast with simpler EV scooter strategy

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.

Wednesday 30 September 2026

Meta reaches agreements with Firmus on securing AI compute in Southeast Asia

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.

Tuesday 29 September 2026

In global semiconductor race, Singapore bets on critical, mature technologies

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.

Tuesday 29 September 2026

Advanced packaging shifts toward system integration as AI renews semiconductor talent appeal

At Singapore's Innovate Together 2026 conference on September 25, executives and researchers from A*STAR's Institute of Microelectronics (IME), KLA, ASM International, the National University of Singapore (NUS), the SHINE Centre, and ASMPT discussed how advanced packaging is evolving beyond conventional chip integration, with optical interconnects, panel-level packaging, and talent development emerging as key challenges.

Tuesday 29 September 2026

Beyond 16 layers: HBM stacks test advanced packaging equipment makers

At Singapore's Innovate Together 2026 conference on September 25, equipment makers including ASM, ASMPT, and KLA said the challenges facing next-generation advanced packaging are expanding beyond the performance of individual tools to hybrid bonding, interface materials, defect metrology, process control, optical interconnects, and panel-level packaging.

Tuesday 29 September 2026

VSMC Singapore fab fully booked as VIS weighs Fab 2

Capacity at VisionPower Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (VSMC) first 12-inch wafer fab in Singapore is fully booked as the joint venture between Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) and NXP Semiconductors begins a preliminary evaluation of a second fab.

Tuesday 29 September 2026

TSMC helps VSMC build first Singapore fab in 22 months at lower cost than US

VSMC, the joint venture between Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) and NXP Semiconductors, officially opened its first 12-inch wafer fab in Singapore on September 28, completing construction in just 22 months.

Tuesday 29 September 2026

Vanguard chairman says AI slowdown won't free up chip capacity

Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) and NXP Semiconductors' joint venture, VisionPower Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (VSMC), officially opened its 12-inch (300mm) wafer fab on September 28 in Tampines, Singapore. Vanguard and VSMC chairman Leuh Fang said the AI-driven crowding out of capacity has spread across the global semiconductor supply chain, leaving almost no company able to say it has sufficient capacity.

Friday 25 September 2026

Singapore brands its chip sector as it tries to move up from manufacturing

Singapore is deepening semiconductor R&D ties with Applied Materials, KLA, GlobalFoundries (GF) and other industry players across advanced packaging and silicon photonics, as the city-state builds on its manufacturing base to strengthen technology development, validation and commercialization.

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