South Korea has approved a seven-year national research program to support display technology development and provide companies with shared testing and commercialization facilities. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said the program will run from 2027 to 2033, with a total budget of KRW368.87 billion (US$272.15 million), including KRW278.9 billion in government funding.

Space-based data centers could open a new market for low-power AI chips, but moving computing workloads into orbit presents challenges involving radiation, cooling, and hardware reliability. South Korean AI chip developer Rebellions is calling for government support to help companies establish a track record in space, while researchers recommend adapting existing processors rather than developing new chips from scratch.

Sharp said it could begin delivering its new AI servers to customers as early as March 2027, leveraging parent company Foxconn's procurement and manufacturing capabilities to target Japan's growing AI server market.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix face uncertainty over demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) as US lawmakers press for tighter controls on AI chip exports to China following allegations involving Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

Zhu Yiming, chairman of ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), reportedly participated in Chinese AI startup DeepSeek's second funding round, drawing attention to his semiconductor investment network. Neither DeepSeek nor the reported investors have confirmed the claims, leaving the investment entity, amount, and shareholding structure unclear.

Mitsui Chemicals plans to acquire semiconductor materials maker JSR in a transaction valued at JPY1.84 trillion (approx. US$11.6 billion), including assumed debt, as it seeks to strengthen its position in the global semiconductor materials market and accelerate a broader business portfolio transformation.

A decade ago, China's Tsinghua Unigroup alarmed Taiwan's semiconductor industry with an aggressive acquisition campaign. Under then-chairman Zhao Weiguo, the group acquired Spreadtrum Communications and RDA Microelectronics, sought stakes in Powertech, SPIL and ChipMOS, and publicly expressed interest in integrating MediaTek. Its financial firepower and rapid expansion unsettled Taiwanese chipmakers.

Qisda’s board approved its third-quarter 2026 financial results, with consolidated revenue rising 8% quarter-over-quarter and operating margin holding above 17%. Net income attributable to the parent company also increased from a year earlier, while earnings per share for the first three quarters reached NT$0.92.

Y-S Electronic, a subsidiary of Sun Yad Group, reported consolidated revenue of NT$73.271 million (US$2.24 million) in October 2026, up 31.67% year-on-year. Revenue for the first 10 months reached NT$792.871 million, up 23.20% year-on-year and surpassing its full-year 2025 revenue of NT$782.351 million, highlighting continued momentum in its core businesses.

Global sales of electrified vehicles, including hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), are forecast to rise 11.9% to more than 36 million units in 2026, even as overall vehicle sales decline 1.4%, reflecting the accelerating shift toward electrification. Electrified vehicles are expected to account for more than 35% of global new-vehicle sales, while China's BYD is poised to enter the world's top five automakers for the first time, according to Richard Hsieh, senior research manager at the Industry, Science and Technology International Strategy Center of Taiwan's government-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) is expanding its investment in film and television content as competition in Taiwan's over-the-top (OTT) market intensifies. The Chunghwa Digital Cultural and Creative Fund (CDCCF), jointly backed by CHT, the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), and E.Sun Bank, began operations in 2026 and recently announced 10 new investments to broaden opportunities for Taiwan's film and television industry through funding, international co-production, and overseas partnerships.

Fino, a South Korean company backed by Chinese precursor producer CNGR Advanced Material, will raise about KRW183 billion (approximately US$130 million) through a cash capital increase to fund its lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode materials business. The move is widely viewed as another step to reduce Chinese ownership and comply with the US Prohibited Foreign Entity (PFE) rules.

Yankey Engineering’s order backlog reached a record NT$57.1 billion (US$1.74 billion) as of the end of September, with its subcontracting project for the second wafer fab in Kumamoto, Japan, expected to contribute revenue from 2027. The company said strong global AI infrastructure demand, advanced semiconductor processes, advanced packaging, and memory expansion drove its revenue and profit to record levels in the first three quarters of 2026.

Winbond Electronics chairman Arthur Chiao said memory prices and profits should not go any further at this stage, warning that a market in which memory thrives while other industries struggle is bad for consumers and the wider economy.

E Ink Holdings' board on November 6 approved buying land and factory buildings in Taoyuan's Guanyin Industrial Park from Chung Hwa Pulp for NT$2.78 billion (US$84.63 million) before tax, and signed off on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Taiflex Scientific to jointly target the market for AI high-speed transmission materials.