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Friday 18 September 2026
Analysis: China's 15th five-year plan spotlights diamond for AI chip thermal management
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) have highlighted ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductor materials, including gallium oxide (Ga₂O₃) and synthetic diamond, in their draft development plan for the electronic information manufacturing sector.
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Monday 21 September 2026
China sets first national perovskite solar testing standard

China has introduced its first national standard for perovskite photovoltaics, a move that could improve how solar performance is measured and compared worldwide. The new rules are likely to support industry transparency, help investors assess progress more accurately, and speed commercialization by reducing inconsistencies in testing data across markets.

Monday 21 September 2026
Acer taps local health data to build sovereign healthcare AI

Acer Medical said Taiwan's and South Korea's long-standing health insurance and medical records could underpin a new wave of sovereign healthcare AI as the company moves beyond image recognition into generative AI and AI agents. The company highlighted uses in remote care, motion analysis, and preventive medicine at a Next AI event in Wonju, South Korea.

Monday 21 September 2026
DB HiTek gains pricing power as 8-inch supply tightens

South Korea's DB HiTek is gaining pricing power as tightening 8-inch foundry supply, high utilization, and stronger demand for power-management chips improve conditions across mature-node manufacturing.

Monday 21 September 2026
China monitor market splits as commercial demand holds up, premium displays gain ground

China's PC monitor market is entering a period of sharper structural divergence, with commercial demand offsetting part of a weakening consumer segment while rising component costs push manufacturers toward higher-value products.

Monday 21 September 2026
CXMT closes in on DRAM leaders with G5 process breakthrough

China's CXMT has begun mass production of its fifth-generation DRAM platform, or G5, claiming process capabilities comparable with the industry's most advanced mass-production nodes and bringing higher-density LPDDR5X into volume production.

Monday 21 September 2026
Weekly news roundup: AI boom strains chips; Google's TPUs pay off, China eyes 3nm without EUV
This week's reports centered on intensifying competition and bottlenecks across the semiconductor and AI supply chains, from Sandisk's unusual engineering push in Korea and Google's TPU-driven ASIC demand to equipment shortages and packaging debates that could slow capacity expansion. Taiwan's Physical AI discussions emphasized system integration over components, while China's semiconductor researchers outlined a DUV-based sub-3nm GAA path. Beijing also moved to restrict civilian drones starting in November sharply. Below are the most-read DIGITIMES stories from September 14 to September 20, 2026
Monday 21 September 2026
Samsung reportedly cuts QD TV output 80% as Neo QLED phaseout looms

Samsung Electronics will reportedly slash quantum-dot (QD) LCD TV production in 2026 to 2 million to 3 million units, down as much as 80% year-over-year, while it also plans to gradually scale back Neo QLED output and potentially stop production as early as 2028. The move shifts the company's LCD TV focus toward Mini LED models without QD.

Monday 21 September 2026
CHT completes 4th Taiwan-Matsu subsea cable, boosting offshore resilience

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) announced on September 18 that the nearly 300km-long Taiwan-Matsu submarine cable has been completed, landed, tested, and has officially been added to the Taiwan-Matsu external communications network. The project strengthens communications resilience for the outlying Matsu Islands by adding a third route with redundant backup and improving service stability for residents and public services.

Monday 21 September 2026
ACM Research's Shanghai unit leans on overseas installs, panel-level plating for its next leg of growth

ACM Research Shanghai is staking its growth case on two developments: planned tool installations at customers outside mainland China and orders for panel-level advanced packaging equipment, according to Star Market Daily, Securities Times, and East Money.

Monday 21 September 2026
India roundup: Semicon India 2026 puts commercial production and supplier investment in focus
India's semiconductor push is moving from policy to production, with new government funding, supplier investments, rising deal activity and expanding equipment, materials, testing and manufacturing capacity across the ecosystem nationwide.
Sunday 20 September 2026
AI capacity crunch drives up consumer tech costs, deepening China's deflation
Surging AI server demand is reshaping consumer electronics. Memory costs have risen sharply this year, prompting Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi and Apple to raise prices on some smartphones. A senior Chinese technology industry source said the increase reflects memory suppliers prioritising capacity and investment for AI products rather than stronger handset demand, which is squeezing smartphone memory supply.
Sunday 20 September 2026
Foxconn joins Quantron, Hongjing Drive in zero-emission commercial vehicle partnership

German commercial vehicle company Quantron and China's Hongjing Drive have formally agreed to establish a joint venture, Quantron China, to develop a China-Europe technology and industrial platform for next-generation zero-emission commercial vehicles. Foxconn will serve as the industrial manufacturing partner for truck and bus platforms, supporting their international deployment.

Saturday 19 September 2026
MediaTek, Vivo bring 30B MoE models on-device in next AI phone race

MediaTek's new Dimensity 9600 Pro puts agentic AI at the center of its flagship smartphone strategy, supporting on-device mixture-of-experts (MoE) models with up to 30 billion parameters. Vivo, among the first Chinese handset makers to adopt the platform, has followed with an expanded AI software stack spanning BlueLM, BlueLM Copilot, and a system-level BlueLM Harness.

Saturday 19 September 2026
Thailand plans to swap EV subsidies for import taxes to defend its production base

Thailand is preparing to abandon the subsidy-led policy that made it Southeast Asia's fastest-growing electric vehicle market, replacing it with a tax structure built to penalize carmakers that import rather than build. Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said the excise tax on fully imported EVs could rise to around 30%, from 10% today — the first time the government has attached a number to the levy.

Saturday 19 September 2026
Beyond Volkswagen, XPeng seeks to turn automotive R&D into a global tech enterprise
It has become increasingly evident that one of the factors undermining China's unparalleled competence in the global EV industry is manufacturing scale. But the continued development of proprietary technologies in the automotive sector has strengthened their differentiation within a highly competitive landscape.