DIGITIMES: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

Chipmaking equipment spending could hit US$270 billion by 2030, Futurum says

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 08:59:33 GMT

Global wafer fab equipment (WFE) spending could reach about US$270 billion in 2030 as data center expansion drives demand for advanced logic, high-bandwidth memory (HBM), DRAM and advanced packaging capacity, according to Futurum Group.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics, LG Innotek vie in AI package substrates

Yunnie Cheng — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 08:41:32 GMT

At South Korea's recent KPCA Show 2026, Samsung Electro-Mechanics and LG Innotek showcased their next-generation package substrate technologies. As AI semiconductors evolve toward higher performance, increased density, and larger footprints, both companies are competing for dominance in this high-value-added advanced packaging market.

Memory makers gain the upper hand as Apple's iPhones pay the price

Sherri Wang — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 08:26:08 GMT

Apple has raised prices on both its new iPhone 18 Pro series and older models, including the iPhone 17, as rising memory costs push up component expenses.

Enflame enters public markets with Nvidia alternatives in its sights

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 08:17:30 GMT

Chinese AI chipmaker Enflame Technology made a striking debut on Shanghai's STAR Market on Friday, with its shares opening 188% above the IPO price after raising CNY6.12 billion (US$912 million). The listing gives the Tencent-backed company fresh capital to fund its next generations of AI processors and large-scale computing systems, while sharpening attention on China's effort to build alternatives to Nvidia.

Huawei stakes out the AI optics rulebook with 7.2Tbps NPO

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 08:15:00 GMT

Huawei Technologies has unveiled a 7.2-terabit-per-second near-packaged optics (NPO) module for AI data centres, coupling a high-bandwidth product launch with an effort to shape emerging optical-interconnect standards as AI clusters strain the limits of copper connectivity.

AUO, Innolux accelerate shift from displays to AI, CPO, advanced packaging

Willis Ke — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 08:09:11 GMT

Taiwan's panel makers posted mixed August results as the industry's strategic focus shifts beyond monthly revenue toward AI, advanced packaging and co-packaged optics (CPO). AUO and Innolux, the island's two largest panel makers, are accelerating capacity reductions and asset sales while redirecting capital and technology toward higher-growth businesses. For smaller and mid-sized players, however, the path beyond displays remains far less defined.

CPO startup Ayar Labs raises 2026 funding to US$650 million, adds Wiwynn as investor

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 07:52:50 GMT

Ayar Labs, a co-packaged optics (CPO) startup, has raised an additional US$150 million, bringing the primary capital it has raised so far in 2026 to US$650 million. The company says it will use the money to move its CPO products into high-volume manufacturing.

Innolux factory shift could reshape InnoCare's supply chain and growth mix

Jingyue Hsiao — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 07:14:00 GMT

InnoCare Optoelectronics is preparing for a major supply-chain adjustment as Innolux Corporation restructures its factories, with the parent company's second plant scheduled to close in September 2026. President Eric Lee said InnoCare has already built inventory, expanded outsourcing, and lined up a new production line to limit disruption, while also using the transition to strengthen its product mix and expand into semiconductor-related inspection work.

China's DRAM supply chain clears another materials hurdle

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 07:12:20 GMT

China's semiconductor localisation effort has reached another upstream materials milestone. Jiangsu Pacific Quartz Co. has secured qualification for high-purity quartz products at a domestic DRAM manufacturer capable of large-scale production.

CIOE: Hitachi relies on partnerships, not proprietary tech, to ride China's optical boom

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 06:40:07 GMT

At an optoelectronics trade expo in China, Hitachi High-Tech used its booth not to unveil a flagship product of its own, but to showcase a growing web of partnerships. This is a strategy the company says reflects both its late entry into the photonics race and its long-term goals in the region.

Samsung's Exynos gains ground as Galaxy S26 lifts share to 9%

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 06:18:45 GMT

Samsung Electronics is regaining ground in the global smartphone processor market, with its Exynos share rising to 9% in the second quarter of 2026 from 7% in the previous quarter as the Galaxy S26 brought Samsung's in-house chips back to its flagship lineup.

Taiwan govt boosts EDA R&D to target global gaps

Charlene Chen — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 06:04:00 GMT

Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) briefed Premier Jung-tai Cho on September 10, 2026, at an Executive Yuan meeting on the Chip-Driven, Taiwan-wide semiconductor core facility buildout and advanced chip design software development initiative, with the biggest focus on breakthroughs in Taiwan's next-generation electronic design automation (EDA) tools. Taiwan's academic and research community is targeting emerging EDA gaps that international giants have not yet fully developed or adequately supported, while building critical tools for heterogeneous integration, advanced packaging and system-level design.

CIOE 2026: Automotive optical-module demand could rival FTTx shipments by 2030

Sherri Wang — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 05:45:00 GMT

Automotive optical-module demand could approach the scale of the established FTTx market by around 2030 as increasingly data-intensive vehicles shift high-bandwidth connections from copper to fiber, according to Bai Qiang, deputy director for the automotive market at Xiamen UX IC Co. (UXIC).

China's energy storage capacity surges 50-fold in five years, sparking crackdown on lithium battery expansion

Scarlett Yu — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 05:40:00 GMT

China's energy storage industry has expanded at breakneck speed since the launch of the 14th Five-Year Plan, growing 50-fold in just five years. The government is now applying the brakes, as local government support has helped spawn large numbers of speculative "energy storage cockroaches"—companies that secure project rights without actually building the projects—causing planned capacity on paper to soar while actual construction lags far behind.

AI packaging turns to glass, with TGV metallisation persisting as key technical hurdle

Levi Li — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 05:35:00 GMT

Taiwan supply-chain sources said low-CTE glass fibre cloth used in high-end substrates remains tight, while glass-core substrates for next-generation packaging are still in technical validation and supply-chain development. Key challenges include material brittleness and inconsistencies in through-glass via (TGV) metallisation processing and reliability.

Apple cracks mmWave with C2, weakening Qualcomm's last big iPhone modem edge

Levi Li — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 05:20:16 GMT

Apple has introduced its new in-house C2 modem in the iPhone 18 Pro, and the US specifications list support for the n258, n260 and n261 mmWave bands, marking the first time Apple's C-series modem has crossed the mmWave threshold.

Micron brings forward record pay amid Taiwan strike threat

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 04:25:48 GMT

Micron has announced its FY26 pay package for more than 60,000 employees worldwide, the largest in the company's history. For the first time, every employee will receive merit-based stock awards, making the entire workforce shareholders.

Nvidia expands Australian AI factory push as global demand rises

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 04:21:43 GMT

Nvidia's latest partnerships in Australia could reshape where AI capacity is built and who can access it. The plan links power, data centers, and open models to local innovation, while also signaling a broader shift in how countries compete for compute, investment, and AI sovereignty worldwide.

Apple's new chip packaging boosts A20 Pro AI power, pushing MediaTek, Qualcomm to follow suit

Scarlett Yu — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 04:21:20 GMT

Apple has unveiled its latest iPhone 18 Pro and the A20 Pro, its first 2nm chip. According to Apple's official specifications, the A20 Pro features a six-core CPU, seven-core GPU, and two 16-core Neural Engines totaling 32 cores.

CIOE 2026: Smartphone camera market faces deeper slump as Apple draws attention in Shenzhen

Jingyue Hsiao — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 04:19:50 GMT

The smartphone camera market drew renewed attention at CIOE 2026 in Shenzhen, but the focus did not signal a broad recovery. For readers worldwide, the outlook matters because weak handset demand, higher component costs, and slower replacement cycles could continue to pressure suppliers across Asia, Europe, and North America.

SK Hynix raises cash portion of bonuses after 25-vote union rejection

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 03:59:13 GMT

SK Hynix has increased the cash portion of its profit-sharing bonus in a revised tentative wage agreement, after production workers rejected an earlier stock-heavy proposal by just 25 votes.

Huawei, Xiaomi, Apple take different bets on foldables

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 03:30:19 GMT

Competition in the foldable smartphone market is intensifying as Huawei, Xiaomi, and Apple roll out or prepare next-generation foldable phones, each taking a different design path. The three brands are battling over screen size, body thickness, battery life, chips, and AI features.

Global drone supply chain accelerates de-China shift, Taiwan wins

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 03:13:17 GMT

Foreign drone makers are increasingly turning to Taiwan as a hub for non-China drone supply chains, drawn by the island's component strengths and the global push to build alternative sourcing networks. US drone companies have stepped up their presence in Taiwan, while a Swiss drone maker is now considering relocating production there.

FCC closes a chip-level loophole while media debate another White House retreat

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 03:06:12 GMT

A rule published in the Federal Register on September 11 pushes US communications supply-chain restrictions past the finished device and into the parts inside it, exposing contract manufacturers, router vendors, and e-commerce platforms to a compliance test that begins 30 days after publication.

Taiwan tech minister in Europe to advance semiconductor cooperation

Rodney Chan — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 03:01:46 GMT

National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Cheng-Wen Wu visited the UK and Belgium in early September to advance Taiwan-Europe cooperation on advanced semiconductor packaging, silicon photonics (SiPh), and talent exchange, while also strengthening supply chain resilience. The trip included undisclosed government assignments as well as public events.

AI server tracker: Taiwan's rack supply chain reveals where the AI buildout is accelerating

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 02:55:21 GMT

The three Taiwanese supply chain categories closest to the physical AI rack — thermal, power supply, and rail kits — booked combined August revenue of NT$121.48 billion (US$3.86 billion), according to monthly filings with the Market Observation Post System (MOPS). The growth rates behind it diverge sharply: rail kits rose 191.2% from a year earlier, thermal 58.4%, and power supply 32.5%. The spread maps where rack-scale deployment is binding.

Anthropic disrupts Chinese AI firms' attempts to extract Claude capabilities

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 02:37:12 GMT

Anthropic has disrupted a series of operations in which Chinese AI companies allegedly used its Claude models to extract capabilities for their own AI systems, highlighting growing tensions over AI model distillation and data security.

Pentagon reportedly weighs US$5B loan to AI infrastructure startup Fluidstack

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 02:25:55 GMT

The US Pentagon is in talks to provide about US$5 billion in financing to AI cloud-computing startup Fluidstack, potentially making the government a major source of capital for the rapidly expanding AI infrastructure industry, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Jensen Huang bets Nvidia's next leg of growth on turning AI compute into an investable asset

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 02:16:18 GMT

Jensen Huang used a Goldman Sachs conference appearance to argue that the constraints on AI's build-out are expanding from silicon into finance, and that Nvidia's next unlock is getting its systems recognized as collateral rather than as depreciating equipment. "We're moving Nvidia Compute from technology to an investable asset," the founder and chief executive told the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, calling it "a huge untapped opportunity" that "at the moment, none of it is being valued."

Nvidia's US$13 billion Hugging Face deal bets physical AI can start at US$400, not US$40,000

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 01:58:08 GMT

Humanoid robotics has become one of the most visible fronts of the physical-AI race, but the industry's path to scale may depend as much on lowering the cost of experimentation as on making robots more intelligent.

Oracle's AI cloud build-out is now rewriting its cost structure

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 01:57:53 GMT

Oracle has passed the point where its artificial-intelligence infrastructure business is large enough to reshape the company's entire income statement. Revenue for the quarter ended August 31, 2026, rose 30% to US$19.3 billion, the company said on September 10, and every headline growth rate was strong. The more consequential shift sits one line lower, in what it now costs Oracle to deliver that revenue.

Oracle turns its AI build-out into a delivery number, the cost lands where management said it would

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 01:57:45 GMT

Oracle used its fiscal 2027 first-quarter earnings call to recast the question about its AI infrastructure business from whether demand exists to whether it can build fast enough, and to argue the numbers now answer it.

AI server tracker: Taiwan's August filings say demand is still accelerating

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 01:54:03 GMT

The clearest read yet on whether the AI build-out is still accelerating arrived this week in a batch of unaudited Taipei filings, and it accelerated. The 49 Taiwan-listed companies spanning AI server assembly, cooling, power, substrates, materials, networking, test, and optics reported combined August revenue of NT$2.84 trillion (US$89.74 billion), up 76.5% from a year earlier and 9.9% from July, according to their filings to the Market Observation Post System. Both the total and the growth rate are the highest of the cycle, and the year-on-year rate is a step up from July's 61.3%.

iPhone Duo leads Apple's new lineup as market stays split

Jingyue Hsiao — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 01:49:04 GMT

Apple's latest iPhone launch could reshape premium phone demand, but the bigger question is whether the company can answer growing AI competition. While the new foldable iPhone drew the most attention, investors and channel players are watching pricing, repair costs, and Apple's dependence on Google-backed AI more closely.

MediaTek August revenue beats expectations, boosts 3Q outlook

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 01:36:50 GMT

MediaTek reported August 2026 revenue of NT$64.183 billion (approx. US$2.03 billion), up 32.41% from July and 44.08% year-over-year. Industry sources said the chipmaker's August performance came in well above expectations and puts its third-quarter revenue guidance within reach, with a chance to beat it.

Apple's foldable arrives late to a supply chain already moving on

Levi Li — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 01:08:38 GMT

Apple has unveiled its first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, raising expectations that its entry will expand the foldable phone market and lift component prices. For Taiwanese suppliers, however, foldables are no longer the main growth focus.

Apple makes the hinge, not the screen, the centerpiece of its first foldable

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:31:15 GMT

Apple has built its first foldable around a component nobody sees. The iPhone Duo, unveiled 9 September and on sale from 23 October at a starting price of US$1,999, is defined less by its 7.6-inch inner display than by the mechanism underneath it — a hinge Apple says is engineered from more than 100 components, wrapped in a 3D-printed titanium cover, and designed to hold the panel flat rather than let it sag into the crease that has dogged the category since its first generation. That emphasis shifts the competitive contest in foldables to what has always been the manufacturing challenge: precision metal parts, not panel size.

Rayzher rides semiconductor fab buildout to record revenue

DIGITIMES — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 22:07:52 GMT

Rayzher Industrial, a high-tech factory gas supply system solutions provider, reported consolidated revenue of NT$369 million (approx. US$11.7 million) in August 2026, up 83.26% year-over-year and a record monthly high. Cumulative consolidated revenue for the first eight months of 2026 reached NT$1.993 billion, up 27.91% from the same period in 2025 and also a record for the period.

Taiwan startup taps CMOS infrared chips to give robots an electronic 'nose'

Scarlett Yu — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 22:07:25 GMT

Breaking from the industry's mainstream reliance on III-V compound semiconductors, Taiwanese startup Taiwan Nano & Micro-Photonics (N&M) is using complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes to develop a single chip capable of emitting more than four wavelengths of mid- to far-infrared light.

China's Shenzhen Kaifa plans CNY1.85 billion expansion for high-end memory packaging and testing

DIGITIMES — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 22:04:09 GMT

Chinese electronics manufacturer Shenzhen Kaifa Technology, also known as Shenzhen Kaifa or Kaifa, plans to invest CNY1.85 billion (about US$260 million) to expand high-end memory-chip packaging and testing capacity through its wholly owned subsidiary Payton Technology (Shenzhen), according to a company announcement.

d-Matrix brings Raptor chips to Nvidia racks as falling token prices pressure GPU economics

DIGITIMES — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 22:03:19 GMT

AI chip startup d-Matrix is adopting Nvidia's NVLink Fusion technology to bring its next-generation Raptor inference processors into Nvidia MGX racks, giving the company a path into an established data center ecosystem as it targets low-latency AI inference.

Samsung 2nm push gains momentum as Synopsys cuts NPU die area by 22%

DIGITIMES — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 22:02:31 GMT

Synopsys has reported a 22% reduction in die area for a neural processing unit (NPU) implemented with its Fusion Compiler design tool on Samsung Foundry's SF2P process, providing a concrete design-level result as Samsung seeks to turn its 2nm technology into more commercial foundry business.

ProLogium deepens partnership with Kyushu Electric Power through strategic investment

DIGITIMES — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 22:01:41 GMT

ProLogium said Kyushu Electric Power will make a strategic investment as its long-running collaboration expands from industrial cooperation into capital participation. The move signals growing confidence in next-generation battery technologies, with potential implications for energy security, manufacturing supply chains, and electrification efforts in global markets.

Global IC substrate market to surge 32% to US$19.5 billion in 2026 as Taiwan, Korea lead ABF, BT

Scarlett Yu — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:56:30 GMT

Rising demand for generative AI, high-performance computing (HPC), and data center buildouts is pushing the global IC substrate industry into a new phase marked by upgrades in high-end product specifications, tight supplies of critical materials, and intensifying competition in advanced packaging technologies.

Samsung, SK Hynix eye 2028 High-NA DRAM rollout

DIGITIMES — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:56:02 GMT

SK Hynix is targeting 2028 to apply High-NA extreme ultraviolet lithography to DRAM mass production and is considering joining an industry initiative to develop 12-inch photomasks, according to South Korea's fnnews. The company has separately confirmed both plans.

Academia Sinica to open 8-inch quantum chip platform in September 2026

Charlene Chen — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:53:44 GMT

Academia Sinica's Quantum Chip Fabrication Space (QC-Fab) in Tainan will open to external users at the end of September 2026, marking a new stage in Taiwan's in-house quantum chip development and manufacturing efforts. After the cleanroom was completed, the institute finished installing process equipment, connecting factory utility lines, testing equipment functions, and training operators.

Nuvoton sees robots driving MCU demand over next decade

Sherri Wang — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:53:23 GMT

Nuvoton Technology sees robots and other physical AI applications becoming an important source of demand for microcontrollers (MCUs) over the next decade as computing moves from the cloud into edge devices, smart factories, drones, and care applications.

Foxconn's global expansion signals a longer-term manufacturing shift

Jingyue Hsiao — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:52:17 GMT

Kathy Yang, chief campus operations officer at Foxconn, said the company began moving abroad more than a decade ago as production shifted toward lower-cost regions, and that its global footprint has since become a source of supply chain resilience. Speaking at an Empower Women For A Better World forum in Taiwan on September 9, she said the strategy was planned well before the pandemic, and geopolitical tensions accelerated industry change.

TPK, GIS post mixed August sales as 2H26 demand stays cautious

DIGITIMES — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:51:41 GMT

Touch panel makers TPK and General Interface Solution Holding reported diverging August revenue trends, but both remained cautious on consumer electronics demand in the second half of 2026. They expect touch and display demand to stay relatively soft.

Quantum computer development is more about national security than profits, says expert

Rodney Chan — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:51:24 GMT

Japanese electronics giant NEC stopped development of gate-based superconducting quantum computer hardware at the end of March 2026. According to Japanese media reports, NEC concluded that the commercialization timeline for a physical quantum computer was too long and that hardware investment would be unlikely to deliver commensurate returns. The decision also reportedly prompted quantum R&D researchers to join Fujitsu.

More memory won't fix AI's bottleneck, says Microsoft's Azure hardware chief

DIGITIMES — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:50:12 GMT

Microsoft's AI accelerator was never designed to compete with Nvidia. It was designed to run Microsoft's own inference workloads across its own fleet, and that scoping decision — made at the outset of the program — explains why the company has no intention of selling the part to anyone else.

ITRI to showcase 3.2T silicon photonics and AI data center cooling

DIGITIMES — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 12:29:00 GMT

Taiwan's 2026 Innovation Technology Expo will run from September 17 to 19 at Taipei World Trade Center Hall 1. The Ministry of Economic Affairs Industrial Development Administration said on the 10th that AI data centers need faster transmission and better cooling. The ministry said government-supported technologies from Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) will be featured at the event, including a silicon photonics optical engine and a 3D aluminum microchannel thermosyphon cooler.