DIGITIMES: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

Rapidus adds Malaysian chip designers to its semiconductor network

Jingyue Hsiao — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:52:31 GMT

Japan's Rapidus is widening its semiconductor push with help from four Malaysian IC design firms, a move that could strengthen chip-development support for customers worldwide. The partnership underlines how Malaysia is emerging as a key design hub, linking Japanese ambitions with global supply-chain and AI-chip demand.

Marvell raises 2028 revenue outlook to US$20 billion as AI connectivity expands

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:51:44 GMT

Marvell Technology is betting that the next phase of AI infrastructure growth will require substantially more networking and optical connectivity, raising its fiscal 2028 revenue outlook to approximately US$20 billion and setting a fiscal 2031 target of US$70 billion to US$90 billion. The company's strategy centers on extending existing hyperscaler relationships across switches, optics, and custom chips surrounding AI processors.

Seagate, Toshiba reportedly compete for TDK's HDD head unit, a key AI storage link

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:50:06 GMT

Seagate Technology and Toshiba are reportedly competing to acquire TDK's hard-disk-drive magnetic-head business, a deal that could reshape one of the most concentrated supply chains in AI data-center storage.

Robots still can't build Nvidia's AI servers as well as people can

Lily Hess — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:45:26 GMT

AI server supply chains are accelerating their shift toward regional manufacturing. However, the labor access, wage costs, and capacity expansion constraints of US manufacturing are forcing manufacturers to raise automation levels to balance delivery speed and production efficiency. That has pushed Foxconn and Nvidia to jointly invest in precision assembly automation research, with an eye toward reducing manual handling.

BOE chairman expected to meet Samsung executive as LCD panel prices rise

Jingyue Hsiao — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:45:06 GMT

Chinese display makers have raised LCD panel prices as global TV makers head into the holiday season, raising costs for TV makers worldwide. BOE chairman Yanshun Chen is expected to visit South Korea in October 2026 and meet Samsung Electronics president Tae-moon Roh, with supply volumes and pricing set to dominate talks.

iPhone Duo shines on GIS September revenue; 4Q26 set to challenge full-year high

Yunnie Cheng — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:44:56 GMT

Touch panel maker General Interface Solution (GIS) saw its business rebound in the second half of the year. September consolidated revenue reached NT$6.164 billion (approx. US$194 million), up 46.38% month-over-month and 30.83% year-over-year. As shipments of a major customer's new foldable smartphone ramp up in the fourth quarter, GIS is set to gain further growth momentum in both revenue and shipments. Market analysts expect quarterly revenue to potentially reach a full-year high, surpassing the NT$16.08 billion (US$506.1 million) scale recorded in 1Q26.

Hua Yang, Zeiss launch COSMA-M for chip metrology

Lily Hess — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:44:08 GMT

Hua Yang Precision Machinery has teamed up with Zeiss to launch COSMA-M, a high-precision measurement system aimed at the semiconductor metrology market as demand surges from AI, high-performance computing (HPC), and advanced packaging.

Kingston retains 62% memory module share as B2B AI demand surges

Yunnie Cheng — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:43:54 GMT

Memory module maker Kingston Technology announced that, according to TrendForce's revenue rankings, it held a 62% share of the global third-party dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) module market in 2025, retaining the top spot for the 23rd consecutive year. The company noted that enterprise, data center, and industrial clients are showing an increasing need for stable supply, product reliability, and long-term technical support, making B2B operations a primary growth engine.

Repon revenue slips in September as Vera Rubin, ASIC slide rail shipments ramp up

Sherri Wang — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:42:51 GMT

The AI server supply chain is poised for a stronger quarter as Nvidia's Vera Rubin and AWS's Trainium 3 gradually ramp up, with momentum expected to strengthen across the supply chain from ODMs to component suppliers.

Chunghwa Telecom, New Taipei fire department launch drone-based medical supply transport pilot program

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:42:28 GMT

Chunghwa Telecom's New Taipei operations division and the New Taipei City Fire Department signed a memorandum of understanding on October 6 to promote drone-based emergency blood transport. The pilot will use New Taipei's north coast and mountain routes as a testbed for an air logistics system aimed at improving emergency medical supply delivery in remote areas.

Column: Robots have learned to move. They haven't learned to think

Charlene Chen — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:41:59 GMT

At IROS 2026, one of the world's top robotics conferences, held in Pittsburgh at the end of September, a robot startup's booth featured a dual-arm robot catching, in midair, sticks dropped at random from above. The demonstration is one of many this year showing robots dancing, doing parkour, and even running half marathons—but the real question is what those performances actually prove about physical AI.

Catcher lifts AI server shipments as medical, drone products ramp up

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:40:48 GMT

Catcher Technology said its existing AI products continued to expand shipments as the year-end period approached, while medical and drone businesses were entering mass production. The casing maker also said additional AI server projects are scheduled to begin mass production from the first quarter of 2027, with AI PC-related products expected to follow in the second quarter of 2027.

Nan Pao pitches water-based resins as Taiwan textile shipments surge

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:40:34 GMT

Nan Pao Resins Chemical used the 2026 Taipei Innovative Textile Application Show to showcase water-based resin products and a broader environmental, social, and governance (ESG) platform aimed at textile makers. The company said Taiwan customers have sharply increased adoption of its environmentally friendly water-based resins as technology improvements have narrowed the performance gap with solvent-based products.

Transcend September revenue rebounds on IPC, networking project shipments

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:40:21 GMT

Transcend reported a sharp recovery in September 2026 revenue as shipments for industrial PC and networking customer projects picked up. The memory module maker said monthly consolidated revenue reached NT$6.04 billion (approx. US$190 million), up 24.8% from August and 290% from a year earlier.

Beyond AI: Starcloud tests whether orbital compute can stay busy enough to pay

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:39:58 GMT

The excitement around massive orbital infrastructure mainly stems from its tremendous potential in offering compute nodes powered by near-continuous solar energy beyond the spatial limits of terrestrial infrastructure.

Nvidia-backed Reflection AI unveils Beam, pitching an efficient US open model against Chinese rivals

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:39:41 GMT

Reflection AI, the Nvidia-backed startup that has cast itself as a US counterweight to China's open-model developers, has unveiled Beam, its first open-weight model, which it says rivals leading options in the US and China while costing less than many competitors.

Nokia, ICEYE turn Europe's satellite autonomy push into an ownership model

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:39:26 GMT

Europe's push for sovereign satellite connectivity is moving beyond simply securing access to bandwidth, as Nokia and ICEYE prepare a new low Earth orbit (LEO) system that would let governments own and control the satellites, ground infrastructure and terminals themselves.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics secures 2027 AI server MLCC demand as supply pressure builds

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:38:58 GMT

Samsung Electro-Mechanics (Semco) has secured another major AI server order, signing a KRW290 billion (about US$216 million) contract to supply multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) to an undisclosed global customer throughout 2027. The deal is its sixth disclosed long-term supply agreement this year.

Analysis: Kioxia's NAND pedigree meets an AI-era SSD gap

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:38:29 GMT

Kioxia helped create the NAND flash industry, but AI is changing what leadership in memory looks like. The Japanese supplier is benefiting from record NAND demand and higher prices, yet rivals are capturing more value from enterprise solid-state drives (SSDs) for AI servers. Kioxia's challenge is therefore less about making advanced NAND than turning it into qualified products, hyperscaler relationships, and committed volumes before today's AI infrastructure boom hardens the supplier hierarchy.

Smaller batteries, smarter roads: Honda tests different EV cost model

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:38:12 GMT

The complexity of vehicle economics surrounding surging battery costs has long put the EV industry in a difficult position, caught between power-delivery constraints and energy-efficiency demands.

Samsung tests Chemtronics glass interposer samples

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:37:26 GMT

South Korean materials company Chemtronics has delivered glass interposer samples to Samsung Electronics, with customer evaluation now underway, according to Korean business outlet DealSite. This step moves the technology from supplier-side development into physical testing by one of the world's largest chipmakers.

DIGITIMES Insight: AI servers will carry nearly twice as many CPUs per accelerator by 2027

Charlene Chen — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 00:36:09 GMT

Demand for agentic AI in commercial and consumer markets was rising rapidly, and the market appeal of consumer services such as Meta Muse was expanding. In agentic AI tasks, large language model (LLM) inference was mainly handled by GPUs or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), while many other functions relied on CPUs, which was expected to boost CPU demand. Consumer-facing harness applications were expected to adopt enhanced general-purpose servers, while enterprise core automation would use high-density CPU racks deployed inside AI data centers.

ADATA posts record 3Q revenue as memory prices rise

DIGITIMES — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 09:45:13 GMT

ADATA Technology reported record consolidated revenue of NT$53.03 billion(NT$53.03 billion)in the third quarter of 2026, topping NT$50 billion for the period as tighter memory supply and higher prices lifted sales. The memory module maker also said September consolidated revenue reached NT$15.73 billion, up 200% year-over-year but down 16.9% from August after it strategically adjusted shipments.

Cerebras' stock slide stops after Sam Altman calls it 'close partner'

DIGITIMES — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 09:31:15 GMT

Cerebras' stock rebounded by 9% after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman gave reassurance that the two companies are close partners days after a report cast doubt on their relationship, causing the chipmaker's stock to drop 20% last week. The episode raises concerns over its current concentration on a few large customers.

TSMC Texas-Terafab buzz drives Taiwan contractors to move fast

Charlene Chen — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 09:18:34 GMT

TSMC has not officially announced anything, but Taiwan's semiconductor facility engineering supply chain is already rushing to Texas after reports that the company is discussing a collaboration with Elon Musk's "Terafab" plan. DYC chairman Chung-Ping Hsieh said his company only received the news last week and has already begun mapping out a Texas strategy, while some faster-moving Taiwan contractors have even set up local offices.

LG lands 5GW North American data center cooling deal

DIGITIMES — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 09:17:45 GMT

LG Electronics has signed a long-term agreement to supply chillers for data center projects totaling more than 5GW of capacity in the US and Canada, giving the South Korean company greater visibility into future demand as it expands its North American cooling business.

BenQ Materials expands Xpore circular textile push

DIGITIMES — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 08:57:39 GMT

BenQ Materials showcased its eco-friendly performance fabric brand Xpore at the Taipei Innovative Textile Application Show (TITAS) 2026, marking the brand's second appearance at the event. The company introduced three core green technologies, six product lines and the commercial rollout of Xpore e2cycle, its electronic-waste recycling process, as it seeks a larger role in the global green materials supply chain.

AMD to expand Taiwan supply chain investment as AI demand drives capacity needs

DIGITIMES — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 08:48:53 GMT

AMD CEO Lisa Su said the company plans to further increase investment in Taiwan's semiconductor supply chain as demand for CPUs, GPUs, and AI computing continues to outpace available capacity.

ITRI sees hardware, AI, sensing drive quadruped robot rollout

Lily Hess — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 08:27:00 GMT

As AI advances rapidly, the robotics industry is evolving from traditional automation equipment into a productivity tool for every industry, Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) said. ITRI added that robots will gradually move into manufacturing, inspection, welding, warehousing, medical care, and even homes, and that hardware, AI, sensing, and virtual-physical integration will be key to turning robots from simply machines that can move into ones that can work.

Chinese LCD panel makers tighten supply to lift prices — Taiwan suppliers eye order shifts

Levi Li — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 08:23:56 GMT

Chinese panel makers moved to cut production during the National Day holiday after issuing their first price increase notices in September, combining pricing signals with supply controls to stabilize LCD TV panel prices and profitability.

South Korea keeps sovereign AI contest on track, adds KRW4.7T frontier program after hours of confusion

DIGITIMES — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 07:22:00 GMT

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said its Sovereign AI Foundation Model Project will run to completion as originally planned. The statement reversed, within hours, a vice minister's suggestion that the national-team AI competition would wind down as the government launches a new KRW4.7 trillion frontier AI program.

China's 15th five-year plan elevates PCB role in AI supply chains

Charlene Chen — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 07:12:11 GMT

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission have released the 15th Five-Year Plan for the development of the electronic information manufacturing industry, aiming to push revenue at large-scale enterprises above CNY30 trillion (US$4.5 trillion) by 2030 and foster world-class companies in semiconductors, advanced computing, consumer electronics, basic electronics, and energy electronics.

Samsung secures customer backing for US$5B substrate expansion

DIGITIMES — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 07:05:50 GMT

Samsung Electro-Mechanics is investing KRW6.78 trillion (approx. US$5 billion) to expand FCBGA capacity in South Korea and Vietnam. The projects are backed by customer funding and medium- to long-term volume commitments, as demand for high-performance package substrates pushes Korean production lines toward high utilization.

Taiwan bets on SiPh, CPO to tackle AI data center power bottlenecks

Willis Ke — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 07:02:39 GMT

Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) has launched two research programs targeting silicon photonics (SiPh) and next-generation AI data center power systems, seeking to address energy and performance bottlenecks as high-speed computing shifts increasingly from copper to optical interconnects.

TSMC tops global FDI ranking as AI infrastructure redraws overseas investment

Levi Li — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 07:01:13 GMT

The direction of global corporate investment in physical assets is becoming clearer. According to the fDi Report 2026 and an analysis by Visual Capitalist, announced greenfield foreign direct investment by multinational companies exceeded US$1.3 trillion in 2025, up 2.2% from a year earlier.