DIGITIMES: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

Europe buys time in the LEO race as Eutelsat extends OneWeb toward the IRIS² era

DIGITIMES — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:29:18 GMT

Starlink's enormous low-Earth-orbit (LEO) footprint has long cast a shadow over the broader aerospace industry, turning satellite broadband into a race defined as much by constellation scale as by network performance.

Renault sets 2-year car development quality line

DIGITIMES — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:28:58 GMT

Facing an aggressive push by Chinese automakers to launch new models at short intervals and rapidly seize market share, major automakers in Europe, the US, Japan, and South Korea are confronting a new trade-off between R&D speed and quality control. Renault Group CEO Francois Provost said the French automaker will not blindly follow suit at the expense of quality and will not bring a new model to market if its development cycle is under two years.

Rethinking defense perimeters, supply chain resilience in the AI era

Kevin Wang — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:27:01 GMT

The concept of corporate cybersecurity used to begin at the so-called perimeter, with firewalls guarding network entry points, email gateways filtering out suspicious messages, and antivirus software blocking malware. This wall-building mindset at the perimeter worked reasonably well when corporate information systems were relatively closed.

Analysis: Speed built Colossus, yet redundancy may decide whether SpaceX can scale it

DIGITIMES — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:26:42 GMT

Much of the industry attention surrounding AI infrastructure buildouts is now inextricably tied to sheer compute power, with market dominance or competitiveness defined largely by the highest-performing GPUs or the fastest construction.

Apple foldable plans drive new demand for Japanese smartphone parts makers

DIGITIMES — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:20:35 GMT

Apple’s move into foldable smartphones is creating fresh business for Japanese component makers with expertise in thin, lightweight and compact designs. According to Nikkei Asia, suppliers that once helped shape Japan’s feature phone era are seeing renewed interest in foldable display materials, hinges and battery-related parts.

Exclusive: ASUS xHIS aims to become digital backbone for AI-ready healthcare

Scarlett Yu — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:14:25 GMT

Asustek Computer (Asus) has been accelerating the integration of AI, hardware, software, and cloud technologies into healthcare as it builds a next-generation smart healthcare ecosystem. Kuo-Hao Huang, vice president of the Asus AI Research Center, said the biggest challenge hospitals face in adopting AI is not the AI models themselves, but whether their data, workflows, and system architectures are ready.

AI server boom reshuffles MLCC supply, opening a rare expansion window for Taiwan makers

Levi Li — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:14:05 GMT

Strong demand for AI computing is creating a capacity squeeze across the passive-component industry, opening new opportunities for Taiwanese suppliers.

Murata targets mass production of its AI power substrate next year

DIGITIMES — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:13:47 GMT

Murata Manufacturing plans to begin mass production next year of iPaS, the power substrate it has spent several years developing for AI chips, a step that would carry the world's largest multilayer ceramic capacitor maker out of the passive components it dominates and into the substrate layer itself. The company is targeting annual sales of JPY50 billion (US$325.56 million) within 18 months of that launch, according to The Elec, which reported the plan after Murata showed the product at the KPCA Show 2026 in Incheon on September 9.

Taiwan sees AI-era power upgrade openings in France

Charlene Chen — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:13:31 GMT

Taiwan's power and energy companies are looking to grow their presence in Europe. To support that push, the Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) organized the "2026 Taiwan Economic and Trade Delegation to France," a 25-member group of representatives from domestic industry groups and energy and power companies, which traveled to Paris from September 5 to 13 to discuss trade and investment opportunities centered on grid upgrades and energy security and resilience.

Pegatron's AI server engine starts to outweigh notebook drag, with Apple adding lift

Levi Li — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:13:14 GMT

Pegatron reported consolidated revenue of NT$88.31 billion (approx. US$2.8 billion) in August 2026, up 2.66% from the previous month and 34.11% from a year earlier, supported by its information and communications technology businesses. The company expects stronger second-half shipments, led by expanding server volumes and the launch of Apple's iPhone 18 series, with the fourth quarter likely to mark the seasonal peak.

Commentary: Apple sends off Cook with a foldable flourish, but Ternus's trial is still ahead

Charlene Chen — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:13:01 GMT

Apple has finally unveiled the long-anticipated foldable iPhone Duo, with former CEO Tim Cook making a brief appearance at the start of the launch video. The moment suggested the device was Cook's farewell act, rather than John Ternus' first turn as chief executive, even as Apple used the 2026 fall event to frame its next stage of AI strategy.

ViTrox sees chip inspection moving upstream as advanced packaging raises defect costs

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 23:05:00 GMT

Advanced packaging is stretching semiconductor inspection in two directions at once: packages are getting larger while the features inside them are getting smaller.

Interview: Resonac maps five PLP hurdles, eyes 510x515mm pilot line

Charlene Chen — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 21:45:00 GMT

Advanced packaging is reshaping the semiconductor value chain, making materials innovation a key source of technical breakthroughs. As large-format panel-level packaging (PLP) gains traction, Resonac CTO for semiconductor materials Hidenori Abe told DIGITIMES that the company sees five major materials challenges: warpage, plating, coating, bonding, and polishing.

Luxshare eyes AR glasses breakthrough through car HUD model

Charlene Chen — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 18:48:00 GMT

At the 2026 China International Optoelectronic Exposition (CIOE), Luxshare and its lens module unit Luxvisions jointly showcased multiple optical and sensing technologies, including automotive camera modules, robot vision modules for autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), as well as tracking modules and waveguide display components for augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and extended reality (XR) wearables. The display underscored the group's push for vertical integration in optics.

Charts: Taiwan's AI supply chain growth moves from cooling to rack hardware

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 16:05:00 GMT

King Slide Works posted the fastest revenue growth in August among the 50 Taiwan-listed AI supply chain companies tracked by DIGITIMES, with sales up 318% from a year earlier. It marked the fourth consecutive month that the server rail kit maker more than doubled its revenue, following gains of 161% in May, 200% in June and 315% in July.

Why Chinese automakers' aggressive push only further tightens CATL's grip

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 14:48:54 GMT

Supply diversification has long been a recurring — and difficult — issue confronting the high-tech manufacturing ecosystem. But efforts to diversify component and materials sourcing have proved particularly challenging for automakers, which remain tied to a relatively concentrated upstream battery market.

ASE to buy AOI, AVI equipment from Machvision for NT$334M

Charlene Chen — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 09:52:03 GMT

ASE announced at a news briefing on September 11, 2026, that ASE's board had approved the purchase of equipment, including automated optical inspection (AOI) and automated visual inspection (AVI) systems, from related company Machvision to meet capacity expansion needs. The cumulative pretax transaction value for the past year and future purchases, based on the quotation and negotiation process, came to NT$334 million (US$10.6 million).

Kioxia eyes US listing amid NAND profit rebound

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 09:25:37 GMT

Kioxia's planned US listing could broaden the Japanese memory maker's access to global institutional investors as a sharp recovery in NAND profitability coincides with stronger data-center demand and a new round of capacity investment.

Apple phones drive premium upgrade wave for carriers

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 09:21:11 GMT

Apple's newly unveiled iPhone 18 Pro series and the company's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, have prompted Taiwan's three major telecom operators to roll out pricing plans and preorder schedules, targeting the first wave of upgrade demand. Taiwan Mobile and FarEasTone said demand for high-end iPhones has continued to rise in recent years, and they expect the Pro series to be the first choice at launch this year, while the iPhone Duo could trigger a new round of upgrades among Apple fans.

Taiwan unfazed by Trump's renewed chip tariff threat as MOU already locks in preferential US treatment

Eifeh Strom — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 09:20:30 GMT

Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's expected visit to the US on September 24, US President Donald Trump has again discussed the issue of bringing chip manufacturing back to the US. Although he did not repeat his previous claim that Taiwan "stole" America's chip industry, Trump said Taiwan's chips should have been subject to heavy tariffs long ago, with tariffs of 100% or even 200%.

ficonTEC breaks CPO test bottleneck, teams with Hermes Testing

Charlene Chen — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 09:19:25 GMT

German silicon photonics (SiPh) test equipment maker ficonTEC has broken through a major bottleneck in co-packaged optics (CPO) "electrical-in, optical-out" testing and launched what it calls the industry's first Insertion 2 automated optical test solution. As demand for photonics-integrated testing rises, the company expects equipment requirements to become more diverse and shipments to top 1,000 systems in the next 18-24 months.

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.

Beyond Earth's orbit: how Besxar, Space Forge, Varda, BioOrbit, Voyager are industrializing space

DIGITIMES — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 07:27:42 GMT

A pioneering cohort of space startups is betting that the key to unlocking next-generation technology lies off Earth. Armed with millions in private capital and backing, these ventures are leveraging the unique conditions of low Earth orbit to manufacture semiconductor materials and pharmaceutical compounds with degrees of purity and structural perfection that can be difficult or impossible to achieve on Earth.

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).