DIGITIMES: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

Micron's Taiwan union wins strike vote with 99% support

Joseph Chen — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 09:45:53 GMT

The labor union at Micron Technology's Taoyuan operations in Taiwan has won the right to strike and set up picket lines. Ballots were counted on the night of October 6, after six days of voting.

Quanta says September server dip is normal as revenue falls 23% from August

Joseph Chen — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 09:26:24 GMT

Quanta Computer shipped 4.2 million notebooks in September 2026, up more than 60% from August. Yet its revenue for the month fell more than 20% because server shipments dropped from the previous month. The company said that server demand remains strong and that monthly shipments normally rise and fall with customer schedules and component supply.

Anduril to invest US$3.7 billion in Maryland shipyard for submarine supply chain

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 09:25:00 GMT

Anduril Industries said it will spend US$3.7 billion to build Arsenal-2, a next-generation software-defined shipyard at Sparrows Point in Baltimore County, Maryland. The US Navy is backing the project with a contract worth up to US$2.9 billion tied to production results, bringing the total commitment to US$6.6 billion as Washington seeks to expand the submarine industrial base.

Apple and LG Electronics reportedly team up on branded smart home devices

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 08:56:05 GMT

Apple and LG Electronics are reportedly pairing up to create a line of smart home devices, though the devices will carry the LG brand name. The two companies are expanding their reach into the smart home market as both face headwinds in their home product segments.

Samsung SDI builds dual-track battery strategy with LFP supply deal, solid-state push

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 08:35:00 GMT

Samsung SDI is simultaneously expanding its lower-cost LFP supply chain and advancing its next-generation all-solid-state battery roadmap, signing separate agreements with POSCO Future M and EcoPro BM as it broadens its battery chemistry portfolio.

Musk limits TSMC to possible Terafab sublease; Intel says it will stay involved

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 08:27:50 GMT

Intel will keep working with Elon Musk on Terafab, according to Bloomberg. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan stated that the company will stay involved in Musk's plan to make cutting-edge chips. Musk, meanwhile, said TSMC's role would be limited to subleasing space at most.

China Airlines highlights AI and MR training in aircraft maintenance

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 08:20:00 GMT

Discovery Channel's new documentary Engineering Pioneers: Guardians of Flight takes viewers inside China Airlines' maintenance system, showcasing aircraft hangars, engine shops and training centers that the public rarely sees. It follows a Boeing 747 freighter through a weeks-long C Check overhaul and also covers line maintenance performed between flights, non-destructive testing of engine components, landing gear replacement, emergency release tests and mixed reality (MR) training for new maintenance staff.

SpaceX's US$40 billion Nvidia financing spotlights rise of AI compute as an asset class

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 07:59:53 GMT

SpaceX is seeking roughly US$40 billion in financing to fund purchases of Nvidia AI chips, in a deal led by Apollo Global Management that could become one of the largest examples yet of compute hardware being financed as long-duration infrastructure.

Meta wants to set the rules for AI agents doing business

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 07:55:00 GMT

Meta and enterprise AI startup Sierra are leading Walmart, Stripe, Shopify, Genesys, Instinct and Rocket in developing an open standard for personal AI agents, aiming to define how software acting for consumers can authenticate, obtain permission and interact with businesses.

Honda and Taisei to test wireless charging roads on Japanese expressways in 2027

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 07:45:00 GMT

Honda Motor said on October 5, 2026, that it had developed core technology for a magnetic-coupling wireless power supply road system with Taisei and other partners, setting up on-road testing on Japanese expressways as early as fiscal 2027. The work reflects continued research into battery electric vehicle technologies even as some automakers scale back parts of their 2020s electrification plans.

Sigurd raises prices, signs long AI capacity contracts, eyes higher 2026 capex

Yunnie Cheng — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 07:35:00 GMT

Taiwanese OSAT provider Sigurd Microelectronics and its subsidiary Winstek Semiconductor held a joint investor briefing on October 6. President Charles Yeh reported that surging demand across AI CPUs, GPUs, ASICs, silicon photonics, and memory is severely tightening testing capacity, prompting long-term contracts, price adjustments, and a potential upward revision to 2026 capex.

Schneider-PTC deal targets industrial AI across the lifecycle

Lily Hess — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 07:20:00 GMT

Schneider Electric's roughly US$22.6 billion acquisition of US industrial software developer PTC is more than a bid to expand its computer-aided design (CAD) and product lifecycle management (PLM) software lineup. It signals that industrial AI competition is shifting from point automation and smart manufacturing to a platform race spanning product design, engineering, deployment, energy management, operations, and maintenance.

Commentary: Qualcomm patent deal puts spotlight on Huawei's broader IP push

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 06:58:50 GMT

Huawei and Qualcomm announced on Oct. 5 that they had signed a multi-year patent licensing agreement covering technologies including 5G, computing, AI and networking.

DIGITIMES Insight: HBM expansion raises the bar for memory offload

Lily Hess — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 06:55:00 GMT

The boundary for adopting external capacity is changing, as workloads that previously needed memory offload because of insufficient high-bandwidth memory (HBM) can now run directly on next-generation GPUs. As a result, demand for external capacity is shifting toward scenarios with higher memory requirements and deployments designed to extend the usable life of existing GPUs.

LG Electronics 3Q26 operating profit up 13.5%, misses forecasts as cash shifts to AI cooling

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 06:39:35 GMT

LG Electronics' third-quarter results show a company whose mature businesses are generating steady cash, but not enough to meet raised expectations. The company says it will channel earnings from appliances and auto parts into AI data center cooling and robotics.

AMD expands Korea push after Taiwan supply talks

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 06:31:31 GMT

AMD CEO Lisa Su moved from supply-chain talks in Taiwan to South Korea this week, broadening the chipmaker's Asia push from efforts to secure more CPU, GPU and advanced-wafer capacity to building an open computing ecosystem around its processors, Korean AI accelerators and software.

Towa returns strategic chip packaging production to Japan as AI demand accelerates

Levi Li — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 06:26:12 GMT

Towa plans to build a new factory in Kyoto Prefecture to produce assembly and packaging equipment for advanced semiconductors used in artificial intelligence applications.

Samsung arms for memory price surge with AI, services, N-1 phone push

Yunnie Cheng — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 04:28:36 GMT

Rising memory prices are already weighing on 2026 smartphone and notebook shipments, and sustained AI infrastructure investments are expected to keep quotes climbing into 2027. To counter softer buying interest as retail prices rise, hardware vendors like Samsung are pivoting to fresh strategies. Alongside cost controls and broader product line-ups, companies are increasingly prioritizing software differentiation, AI integration, post-purchase services, and aggressive promotion of previous-generation (N-1) models.

Micron licenses Netlist's memory tech for US$600M to settle patent dispute

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 04:23:47 GMT

Netlist and Micron reached a settlement for a patent dispute, with Micron agreeing to license Netlist's patents for US$600 million over 5 years. The deal concludes a complaint launched by Netlist over alleged infringements of its proprietary memory technology as the sector undergoes a lucrative boom in demand due to the rise of AI.

Exclusive: Chinese notebook ODMs win HP, Dell orders, pressuring Taiwanese suppliers

Charlene Chen — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 04:18:55 GMT

Chinese notebook original design manufacturers (ODMs) are rapidly catching up, with supply chain sources saying Huaqin and Luxshare have won major orders from HP and Dell, sending shock waves through Taiwan's supply chain and threatening the future position of Taiwanese ODMs. Industry sources said the impact extends beyond 4-5 ODMs and will also hit more than 100 component suppliers.

Chip price hikes loom as Taiwan IC designers brace to pass on costs through 2027

Yunnie Cheng — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 04:01:01 GMT

Taiwanese integrated circuit (IC) design firms report that passing on costs to customers will likely continue through 2027 as upstream foundry and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) price hikes take shape.

CloudMile flags AI cost pressure, risk governance as key

Yunnie Cheng — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 03:48:48 GMT

As AI agents integrate into enterprise operations, companies scaling deployment face rising challenges around runaway costs, permission controls, and cybersecurity governance. CloudMile founder and chairman Spencer Liu noted that many firms using AI still lack clarity on cost allocation or what data agents have accessed.

Apple Watch sensor demand and InP supply tightness lift TASC's 2H26 outlook

Levi Li — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 03:44:11 GMT

Taiwan-Asia Semiconductor Corporation (TASC) expects a stronger second half of 2026 as new Apple Watch demand lifts sensor orders. The company said weak consumer electronics demand has not materially affected its business, with smartwatch and earphone orders arriving faster than expected. More sensors per device and seasonal demand should lift fourth-quarter performance above the third, making the second half clearly stronger than the first.

AI server smuggling cases expose gap between export compliance and due diligence

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 03:38:00 GMT

A string of AI server smuggling prosecutions is showing that following US export-control rules to the letter has not stopped advanced Nvidia hardware from reaching China. The weak point lies less in the chips themselves than in the multi-layered server supply chain that carries them, where each participant checks its own slice, and no one owns the final destination.

iRobot races to catch Chinese robot vacuum rivals after admitting innovation lag

Levi Li — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 03:31:31 GMT

Once the global leader in robot vacuums, iRobot is trying to regain ground after bankruptcy restructuring and its takeover by contract manufacturer Shenzhen Picea Robotics. The global home-cleaning robot market has since become increasingly dominated by Chinese vendors, leaving iRobot with a smaller share and a need to accelerate innovation.

Robotaxis intensify charging infrastructure pressure, could drive over 35% of North American EV power demand by 2030

Scarlett Yu — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 03:22:15 GMT

As autonomous driving technology continues to advance, robotaxis are expected to significantly reshape global EV charging demand. Charging solutions provider ChargePoint forecasts that 8 million robotaxis will be operating in North America by 2030, potentially accounting for more than 35% of the region's total electricity demand from EVs. In Europe, their share is expected to exceed 10%.

Commentary: Largan earnings call spotlight — CPO, expansion and 4Q26 order momentum

Levi Li — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 03:05:33 GMT

Largan Precision will hold its earnings call on October 8, when the optical lens maker is due to report third-quarter results and outline its fourth-quarter outlook. With September revenue recovering and the company stepping up property acquisitions, investors are likely to focus on three issues: progress in co-packaged optics (CPO), capacity expansion and the pace of fourth-quarter customer orders.

Navigating the global AI regulatory divide: American safety debates, China's rapid deployment, Mistral's European push

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 03:02:28 GMT

The global artificial intelligence landscape is witnessing an accelerating divide. While Silicon Valley grapples with escalating safety debates and regulatory friction, Chinese tech developers are rapidly deploying lightweight models and domestic chips. Simultaneously, European players are stepping up to claim AI sovereignty through open-weight models designed for critical enterprise infrastructure.

Z.ai takes GLM-5.3 global through Amazon Bedrock's enterprise channel

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 02:55:00 GMT

Chinese AI company Z.ai is expanding its overseas commercialisation through Amazon Bedrock, with AWS adding GLM-5.3 on October 6 and sharing revenue with Z.ai based on model usage.

Starship, Cybercab, inflight Wi-Fi point to Starlink's expanding growth potential

Scarlett Yu — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 02:52:47 GMT

SpaceX launched its Starship super heavy-lift rocket on September 28, successfully reaching orbit for the first time and deploying 26 Starlink V3 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Each Starship mission can carry up to approximately 60 Starlink V3 satellites. Although neither stage was recovered, both splashed down at sea and the satellite deployment was successful.

Taiwan's next AI battle is all about data and partners, says former tech minister

Rodney Chan — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 02:48:04 GMT

Taiwan's tech industry has grown rapidly in recent years on the back of strengths in semiconductors, servers and the data center supply chain, lifting overall GDP. But companies that keep chasing hardware specs or wait for technology to become perfect before deploying AI will face an endless cycle of catch-up pressure, according to former minister of science and technology Liang-Gee Chen.

Starship reaches orbit on 14th test as Chinese rocket makers race toward low-cost reusability

Scarlett Yu — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 02:42:57 GMT

SpaceX's Starship reached Earth orbit for the first time on its 14th test flight and deployed 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites. Whereas the previous 13 flights primarily focused on orbital testing, Flight 14 marked a further step into operational orbital missions.

Hwacom shifts semiconductor business to SureWin, targets post-quantum security

Sherri Wang — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 02:41:05 GMT

Hwacom Systems has shifted its semiconductor-focused business to subsidiary SureWin, targeting growing demand from chipmakers for AI deployment, data governance, and cybersecurity, including post-quantum cryptography (PQC).

South Korea races into sodium-ion batteries after falling behind China in LFP

Scarlett Yu — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 02:33:22 GMT

As Chinese battery makers accelerate their push into sodium-ion batteries, South Korea's three major battery manufacturers are moving quickly into the emerging technology, seeking to avoid repeating their late entry into lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.

Formosa Automobile targets 20% heavy-tractor market share with new DAF XF models, EV roadmap

Willis Ke — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 02:32:54 GMT

Formosa Automobile, a member of Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Group, unveiled the new-generation DAF XF long-haul tractor on October 6, introducing 35-ton and 43-ton models for heavy-haul and container transport as it targets a 20% share of Taiwan's heavy-tractor market. The company plans to begin fleet trials of electric trucks in 2027, with a commercial launch targeted as early as late 2028.

DeepSeek reportedly set to raise more than US$12B ahead of potential IPO

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 02:27:58 GMT

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is poised to raise more than CNY80 billion (approx. US$11.9 billion) in its latest funding round, as it builds capital ahead of a potential domestic initial public offering (IPO).

Low-cost terahertz SoC takes shape as Taiwan advances next-generation communications

Scarlett Yu — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 02:03:15 GMT

As the global communications industry moves toward the 6G era around 2030, front-end modules supporting frequency ranges such as D-band at 130-150GHz and W-band at 77-95GHz have become major research priorities across academia and industry.

AI supercycle, pricing, and Terafab top the agenda ahead of TSMC's earnings call

Lily Hess — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 01:57:24 GMT

TSMC will hold its third-quarter earnings call on October 15 this year.

India nears 2GW of data center capacity, but its racks were built for a pre-AI power load

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 01:57:21 GMT

India is joining the top tier of Asia Pacific data center markets with a stock of facilities designed for a fraction of the power AI hardware draws. That gap is turning the country's build-out into a race for liquid cooling, power equipment, and high-density designs, not just floor space.

Huawei's NPO bet challenges CPO's path to AI scale

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 01:55:00 GMT

Huawei is backing near-packaged optics (NPO) rather than co-packaged optics (CPO) for its next-generation AI infrastructure, arguing that NPO offers a better balance of cost, manufacturability, reliability and serviceability as optical interconnects move deeper into large-scale AI clusters.

Chicony pushes into robotics data systems as revenue declines

Jingyue Hsiao — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 01:49:01 GMT

Chicony Electronics said it has entered the supply chain of a US robotics startup, expanding into embodied AI and physical AI as it seeks higher-value markets. The move could strengthen global robot development by improving the data and vision systems that help machines perceive, interpret, and act in real-world settings.

AI data center expansion is hitting new limits on power, land, and public consent

Jingyue Hsiao — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 01:45:00 GMT

The global race to build data centers for artificial intelligence is entering a more difficult phase. Demand for computing capacity remains strong, but new projects increasingly face limits on land, electricity, water, and local acceptance, turning infrastructure expansion into a broader political and social contest.

iRobot reenters Taiwan market after restructuring, unveils five new models

Eifeh Strom — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 01:41:49 GMT

The global household cleaning robot market grew by double digits in 2025, making it a key area for smart home development and intense competition in smart home devices. After filing for bankruptcy at the end of 2025 and completing its restructuring in January 2026, US-based robot vacuum maker iRobot is targeting the Taiwanese market.

Semicon 2.0 widens focus beyond fabs: Dassault Systèmes pitches virtual twins to India's chipmakers

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 01:38:22 GMT

Dassault Systèmes is pitching its virtual twin software as the link between India's chip design base and the factories and packaging plants now being built under the country's semiconductor mission. The French industrial software company is offering tools that simulate production before anything is built, as the government's Semicon 2.0 program widens support beyond fabrication to design, research, and talent.

Exclusive: GaN defends fast-charging turf, eyes AI power as low-cost SiC pushes into consumer electronics

Scarlett Yu — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 01:33:49 GMT

The traditional market divide between the third-generation semiconductors gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) is seeing greater overlap in 2026, with SiC increasingly encroaching on GaN's territory.

Amata sees Chinese factories in Thailand rising fivefold over 10 years

Jingyue Hsiao — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 01:32:01 GMT

Thailand's industrial landscape may shift further toward China as global supply chains continue to move across Southeast Asia. More broadly, the trend highlights how lower costs, trade realignment, and investment incentives are reshaping manufacturing networks, while also raising questions about local supply chains, land use, and economic dependency.

Canon courts India's chip projects as toolmakers jostle for an early foothold

DIGITIMES — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 01:30:03 GMT

India's young chip industry is becoming a contest among the world's largest semiconductor equipment makers, with Canon the latest to declare its interest. The race remains at an early, positioning stage, however, and has so far produced few confirmed orders.

Formosa Automobile launches new-gen DAF semi-truck, Taiwan first assembly site outside Europe

Eifeh Strom — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 01:21:50 GMT

Formosa Automobile held a launch event on October 6 for the new-generation DAF XF semi-truck, officially bringing to Taiwan the new DAF series developed by Dutch manufacturer DAF Trucks in line with the European Union's (EU) latest regulations. The 43-ton variants are assembled locally in Taiwan, while the 35-ton variant is imported.

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.