DIGITIMES Asia: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

Anthropic raises Claude usage limits with SpaceX compute deal

DIGITIMES — Thu, 7 May 2026 01:43:01 GMT

Anthropic announced immediate increases to Claude service limits following a compute partnership with SpaceX that will deliver over 300 megawatts of new capacity within the month.

Arm shifts focus to high-value silicon to bypass mobile growth plateau

DIGITIMES — Thu, 7 May 2026 01:28:10 GMT

The strategic significance of Arm's current transformation lies in its transition from a volume-dependent mobile component provider to a value-driven infrastructure architect. As the global smartphone market faces structural saturation, the organization is pivoting toward Agentic and Physical AI to redefine its commercial relevance. The core of this strategy is to increase the average selling price per chip by packing higher complexity—measured in core density and orchestration capabilities—into each unit, thereby ensuring revenue growth even as hardware shipment volumes stabilize.

Arm's $2 billion AGI CPU backlog signals strong hyperscaler demand

DIGITIMES — Thu, 7 May 2026 00:55:47 GMT

During the earnings call on May 6, Arm announced a significant expansion of its product strategy, centering on the emergence of "Agentic AI" and "Physical AI" as primary growth drivers for the next decade. The company defines agentic workloads as a shift from human-based queries to continuous, autonomous tasks where CPUs must coordinate data movement, manage memory, and orchestrate work across accelerators. To address this, Arm recently launched the Arm AGI CPU, a product purpose-built for these specific AI requirements.

Nvidia, Corning partner to boost US optical manufacturing capacity 10x

DIGITIMES — Thu, 7 May 2026 00:50:25 GMT

Nvidia and Corning announced a multiyear partnership to expand U.S.-based production of optical connectivity solutions for AI data centers. Corning will increase its U.S. optical connectivity manufacturing capacity by 10-fold and expand fiber production capacity by more than 50%.

Arm's licensing surge masks smartphone market slowdown

DIGITIMES — Thu, 7 May 2026 00:50:07 GMT

Arm reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of US$1.49 billion, up 20% year over year and nearly 20% higher sequentially, according to company financial data. Net profit rose 49% from a year earlier to US$313 million, while operating income climbed to US$438 million.

Taiwan component maker Fositek rides AI server cooling demand

Jingyue Hsiao — Thu, 7 May 2026 00:21:52 GMT

Fositek said strong demand from artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure is driving rapid growth in its liquid cooling business and will prompt continued capacity expansion to meet customer needs. The company expects server-related revenue to rise quarter by quarter through 2026 and said second-half shipments of a customer's new foldable phones will further lift margins.

Raydium Semiconductor sees mixed display demand as AI-driven IT cycle reshapes inventory trends

Jingyue Hsiao — Thu, 7 May 2026 00:21:36 GMT

Raydium Semiconductor reported first-quarter 2026 revenue and profit figures, signaling demand trends in large displays, automotive, and industrial markets that could affect global display and consumer electronics supply dynamics. International manufacturers and investors may reassess inventory and production plans amid cautious smartphone AMOLED demand and continued large-display stocking by some clients.

Automakers face 2029 deadline to deploy quantum-resistant security systems

Elaine Chen — Thu, 7 May 2026 00:17:47 GMT

The opening of Taiwan's annual cybersecurity conference Cybersec 2026 has underscored a rapid global realignment in automotive cyber strategy, as major carmakers race to redefine security frameworks for the quantum era.

As AI expands, broadband upgrades fuel growth at Sercomm

Elaine Chen — Thu, 7 May 2026 00:16:36 GMT

Broadband equipment maker Sercomm reported a sharp surge in revenue for April, underscoring how demand for faster networks, fueled in part by artificial intelligence, is rippling through telecommunications infrastructure.

Supply chain walks pricing tightrope as AI demand lifts costs

Sherri Wang — Thu, 7 May 2026 00:13:29 GMT

The rapid spread of generative AI applications and rising demand for computing power have pushed global data center construction into a high-growth phase, further straining an already tight supply chain.

Taipower awaits regulatory review for Nuclear Plant No. 3 restart

Sherri Wang — Wed, 6 May 2026 23:23:44 GMT

Taiwan Power Company, or Taipower, submitted a restart plan for Nuclear Power Plant No. 3 to the Nuclear Safety Commission in March 2026, while recent reports indicated the utility has been in talks with original equipment supplier Westinghouse over nuclear fuel procurement.

Memory hikes slow telecom orders, but network chipmakers stay upbeat

Lily Hess — Wed, 6 May 2026 23:23:15 GMT

Network infrastructure demand in 2026 remains broadly positive as telecom operators in Europe and the US prepare for future AI use cases. Chipmakers say the growth is not just about spec upgrades, but a full-scale overhaul of network infrastructure.

OpenAI, Anthropic chase AI consulting firms in new enterprise battle

DIGITIMES — Wed, 6 May 2026 23:22:58 GMT

The AI race is entering a new phase, and it may look far less like a pure software business than Silicon Valley once imagined.

Google, Microsoft, and xAI to give US early access to unreleased AI models

DIGITIMES — Wed, 6 May 2026 23:18:40 GMT

Google DeepMind, Microsoft, and xAI have signed agreements giving the US government early access to unreleased frontier AI models for national-security testing, expanding Washington's ability to assess advanced commercial systems before they reach the public.

Snapdragon tops India's chipset trust rankings: Counterpoint Research

DIGITIMES — Wed, 6 May 2026 23:16:15 GMT

A Counterpoint Research survey finds Snapdragon is India's most trusted chipset brand across smartphones, audio, XR devices, and passenger vehicles, signaling that chipset performance now shapes purchase decisions—a finding relevant to global readers tracking device performance trends, platform ecosystems, and the expanding role of chipsets in connected-device experiences.

Commentary: Why Apple's Intel and Samsung talks remain preliminary—and what that means for TSMC

DIGITIMES — Wed, 6 May 2026 23:00:23 GMT

A year of Intel-Apple negotiations and recent Samsung chatter amount to familiar supply-chain posturing—and TSMC's technical advantages remain unbeatable.

EU joins telecom coalition as 6G rivalry with China intensifies

DIGITIMES — Wed, 6 May 2026 23:00:10 GMT

The European Union has become the first strategic partner of the Global Coalition on Telecommunications, or GCOT, expanding a Western-led telecom policy framework as governments seek to shape next-generation network infrastructure and the race toward 6G.

Intel targets entry-level advanced packaging, draws interest from Google and Amazon

Levi Li — Wed, 6 May 2026 22:59:52 GMT

Over the past decade, market assessments of Intel have largely been confined to a single lens: execution in advanced process technology. By that metric, Intel has struggled, with delays in 10nm and setbacks at the 7nm node, leading to the loss of Apple's chip orders. This view assumes that semiconductor manufacturing advantage is determined primarily by transistor density, particularly in the system-on-chip era.

Gen5 SSD race shifts to power and AI: Micron, YMTC diverges

Levi Li — Wed, 6 May 2026 22:59:32 GMT

As demand for PCs and edge AI accelerates, the consumer SSD market is entering a transition to the PCIe 5.0 (Gen5) era. For notebooks — long a core OEM segment — power consumption and thermal limits have become the decisive barriers to large-scale adoption of next-generation SSDs.

Research Insight: AI memory boom squeezes automotive supply, driving costs higher

Levi Li — Wed, 6 May 2026 22:56:18 GMT

Autonomous driving and smart cockpit technologies are pushing vehicles to demand far more computing power and data processing. Memory has become a critical component in automotive system performance. But as demand surges, AI applications are reshaping the global memory supply chain — reallocating capacity and creating structural pressures that are tightening supply and driving up prices.

Nvidia, AMD expand in Taiwan as US touts strategic ties at SelectUSA Summit

Lily Hess — Wed, 6 May 2026 08:51:44 GMT

Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said its A+ Industrial Innovation R&D Program has helped attract Nvidia to invest in Taiwan and set up an overseas headquarters in Taipei, while AMD has also received major ministry support to establish a research and development center in the southern city of Tainan.

'Chipflation' hits Samsung, boosts Apple results

Lily Hess — Wed, 6 May 2026 08:30:11 GMT

As soaring memory prices fuel "chipflation," Samsung Electronics and Apple are taking sharply different approaches. Samsung's Mobile eXperience (MX) division is trying to protect profitability by optimizing its product mix and expanding across more price points, while Apple is leaning on an ecosystem of 2.5 billion devices and high-margin services to offset rising component costs.

AI networking surge pushes Lumentum to record growth

DIGITIMES — Wed, 6 May 2026 08:09:18 GMT

The fiscal third quarter of 2026 results from Lumentum Holdings offered one of the clearest signals yet that a powerful new cycle in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure is underway and that the bottleneck is no longer computing power, but the networks that connect it.

Hyundai's robot ecosystem strategy rejects all-purpose humanoids in favor of application-specific products

Kevin Wang — Wed, 6 May 2026 07:57:25 GMT

Robots have become a main focus for Hyundai Motor Group, with continued investments in research and development as part of its strategy for the future. However, rather than promoting the broad adoption of humanoid robots, Hyundai is instead pursuing robots tailored for specific industries, pushing a range of new technologies in a diverse range of solutions and ecosystems.

VIS joins CoWoS chain with TSMC-backed Singapore interposer foundry

Lily Hess — Wed, 6 May 2026 07:52:00 GMT

Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) said on May 5 that it has secured support from TSMC for a new interposer foundry line at its 12-inch Singapore fab, alongside a broader push into the CoWoS supply chain. The company said the move will accelerate capacity expansion and lower capital expenditure requirements as demand stabilizes after year-endinventory corrections.

Anthropic strikes massive cloud pact with Google, highlighting AI industry concentration

DIGITIMES — Wed, 6 May 2026 07:27:48 GMT

A sweeping new agreement between Anthropic and Google Cloud is throwing into sharp relief just how concentrated — and how enormous — the artificial intelligence boom has become.

Personal feud between Elon Musk and OpenAI cracks open in court as IPO plans loom

DIGITIMES — Wed, 6 May 2026 07:13:51 GMT

The bitter feud between Elon Musk and OpenAI's leadership continues to spill into the open since a trial between the two began last week. This legal fight pits two of the world's most prominent AI creators against each other in a case that could have large ramifications for OpenAI's future.

AEM CEO says AI upends semiconductor testing

Charlene Chen — Wed, 6 May 2026 07:00:23 GMT

Singapore semiconductor equipment and testing company AEM is facing a dual challenge of "physics and cost" as the AI era rewrites the limits and supply-chain logic of chip testing, CEO Samer Kabbani said. AI is also driving up to US$7 trillion in global infrastructure investment, he said, while forcing the industry to adapt to faster product cycles and far larger, more power-hungry packages.

SEMI president says SEA must build ecosystems, not just fabs, to capture trillion-dollar opportunity

Charlene Chen — Wed, 6 May 2026 06:34:16 GMT

At SEMICON Southeast Asia 2026, SEMI President and CEO Ajit Manocha delivered a clear message: the semiconductor industry is entering a "multi-trillion-dollar journey," but capturing that growth will depend less on ambition and more on coordination, ecosystems, and long-term strategy.

Taiwan researchers create non-toxic blue-light material that could enable glasses-free 3D displays

DIGITIMES — Wed, 6 May 2026 06:00:06 GMT

Researchers at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University announced a new non-toxic, metal-free light-emitting silicone that produces blue fluorescence when mechanically stressed, a development they said could advance glasses-free 3D displays and wearable imaging sensors. The research was published on May 6 in the journal JACS Au, and the work was carried out in collaboration with a team at Osaka Institute of Technology, the university stated.

Intel Capital leads QuantWare's US$178 million bet on hyperscale quantum computing ambitions

DIGITIMES — Wed, 6 May 2026 05:45:00 GMT

QuantWare's US$178 million Series B round aims to accelerate the global rollout of larger, industrial-scale quantum processors, promising hyperscale quantum compute through its VIO-40K architecture and KiloFab foundry — a development that could reshape supply chains, national technology capabilities, and industrial adoption for countries seeking scalable quantum computing.

GCS Holdings says InP export controls remain top supply risk despite capacity and sourcing moves

Jingyue Hsiao — Wed, 6 May 2026 04:45:10 GMT

Export controls on indium phosphide (InP) risk prolonging supply strains in the compound semiconductor market, GCS Holdings warned, affecting optical and RF component makers worldwide. The company said it has secured capacity and diversified sourcing ahead of the second half of 2026, signaling potential relief from first-half 2026 constraints for global customers and partners.

GlobalWafers reports weaker quarter as expansion weighs on margins

Elaine Chen — Wed, 6 May 2026 04:33:47 GMT

GlobalWafers said on May 4 that its first-quarter performance reflected a transitional period, as short-term cost pressures and capacity expansion weighed on margins even as demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing began to strengthen.

VIS sees stronger growth in the AI boom and pricing power

Elaine Chen — Wed, 6 May 2026 04:27:06 GMT

Buoyed by robust demand for artificial intelligence and the early success of price increases, Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation (VIS) is projecting a stronger performance for the second quarter of 2026, with wafer shipments expected to rise by more than 10% from the previous quarter. Average selling prices are forecast to increase by 2% to 4%, while gross margins are likely to recover to above 30%.

GlobalWafers outlines 2026 recovery path, highlights tightening 12-inch wafer supply

Elaine Chen — Wed, 6 May 2026 04:14:04 GMT

GlobalWafers expects the current semiconductor cycle to bottom in the first quarter of 2026, with both the speed and breadth of recovery exceeding prior expectations, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand continues to drive growth across the industry.