DIGITIMES: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

SK Hynix reportedly ends LG eSSD talks as ASICLAND deal expands

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 09:51:01 GMT

SK Hynix reportedly ended talks with LG Electronics over outsourcing part of the backend design for a next-generation enterprise SSD (eSSD) controller, but the memory maker told DIGITIMES that it had not discussed commissioning eSSD controller design work.

How UC Santa Cruz's Silicon Valley lab is reverse-engineering the human brain to solve AI's chip power crisis

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 09:08:28 GMT

As the global race for artificial intelligence (AI) consumes vast oceans of electricity and pushes modern utility grids to the brink, a team of California researchers is looking to biological neuroscience to build an entirely new class of energy-efficient microelectronics. Their objective is straightforward but radical: reverse-engineer the human brain to solve the semiconductor industry's looming power and thermal bottlenecks.

Silicon Valley goes physical: how San Jose is building an energy-rich, tariff-mitigated capital for physical AI

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 09:04:22 GMT

As the artificial intelligence revolution outgrows the digital cloud and demands physical form, a major structural transition is quietly reshaping Silicon Valley. While the region has long been celebrated as the world's epicenter for software and venture capital, the massive compute, cooling, and mechanical requirements of robotics and physical AI are pulling tech's center of gravity back to heavy industrial hardware.

Inside UC San Diego's 'Made with Taiwan' push to train TSMC's future engineers, reinvent chip packaging

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 09:04:12 GMT

The largest engineering school on the US West Coast by enrollment is training engineers for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and pioneering advanced 3D packaging design.

Smartphone lens shipments lift Genius Electronic Optical revenue 12% in August

Levi Li — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 09:01:19 GMT

Optical lens maker Genius Electronic Optical (GSEO) reported consolidated revenue of NT$2.72 billion (≈ US$86 million) for August 2026, up 12.26% from NT$2.42 billion in July and up 0.72%, or about NT$19 million, from NT$2.7 billion a year earlier.

South Korea secures US$2B from Air Products, Axcelis, Corning, Pacifico Energy to bolster supply chains

Yunnie Cheng — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 08:59:32 GMT

Four major US technology companies have committed a combined US$2 billion to investments across South Korea's semiconductor materials, equipment, and clean energy sectors. The move is expected to reinforce critical supply chain resilience between the US and South Korea while providing momentum for the South Korean government's three strategic "Mega Projects."

HBM4 squeezes DRAM supply as Samsung, SK Hynix inventories fall below 10 days

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 08:57:27 GMT

Memory inventories at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have fallen below 10 days of supply as AI infrastructure spending drives simultaneous demand for HBM, server DRAM and enterprise SSDs, according to a Sept. 7 report from KB Securities.

Huawei Kirin 9050 Pro revives flagship chip launches with reported LogicFolding architecture in Mate XT 2

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 08:54:05 GMT

Huawei has unveiled the Kirin 9050 Pro in its new Mate XT 2 tri-fold smartphone, marking the commercial debut of the LogicFolding architecture behind its Tau Scaling Law and Huawei's first new high-performance Kirin chip introduced at a flagship launch in six years.

STMicroelectronics says humanoid robots must clear a trio of hurdles

Lily Hess — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 08:47:21 GMT

STMicroelectronics said humanoid robots are still most likely to enter manufacturing first, as the industry works through key hurdles in hand dexterity, edge AI decision-making, and total system cost. The chipmaker made the remarks at a recent press event in Taiwan focused on sustainability, AI data centers, and robotics.

Exclusive: Infineon Dresden fab to hit full capacity in 2-3 years, COO says

Charlene Chen — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 08:33:17 GMT

Infineon COO Alexander Gorski told DIGITIMES in an exclusive interview at SEMICON Taiwan 2026 that the company's new Dresden fab is ramping at twice the pace of prior expansions, boosted by AI tools and a single virtual fab strategy. He said the facility could reach full capacity in two to three years as demand from the market and from AI takes off.

India frames its chip build-out as redundancy for the world, and Taiwan as its partner in building it

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 08:23:36 GMT

India's most senior semiconductor policymakers came to Taipei with an argument aimed squarely at the Taiwanese supply chain: the country's chip program is meant to add redundancy to an over-concentrated global industry, not to substitute imports behind a wall. For Taiwanese materials, gas, equipment and packaging firms, that reframes India from a distant end market into a second production base their own customers are already asking them to staff.

SEMICON Taiwan 2027 moves to August, aligning with TSMC's 40th anniversary

Levi Li — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 08:17:26 GMT

SEMICON Taiwan, one of Taiwan's key semiconductor industry events, will move its 2027 edition forward by nearly a month to August 18-20, departing from its traditional early-to-mid-September schedule. The rapidly expanding exhibition, whose agenda increasingly centers on TSMC's strategy and technology roadmap, has grown substantially in recent years, but the new timing has raised concerns among some international supply-chain companies over summer holidays, Taiwan's heat, and peak typhoon season.

Kian Shen lifts Taiwan mix as China exports gain traction

Kevin Wang — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 08:10:31 GMT

In a two-part strategy to drive growth, auto components maker Kian Shen Industrial, a division of Yulon Motor Group, is ramping up its Taiwan business while shifting its China-based investments toward export markets. According to company president Chiung-chih Tseng, China accounted for a substantial share of Yulon's profits in the past, but heated competition in the Chinese market is pushing the parent group to rely more on its core businesses in Taiwan, while its China-based investments turn toward exports.

Yaho rides TSMC, Micron expansion wave to tap facility integration, equipment installation market

Eifeh Strom — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 07:53:24 GMT

Artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) are driving the global semiconductor industry into a new expansion cycle, with fabs extending from Taiwan to the US, Japan, Singapore, and Europe. Demand is rising for facility engineering services, including hookup and equipment installation, and semiconductor engineering services provider Yaho System Technology (Yaho) is moving fast to capture this market.

Model fatigue, China's price pressure, and a profit horizon still years away

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 07:46:27 GMT

The AI industry's release calendar has compressed to the point where a single week can carry five frontier or near-frontier launches, but the acceleration is not a sign of confidence. It is a defensive reflex in a market where a rival's announcement can bury your own, where Chinese labs have closed most of the quality gap at a fraction of the price, and where neither the American nor the Chinese side of the race expects to earn back its spending for years.

Largan expects higher September output after sixth land acquisition

Yunnie Cheng — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 07:07:00 GMT

As the countdown to Apple's latest iPhone launch enters its final stretch, market attention is zeroing in on Taiwanese optical component suppliers. Leading lens maker Largan Precision reported its latest operating metrics on September 5, disclosing August revenue of NT$5.012 billion (approx. US$158.2 million)—up 3% month-over-month but down 16% year-over-year—marking a four-month high.

Inside K-Safety Expo 2026: AI is disappearing into safety — and that changes everything

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 07:06:21 GMT

By the final afternoon of K-Safety Expo 2026, after three days of threading my way through BEXCO's sprawling exhibition halls in Busan, one impression had become difficult to ignore: AI was no longer sitting beside the safety industry as an adjacent technology. It was increasingly becoming part of safety's definition.

Exclusive: Infineon COO says chip shortage recovery will take longer

Charlene Chen — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 05:58:30 GMT

Infineon COO Alexander Gorski told DIGITIMES in an exclusive interview at Semicon Taiwan 2026 that the current global chip shortage is unlike the one during Covid-19 and will take longer to resolve. He also discussed progress on Infineon's new Dresden plant, in-house manufacturing, outsourcing, and the company's global footprint.

Phison snaps up low-cost China NAND inventory, AI revenue share set to top 40%

Levi Li — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 05:53:17 GMT

Phison CEO K.S. Pua expects NAND Flash supply to remain tight into 2027 despite capacity expansion across major memory makers, arguing that forecasts of a rapid return to oversupply are "too naive."

NEC reportedly ends quantum computer hardware development, shifts focus to annealing

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 05:50:59 GMT

Japan's NEC has halted development of gate-based quantum-computer hardware, marking a strategic retreat from a field the company helped pioneer, while continuing to invest in quantum annealing and quantum-inspired computing services.

DeepSeek plans to buy 160,000 Huawei chips as China aims to wean itself off Nvidia

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 04:43:17 GMT

DeepSeek is reportedly planning to purchase 160,000 Huawei chips for its large 1 GW data center currently under construction in the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia. This would make it among the largest clusters of Huawei chips deployed to date, as the Chinese authorities attempt to wean the country off Nvidia chips, but still struggle with insufficient domestic manufacturing capacity.

Micron scores seventh PTAB win in YMTC patent fight

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 04:03:52 GMT

Micron Technology has scored a seventh favorable Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) outcome in its wide-ranging patent fight with China's Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC), while a separate set of challenges is moving through the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) reexamination process.

China smart driving chips hit bottlenecks in mass production, cost, in-house auto R&D

Yunnie Cheng — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 04:02:52 GMT

China's intelligent driving market is advancing rapidly, but the true trial has only just begun for domestic smart driving chipmakers.

China's power battery sector maintains strong growth momentum as global market presence expands

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 03:54:05 GMT

China's power battery industry has reported robust growth through the first seven months of 2026, driven by rising demand across both electric vehicles and stationary energy storage applications. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China (MIIT), cumulative sales of power batteries reached 790.4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) between January and July, representing a 37.1% year-over-year increase.

Exclusive: Taipower's new green power sandbox could ease TSMC's surplus electricity problem

Scarlett Yu — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 03:35:05 GMT

As global net-zero efforts accelerate, major technology companies are setting increasingly ambitious renewable energy targets. TSMC has pledged to reach RE60 by 2030 and RE100 by 2040.

Xiaomi warns of more India price hikes as AI squeezes the phone from both sides

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 03:33:08 GMT

The same AI boom that is filling handsets with new features is draining the memory supply that makes cheap phones possible—and in India, the world's second-largest smartphone market, buyers are paying for both. Xiaomi India's leadership told HT Tech that prices will keep climbing through the second half of 2026 as the global chip shortage persists, even as the company doubles down on AI features it says should be felt rather than seen.

Analysis: Under tariff threats, Taiwan chipmakers hedge beyond US

Jingyue Hsiao — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 03:06:27 GMT

Taiwanese companies are only at the start of a broader overseas investment cycle, as Washington signals possible new semiconductor tariffs and Taipei moves to deepen industrial links with Europe, Japan, and ASEAN. Officials say the island's chipmakers are responding to pressure from the US, while also broadening their global strategy to reduce risk and strengthen supply chains.

SK Hynix 1c DRAM production share to reach 34% by year-end ahead of HBM4E

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 02:59:46 GMT

SK Hynix is accelerating its shift to sixth-generation 10nm-class 1c DRAM, with the process expected to account for roughly 34% of its DRAM production by the fourth quarter as the company prepares for HBM4E and seeks greater cost efficiency.

Naura 3D DRAM etching breakthrough could give CXMT a new path beyond EUV

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 02:52:26 GMT

China's Naura Technology has demonstrated a selective etching process for 64-layer 3D DRAM structures, potentially giving domestic memory makers another route to raise transistor density while access to advanced EUV lithography remains restricted.

India's TCS unit secures land in Hyderabad for planned 1GW AI data center campus

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 02:40:59 GMT

HyperVault, a Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) subsidiary, has secured 264 acres in Hyderabad to build a large AI data center campus capable of reaching 1GW of capacity. The project could strengthen India's role in global artificial intelligence infrastructure, while influencing jobs, energy demand, and digital supply chains worldwide.

JM-Applied sees gas equipment demand surge on AI expansion, order book exceeds NT$3 billion

Eifeh Strom — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 02:22:09 GMT

JM-Applied, a Taiwanese semiconductor gas equipment manufacturer and supply chain member for Micron and TSMC, said on September 4 that revenue in the first half of 2026 exceeded NT$600 million (approx. US$18.98 million), up more than 50% year-over-year. Growth was driven by the continued demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC), which is driving global semiconductor expansion and boosting demand for gas supply systems and equipment at wafer fabs.

India says it cannot build electronics without China and has started easing the rules to prove it

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 02:00:42 GMT

India is selling its semiconductor build-out abroad as a hedge against an over-concentrated supply chain. The officials running it are unusually candid that the hedge cannot be built without the country it hedges against. Asked at a media briefing in Taipei on 4 September how New Delhi views the role of Chinese companies in India's chip and electronics supply chain, S. Krishnan, secretary of India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, opened with a line that would be politically awkward in most capitals: "We need to be realistic."

Anthropic IPO set to put AI governance under public-market scrutiny

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 01:57:53 GMT

Anthropic is moving toward a potential blockbuster stock-market debut this fall, but the company's unusual governance structure could become an important issue for investors alongside its growth prospects.

Huawei Kirin 2026 challenges 3D chip heat limits with Tau Scaling Law

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 01:45:34 GMT

Huawei is using measured data from its upcoming Kirin 2026 processor to challenge a key concern around vertically stacked logic: that higher transistor density inevitably brings more heat.

Chicony Power's August revenue dips as AI server and satellite demand strengthens

Jingyue Hsiao — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 01:39:18 GMT

Chicony Power Technology Co. said its August revenue slipped as a memory shortage hit demand for notebook power supplies. Still, stronger orders for AI server and satellite communications power signaled broader growth opportunities for global technology supply chains and future data center investment.

Foxconn revenue climbs on AI server demand, outlook improves

Jingyue Hsiao — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 01:32:44 GMT

Foxconn said August sales rose sharply from a year earlier as demand for AI servers and related hardware continued to lift its cloud and networking business. The latest update suggests the global electronics supply chain remains supported, even as investors closely watch shifts in trade, policy, and consumer demand.

Weekly news roundup: AI memory race heats up, Taiwan manufacturing rebounds, Nexperia rift deepens

DIGITIMES — Mon, 7 Sep 2026 00:57:28 GMT

AI infrastructure and semiconductor supply chains led reader interest this week, from Taiwan's manufacturing recovery and Nexperia's legal battle to Sandisk's HBF, Micron's HBM expansion, and Marvell's silicon photonics roadmap. Samsung also refreshed its smartphone lineup with the Galaxy S26 FE. Below are the most-read DIGITIMES stories from the week of August 31-September 06, 2026.

Eaton expands AI data center stack from grid to chip

Willis Ke — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:44:38 GMT

As AI data centers scale rapidly, Eaton is expanding beyond traditional power management into modular power deployment, next-generation DC conversion and liquid cooling, positioning itself to address infrastructure requirements from the electrical grid to AI chips.

Wah Lee sees faster growth in 2027 as supply stays tight

Sherri Wang — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:44:20 GMT

Wah Lee Industrial expects growth to accelerate in 2027 as advanced packaging capacity comes online and foundries continue building overseas fabs, while tight supplies of semiconductor materials and manufacturing equipment are likely to keep pricing elevated.

Every Chinese CPU maker grew in 1H26 but only one grew on processors

DIGITIMES — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:43:50 GMT

Revenue rose at every Chinese chip company examined in the first half of 2026 amid the domestic-substitution push, but the interim filings show three quite different businesses hiding under one label. One has reached real scale and is now funding its expansion from the balance sheet rather than from operations. One is repairing its margins on a genuinely homegrown instruction set at a fraction of the scale. And the cohort's most spectacular profit number is not a processor story at all.

Orphans of the liquid cooling age: xMEMS targets data center 'hot spots,' eyes 2027 smartphone and smartglasses cooling ports

DIGITIMES — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:43:24 GMT

As the world's most powerful enterprise data centers undergo a massive migration to liquid cooling to support high-power artificial intelligence processors, a Silicon Valley chipmaker is warning of a growing class of "thermal orphans"—localized, low-power components that are left out in the cold.

China's JCET seeks US$968M for AI-driven packaging expansion

DIGITIMES — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:42:48 GMT

JCET Group is preparing a CNY6.5 billion (approx. US$968 million) private share placement to expand advanced packaging and testing capacity across high-performance computing (HPC), power modules, wafer-level packaging and memory, sharpening its exposure to AI infrastructure and China's domestic semiconductor supply chain.

Dark fab cybersecurity: Why autonomous manufacturing needs zero trust

DIGITIMES — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:42:35 GMT

AI-driven automation is reshaping the cybersecurity requirements of semiconductor manufacturing, with zero-trust architecture, trusted data, and interoperable standards becoming increasingly important as fabs move toward more autonomous operations.

Exclusive: DIGITIMES' top 3 at K-Safety Expo 2026 shows where intelligent safety is heading — act 'before' disaster strikes

DIGITIMES — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:42:00 GMT

The most consequential safety technologies are often judged by what happens after something goes wrong: how fast an alarm sounds, how quickly rescuers arrive, or how effectively protective equipment limits injury.

No foundry price relief before 2027 as utilization nears 90%

DIGITIMES — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:41:36 GMT

AI demand is driving a broader repricing cycle across the foundry industry in 2026. Tightness that began at leading-edge nodes is spreading into mature and specialty processes, lifting wafer prices, utilization and downstream chip costs.

SiliconAuto pushes AI chiplets as automotive SoC ties tighten

Lily Hess — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:40:40 GMT

Taiwanese automotive microcontroller (MCU) maker SiliconAuto showcased its products at SEMICON Taiwan 2026, with CEO Gene Liu saying the company is now spotlighting AI chiplet architecture for automotive and industrial edge AI as carmakers seek more flexible chip designs.

Taiwan-Netherlands silicon photonics team targets 1.6T DR8 in 2026, 3.2T optical links next

Levi Li — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:40:22 GMT

AI data center demand is accelerating the shift to faster optical interconnects, putting transmission speed, power efficiency, and packaging integration at the center of next-generation optical communications. Taiwan's Ligitek Electronics and Liverage Technology are working with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and Dutch photonic chip packaging specialist Phix on a cross-border silicon photonics program targeting phased milestones of 1.6T DR8 by the end of 2026 and 3.2T product development by the end of 2027.

Pegatron, Deloitte Taiwan team up to speed smart manufacturing

DIGITIMES — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:39:57 GMT

Pegatron announced on September 3 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Deloitte Taiwan, combining Pegatron's self-developed enterprise AI digital twin platform with Deloitte's consulting expertise in AI strategy, governance, and implementation to offer corporate clients a one-stop AI solution from planning to deployment.

Experts say subsidies can't buy semiconductor competitiveness

Lily Hess — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:39:25 GMT

At a forum jointly hosted by DSET and SEMI during SEMICON Taiwan this year, Glenn D. Tiffert of the Hoover Institution, Kioxia Holdings board member Emiko Higashi, and NRC reporter Marc Hijink offered views on national semiconductor policy from the perspectives of the US policy community, corporate boardrooms, and Europe's industrial front line.

AI is driving force behind 'Moore's Law on steroids,' says Merck's Benjamin Hein

Kevin Wang — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:38:56 GMT

AI is driving a new wave of technological demand and changing how the semiconductor industry innovates, according to Benjamin Hein, member of the executive board and CEO of the Electronics Business Sector at Merck. As AI becomes an integral part of semiconductor innovation, future competitive advantages in the industry will depend less on any single process or material, but rather on the ability to combine materials, processes, packaging, metrology, and software into complete processes. In this sense, AI-driven growth in the semiconductor industry is like "Moore's Law on steroids," and collaboration will become the industry's next Moore's Law.

AI racks move toward MW scale as power, cooling converge

Lily Hess — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:38:33 GMT

As AI computing power surges, the energy consumption of AI servers has become a major bottleneck that must be solved. The issue is spreading from chips into power delivery systems as Nvidia's AI racks ramp up, rapidly pushing up the power draw of a single AI rack.

Machine builders flood SEMICON 2026 to grow local chip tools

Charlene Chen — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:38:07 GMT

Taiwan's machinery industry is pushing to turn its semiconductor advantage into a domestic equipment supply chain, as more than 100 member companies join SEMICON Taiwan 2026 and the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI) calls for broader industry upgrading. The association voiced that appeal at a forum on September 3, saying Taiwan should leverage its semiconductor strength to lift traditional industries and continue nurturing a homegrown semiconductor equipment supply chain without relying on overseas sources.

India roundup: India expands chip ambitions with full Semicon 2.0 notification

DIGITIMES — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:37:39 GMT

India's technology sector is gaining momentum across semiconductors, connectivity, AI payments, PCs, tablets and refurbished smartphones, as policy support and local manufacturing attract investment. However, supply-chain diversification, margin pressure, cautious demand and VinFast's manufacturing pause highlight challenges facing India's broader technology ambitions.

Acer hedges memory price shock with local AI, diversification

Charlene Chen — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:37:11 GMT

Acer Chairman and CEO Jason Chen said Taiwan is not only a global hub for AI hardware manufacturing and technology, but also an important source of capital, as many firms issue bonds to raise funds. He said Acer has already issued bonds worth NT$20 billion (US$630.7 million), adding that "Taiwan's money" is not only benefiting the local market but is spreading around the world.

China NEV imports sink as local brands crowd out foreign cars

AI bot — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 23:36:42 GMT

China’s new energy vehicle import market continued to shrink in July, hitting its lowest level since 2026, as foreign automakers localize production and Chinese brands keep expanding their share. China imported just 125 battery electric vehicles in the month, equal to only four cars a day entering the market.

BenQ Materials targets CPO in semiconductor push

DIGITIMES — Sun, 6 Sep 2026 01:19:00 GMT

BenQ Materials Group has formally positioned semiconductor materials as a key future growth driver, using its existing coating, membrane, foaming, and adhesive technologies to move into wafer manufacturing, back-end packaging, and co-packaged optics (CPO). With chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) cleaning brush rollers and wafer dicing tape already shipping, the group views 2026 as a new starting point for its semiconductor business, with more visible growth expected from 2027.