DIGITIMES: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

TSMC raises 2027 chip prices, giving Intel fresh pricing room

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 02:54:21 GMT

TSMC's planned 2027 wafer price increases are reinforcing confidence that AI chip demand remains strong while prompting fresh discussion over whether Intel and other semiconductor companies will gain greater flexibility to adjust their own pricing.

'Don't panic about Kimi K3': Jensen Huang claims everyone got the logic backwards

Joseph(C) Chen — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 02:50:33 GMT

The AI industry may be riding a wave of momentum, but two clouds have recently unsettled the outlook: growing public opposition to data center construction across the United States, and a dramatic leap in the rankings by Chinese-developed model Kimi K3, which has renewed fears of AI overinvestment. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang addressed both concerns directly on July 21.

Nvidia details AI rack strategy with Vera Rubin NVL72 and custom Vera CPU

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 02:33:53 GMT

Nvidia's newly detailed Vera Rubin NVL72 is being pitched less as a faster chip and more as a cheaper unit of AI output. This shift matters most for the power-constrained data centers now defining the ceiling of the industry's growth. In its July 21 announcement, Nvidia said the rack-scale system delivers roughly 10 times more tokens per megawatt than its current Grace Blackwell NVL72, and about one-tenth the cost per million tokens of the GB200 NVL72. This framing positions electricity, not silicon, as the scarce resource.

Microsoft's multibillion-dollar Mistral deal gives regulated industries European alternative to US-controlled AI

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 02:28:08 GMT

Microsoft's decision to pour billions of dollars into Mistral's European compute base is less about adding another model to Azure than about answering a question that has grown loud across the region's boardrooms and ministries: can enterprises run frontier AI without ceding control of their data to US-operated infrastructure?

Memory price surge may soften 2026 smartphone shipment declines

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 02:21:51 GMT

Rising memory prices and higher costs for other key upstream components are forcing smartphone brands to reduce mid- and low-end models this year, but handset makers said the demand hit may not be as severe as expected. Industry players said global smartphone shipments could still fall in 2026, though the decline may narrow to a single-digit percentage as higher average selling prices lift total sales value.

Chinese equipment makers win early production orders as TGV packaging moves beyond the lab

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 02:17:22 GMT

Chinese semiconductor equipment suppliers are beginning to secure production orders for through-glass via (TGV) manufacturing tools, marking a shift from prototype validation toward commercial deployment as the industry moves to develop glass substrates for next-generation AI chip packaging.

Siemens to acquire Precision Innovations for AI-powered chip planning

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 02:06:57 GMT

Siemens said it has agreed to buy Precision Innovations in a deal that would add AI-powered chip planning tools to its electronic design automation business. The move could affect how semiconductor teams worldwide plan, test, and refine system-on-chip designs as complexity rises and development cycles come under pressure.

Intel and Fortinet deepen collaboration on new security processor

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 01:53:34 GMT

Intel and Fortinet have expanded their long-standing partnership to develop the Fortinet Security Processor 6 (SP6), a move expected to shape how cybersecurity hardware is designed, produced, and distributed globally. The effort is also intended to make the supply chain for critical security chips more resilient, potentially benefiting enterprises, governments, and consumers worldwide.

WAIC 2026: Enflame debuts China's first glass-based CoPoS AI chip sample

Levi Li — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 01:52:34 GMT

Chinese AI chip developer Enflame said at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2026 that it had jointly showcased an AI chip sample with Shanghai Xianfeng Technology using glass-based Chip-on-Panel-on-Substrate (CoPoS) panel-level advanced packaging.

Moonshot AI reportedly eyes Hong Kong listing as Kimi K3 narrows China's AI gap

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 01:52:28 GMT

A funding-and-listing push by Beijing-based Moonshot AI signals that China's frontier-model race is spilling over into the capital markets, with implications for global AI valuations, the open-weight debate, and Nvidia's China-exposed customers.

Pegatron CEO: Taiwan's space industry is 85% there — the rest is up to govt

Joseph(C) Chen — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 01:30:00 GMT

As geopolitical tensions push strategic industries from AI and semiconductors into space, Pegatron Chairman T.H. Tung said Taiwan is ready to compete. Speaking on July 21, Tung said Taiwan's satellite component self-sufficiency rate has climbed above 85%, and that scaling up production would drive down costs and unlock economies of scale.

WAIC 2026: Biren's 1,024-GPU NPO super node sharpens China's AI infrastructure race

Levi Li — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 01:28:55 GMT

Chinese GPU developer Biren Technology unveiled a next-generation near-packaged optics (NPO) super node at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2026, targeting the growing computing demands of large language models and AI agents.

Kimi K3 sparks new 'DeepSeek moment,' reshaping AI's winners and losers

Levi Li — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 01:15:54 GMT

Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup Moonshot AI launched its next-generation Kimi K3 model on July 17, delivering performance comparable with leading models from OpenAI and Anthropic on several critical tasks at only a fraction of the cost.

China smartphone shipments fall 3% in first half as Huawei regains No. 1

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 01:03:29 GMT

China smartphone shipments fell about 3% in the first half of 2026, even as major vendors accelerated new product launches and pushed harder into mid- to high-end models to protect margins. Huawei reclaimed the No. 1 market share position in China, while Apple and other rivals prepared new devices for the second half, according to the source material.

South Koreans back tougher penalties for technology leak cases

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 01:02:30 GMT

A nationwide survey in South Korea found overwhelming support for stronger punishment and broader economic security measures to address overseas leakage of core technologies, including semiconductors. The poll, released by the Korea Employers Federation and reported by Yonhap and Aju Daily, comes as the country's advanced industries play an outsized role in the economy.

Taiwan tariff uncertainty slows US car sales and opens a window for local brands

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 01:01:00 GMT

Rumors of a possible zero-tariff deal for US-made cars in Taiwan have kept buyers and dealers in wait-and-see mode for months, with pricing and sales plans for imported vehicles still unresolved. The standoff has also created a potential opening for domestic automakers as consumers delay replacement purchases.

Taiwan auto market sees 2H26 recovery as sales and promotions improve

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 01:00:23 GMT

Taiwan's new-car market showed signs of recovery in the first half of 2026, with June sales rising more than 20% year on year and monthly volume returning to the level seen in the same period of 2024. Domestic automakers said the market was moving back onto a growth track as the second half of 2026 began, helped by stronger promotions, several mainstream SUV launches and a softer impact from tariff concerns.

Taiwan chip supply chain faces tighter green power pressure from Apple and Google

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:55:58 GMT

Taiwan's semiconductor supply chain is facing mounting pressure to secure enough green electricity as Apple and Google push suppliers to meet net-zero requirements. The strain is rippling from end customers to foundries such as TSMC and then through upstream and downstream vendors, raising fresh concerns over the island's ability to provide affordable and sufficient clean power.

Pentagon moves to expand titanium and magnesium stockpiles for defense supply security

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:55:11 GMT

The Pentagon has stepped up its review of wartime shortages in key raw materials, issuing two Requests for Information on July 14 through the Defense Logistics Agency's Warstopper Program. The effort seeks input from metal suppliers on titanium and magnesium usage, annual demand, lead times and stockpiling methods as Washington examines whether US defense production could continue if foreign supply chains were disrupted.

Supermicro's record US$60 billion orders, tied to SpaceX, overshadow soft revenue

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:44:06 GMT

Supermicro's preliminary fourth-quarter results suggest the server maker's bet on rack-scale AI infrastructure is beginning to pay off in profitability, not just volume — and that a new class of "neocloud" buyers led by Elon Musk's SpaceX is reshaping its order book. The company said on Tuesday that it took in more than US$60 billion in new orders during the quarter ended June, driving its backlog to a record, even as revenue came in soft.

Apple and Samsung drive foldables toward 4:3 displays as market enters next design cycle

Scarlett Yu — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:40:41 GMT

The global foldable smartphone market is entering a new product cycle as Apple prepares to debut its first foldable iPhone and Samsung Electronics reportedly reshapes its foldable portfolio around a wider display format. The simultaneous shift by the industry's two largest premium smartphone brands could accelerate the adoption of a new form factor, with the 4:3 aspect ratio emerging as the next battleground in foldable device design.

Xiaomi raises 2026 phone target as memory prices strain brands

Lily Hess — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:39:26 GMT

China's smartphone market is seeing a shift in demand trends. Xiaomi has reportedly raised its full-year 2026 smartphone shipment target from about 90 million units to 110 million, a roughly 16% increase, as the company expects consumer memory prices to be near a sustainable peak and close to reversing.

Samsung expands Nvidia ties as AI inference drives NAND demand

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:39:14 GMT

Samsung Electronics is expanding its Nvidia relationship into NAND flash as AI inference creates demand for high-capacity enterprise storage.

Memory shortage to worsen in 2027 as AI inference strains supply, Silicon Motion CEO says

Sherri Wang — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:39:01 GMT

The global memory shortage will worsen in 2027 and may not begin to ease until the second half of 2028, with prices likely to remain elevated for the next two to three years, according to Wallace Kou, president and CEO of Silicon Motion.

Moonshot AI welcomes Musk challenge as enterprise API revenue hits 70%

Joseph(C) Chen — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:38:43 GMT

Chinese AI startup Moonshot AI said it welcomes competition from the world's top model developers after Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested his in-training 2-trillion-parameter model could "possibly surpass Kimi." The company also disclosed that roughly 70% of its business-to-business revenue now comes from API services, underscoring the growing weight of enterprise customers in its commercialization strategy.

China weighs stricter AI and chip export curbs after Kimi K3 benchmark win

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:38:29 GMT

China is considering tighter export controls on artificial intelligence and semiconductor technologies amid intensifying competition with the US in frontier AI. The proposed measures, reported by Financial Times, would also target overseas acquisitions of advanced technology startups and could appear in the next revision of Beijing's export control catalogue.

Anthropic wins approval for US$1.5 billion copyright settlement with authors

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:38:15 GMT

Anthropic has secured court approval for a US$1.5 billion settlement to resolve a major copyright lawsuit brought by authors over training its Claude chatbot on unauthorized works. The agreement, approved by a US District Court judge, was described as the largest copyright settlement in US history.

AI infrastructure spending is reshaping Southeast Asia's PCB supply chain

Jingyue Hsiao — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:37:58 GMT

Rising investment in AI servers, high-speed networking, and satellite communications is accelerating a shift in Southeast Asia's electronics industry. Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia are moving beyond traditional consumer device assembly and building a deeper regional ecosystem for printed circuit boards, advanced substrates, and semiconductor-related manufacturing.

Taiwan's looming AI literacy gap risks fueling misinformation

Rodney Chan — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:37:39 GMT

Academia Sinica has warned that the rapid spread of AI could create broader social risks if people lack the basic knowledge needed to judge whether AI-generated information is true. As Taiwan's highest academic institution, it is preparing an AI policy proposal to help inform policymaking, according to Academia Sinica president Chien-Jen Chen.

Microsoft evaluates Kimi K3 for Copilot to lower inference costs

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:37:25 GMT

Microsoft is evaluating Moonshot AI's open-source Kimi K3 model for some Copilot functions as it looks for lower-cost alternatives to OpenAI and Anthropic systems. According to The Information, the software company has already started adding Kimi K3 to Azure while its engineering teams assess whether the model can be used in Copilot.

Analysis: Why Taiwan solar makers' overseas push is hitting a cloudy patch

Jingyue Hsiao — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:35:13 GMT

Taiwan's solar manufacturers are looking beyond the island for growth as China's oversupplied solar sector keeps prices low, local approvals in Taiwan slow project rollouts, and global energy markets stay volatile. Their push highlights risks for global clean-power buyers, who still face cost pressure, grid constraints, and shifting technology priorities.

TSMC's Arizona capex draws Taiwanese capital, with J&V Energy staking US$88M on land for spillover gains

Charlene Chen — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:35:00 GMT

TSMC continues to expand its investment in Arizona, accelerating not only the relocation of semiconductor equipment and materials suppliers to the US, but also attracting Taiwan's capital markets into the region.

OpenAI chair says enterprise AI will shift from token costs to outcomes

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:34:38 GMT

OpenAI Chair Bret Taylor said businesses will soon stop closely tracking token costs as artificial intelligence spending management becomes more automated. Speaking to CNBC, he said third-party providers are already taking over that work and predicted that corporate IT teams will focus more on industry-specific use cases and outcome-based pricing within 12 months.

Tesla's EV platform powers Optimus scale production edge

Lily Hess — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:34:24 GMT

Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus is set to begin mass production at the end of July, according to supply chain sources. Tesla previously retooled an electric vehicle production line in just 46 days to support the new robot, underscoring how seriously it views humanoid robots as a key growth direction.

Japan weighs new standards post to gain an edge in AI and chips

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:34:11 GMT

Japan is considering creating a senior government position to coordinate international standardization across ministries and industry, as Tokyo seeks to convert a sweeping investment drive into a stronger global position for Japanese companies in artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors and other strategic technologies.

'Two companies, one business': how Zeiss and ASML are riding the AI boom to dominate EUV

Lily Hess — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:33:59 GMT

Zeiss, the exclusive supplier of ASML's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) optical systems, says the two companies operate as though they were one business. The comment comes as ASML's results for the second quarter of 2026 beat expectations, with the lithography equipment maker lifting its full-year outlook again. Zeiss Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (SMT) President and CEO Frank Rohmund said the strong ASML report is good news for Zeiss as well, underscoring a partnership that has become deeply intertwined.

GLT helps Smobio Technology scale biotech materials for global orders

Eifeh Strom — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:33:32 GMT

Smobio Technology, a strategic investment of Global Lighting Technologies (GLT), will officially list on Taiwan's Emerging Stock Board on July 24. The company's precast gel products have gained interest from international biotech companies, and it is actively discussing opportunities for private-level collaborations.

Interview: Why agentic AI could be SiPearl's biggest break—and Europe's

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:33:20 GMT

Philippe Notton has spent nearly 20 years traveling to Taiwan roughly once a month. That rhythm—born from his time at MStar Semiconductor and deepened across four companies on three continents—shaped how he thinks about building chips, building companies, and building Europe's only independent advanced CPU business.

Taiwan nuclear debate heats up as Academia Sinica leaves door open to research

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:33:03 GMT

Taiwan lawmakers and Pegatron chairman Tung Tzu-hsien are stepping up calls for nuclear power to strengthen the island's energy resilience, while Academia Sinica said it currently lacks an in-house nuclear power research program but remains open to working with outside research teams.

Academia Sinica quantum chip platform targets production by end of 2026

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:30:44 GMT

Academia Sinica said its quantum chip fabrication platform in Tainan is moving through equipment calibration and is expected to start producing quantum chips by the end of 2026. The institute also said its larger quantum technology laboratory building is still under construction and is scheduled to open in 2028.

Ablecom expands Taoyuan capacity to meet rising AI server rack demand

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:30:28 GMT

Ablecom Technology said it is expanding production capacity in Taoyuan, Taiwan, as demand grows for AI high-density compute and hyperscale data center buildouts. The chassis and advanced thermal solutions supplier said output of its next-generation high-density server racks will increase by more than 1,000 units per month once new capacity ramps up.

Haesung DS lands CXMT as DDR5 substrate customer, weighs panel production for DDR6

DIGITIMES — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:53:26 GMT

Haesung DS has reportedly added China's CXMT as a customer for DDR5 package substrates as the South Korean supplier expands its DDR5 business and considers panel-based production for higher-layer-count products for the DDR6 generation.