DIGITIMES: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

Chip revenue heads to US$2.4 trillion on price, not volume, Yole says

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 17:34:00 GMT

The semiconductor industry is on track to nearly quadruple in revenue by 2031 while shipping barely more silicon than it does today, a divergence that makes pricing power, not capacity, the defining variable of the AI buildout.

AI data centers give idle EV battery capacity a second life

Levi Li — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 17:32:00 GMT

Slowing EV growth in North America, tariffs, and policy restrictions are pushing automakers and battery suppliers to repurpose idle capacity. At the same time, surging power demand and grid volatility from generative AI data centers are lifting demand for battery energy storage systems (BESS), making energy storage a key diversification market alongside defense, drones, and humanoid robots.

Research Insight: Google scales TPU systems to 1 million chips as power becomes the bottleneck

Sherri Wang — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 16:55:00 GMT

At SEMICON Taiwan 2026, Google outlined the direction of its AI infrastructure, and DIGITIMES notes that the discussion extended well beyond its next-generation TPU. Rather than focusing on a single chip, Google described how it links large numbers of TPUs into an integrated computing system spanning compute clusters, data centers, and ultimately multiple data centers, while also addressing the power constraints that emerge as the system continues to scale.

Amodei's AI slowdown call is unlikely to dent chip demand, industry sources say

Jingyue Hsiao — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 16:50:00 GMT

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's call to slow frontier AI development has stirred debate over safety, but chip industry sources say global demand for AI infrastructure is likely to keep rising. For readers worldwide, the larger issue is not whether AI spending stops, but how quickly it spreads across clouds, devices, and industries.

iPhone Duo's identity shapes Apple's foldable strategy

Jingyue Hsiao — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 16:30:00 GMT

Apple's first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, is drawing close attention as analysts forecast shipments of 5 million to 6 million units by year-end. The device could make Apple the world's second-largest foldable phone supplier, behind Samsung Electronics, and shape how global consumers and rivals view future foldable screens.

DIGITIMES Insight: Intel may lack a price edge over TSMC on SK Hynix HBM base dies

Sherri Wang — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 16:15:00 GMT

SK Hynix is reportedly considering Intel as an additional manufacturing source for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) base dies beginning with the HBM4E generation, a move that could reduce its reliance on TSMC and give the memory maker greater supply and cost flexibility.

Charts: Memory has held six of the ten fastest-growing spots in Taiwan's chip sector for seven straight months

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 16:15:00 GMT

Of the 94 listed Taiwanese semiconductor companies DIGITIMES tracks, 80 grew year-over-year in August 2026 and 14 declined. Median year-over-year growth was 27%. Sixty-three of the 94 posted faster year-over-year growth in August than in July, when the median was 21%.

Astera Labs targets the KV cache bottleneck as agentic AI outgrows GPU memory

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 13:30:34 GMT

Astera Labs has added three products to its Leo memory controller line, aimed at a problem that arises as AI inference shifts from single queries to agents that run continuous loops: the key-value cache outgrows the HBM on the accelerator, and the usual fallback makes things worse.

Airbus weighs supplier stakes to relieve aerospace parts bottlenecks

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:57:00 GMT

Airbus is monitoring parts lead times across its supply chain and said direct equity stakes in, or takeovers of, subcontractors could be used in extreme cases to prevent supply disruptions. The comments came as the global aerospace industry continues to face bottlenecks in engines, cabin interiors and other critical components.

The Boring lands US$3 billion from UAE investors, fueling Musk's underground transit dream

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 11:01:06 GMT

Even as he leads SpaceX through the largest IPO in history and rolls out Tesla's Cybercab robotaxi fleet in Austin, Texas, Elon Musk has not let go of his ambitions for underground tunnel transportation, continuing to push forward the tunnel-drilling business of his company The Boring.

Tesla's rare-earth-free Cybercab challenges China's grip on EV magnets

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:28:54 GMT

With Tesla's EV ambitions growing amid a years-long push toward full electrification, the deployment of the Cybercab has emerged as a major experiment testing the boundaries of autonomous driving.

How AI real-world deployment is rewriting IPC business models

Yunnie Cheng — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:22:26 GMT

Mega-construction projects currently underway across the US, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan are heavily concentrated in two main sectors: semiconductor fabs and automated warehousing/logistics hubs. This trend underscores how AI applications have moved beyond theoretical concepts into physical deployment.

Apple's foldable debut set to further widen Samsung Display's OLED lead

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:21:36 GMT

Samsung Display could emerge as one of the biggest supply-chain beneficiaries of Apple's entry into foldable smartphones, as the Korean panel maker already accounts for about two-thirds of global foldable smartphone panel shipments, with Apple set to become a major new source of demand.

High-capacity memory shortages worsen: Team Group reveals edge AI strategy amid rising price pressures

Yunnie Cheng — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:20:43 GMT

As memory shortages worsen, Team Group is aggressively deepening its footprint in the industrial control market. Vice general manager Shao-An Hsia noted that with AI applications accelerating their expansion from the cloud to the edge, industrial and edge system manufacturers must pivot away from competing head-on with cloud giants for component supply. Instead, they need to rely on flexible specification adjustments and specialized hardware protection technologies. In driving edge AI adoption, memory suppliers will serve as "icebreakers" during the commercialization process.

Murata considers bigger MLCC expansion as AI server demand extends beyond 2028

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:15:51 GMT

Murata Manufacturing is considering a new, potentially larger expansion of multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) capacity beyond its existing investment plans, as demand from AI servers is expected to remain strong through the end of the decade.

AI servers are eating MLCC capacity, and Chinese suppliers are taking what's left

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 08:59:13 GMT

AI servers are reshaping the global multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) market. Murata Manufacturing and Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEMCO) are steering limited capacity toward high-value server components, tightening conventional supply, lifting prices, and creating an opening for Chinese suppliers in PCs.

China's Guoxin Micro buys its way into power-chip manufacturing

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 08:58:52 GMT

Unigroup Guoxin Microelectronics plans to acquire WeEn Semiconductors for CNY1.9 billion (≈ US$283 million), giving the Chinese specialty IC supplier in-house wafer manufacturing and a faster route into power semiconductors.

MediaTek unveils first 2nm chip to run 30 billion AI models on phones arriving this quarter

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 08:34:19 GMT

MediaTek has become the first merchant silicon vendor to announce a 2-nanometer smartphone processor, unveiling the Dimensity 9600 Pro on Tuesday as the industry races to run heavy artificial intelligence models entirely within the thermal and memory envelopes of a handheld device.

Interview: Corning sees CPO, glass core as new semiconductor battlegrounds

Yunnie Cheng — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 08:27:50 GMT

As artificial intelligence applications accelerate, surging global semiconductor demand is pushing advanced packaging, co-packaged optics (CPO), glass core substrates (GCS), and fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP) to the forefront of industry attention. Corning is expanding its footprint across the semiconductor supply chain by leveraging its core strengths in advanced glass formulations and optical fiber technologies, collaborating closely with value-chain partners to navigate next-generation technological shifts.

Wiwynn deepens US AI server footprint with US$1.6 billion Texas manufacturing hub

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 08:17:00 GMT

Wiwynn has officially opened its advanced manufacturing facility in Socorro, Texas, deepening the Taiwan-based server maker's US footprint. The move comes as booming AI infrastructure demand drives cloud service providers and their suppliers toward more localized North American production.

South Korea updates AI safeguards as Microsoft sets shutdown rules

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 08:09:46 GMT

South Korea is updating its artificial intelligence security guidance as companies deploy AI agents capable of operating with limited human supervision, while Microsoft is proposing model-level rules requiring its systems to remain subject to human interruption and shutdown.

BYD's 2027 triple play could rewrite the EV race

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 08:03:24 GMT

BYD is lining up solid-state batteries, faster charging, and higher-level automated driving around 2027, potentially removing several of the remaining barriers separating electric vehicles from gasoline cars.

China optical transceivers avoid US FCC curbs as NPO, CPO battle for high-speed interconnect supremacy

Yunnie Cheng — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 08:00:43 GMT

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently updated its equipment authorization rules, prohibiting authorization of devices incorporating certain logic-bearing hardware components produced by entities on its Covered List. However, the rules did not directly target data center optical transceivers, offering China's optical communications supply chain a temporary reprieve.

Micron's record Taiwan payout fails to end union demand for 15% of profits

Levi Li — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:53:43 GMT

Micron Technology's Taiwan union is pressing for a permanent profit-sharing formula despite the US memory chipmaker announcing its largest employee rewards package to date, leaving a labour dispute unresolved ahead of further negotiations.

Beyond H100: China's GPU makers chase scale, not just parity

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:43:49 GMT

China's domestic GPU industry is entering a tougher phase: matching high-end accelerator performance is no longer enough. Vendors must now combine competitive chips with interconnects, software stacks, and clusters capable of training increasingly large AI models.

DIGITIMES Insight: AI sends the semiconductor market toward US$1.6T, with memory doing the heavy lifting

Levi Li — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:27:00 GMT

DIGITIMES Intelligence forecasts the global semiconductor market will expand from US$791.7 billion in 2025 to US$1.6 trillion in 2026, representing year-on-year growth of 109.1%.

China's humanoid robot race, Part 1: Mass production outruns proven demand

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:16:45 GMT

China's humanoid robot industry is moving from prototypes to industrial production. The next test is no longer whether robots can be built at scale, but whether they can work reliably and cheaply enough to make that scale economically viable.

Minebea Mitsumi pauses M&A to chase AI hardware demand

Charlene Chen — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:16:00 GMT

Minebea Mitsumi has halted its push for new acquisitions and is shifting resources toward producing ball bearings, motors and actuators for AI hardware, as demand tied to data centers, humanoid robots and Nvidia components accelerates.

China elevates HBM and HBF in five-year plan, opening a new front in AI memory

Levi Li — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 06:55:00 GMT

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) have jointly released the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Electronic Information Manufacturing Industry. For the first time, the plan identifies high-bandwidth flash memory and high-bandwidth memory as priority areas for next-generation memory research.

Samsung's Cheonan plant reallocates packaging capacity from Exynos to HBM

Yunnie Cheng — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 06:45:00 GMT

Samsung Electronics is accelerating the restructuring of its semiconductor packaging footprint. Its Cheonan facility is gradually phasing out packaging operations for the Exynos mobile application processor (AP), and repurposing the equipment for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production.

BIS blocks Polestar authorization, forcing new vehicles out of US market from 2027

Scarlett Yu — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 06:33:56 GMT

Polestar, the Swedish electric vehicle (EV) brand backed by Geely Holding, is facing a major restructuring of its US operations. In its first-half 2026 financial report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 3, Polestar said the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) had denied its application for specific authorization under US connected vehicle regulations.

Global semiconductor revenue hits record US$425B in 2Q26

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 06:28:45 GMT

Global semiconductor revenue reached a record US$425 billion in the second quarter of 2026, surging 31.4% quarter-over-quarter, as AI demand and strong memory pricing continued to drive the market, according to research firm Omdia.

Samsung, SK Hynix diverge on cell design for sub-10nm DRAM in 2028

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 06:22:36 GMT

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are preparing to move DRAM below the 10nm threshold in 2028, with the two memory makers pursuing different cell structures as conventional scaling becomes increasingly difficult.

GlobalWafers partially resumes Italy plant, restarts EPI production

Charlene Chen — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 06:16:02 GMT

GlobalWafers announced on September 14 that recovery work is continuing at its Novara plant in Italy following a fire that broke out on the facility's 8-inch line on July 20, 2026, local time. The site has formally begun a partial resumption of operations, with overall recovery running slightly ahead of the original schedule.

China's space-computing race moves beyond single satellites: Shanghai's gigawatt-scale AI ambition lands in orbit

DIGITIMES — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 06:04:42 GMT

While the US showcases its strength as one of the world's established space powers — reinforced by SpaceX's growing dominance in satellite connectivity — a quieter but equally ambitious force is accelerating half a world away: China's push to build integrated, fully networked orbital infrastructure that goes beyond single-satellite launches.