DIGITIMES: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

Foxconn's profit growth outpaces capex; no equity raise planned for 2027 buildout

Joseph(C) Chen — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 10:03:03 GMT

Foxconn told investors on August 12 that its earnings are now growing faster than the spending required to expand AI server capacity — and that it can fund a bigger 2027 buildout without issuing new shares.

Electronic paper sheds niche label as ESL demand surges

Lily Hess — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 08:55:00 GMT

Electronic paper, once a niche technology overlooked by the display industry, is gaining momentum as E Ink continues to expand its applications from early e-book readers into electronic shelf labels (ESL). Riding the global retail digitalization wave, the technology is now driving rapid market growth.

Column: AI jailbreak incident highlights fresh demand for supply-chain resilience

Jingyue Hsiao — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 08:45:00 GMT

In July, an OpenAI AI agent model successfully bypassed safety restrictions during internal testing and even launched an automated cyberattack against Hugging Face, the world's largest open-source AI community platform, drawing intense attention. The incident, seen as the first publicly disclosed case of "AI attacking the AI ecosystem/platform," underscores how AI's rapid evolution is shifting cyber risk from "humans attacking systems" to "AI attacking AI."

OCP APAC 2026: Google says 48V hits wall as AI racks head toward megawatt scale

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 08:35:00 GMT

Google used its keynote at the OCP APAC Summit in Taipei on August 11 to argue that the 48V power architecture widely used in data centers is running out of headroom as AI racks move toward megawatt-scale designs, with converters and busbars taking up an increasing share of rack space as current rises. The summit is being held August 11–12 at TaiNEX2.

OCP APAC 2026: Ecosystem not yet ready for co-packaged optics, ASE's Nicole Tien warns

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 08:25:08 GMT

Co-packaged optics has become the inflection point for AI infrastructure, but the industry has not yet built the shared testing standards and simulation groundwork the technology needs, ASE senior technical program manager Nicole Tien said at the OCP APAC summit.

Manus breaks from Meta, returns to independence after China blocks US$2B AI deal

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 08:20:00 GMT

Chinese AI agent startup Manus is returning to independent operations, marking a concrete break from Meta months after Chinese regulators forced the US tech group to unwind its acquisition of the company.

OCP APAC 2026: AMD sees AI agents pushing CPU-GPU ratio toward 1:1

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 07:55:32 GMT

AMD expects the shift from chatbots to agentic AI to sharply increase CPU demand alongside GPU acceleration, potentially moving the traditional CPU-to-GPU ratio from roughly 1:4 toward 1:2 or even 1:1.

Aleees wins Tesla supply deal as new LFP plant eyes Tainan

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 07:55:00 GMT

Taiwanese lithium battery materials maker Aleees said it secured a 20-year supply contract with Tesla Inc. and plans to deliver at least 100,000 tons of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) precursor materials annually to support demand in the US market. The company is also searching for a new factory site, with Tainan emerging as the leading option.

Tesla emerges as biggest winner from Germany's EV subsidies, while China-made models gain ground

Scarlett Yu — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 07:45:00 GMT

Whether Germany's renewed electric vehicle (EV) subsidies are inadvertently helping Chinese brands accelerate their push into Europe has become a closely watched issue across the global auto industry.

OCP photonics panel warns CPO packaging is still unsettled as pluggables fade

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 07:35:00 GMT

Pluggable front-panel optics still own the market, but Arista co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim gave them a deadline at an OCP APAC panel here: the form factor reaches its physical limit at the 49.6T switch generation, roughly 18 months out.

Sercomm expands beyond broadband into 5G, edge AI and IoT as 2Q26 revenue hits record high

Willis Ke — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 07:00:00 GMT

Taiwan's Sercomm Corporation is repositioning itself for the next phase of network infrastructure demand by expanding beyond traditional broadband equipment into 5G, fixed wireless access (FWA), enterprise networking and IoT connectivity, areas expected to benefit from rising data traffic and AI-driven digitalization.

OCP APAC 2026: Nvidia SVP Shainer on taking CPO to mass production —'can't release something just because it's cool'

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 07:00:00 GMT

Nvidia's Spectrum-6 co-packaged optics (CPO) switches are in production and shipping, Gilad Shainer, senior vice president of networking at Nvidia, stated at the OCP APAC Summit 2026 — and the manufacturing chain behind them runs heavily through Taiwan.

Nvidia reportedly planning trillion-parameter Nemotron 4 in open-source push

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 06:55:00 GMT

Nvidia is intensifying its open-source strategy through its upcoming trillion-parameter model in the Nemotron 4 family, which is meant to compete with the world's leading open-source models, according to The Information. While this may put it in the awkward position of vying against its customers, the chipmaker's advocacy for open-source AI could see the company benefit from more chip sales across the board.

CXMT DDR5 yield tops 90%, narrowing gap with Samsung

Levi Li — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 06:45:00 GMT

China's leading DRAM maker CXMT has reportedly raised its DDR5 production yield above 90%, narrowing the gap with Samsung Electronics and strengthening its position in the global PC memory supply chain.

OCP APAC 2026: Cloud AI's growth hits a new bottleneck— networking, not compute

Charlene Chen — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 06:30:00 GMT

At the 2026 OCP APAC Summit, debate over networking architectures in cloud AI data centers sharpened as industry players said the main bottleneck is no longer compute; beyond memory, networking has become a key constraint on how far AI infrastructure can scale.

FocalTech expects demand to improve in the second half of 2026

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 06:20:00 GMT

Touch controller and display driver IC maker FocalTech Systems said it saw revenue regain quarter-on-quarter momentum in the second quarter of 2026 as the 618 shopping festival, new device launches, and stronger notebook and tablet demand lifted sales. The company, which held an investor briefing, said persistent memory price pressure and weak peak-season demand for high-end Android phones still kept revenue below 2025 levels.

OCP APAC 2026: Applied Materials exec calls for hardware co-optimization to solve AI power crisis

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 06:15:00 GMT

Speaking at the OCP APAC Summit in Taipei, Subi Kengeri, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Systems to Materials at Applied Materials, delivered a keynote warning that the artificial intelligence boom faces a critical bottleneck: energy efficiency.

Zhong Yang ramps up Thailand production as drone orders shift from China

Sherri Wang — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 06:05:00 GMT

Taiwan-based optical lens maker Zhong Yang Technology is benefiting from redirected orders from Europe and the US as customers seek alternatives to China-made components, a shift the company expects to drive sharp growth in its drone lens business through 2027.

SK Hynix reportedly revives China NAND expansion as YMTC and global rivals race to meet AI storage demand

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 06:05:00 GMT

SK Hynix is restarting a long-frozen expansion of its Dalian, China, NAND flash plant, adding capacity that will lift output at the site by roughly 50%. The move comes as the AI boom turns memory chips into one of the tightest-supplied components in the industry, according to the Seoul Economic Daily.

Tesla FSD faces key EU review over regulations and transparency

Rodney Chan — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 05:55:00 GMT

Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system has entered a critical stage in seeking European Union (EU) market approval, but the review has shifted from a technical issue into a broader European policy debate.

Intel's Israel fab stirs back to life, but case for 14A remains unconfirmed

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 05:52:24 GMT

Intel appears to be restarting work on Fab 38, its long-idle facility in Kiryat Gat, Israel, though how far the project will go — and whether it will ultimately run the company's bleeding-edge 14A process — remains speculative rather than confirmed.

Japan's US$430B 2040 chip plan hinges on Rapidus 2nm

Levi Li — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 05:40:03 GMT

Japan has drawn up a plan for more than JPY370 trillion (approx. US$2.33 trillion) in combined public and private investment across 17 strategic sectors, including AI and space, through fiscal 2040, which runs from April 2040 to March 2041.

OCP APAC 2026: Microsoft leans on Taiwan supply chain for 'silicon-to-systems' AI buildout

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 05:40:00 GMT

Microsoft sources roughly 70% of the hardware content in its cloud infrastructure from Taiwan and the wider Asia-Pacific region, executives said at the OCP APAC 2026 summit here. The company is shifting from buying discrete components to co-designing entire AI systems from the silicon up.

MediaTek, Realtek, Himax, Elan eye optical communications boom in 2027

Lily Hess — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 05:00:14 GMT

The use of optical communications in cloud AI data-center interconnect architectures is rising sharply, and Taiwan IC design firms including MediaTek, Realtek Semiconductor, Himax Technologies, and Elan Microelectronics are moving into the market from different angles, with mass production for their product lines all pointing to 2027.

Cash deposits reshape memory supply deals

Scarlett Yu — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 04:36:30 GMT

The global memory industry has embraced a new business model over the past two quarters. Memory manufacturers are not only signing multi-year supply agreements with customers, but also requiring substantial cash deposits or other financial commitments as guarantees against future demand.

Foxconn earnings call eyes four themes: AI racks, transaction models, Apple, EVs

Charlene Chen — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 04:29:50 GMT

Foxconn will hold its second quarter 2026 earnings call on the afternoon of August 12, as AI racks continue to ship and July consolidated revenue topped NT$900 billion (approx. US$27.9 billion) for the first time. Investors are expected to focus on the shipment pace of AI servers and racks, plus how changes in the underlying transaction model are reshaping the company's operating structure.

OCP APAC 2026: Nvidia, Broadcom diverge on how to scale AI networks beyond the rack

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 04:25:15 GMT

Nvidia and Broadcom outlined different paths for scaling AI networks at the OCP APAC Summit in Taipei on Aug. 11, as clusters expand from rack-scale systems to entire data centers and across multiple sites.

Supermicro defends margin outlook and order quality amid analyst scrutiny

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 04:13:20 GMT

Supermicro executives fielded a wave of questions from Wall Street analysts following the company's fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2026 earnings report. Much of the discussion centered on the sustainability of its gross margins, the composition of its record order backlog, and how the company is balancing rapid growth with profitability.

DB HiTek profit jumps 43% as TSMC, Samsung scale back 8-inch capacity

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 04:08:21 GMT

DB HiTek posted a 43% jump in second-quarter operating profit as tighter 8-inch foundry supply and stronger power semiconductor demand kept its fabs running near full capacity, with industry reports saying the company plans another round of price increases in the second half of 2026.

SpaceXAI launches Grok Bot as AI agent race shifts toward autonomous work

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 04:05:00 GMT

SpaceXAI has launched Grok Bot, an AI agent designed to take on workplace tasks and operate digital tools with limited human intervention, marking the company's latest move to push Grok beyond a conventional chatbot.

China's polysilicon makers draw cost floor after solar losses top US$1.9 billion

Levi Li — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 03:57:42 GMT

China's solar industry may be nearing a turning point after more than two years of price warfare, with major polysilicon producers drawing a line under below-cost sales.

Amazon builds 7.65 GW gas plant for Texas AI data center campus

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 03:55:00 GMT

Amazon is moving ahead with a dedicated gas-fired power plant for a new data center campus in Pecos County, Texas, as part of an effort to speed AI infrastructure deployment outside the state grid. The project, called GW Ranch, is designed to support behind-the-meter self-generation and avoid the interconnection delays that have slowed other power-heavy facilities.

Haechitech enters eSSD sensors as it prepares Kosdaq listing

DIGITIMES — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 03:40:00 GMT

South Korean sensor IC designer Haechitech is moving beyond smartphone compass chips into enterprise solid-state drive temperature sensors, with supply to a major South Korean memory maker set to begin in 2026. The shift would end a single-supplier setup previously dominated by Texas Instruments and give Haechitech a foothold in the data center and memory markets.

Nichidenbo sees MLCC supply tightness as AI pushes lead times to 36 weeks

Jingyue Hsiao — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 03:25:00 GMT

Passive component distributor Nichidenbo said supply of MLCCs and other products remains tight as AI servers and ASIC applications continue to grow, with lead times for some products stretching to 36 weeks. The company said manufacturers are shifting capacity toward high-end applications, crowding out standard-spec products.

OCP APAC 2026: TSMC says AI advanced packaging enters system-level battle

Charlene Chen — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 03:05:00 GMT

AI computing demand is rapidly driving up chip integration complexity, pushing advanced packaging competition beyond single-device performance and into overall reliability and validation at the packaging, board, system, and even rack levels. Speaking at the 2026 OCP APAC Summit keynote on August 11, 2026, TSMC Vice President of Advanced Packaging Technology and Service Jun He said AI systems now demand far higher quality, reliability, and development speed, making traditional component-only qualification insufficient and forcing 3DIC verification methods and development flows to be redefined from the system level.