DIGITIMES: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

AI memory windfall: Samsung to hand back up to US$79 billion in 2026

DIGITIMES — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 01:38:49 GMT

Samsung Electronics' board has approved a 2026 shareholder return plan estimated at KRW90 trillion to KRW110 trillion (approx. US$64-79 billion), which the company says is the largest ever by a Korean firm.

Automation Taipei 2026: If AI is advancing so fast, why is the factory floor still so hard to automate?

DIGITIMES — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 01:08:56 GMT

For all the extraordinary progress made by artificial intelligence, the physical world remains stubbornly difficult to automate.

Supermicro's internal probe clears senior management in export-control case

DIGITIMES — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 01:08:33 GMT

Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) said Thursday that an internal investigation run by its independent directors found no evidence that any current senior manager knew of an alleged scheme to divert export-controlled products — the conduct at the center of a March federal indictment of two Supermicro employees and a contractor.

America's launch boom runs into a capacity problem as White House targets 1,000 annual space launches

DIGITIMES — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 01:08:19 GMT

The US commercial space sector is entering a phase in which launching more rockets is no longer the only test of industrial scale. As flight cadence rises and multiple providers push toward higher throughput, the more difficult constraint is increasingly the infrastructure surrounding each mission.

Interview: Arbe Robotics on why radar is needed for autonomous driving and beyond

DIGITIMES — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 01:08:04 GMT

Autonomous driving technology is maturing, and a future in which cars entirely drive themselves is quickly approaching in the rearview mirror. Yet safety and trust remain crucial barriers to overcome before fully autonomous driving becomes a reality, and a key part of this is the "eyes" of the car.

Column: Lessons in supply chain resilience from China Huadian's power-compute coordination model

Willis Ke — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 01:07:40 GMT

As AI develops rapidly, data centers are driving equally rapid growth in electricity demand. The stability of future energy supplies will directly determine whether AI computing capacity can continue to expand.

Manz Asia says yield is key to glass core mass production

Charlene Chen — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 01:07:24 GMT

As AI chips continue to grow in size, the shift in advanced packaging from 300 mm wafers to square panels is becoming clearer, driving parallel development of new packaging technologies including FOPLP, CoPoS, and Glass Core. Manz Asia general manager Robert Lin said yield will determine whether Glass Core can move into mass production.

DS Technology shifts from custom automation to modular systems, eyes Brazil and Mexico

DIGITIMES — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:55:55 GMT

Taiwanese automation integrator DS Technology is shifting more of its highly customized robotic automation work toward standardized, modular systems as it seeks to make its technology easier to sell and deploy overseas, with prospective partners in Brazil and Mexico among its latest expansion targets.

China chip equipment maker Piotech posts 1,324% profit surge, advanced deposition scales up

DIGITIMES — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:45:00 GMT

Piotech Inc. reported a sharp rise in first-half 2026 earnings, helped by stronger demand for semiconductor deposition equipment, wider adoption of new process tools and improving economies of scale.

Broadcom reportedly eyes up to US$100B debt financing to expand AI chip push

DIGITIMES — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:20:00 GMT

Broadcom is in talks with asset managers to raise more than US$60 billion in debt financing, with the potential package reaching as much as US$100 billion, as the chipmaker moves to expand its role in the rapidly growing AI infrastructure market, according to Bloomberg.

Vecow eyes robotics growth as North America, EMEA account for 65% of business

DIGITIMES — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:16:53 GMT

Taiwan industrial computer supplier Vecow is stepping up its push into robotics and edge AI, with North America and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) together accounting for 65% of its business, Executive Vice President Joseph Huang said at Automation Taipei 2026 on August 21.

Ubtech expands humanoid push as Nvidia executives quietly visit WRC booth

Scarlett Yu — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:00:12 GMT

As the first publicly listed humanoid robot company, Ubtech Robotics is often referred to in China as the sector's "first humanoid robot stock." At the 2026 World Robot Conference (WRC) in Beijing, the company found itself sharing the spotlight with recently listed Unitree Robotics, as both showcased their latest humanoid platforms.

Top 4 CSPs boost AI infrastructure; volume ramping of 800G switches fuels Accton's growth

Yunnie Cheng — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Major global cloud service providers (CSPs) continue to scale up investments in AI infrastructure. According to the latest DIGITIMES research report, combined capital expenditures from Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta are projected to reach a record high of US$745 billion in 2026.

Hiwin expands into CPO optical coupling process; 2H26 robotics revenue outlook brightens

Yunnie Cheng — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 07:55:00 GMT

Hiwin Technologies Chairman Eric Y. T. Chuo stated that the company has supplied samples of miniature ball screws and single-axis robots to co-packaged optics (CPO) vendors across Taiwan and China for validation. Meanwhile, the timeline for its dual-arm logistics robot, originally scheduled for small-batch shipment in 2026, has been adjusted due to customer requirement changes. Hiwin expects to submit revised samples for testing in November.

Cambricon advances sixth-gen AI silicon, broadens support for DeepSeek, Qwen and GLM

Levi Li — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 07:55:00 GMT

Cambricon Technologies chairman and president Chen Tian-shi said the company's sixth-generation AI processor and instruction set remain under development, with the next-generation platform targeting large-model training and inference while improving programmability, ease of use, performance, power efficiency and chip area.

Huawei, China power giant Huaneng explore AI compute-power coordination

Levi Li — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 07:50:00 GMT

China Huaneng Group said on August 20 that chairman Wen Shugang and president Zhong Guodong recently visited Huawei in Shenzhen, where they met Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei to discuss potential cooperation in artificial intelligence, computing power and "compute-power coordination."

SK Chairman warns of 2027 memory shortage, ties expansion to long-term orders

Charlene Chen — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 07:40:00 GMT

SK Group Chairman Tae-Won Chey said in a recent interview with CNBC that memory demand is surging explosively and that the most severe "memory shortage" will hit in 2027. He also apologized to the market for the pace of memory chip price increases, saying the rapid rise is fueling chip inflation across the industry.

Lee Jae-myung meets SK chief Chey Tae-won with US chip investment pressure in focus

DIGITIMES — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 06:32:37 GMT

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has begun a fresh round of talks with the country's leading business figures, starting with a private dinner with SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, at a time when semiconductor investment, artificial intelligence and US demands for more local manufacturing are becoming increasingly intertwined.

Research Insight: Upstream memory giants eye threefold 2026 revenue as 2027 capacity eases price surge

Jingyue Hsiao — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 06:24:31 GMT

The global memory market is entering a sharp upcycle as cloud providers boost capital spending and demand for AI infrastructure lifts DRAM, NAND, and HBM prices. According to DIGITIMES, the three largest upstream memory chip makers are headed for a more than threefold jump in combined DRAM and NAND revenue in 2026, with supply constraints likely to keep pricing firm until new capacity arrives in 2027.

CoWoS boom lifts Taiwan semiconductor equipment makers, Bosch Rexroth targets 2027 volume growth

Levi Li — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 06:20:00 GMT

Bosch Rexroth, the industrial technology subsidiary of Bosch, showcased advanced semiconductor and smart manufacturing solutions at the 2026 Taipei International Industrial Automation Exhibition, held from August 19 to 22.

Taiwan automation shifts from hardware specs to AI platforms and open robot architectures

Willis Ke — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 05:45:00 GMT

Taiwan's automation industry is moving beyond the traditional race over robot-arm payload, servo precision, and sensor resolution. At the 2026 Automation Taipei and Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show, held August 19-22 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, the industry's major players all put the spotlight on AI software-hardware integration platforms and open robot architectures as the technologies will determine the next phase of competition.

Google, Marvell long-term deal keeps Broadcom at bay, limits MediaTek impact

Charlene Chen — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 04:17:03 GMT

Marvell filed a Form 8-K with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on August 19, 2026, revealing that it signed a commercial agreement with Google on July 29 to develop custom chips. The move has drawn close attention across Taiwan's chip supply chain, especially to the impact on IC design leader MediaTek and networking chip giant Broadcom.

Automation Taipei 2026: The invisible joint — why aerospace lightweighting is rewriting how parts are built

DIGITIMES — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 04:14:52 GMT

The aerospace industry's pursuit of lighter structures has long centered on advanced alloys, composites and additive manufacturing. But as aircraft and spacecraft shed weight, another manufacturing challenge becomes harder to ignore: the interface between the materials themselves.

Power supply lags behind AI compute growth: chips, optical interconnects battle for energy efficiency

Yunnie Cheng — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 04:08:47 GMT

At the "AI on Chips: Semiconductor Industry Trends Forum" hosted by DIGITIMES in Taipei on August 20, semiconductor, investment, and financial executives gathered to discuss the industry's next frontier. During the event, DIGITIMES deputy director Jason Tsai pointed out that as electricity supply struggles to keep pace with soaring compute demands, energy efficiency per unit of compute power will dictate the future fate of AI data centers.

Xiaomi's Xring O3 nears launch on TSMC N3P, testing its in-house chip strategy

DIGITIMES — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 04:08:08 GMT

Xiaomi is preparing to take its in-house smartphone silicon further upmarket, with founder and chairman Lei Jun confirming that a new generation of its Xring chip is on the way. Supply-chain sources say the chip has already returned from fabrication, completed initial power-on testing and moved into the device integration stage.

JCET profit surges 79% on AI demand, with advanced packaging and CPO gaining scale

DIGITIMES — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 04:02:43 GMT

JCET Group reported record first-half revenue for 2026, with demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure and high-performance computing lifting capacity utilization and accelerating the shift toward higher-value advanced packaging.

Honor Robot Phone moves from concept to mass production

Kevin Wang — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 04:00:46 GMT

With the official launch of Honor's new Robot Phone, foreign media outlets have renewed their attention on how Chinese smartphone makers are redefining product design. Many have lauded Honor for its ability to pack a mechanically stabilized gimbal into a phone, and moreover move the device from concept showcase to a mass-produced product that consumers can actually buy. In addition, the device serves as a reference for future products in integrating imaging functionality and AI interactivity.

Automation Taipei 2026: German suppliers target aerospace's hidden manufacturing bottlenecks

DIGITIMES — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 03:46:43 GMT

Aircraft and spacecraft may be judged by thrust, payload capacity, and range, but the German Industry Solutions Session held at Automation Taipei 2026 on August 20 suggested that some of aerospace manufacturing's most consequential advances are taking place somewhere far less visible: inside connectors, bonded joints, laser-processed surfaces, dispensing paths, and robotic assembly cells.

Apple's VR retreat deepens with rumored layoffs in its Vision team

DIGITIMES — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 03:35:09 GMT

Apple's spatial computing ambitions are narrowing rather than disappearing, but the direction is increasingly clear: fewer people are building VR headsets, and more are building AI-driven smart glasses.

SK Hynix weighs Japan memory fab in Miyagi, but says no investment is final

DIGITIMES — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 03:27:33 GMT

SK hynix is considering a large-scale memory semiconductor investment in Japan, with Miyagi Prefecture emerging as a potential site, although the company has stressed that no decision has been finalized.

AI paid user conversion rate in US only 3% as rising token costs fuel edge AI server demand

Yunnie Cheng — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 03:22:19 GMT

At the "AI on Chips: Semiconductor Industry Trends Forum" hosted by DIGITIMES, industry experts highlighted that the massive volume of tokens consumed by AI services has become a growing financial burden for companies relying on AI integration. Meanwhile, although AI usage among US consumers is widespread, only 3% are paying users, with an average expenditure of around US$20. Taiwanese manufacturers should closely analyze the underlying implications of this shift.

Research Insight: 2028 key year for optical interconnects in AI racks

Lily Hess — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 03:16:24 GMT

Optical communications will likely enter AI server racks in 2028, DIGITIMES analyst Joyce Chen said on August 20 at a semiconductor industry forum in Taipei, as rising AI cluster scale drives demand for faster data transfer, lower latency, and higher-bandwidth interconnects.

Iris Optronics upgrades solar-powered ChLCD e-paper series, expands outdoor and indoor displays

Eifeh Strom — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 03:12:09 GMT

Iris Optronics, a manufacturer of cholesteric liquid crystal display (ChLCD) e-paper, announced upgrades to its Infinity solar-powered ChLCD e-paper series, including a mass-producible 31.5-inch large-format outdoor commercial display. It has also developed an embedded perovskite-powered ChLCD e-paper solution for indoor commercial display applications.

HP Korea localizes AI strategy with Upstage in healthcare, finance

Rodney Chan — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 03:12:03 GMT

HP Korea is sharpening its localized AI strategy through a partnership with large language model (LLM) startup Upstage, and has already moved into AI transformation (AX), eyeing demand from document-heavy industries such as healthcare and finance. Built around high-performance AI workstations, the company is offering an end-to-end pipeline from scanning and inference to printing, helping HP break out of its image as only a PC supplier in the South Korean market.

Explainer: Why South Korea's semiconductor concentration may fare better than Taiwan's

Yunnie Cheng — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 02:44:44 GMT

As South Korea's semiconductor exports continue to power its economic expansion, market concerns are growing regarding the risks of excessive concentration in the tech sector. Recent financial analysis, however, suggests that South Korea may face fewer side effects from single-industry reliance than Taiwan.