DIGITIMES: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

Record Tesla deliveries meet thin profit as Wall Street weighs the AI bill

DIGITIMES — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:10:15 GMT

Tesla posted its strongest-ever second quarter for vehicle sales in results released after the US market close on July 22, but a razor-thin operating margin and a sharp swing to negative cash flow left the debate over the company squarely on its self-driving and robotics ambitions rather than its cars.

Texas Instruments' broad-based upturn reassures a market watching its heavy fab spending

DIGITIMES — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:09:23 GMT

Texas Instruments delivered a second-quarter 2026 result that topped Wall Street expectations and, more importantly for the industry, signaled that the analog chip cycle is turning up across several end markets at once. The Dallas-based company reported revenue of US$5.46 billion, up 13% sequentially and 23% year over year, with net income of US$1.98 billion and earnings per share of US$2.14, according to its earnings release.

Alphabet 2Q26: Cloud backlog hits $514B as AI demand outpaces capacity

DIGITIMES — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:08:18 GMT

Alphabet's second-quarter 2026 results, reported on July 22, have shifted the market conversation about the company from whether its massive artificial-intelligence build-out is affordable to whether it can build fast enough to meet demand. With Google Cloud revenue accelerating and a contract backlog swelling past half a trillion dollars, industry watchers increasingly treat Alphabet less as an advertising business and more as a bellwether for AI infrastructure demand across the technology sector.

AMD lands Anthropic as its third marquee AI customer, chipping at Nvidia's grip on training silicon

DIGITIMES — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:07:03 GMT

Advanced Micro Devices has signed Anthropic to a multi-year supply-and-investment pact worth tens of billions of US dollars, a deal that hands the chipmaker its third top-tier artificial-intelligence customer in a year and marks its most concrete challenge yet to Nvidia's dominance of the market for AI training hardware.

Meta's rumored 'Switchboard' router signals a broader industry pivot from raw model power to cost-aware orchestration

DIGITIMES — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:06:13 GMT

Meta Platforms is prototyping an internal AI model router that would steer easy tasks to cheaper models, a move that places the world's largest social-media company inside a fast-growing "model routing" layer that investors and rivals increasingly treat as core AI infrastructure.

Mobileye expands Stellantis partnership with cloud-enhanced ADAS for future vehicles

DIGITIMES — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:05:35 GMT

Mobileye said in a press release on July 21 that its cloud-enhanced advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) technology will be integrated into select future Stellantis vehicles launching in 2027, expanding the companies' collaboration on next-generation driver assistance features.

Xpeng shifts toward Physical AI with robotaxi, robot, flying car

Lily Hess — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:04:50 GMT

Xpeng is transforming into a physical AI supplier over the next 10 years, with robotaxi, humanoid robots, and flying cars as its three core product lines, chairman Xiaopeng He told Automotive News. The company also aims to move beyond the carmaker label and adopt a Tier 1 supplier model, working with operating partners around the world to build a business model that can be replicated globally.

Johnson Fine eyes 2026-2027 IPO on AI CCL supply chain push

Lily Hess — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:04:04 GMT

Specialty chemicals maker Johnson Fine Chemical has won approval from the Taiwan Stock Exchange for its listing plan and is now targeting an IPO as soon as late 2026 to early 2027. In recent years, the company has used specialty amine curing agents to break into the AI server and high-end tech hardware supply chains, meeting the demanding requirements of next-generation high-frequency, high-speed copper-clad laminates (CCL) for heat resistance, dimensional stability, low water absorption, and long-term reliability.

ASEAN AI data center power demand seen at 6-7GW

Charlene Chen — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:03:35 GMT

ASEAN countries have become a battleground for global cloud service providers and infrastructure developers. After visiting the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) in mid-2025, DIGITIMES returned to Singapore in 2026 to examine how rapid changes in the AI supply chain are affecting ASEAN.

Jensen Huang says Nvidia and Wistron are mass-producing AI servers like phones

Charlene Chen — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:02:59 GMT

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company is working with Wistron to mass-produce GB300 AI servers like phones as AI spreads across industries and demand surges. He made the remarks on July 21, 2026, US time, at the opening ceremony for Wistron's Dallas plant.

AVer Information targets commercial drone market with AI vision engine

Eifeh Strom — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:02:38 GMT

AVer Information is expanding into the commercial drone market, focusing its research and development on the highest-value segment of the value chain: the artificial intelligence (AI) vision engine.

OpenAI faces backlash over Kimi K3 open source criticism

Lily Hess — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:02:08 GMT

OpenAI's new strategy chief Dean Ball has drawn sharp criticism from Trump administration officials and advisers after posting a lengthy commentary on Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 model. The dispute has intensified debate over open source versus closed AI models and deepened concerns about how the US should respond to China's rapid AI progress.

Laser source outsourcing pushes back CPO rollout

Charlene Chen — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:01:21 GMT

While the commercialization timeline for co-packaged optics (CPO) has not accelerated as expected from the AI data center-driven demand for high-speed transmission, industry players say CPO remains a key long-term technology trend as electrical signaling is still approaching its physical limits. One increasingly favored approach is to place the laser source outside the package, which makes replacement easier and allows the same source to serve multiple transmission channels.

IQE lifts 2026 outlook as AI data centers accelerate indium phosphide demand

Levi Li — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:00:54 GMT

IQE has raised its 2026 revenue outlook as demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and data centers continues to strengthen, showing that AI-related growth is spreading beyond GPUs and servers into high-speed optical communications and photonics supply chains.

AIDC extends Moog contract through 2031 for Taiwan military support

DIGITIMES — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:00:19 GMT

Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC) has extended its contract with US aerospace systems maker Moog through 2031, widening cooperation on production and supply-chain integration to support Taiwan's military logistics. The renewal was announced at a UK air show and keeps the exclusive Taiwan distribution rights held by AIDC's US subsidiary.

ITRI, tech execs tackle AI power and thermal bottlenecks at forum as chip demand soars

Willis Ke — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 23:59:57 GMT

As AI computing drives surging electricity demand and heat generation, Taiwan's government-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) brought together government officials and industry executives on July 21 for its "Semiconductor and AI Computing Sustainable Competitiveness Forum" to explore energy-saving solutions for AI infrastructure and semiconductor manufacturing.

With competitiveness hitting record levels, Taiwan should learn from US in talent retention, urges president

Rodney Chan — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 23:59:33 GMT

With Taiwan's competitiveness setting a new high, President Ching-te Lai on July 21 called on local companies to learn from the US and work together to retain talent. The remarks came at the Monte Jade Science and Technology Association's annual general meeting, where Pegatron chairman T.H. Tung said Taiwan's global ranking has climbed to a record level and its economic growth rate has continued to rise.

Saronic plans US$3 billion Texas shipyard as Navy drone boat use expands

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 23:59:01 GMT

US defense startup Saronic Technologies said it will build its next-generation shipyard, Port Alpha, in Brownsville, Texas, in a project valued at more than US$3 billion. The facility is scheduled to start construction in 2026 and open in 2028, with the completed site expected to generate as many as 10,000 direct jobs and bring major economic benefits to Brownsville and Texas.

Neros wins up to US$500 million US Army drone contract

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 23:58:34 GMT

US drone startup Neros Technologies won a contract worth up to US$500 million from the US Army to supply low-cost first-person view attack drones. The deal makes Neros a new vendor in the military's push to expand expendable drones and rebuild supply capacity for battlefield use.

Explainer: Why Wistron opened a factory in Texas — why it's the first node in America's reindustrialization

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 09:48:55 GMT

When Wistron opened its 324,000-square-foot plant in Fort Worth, Texas on July 21, it was easy to read the moment as a single company's strategic bet on the US market. But it is something larger than that.

Sumitomo Chemical eyes 2028 production of lower-cost solid-state battery electrolyte

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 08:37:40 GMT

Sumitomo Chemical plans to begin mass production of a halide-based solid electrolyte in Japan as early as fiscal 2028, positioning the material as a potentially lower-cost option for all-solid-state batteries while seeking performance comparable with leading sulfide-based electrolytes, Nikkei reported.

Samsung sounds out suppliers on four new fabs by 2030, report says

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 08:37:22 GMT

Samsung Electronics is sounding out major suppliers about whether they can support four proposed new semiconductor fabrication plants through 2030, as South Korea's chipmakers prepare for a concentrated cycle of factory construction.

China ends decade-old battery tax break, signaling a coordinated squeeze on clean-energy overcapacity

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 08:15:00 GMT

China is dismantling the tax shelter that helped build the world's largest battery industry, and the move looks less like a one-off revenue measure than the opening of a broad campaign to force consolidation across its clean-energy supply chains — with consequences that reach from Chinese carmakers to global energy-storage buyers.

AI and satellite demand drive quartz components toward lower noise, jitter and higher precision

Scarlett Yu — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 08:05:00 GMT

The rapid growth of AI data traffic is pushing quartz timing components toward three key technical upgrades: lower phase noise, reduced jitter and greater frequency accuracy. At the same time, SpaceX's continuing satellite deployment plans are creating fresh demand for frequency-control components such as filters, particularly benefiting suppliers capable of rapidly producing customized solutions.

LG Display eyes tandem OLED for smartphones as AI drives demand for power-efficient screens

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 07:55:59 GMT

LG Display plans to expand tandem OLED technology beyond TVs, monitors and automotive displays into smartphones and wearables as on-device artificial intelligence (AI) raises power-efficiency requirements for mobile devices.

CPO commercialization opens new SiPh packaging race for Taiwan OSATs

Charlene Chen — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 07:45:00 GMT

Exploding demand for AI server computing power is pushing data-center architectures to upgrade at a faster pace, and the traditional copper-wire signal path is approaching its physical limits. As co-packaged optics (CPO) and related solutions enter their first year of commercialization, the silicon photonics (SiPh) industry is poised for rapid growth.

Intel cuts data center jobs again despite rising AI server demand

Levi Li — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 07:30:00 GMT

Intel has confirmed a fresh round of job cuts in its Data Center Group (DCG), although it did not disclose the number of positions affected or the timing of the reductions. The move shows that Intel is continuing to restructure and cut costs even as demand for artificial intelligence data centers rises, and it reflects chief executive Lip-Bu Tan's continued focus on improving operational efficiency since taking the helm.

HKC invests US$590M in advanced chip packaging to escape the LCD cycle

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 07:15:14 GMT

HKC, the world's third-largest LCD panel supplier, plans to invest CNY4 billion (approx. US$590 million) in a 12-inch chip packaging and testing project, joining BOE and other Chinese display makers in expanding upstream into semiconductors.

Commentary: Gulf state's Sovereign Wealth Fund pours into ASEAN, eyeing stake in AI infrastructure supply chains

Charlene Chen — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 07:00:21 GMT

ASEAN's AI boom is taking on a dual role as both a "no-man's land" and an international hub from Singapore's perspective, while investors from the Middle East and China are also pushing into the region. According to industry sources, ASEAN's AI industry will be driven not only by local demand, but also by China's market.

US-China AI rivalry, part 2: Beijing weighs controls on model weights, training data, chip designs

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 06:54:30 GMT

The forthcoming AI dialogue between Washington and Beijing is less a sign of easing tensions than of a changing rivalry. Both governments are tightening their grip on frontier AI, extending competition beyond model development into the rules governing the technology.

US-China AI rivalry, part 1: September talks to confront frontier models, IP theft, open-source risks

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 06:07:05 GMT

The US and China are preparing to hold their first official artificial intelligence (AI) dialogue under President Donald Trump, a notable diplomatic milestone after years of escalating technology tensions. Yet the significance of the meeting lies less in whether it produces tangible agreements than in what it reveals about how both countries increasingly view AI: not as another fast-growing industry, but as strategic infrastructure requiring tighter state oversight and national control, according to Reuters.

Nvidia's Huang to meet Samsung, SK and Naver chiefs in Silicon Valley, reports say

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 04:42:25 GMT

Samsung Electronics executive chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won and Naver founder and board chairman Lee Hae-jin are reportedly preparing to meet Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang near Silicon Valley, with a roundtable tentatively planned for July 24.

Foxconn's Jun Seki says L4 adoption will be in 80% of new cars by 2040

Lily Hess — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 04:33:48 GMT

Foxconn group's EV strategy chief Jun Seki said on July 21 in Tokyo that Level 4 (L4) and above autonomous driving will likely be installed in 80% of new cars by 2040, and that the rise of self-driving technology will result in fewer automakers building vehicles in-house. Speaking at GDS 2026, he also forecast major cost declines and a structural shift in the auto industry as EVs become more closely aligned with autonomy.

Nvidia details Vera CPU for agentic AI workloads

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 04:32:04 GMT

Nvidia has outlined the design of its Vera CPU, positioning the chip for agentic AI systems that rely heavily on the processor for code execution, tool calls, retrieval, and data handling. The company said the architecture is intended to improve responsiveness, throughput, and latency consistency for developers and operators worldwide as AI infrastructure becomes more CPU-dependent.

LG Electronics to halt production at Huizhou plant in China after three decades

DIGITIMES — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 04:30:36 GMT

LG Electronics plans to stop production at its Huizhou plant in China after October, ending manufacturing at the group's first production subsidiary in the country after more than three decades.