DIGITIMES: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

CMC expects record 4Q revenue amid expanding model lineup

Jingyue Hsiao — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:45:53 GMT

CMC expects fourth-quarter 2026 revenue to exceed the same period in 2025 and reach a new high, a signal that could matter beyond Taiwan as automakers worldwide seek growth despite soft demand. The company is also planning two domestically produced launches in 2027, while expanding into electric vehicles and robotics.

Anthropic and OpenAI both cut frontier model prices, ten days after calling for a slowdown

DIGITIMES — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:20:37 GMT

Anthropic and OpenAI, the two AI labs that spent early September telling the world that model capabilities are outrunning the safeguards around them, shipped new frontier models within hours of each other on September 22 — and both sold them primarily on price. The pairing is the clearest sign yet that competitive pressure, not the industry's own risk rhetoric, is still setting the release calendar.

Analysis: Foxconn's EV push moves beyond demo and toward scale

Jingyue Hsiao — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:19:42 GMT

Foxconn Group's electric vehicle business is entering a new phase as it shifts from proving the concept to preparing for mass production and wider regional expansion. The change could reshape Taiwan's auto industry and strengthen Foxconn's case as a cross-border EV manufacturer with ambitions far beyond its home market.

Europe industrial controls rebound lifts Higgstec's 1H26 growth

Charlene Chen — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:19:27 GMT

Higgstec said its first half 2026 operating momentum recovered as inventory reduction in the European industrial controls market neared completion, client orders picked up again, and commercial products in Asia gradually ramped. The niche touchscreen panel maker has also launched mass production on an assembly line it spent more than a year building, extending its business from standalone touch panels to a "one-stop service" that integrates display modules and mechanical parts.

ASRock's center of gravity moves from motherboards to AI servers

Charlene Chen — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:17:56 GMT

ASRock's business focus is shifting toward AI as ASRock Rack expands server output and ASRock Industrial pushes into edge computing. Following ASRock Rack's listing, ASRock Industrial is also set to go public, as the group's transition from motherboards to AI servers and edge AI gradually takes shape.

Micron's Taiwan fab took 300,000 cubic meters of concrete. Its supplier sees more coming

DIGITIMES — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:15:18 GMT

Taiwanese concrete-maker Goldsun Building Materials said its Miaoli plant has benefited from rising construction demand tied to AI, semiconductor, and data center projects in Taiwan's Miaoli County. The company expects the government-backed Taoyuan-Hsinchu-Miaoli Silicon Valley plan to bring more factory work and support steady revenue growth.

Taiwan uses AI to close drone thermal imaging gap

Charlene Chen — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:14:55 GMT

As drones, smart vehicles, and autonomous platforms advance, the ability to accurately identify people, vehicles and heat sources in darkness and low-visibility conditions has become a key requirement for safe intelligent mobility. Taiwan's Institute for Information Industry (III) is using AI super-resolution algorithms with edge AI real-time computing to reduce blur and enhance detail in low-resolution thermal images, helping low-cost thermal imaging modules approach the performance of higher-resolution systems and potentially cut sensor costs by about 50%.

Taiwan finds way to turn waste LCD glass and road debris into high-value materials

Yunnie Cheng — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:14:40 GMT

Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is accelerating the commercial deployment of circular material technologies, shifting the focus of the circular economy from basic recycling to high-value upcycling. By targeting waste liquid crystal display (LCD) panels and asphalt pavement milling waste, ITRI has developed nano-porous glass (NaPoGlass) and 100% recycled asphalt concrete technologies, returning previously downcycled industrial waste to high-value supply chains.

Win Semiconductors expands optical communications capacity with DUV tools

Lily Hess — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:13:50 GMT

Optical communications capacity is in short supply as surging computing demand from AI data centers turns transmission into a bottleneck for AI infrastructure. The market is shifting toward combined optical-and-copper solutions, while optical communications rapidly advances toward 800G and 1.6T, prompting compound semiconductor foundry Win Semiconductors to expand its photodiode (PD) and laser diode (LD) capacity and co-develop 200G components with customers.

LG Display starts 720Hz gaming OLED mass production

Lily Hess — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:13:32 GMT

Aiming to meet demand for high-speed gaming displays, LG Display (LGD) said it has begun mass production of a 24.5-inch gaming OLED panel with a 720Hz refresh rate. The panel will debut in a new Asus monitor chosen as the official screen for the global esports event PGL CS2 Major Singapore 2026.

Seven Chinese AI companies hit US$10.7 billion ARR, but the harder race is paying for scale

DIGITIMES — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:13:19 GMT

China's leading AI developers are scaling revenue rapidly, but the gap with their US rivals remains substantial — and the cost of keeping pace is rising even faster. Rhodium Group estimates that seven major Chinese AI companies had combined annualized recurring revenue (ARR) of about US$10.7 billion, based on estimates dated between March and August 2026, roughly one-tenth of the more than US$100 billion attributed to OpenAI and Anthropic combined.

Ascend 950 clears higher security bar in China's latest chip assessment: who else qualified?

DIGITIMES — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:12:53 GMT

China has tightened the security and reliability framework around its domestic computing stack, with the latest official evaluation placing Huawei's Ascend 950 at Level II and Kunlunxin's M100 at Level I among AI training and inference chips. The same assessment also gave the highest Level III rating to several general-purpose CPUs, including Loongson and HiSilicon Kunpeng products, signalling that certification is becoming a more structured gatekeeper for China's locally developed compute infrastructure.

Lightmatter launches an optical module that cuts AI cluster fiber in half

DIGITIMES — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:12:34 GMT

US photonics company Lightmatter has launched an optical module that sends and receives data over a single strand of fiber. The company says this halves the cabling needed to connect GPUs in large AI clusters.

SiPearl delivers first homegrown server chips for Europe's exascale supercomputer

DIGITIMES — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 09:18:35 GMT

SiPearl, a fabless company backed by the European Union and France, has delivered the first Rhea1 CPU samples to Bull for integration into Europe's JUPITER supercomputer, moving the European-designed processor from bring-up and validation into customer system integration while benchmarking continues.

Anthropic, OpenAI expected to start buying memory directly in 2027

DIGITIMES — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 08:56:49 GMT

Anthropic and OpenAI are expected to start buying memory directly from manufacturers in 2027 as model developers take greater control of chip and data-center design, potentially broadening the customer base for major memory suppliers beyond GPU and system vendors.

Vivo unveils X500 strategy to bolster premium phone push

Charlene Chen — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 08:49:43 GMT

Vivo unveiled its new X500 series imaging flagship phones in Shanghai on September 21, 2026, aiming to build a stronger moat in mobile imaging and break through more aggressively in the premium smartphone market. As rising memory prices force handset makers to lift retail prices, IDC expects worldwide smartphone shipments to fall 16.7% in 2026 to just over 1 billion units.

Tmytek lists on Taiwan Innovation Board, pushes 5G/6G, satellite, defense

DIGITIMES — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 08:31:20 GMT

Millimeter-wave communications technology and solutions provider TMY Technology (Tmytek) officially listed on Taiwan's Innovation Board on September 22 at an offering price of NT$60 (approx. US$1.90) per share. The company said its products, which span millimeter-wave R&D and validation instruments, Lego-like phased-array antennas and subsystem modules, have moved from development and verification into commercial delivery and mass production.

Changs Ascending eyes AI data center backup power, storage growth

DIGITIMES — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 08:20:00 GMT

Changs Ascending's board approved an operating plan on Sept. 21 to launch an energy systems integration push into the AI data center sector, betting on structurally rising demand from AI computing centers for stable power, backup power, and ESS. The lithium battery materials maker aims to extend its proven UPS, lithium iron phosphate battery and BESS integration capabilities in semiconductor sites into AI data center power infrastructure as the next growth engine for its energy business.

China prepares business delegation as Xi seeks steadier US trade ties

DIGITIMES — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 08:12:19 GMT

China is preparing a business delegation for President Xi Jinping's Washington visit as Beijing pursues more predictable trade relations and opportunities for companies facing US market-access barriers. The preparations combine official economic talks with a proposed corporate entourage, although the sources reviewed have not publicly confirmed the individual executives attending.

Meta's AI agent Muse tops app charts, driving AMD's market cap past US$1 trillion

DIGITIMES — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 07:59:05 GMT

Meta's new AI agent, Muse, has leapt to the top of app charts roughly two weeks after its release. Its popularity has helped push up chip stocks by focusing attention on the importance of CPUs for agentic AI.

Hermes Testing sees growth opportunity in AI-driven chip demand as OTC debut expands reach

Jingyue Hsiao — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 07:55:00 GMT

Hermes Testing Solutions began trading on the over-the-counter market on September 22, positioning itself to benefit from rising demand tied to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. The semiconductor wafer testing provider is also expanding into high-speed memory SLT, advanced packaging equipment, and SiPh CPO testing.

Taiwan's automakers gear up for year-end sales, as exports emerge as new growth engine

Kevin Wang — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 07:50:00 GMT

Taiwan's auto dealers have continued to push out new models even amid a market downturn this year. At the same time, Taiwan's auto industry is opening a new chapter in exports.

Unitree targets humanoid robots' next bottleneck with 22-DoF Dex5-S hand

Levi Li — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 07:41:00 GMT

Humanoid robot makers are accelerating investment in dexterous hands as the component becomes increasingly important to fine manipulation. Chinese robotics company Unitree Robotics launched its new Dex5-S dexterous hand on September 21, raising the degrees of freedom to 22 and adopting dimensions close to those of a human hand. Prices start at CNY39,900 (approx. US$6,000), underscoring a shift from demonstration-focused products toward practical tasks and deeper integration with complete humanoid robot systems.

Acer debuts first Googlebook with 360-degree hinge

DIGITIMES — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 07:04:34 GMT

Acer has launched its first Googlebook, a new flagship notebook equipped with Gemini Intelligence that combines premium materials, strong performance, smart features, and seamless syncing with Android phones. The Acer Googlebook 14 is also the first convertible Googlebook on the market.

Microsoft opens fourth India cloud region, casting Hyderabad as an AI hub for Asia and the Global South

DIGITIMES — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 07:01:45 GMT

Microsoft has turned a headline slice of its US$20.5 billion India commitment into operating infrastructure, opening a Hyderabad cloud region it intends to serve customers well beyond India's borders. The move positions the country as a supply base for AI compute at a moment when it generates far more data than it can process at home.

Hanmi Semiconductor ships first FC Bonder 75 for 2.5D packaging

Sherri Wang — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 06:56:26 GMT

Hanmi Semiconductor said on September 22 that it has shipped its first FC Bonder 75 to a customer, expanding the South Korean equipment maker's reach beyond high-bandwidth memory (HBM) into the broader system semiconductor packaging market.

Alibaba speeds V900 rollout, targeting 20GW of data centers

DIGITIMES — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 06:53:22 GMT

Alibaba Group is accelerating the rollout of its next-generation Zhenwu V900 accelerator by about six months as it expands a vertically integrated computing platform spanning processors, networking, storage and data centers.

NASA adds three SpaceX crew missions as Boeing's Starliner lags

Yunnie Cheng — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 06:46:12 GMT

As SpaceX continues to expand its Crew Dragon missions and as technical delays push Boeing's Starliner certification timeline out to potentially 2027, the gap in the agency's dual-supplier strategy continues to widen.

Taiwan virtual asset law to help lower supply chain transaction costs

Rodney Chan — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 06:41:16 GMT

Taiwan's Legislative Yuan passed the Virtual Asset Service Act in June 2026, and Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is now drafting delegated regulations, with completion planned for the first quarter of 2027. PwC Taiwan managing director Monica Lee said banks will need licenses to operate virtual asset services, and lending licenses are the most likely to be profitable.

DeepSeek bets on Huawei chips for model training as Nvidia's China sales slip

DIGITIMES — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 06:28:05 GMT

DeepSeek CEO Liang Wenfeng said during a call with investors that he aims to rely on Huawei chips to train the startup's models in the future, and that a batch of training chips from Huawei are set to begin arriving at his company as early as the fourth quarter of 2026.

DEEPX targets smart glasses with low-power NPU, eyes 6G AI RAN

Levi Li — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 06:22:00 GMT

South Korean AI semiconductor company DEEPX is reportedly conducting a proof of concept with a US smart glasses company to test whether its low-power neural processing unit (NPU) can balance power consumption, thermal performance, and AI computing capability.

Chinese automakers step up battery in-house push to reclaim cost control

Charlene Chen — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 06:16:42 GMT

As Li Auto, NIO, Xiaomi, Geely, GAC, GWM, Chongqing Changan Automobile, and Chery step up efforts to develop and manufacture batteries in-house, the tug-of-war between China's automakers and battery leader CATL over self-production versus outsourcing is intensifying.

Micron Taiwan union heads for strike vote as board, earnings calendar stall profit-sharing talks

Charlene Chen — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 05:39:06 GMT

The labor dispute at Micron Taiwan continues to escalate after Micron and the Taiwan Taoyuan Union failed to reach agreement at a second mediation meeting on September 21, 2026. The union said the company has not presented a concrete profit-sharing plan and announced it will launch a strike vote under the Act for Settlement of Labor-Management Disputes, while Micron said it will keep talking and coordinating but must still go through board procedures.

Xiaomi open-sources MiMo-V2.6, publishes the bill for scaling reinforcement learning

DIGITIMES — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 05:39:02 GMT

Chinese labs have spent the year arguing that reinforcement learning, not pre-training, holds the next gains. Xiaomi has now put a price on that argument. The company released and open-sourced its MiMo-V2.6 series on September 22, after livestreaming the reinforcement learning post-training run that produced it — publishing step counts, token consumption, and a running cost meter on a public page as the models trained.

Alibaba expands full-stack AI push as cloud data centers target 20 GW by 2032

DIGITIMES — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 04:38:27 GMT

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. doubled down on its full-stack AI strategy at the 2026 Apsara Conference, which opened on Sept. 22 at the Hangzhou International Expo Center. Alibaba Group chairman Joe Tsai made a rare appearance at the opening ceremony and said AI is moving from frontier exploration toward real-world deployment and large-scale applications.