DIGITIMES: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

Googlebook, QwenBook bring agentic AI to the PC system layer, opening new chip opportunities

Levi Li — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 02:52:35 GMT

Qualcomm unveiled no new PC chips at Snapdragon Summit 2026, but its PC strategy remained firmly in focus.

India bars Semicon 2.0 chip plants from selling or mortgaging assets before full production

DIGITIMES — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 02:39:15 GMT

India has barred semiconductor projects approved under its Semicon 2.0 program from selling, disposing of, or mortgaging project assets until commercial production of the entire project is declared, according to guidelines issued on September 17, 2026. The rules attach lock-in conditions on assets, operations, and ownership to the INR1.27 trillion (US$13.22 billion) incentive scheme.

CATL starts cell trial production at Hungary plant

DIGITIMES — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 02:34:21 GMT

Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. (CATL) said its new battery plant in Debrecen, Hungary, began cell trial production on September 22, with the first two cell production lines entering test operation as the company prepares for mass production. The factory is designed for 100GW of annual capacity.

AMD's Lisa Su reportedly revisiting South Korea in October to deepen HBM4, NPU ties

DIGITIMES — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 02:33:12 GMT

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO Lisa Su is reportedly set to visit South Korea again in October 2026, after her March 2026 trip, which formally launched next-generation AI memory cooperation with Samsung Electronics. The planned visit is expected to broaden that push, with meetings lined up with South Korean AI chip companies and government officials as AMD deepens its AI semiconductor alliance in the country.

Taiwan-U.S. drone production lines near launch

Lily Hess — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 02:25:24 GMT

Production lines and testing facilities are now in place for the Taiwan-US attack drone Mighty Hornet IV, which is being developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology (NCSIST). The drone is expected to move into mass production soon, with both the newly opened campus in Chiayi County and a US production site shaping up as manufacturing bases.

Vulcan wins US Army drone magnet contract as China decoupling drives selection

DIGITIMES — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 02:11:27 GMT

US rare-earth magnet startup Vulcan Elements has reportedly won a supply contract for the US Army's SkyFoundry drone program, underscoring Washington's push to localize drone production and reduce reliance on China's rare-earth supply chain. Vulcan will produce high-performance neodymium-iron-boron magnets for the brushless DC motors used in small drones.

TSMC reportedly evaluates Texas fabs as US regional competition intensifies

Yunnie Cheng — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 02:07:21 GMT

TSMC is reportedly evaluating whether to build a second US manufacturing hub in Texas, potentially housing up to 6 advanced wafer fabs, as its US footprint continues to expand. The move follows the company's establishment of a massive semiconductor cluster in Arizona, which encompasses 12 fabs, advanced packaging facilities, and an R&D center.

Florida seeks order to block OpenAI AI model launches

DIGITIMES — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 02:05:09 GMT

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on September 28 asked a court for a temporary injunction to prevent OpenAI from developing new models without third-party-approved safety safeguards during the lawsuit, and to restrict minors' use of ChatGPT.

TDK and Taiyo Yuden to explore alliance on AI-grade capacitors and inductors

DIGITIMES — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 01:36:54 GMT

TDK and Taiyo Yuden have signed a memorandum of understanding to begin discussions on a business alliance to develop electronic components, including MLCCs and inductors jointly, the two Japanese companies announced on September 29, 2026. The talks will also cover cooperation in manufacturing and procurement, and the companies will consider a future capital alliance.

AIDC conducts counter-drone system drill to expand airspace protection for critical infrastructure

Eifeh Strom — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 01:29:20 GMT

Taiwanese aerospace company Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) said that after completing production of its advanced jet trainers, it will focus on accelerating the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The company is developing complete UAV systems in-house and has also expanded into counter-UAV system development.

Grand Pacific Petrochemical, Air Water join forces to expand Taiwan semiconductor materials business

Eifeh Strom — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 01:28:09 GMT

Taiwan-based chemical manufacturer Grand Pacific Petrochemical (GPPC) is optimizing its core business while actively expanding into high-tech and semiconductor materials-related industries, amid high oil prices and the reshaping of global trade flows. Company president Chia-hsiung Tseng stated that its strategic partnership with Japan-based industrial gas company Air Water (AWI) is a key move to connect GPPC to the semiconductor materials supply chain.

Broadcom-Toppan venture opens Singapore's first high-end FC-BGA substrate plant

DIGITIMES — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:43:41 GMT

Advanced Substrate Technologies (AST), a joint venture between Japan's Toppan Holdings and Broadcom, officially opened a manufacturing facility in Singapore on September 29, 2026, the first in the country capable of producing high-end flip chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) substrates. The approximately 95,000-square-meter plant in the Jurong Lake District is the Toppan Group's first such facility outside Japan and is targeting the start of high-value manufacturing by late 2026, the companies said.

OpenAI leans on cheaper models and always-on agents at DevDay as flagship upgrade is shelved

DIGITIMES — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:42:40 GMT

OpenAI used its DevDay 2026 conference to compete on price and autonomy rather than raw capability, launching a midrange model priced at one-fifth of its flagship and a family of always-on agents a day after abandoning its planned flagship upgrade. The shift moves its rivalry with Anthropic, Meta and Google toward cost per task and agent platforms at a time when safety lapses are constraining how fast frontier models can ship.

Trump opts for voluntary AI audits over new rules after White House summit with tech chiefs

DIGITIMES — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:41:59 GMT

US President Donald Trump has responded to mounting alarm over rogue AI agents with a voluntary industry pledge, two executive orders, and a new name for the technology rather than new regulation, signaling that Washington intends to leave frontier-AI safety largely in companies' hands at least until after the November 3 midterm elections.

Memory shortage pushes TV semiconductors above panel costs

DIGITIMES — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:41:15 GMT

A global memory shortage linked to rising AI infrastructure spending has upended TV manufacturing economics, with semiconductor costs now overtaking display panels in some models. The shift, reported by ET News, could squeeze profitability at major TV makers including Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.

Qualcomm sees smart glasses leading AI wearables boom; AI pins, pendants follow

Yunnie Cheng — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:40:58 GMT

Among personal AI devices beyond smartphones, smart glasses remain the fastest-growing category, according to Ziad Asghar, senior vice president and general manager of XR, wearables, and personal AI at Qualcomm. Speaking during a media Q&A at Snapdragon Summit 2026, Asghar noted that while smart glasses are drawing intense market focus and a steady stream of new product launches, AI pins and pendants are emerging right behind them to cater to users who prefer not to wear eyewear.

Acer turns 50 and marks it with a musical produced by its founder

Willis Ke — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:38:56 GMT

Acer marked its 50th anniversary on September 28, 2026, with the premiere of Smile for Half a Century, a commemorative musical that traces the company's journey from a small startup to a global technology brand while looking ahead to its next chapter.

Commentary: Garmin returns to OLED, putting Micro LED on notice

Lily Hess — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:38:43 GMT

Garmin's decision to offer OLED options but no Micro LED version in its new flagship smartwatches, the fenix 9 and fenix 9 Pro, has revived debate over whether the emerging display technology is ready for sustained commercial competition. The shift comes about a year after Garmin launched the world's first Micro LED smartwatch, the fenix 8 Pro Micro LED in September 2025.

GlobalFoundries Singapore capacity utilization tops 90% as silicon photonics expansion hits equipment lead-time bottleneck

Scarlett Yu — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:38:31 GMT

GlobalFoundries (GF) is expanding its Singapore footprint following its acquisition of local silicon photonics foundry Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF), integrating 200mm and 300mm silicon photonics technologies while transferring its existing US 300mm capabilities to Singapore.

From EVs to AI humanoid robots: Tesla leans on Chinese manufacturing once again

Yunnie Cheng — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:38:12 GMT

Energy, AI robotics, and autonomous vehicle maker Tesla is reportedly replicating its electric vehicle (EV) playbook by turning to Chinese manufacturing to support the supply chain ramp-up for its Optimus humanoid robot. In addition to conducting factory audits at three auto parts manufacturers in East China, a Tesla delegation also inspected related suppliers in cities such as Hangzhou and Shanghai.

Micro LED smartwatches set back as costs remain a fatal hurdle

Lily Hess — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:37:58 GMT

Micro LED has reached mass production in several end-market applications in recent years, but it is still facing intense competition from OLED. Garmin's new fenix 9 smartwatch has returned to an OLED panel, instead of using Micro LED display technology.

Neocloud lifts OEM buying as ODM-direct share slips below 80% in 2026

Charlene Chen — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:37:46 GMT

Taiwan-based server original design manufacturers (ODMs) have long been key partners for cloud service providers (CSPs) through the ODM-direct model, but the model's share is declining as neocloud customers ramp up AI demand. DIGITIMES Intelligence expects the ODM-direct share of contract manufacturing to fall to 79.1% in 2026, dropping below 80% for the first time.

AI boom strains PCB supply chain as materials, equipment shortages persist into 2027

Scarlett Yu — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:37:35 GMT

Rapid growth in AI server and high-speed networking demand since the second half of 2025 has tightened supply across printed circuit boards (PCBs), integrated circuit (IC) substrates, and critical materials.

Inside China's 3D DRAM push: from lab to fab, and the road ahead

Charlene Chen — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:37:20 GMT

China's push into 3D DRAM is moving from early-stage research into wafer processes and equipment, with efforts spanning the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMECAS), the Beijing Superstring Memory Research Institute (SAMT), CXMT, and equipment maker NAURA Technology Group. The coordinated advance highlights both the momentum behind 3D DRAM and the technical hurdles still blocking mass production.

Apple iPhone Duo revives UDC battle as Samsung weighs trade-offs

Charlene Chen — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:37:05 GMT

Apple has launched its first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, adopting under-display camera (UDC) technology long used by Samsung Electronics. The move puts all-screen design back at the center of foldable-phone competition and could pressure Samsung to reconsider its technology roadmap.

Dat Bike challenges VinFast with simpler EV scooter strategy

Charlene Chen — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:36:51 GMT

Vietnamese electric scooter brand Dat Bike has launched its family-oriented ERA model with a starting price of VND29.9 million (US$1,151.22), pairing it with a self-developed "integrated charger" that builds the charger directly into the vehicle's power system. The launch comes as Vietnam's electric two-wheeler market accelerates and Dat Bike sets its sights on market leader VinFast.

Exclusive: Advantech Korea eyes smart surgery, nursing AI PoCs

Yunnie Cheng — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:32:56 GMT

While Advantech's healthcare business in South Korea remains predominantly hardware-focused—spanning ultrasound computing platforms and medical display partnerships—Charlie Chung, Managing Director of Advantech Korea, identifies smart operating rooms (ORs) and smart nursing care as pivotal growth drivers for healthcare AI. Looking forward, Chung aims to initiate proof-of-concept (PoC) collaborations with local South Korean hospitals and medical device makers.

Meta reaches agreements with Firmus on securing AI compute in Southeast Asia

DIGITIMES — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:32:40 GMT

Meta reached several agreements to source AI compute capacity from Firmus, an Australian neocloud, which will lease GPU compute capacity at its AI factories in Southeast Asia. The deal is said to support Meta's AI expansion across the Asia-Pacific region, while Firmus notches another order from a major customer in the run-up to a potential public listing.

Rare earths loom over US-China trade truce

DIGITIMES — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:32:24 GMT

The US-China trade truce was extended after last week's Trump-Xi summit, but China's dominance of rare-earth supply chains remains a key pressure point as Washington tries to stabilize economic ties while reducing its dependence on Chinese critical minerals.

Amazon buys NT$1.59 billion stake in one of its Taiwanese AI server suppliers

Joseph Chen — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 15:01:23 GMT

Amazon will take an equity stake in Gold Circuit Electronics (GCE), a Taiwanese maker of printed circuit boards (PCBs) for AI servers and network switches. GCE's board approved the pricing of a NT$1.589 billion private share placement on September 29, with Amazon as the buyer. According to industry observers, it is rare for a major cloud provider to invest directly in a Taiwanese PCB maker. The deal turns a customer-supplier relationship into one where the customer also owns part of the company.

Mercedes-Benz and ProLogium expand solid-state battery testing partnership

DIGITIMES — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 09:33:49 GMT

ProLogium Technology said it has signed a joint testing agreement with Mercedes-Benz, giving the automaker priority access to evaluate the battery maker's latest Gen4 cells. The companies said the work will build on nearly a decade of collaboration focused on next-generation mobility battery technology.

Anthropic's US$2 trillion IPO bet comes with 80 pages of warnings

DIGITIMES — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 09:29:33 GMT

Confidential details of Anthropic's initial public offering (IPO) prospectus, reviewed by Reuters, reveal an enterprise operating at an unprecedented scale and making a historic wager that artificial intelligence will transform the global economy far more profoundly than industrialization, electricity, or the internet. To capture that future, the startup is targeting a public valuation of more than US$2 trillion.

CXMT to spend US$5.2 billion on R&D and testing as DRAM supply stays tight

DIGITIMES — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 09:25:56 GMT

China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) plans to invest CNY34.9 billion (approx. US$5.2 billion) in technology R&D and additional back-end DRAM testing capacity, stepping up investment as tight memory supply and stronger pricing give the company more room to expand.

SoftBank subsidiary Saimemory taps Shinko to bring ZAM closer to commercialization

DIGITIMES — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 09:00:46 GMT

Saimemory, a SoftBank subsidiary, has brought Shinko Electric Industries into its effort to commercialize Z-Angle Memory (ZAM), adding packaging-substrate, high-density integration and manufacturing expertise to a next-generation memory project that already includes Intel and Japan's RIKEN.

In global semiconductor race, Singapore bets on critical, mature technologies

Kevin Wang — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 08:57:39 GMT

Amid the ongoing restructuring of the global semiconductor supply chain, Singapore is focusing on advanced packaging, heterogeneous integration, silicon photonics, and optical interconnects, aiming to leverage nearly six decades' worth of manufacturing and supply chain expertise. In contrast with industry players in Taiwan, South Korea, and the US, who have continued to pour resources into 2nm and 1.4nm advanced processes, Singapore's semiconductor firms see no need to replicate Taiwan's foundry model. Instead, they aim to harness Singapore's existing strengths in mature and specialty processes, assembly and testing, equipment, materials, and multinational R&D clusters to secure their foothold in the supply chain for next-gen semiconductors.