DIGITIMES Asia: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

AMD CEO meets with TSMC CEO in Taiwan as it expands US chip output

Eifeh Strom — Thu, 21 May 2026 14:20:56 GMT

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO Lisa Su stated that the company plans to invest more than US$10 billion in Taiwan's industrial ecosystem to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. The announcement was made during her visit to Taiwan, where she also disclosed the latest progress in collaborations with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), backend packaging and testing, substrate, and AI server supply chains.

Tech Forum 2026: Taiwan must design space, not just build it

Elaine Chen — Thu, 21 May 2026 08:46:31 GMT

At DIGITIMES' Tech Forum 2026 this week, Taiwan's top space official delivered a blunt assessment of the island's growing role in the global space economy: Taiwan has become an increasingly important supplier to the American space industry, but it still lacks control over the systems that define the sector's highest-value opportunities.

xFusion drives CNY58.2 billion revenue as China backs domestic AI supply chain

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 08:46:18 GMT

Chinese server maker xFusion reached a revenue of CNY58.2 billion (approx. US$8.6 billion) for the year 2025. The figure indicates the company's rising profits as it benefits from China's push for a domestic AI supply chain and the benefits for companies breaking into the country's high-end server market.

Anthropic estimates show US$559 million operating profit on US$10.9 billion quarter

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 08:40:53 GMT

Anthropic has unlocked an era of explosive commercial growth, hitting a milestone with its first-ever profitable quarter. According to The Wall Street Journal, Anthropic expects its revenue to surge by 130% to hit US$10.9 billion for the quarter ending in June, up from the US$4.8 billion in revenue generated during the first quarter of 2026. This trajectory is projected to yield an inaugural quarterly operating profit of approximately US$559 million.

Commentary: Trump's Taiwan chip claim tests TSMC's silence

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 08:30:00 GMT

US President Donald Trump, after recently concluding a visit to China, again publicly accused Taiwan of having "stolen our chip industry." This was not the first time he had made such a claim. From the 2024 campaign period to a Fox News interview in May 2026, before his departure after visiting China, Trump has repeatedly argued that the business originally belonged to Intel and that, had the US government understood how to impose tariffs for protection, Taiwan would never have had a role in the chip industry.

Taiwan 5G FWA CPE industry, 1Q 2026: Rebounding shipments and AI-driven supply crunch

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 08:14:39 GMT

Memory shortage drives up ASP; Global 5G FWA CPE shipments projected to decline 4% YoY in 2Q26; ASP, conversely, supports production value resilience

Nvidia's China hopes dim as Beijing doubles down on domestic AI chips

Lily Hess — Thu, 21 May 2026 07:59:57 GMT

Nvidia's H200 was a major focus after the Trump-Xi meeting, but hopes for sales into China have faded after US President Donald Trump's latest remarks. Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping is firmly committed to developing domestic AI chips, leaving little room for common ground on the issue.

AMD commits over US$10 billion to Taiwan ecosystem to expand AI packaging and infrastructure capacity

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 07:59:51 GMT

AMD said on May 21 that it plans to invest more than US$10 billion across Taiwan's semiconductor ecosystem to deepen strategic partnerships and expand advanced packaging capacity for next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. The initiative aims to strengthen manufacturing capabilities, accelerate the deployment of AI systems, and support the growing demand for high-performance computing hardware.

How Nvidia plans to sell Vera CPUs: Four deployment models explained

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 07:53:51 GMT

Nvidia has unveiled a strategic expansion of its silicon portfolio, detailing a four-pronged commercial approach for its new Vera central processing unit. The chipmaker expects the processor to generate US$20 billion in standalone revenue, signaling a significant evolution in its hardware distribution strategy and a broader play for infrastructure dominance in the emerging agentic artificial intelligence market.

Nvidia targets long-term ACIE dominance as enterprise AI eclipses hyperscalers

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 07:48:34 GMT

Nvidia has detailed a significant structural shift in its data center revenue reporting, introducing a new market segmentation that separates traditional hyperscale cloud providers from a rapidly expanding sector named ACIE, which stands for artificial intelligence clouds, industrial, and enterprise. While hyperscale platforms currently lead initial deployment, management projects that the ACIE segment will eventually outgrow them, owing to the massive scale of the global corporate economy.

Taiwan moves to restore drone procurement funding after legislature cuts defense budget

Willis Ke — Thu, 21 May 2026 07:31:44 GMT

Taiwanese President Ching-te Lai warned that sweeping cuts to drone procurement funding by the Legislative Yuan could weaken the island's defense readiness and undermine stability across the Taiwan Strait, as the government moves to restore funding through new budget proposals and supplemental allocations.

GigaDevice sees niche DRAM and NAND prices rising through 2026

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 07:27:49 GMT

GigaDevice said tight supply and rising prices across DRAM, NOR Flash, and SLC NAND Flash continued to fuel strong first-quarter 2026 earnings growth, supported by recovering demand from AI, server, and industrial applications.

Taiwan's export engine stalls in April as global orders pull back

Kevin Wang — Thu, 21 May 2026 07:18:28 GMT

Taiwan's export orders fell 4.0% in April compared to March levels, with orders from the US, China, Europe, Japan, and the ASEAN region all declining. According to data released on May 20 by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) for April 2026, six of the seven major export categories saw month-on-month declines, including electronics and ICT products. However, the Ministry expects overall May orders to rebound from April, based on feedback from export-oriented manufacturers.

OpenAI moves up IPO timeline to get ahead of Anthropic

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 07:06:26 GMT

OpenAI is preparing to file for an initial public offering (IPO) in the coming weeks, a move that could sharpen its competitive edge in the AI race. While company executives had previously targeted a listing in the fourth quarter of this year or later, the accelerated filing is expected to substantially advance the offering's schedule. According to The Wall Street Journal, the initial paperwork could be submitted to regulators as early as Friday.

Five weak links India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 must fix

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 06:44:59 GMT

India's first semiconductor mission brought fabs, OSAT units, and chip projects into the policy pipeline. Its second phase is being shaped around a harder question: whether India can fix the weak links that determine if those projects become a sustainable semiconductor ecosystem.

AI chip boom strains ABF substrate supply chain

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 06:26:32 GMT

AI is shifting the semiconductor supply chain's next bottleneck from wafer fabrication and HBM memory to ABF substrates — a lower-profile but critical packaging material used in high-end CPUs, GPUs, ASICs, and networking chips.

Demand surge for power semiconductors reshapes data-center power and cooling, pushing suppliers toward SiC and GaN

Jingyue Hsiao — Thu, 21 May 2026 06:18:09 GMT

Demand for power components is surging as AI servers adopt high-voltage direct current power delivery and advanced cooling technologies. This shift could increase component density and design complexity across the data center supply chain. Taiwanese power semiconductor makers are moving into cooling and power-management MOS technologies, as well as higher-spec upgrades.

Texas Instruments sues former exec over trade secret theft at GlobalFoundries

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 06:15:50 GMT

Bloomberg reports that Texas Instruments (TI) has sued former vice president Kannan Soundarapandian, alleging he joined GlobalFoundries without fully disclosing his new employer and may bring proprietary power semiconductor knowledge into competitive use. TI is seeking to block his role, arguing it could expose confidential process "recipes, roadmaps, and know-how," with broader implications for competition in power device manufacturing and advanced process development.

Tech Forum 2026: Taiwan suppliers could win a critical role in humanoid robot supply chains as commercialization accelerates

Jingyue Hsiao — Thu, 21 May 2026 06:03:05 GMT

AI-driven humanoid robots are entering a visible phase of commercialization. At the same time, software lags hardware, creating an opening for Taiwan component suppliers to target the joint module market through alliances, according to remarks at a DIGITIMES forum ahead of Computex 2026.

Yulon to fully back Foxtron production as N7, Bria and Carvia enter mass production

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 06:01:21 GMT

Yulon Motor said at an investor conference on May 20 that it will fully support Foxtron Vehicle Technologies' production capacity requirements, with the N7, Bria, and the latest Carvia models now being mass-produced at Yulon's Sanyi plant. The company disclosed first-quarter 2026 operating results and outlined a strategy covering vehicle manufacturing, energy services, asset monetization, and overseas expansion.

LG Innotek wins long-term substrate deals as Intel and cloud giants secure supply

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 05:57:31 GMT

LG Innotek has secured substrate supply terms with major technology customers that increasingly resemble long-term agreements used in the memory-chip sector, boosting the South Korean supplier's revenue visibility and reducing profit volatility, according to reports.Hankyung and Yonhap, citing a KB Securities report, said the proposed contracts include large upfront payments, binding multi-year supply commitments with penalty clauses, and equipment investment support from customers.

Auras Technology raises 2026 revenue outlook as AI-driven liquid cooling demand grows

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 05:53:34 GMT

Auras Technology said strong AI server demand will sustain growth in thermal management through 2028, driving the company to raise its full-year revenue growth forecast for 2026. Executives disclosed the supplier expects quarterly growth throughout 2026, lifted its revenue-growth target from 50% to 70%, and sees potential for higher gross margins as shipments expand.

Tokyo Electron Taiwan drops appeal after court fines unit and jails ex-engineer in TSMC trade secrets case

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 05:44:43 GMT

Tokyo Electron's Taiwan unit said on May 21 that it respected judicial proceedings and would not appeal following a ruling in a trade secrets case involving TSMC. The decision came after the Taiwan Intellectual Property and Commercial Court on April 27 convicted a former Tokyo Electron engineer for taking confidential TSMC materials and sentenced the individual to 10 years in prison, according to Reuters and Bloomberg.

OpenAI offers 1-3 year reserved AI capacity with discounts to attract enterprise contracts

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 05:43:12 GMT

OpenAI launched a Guaranteed Capacity program that lets enterprise customers reserve one to three years of AI computing resources in advance, aiming to provide a stable supply for products, AI agents, and workflows while giving both buyers and suppliers time to plan. The program opened with tiered discounts tied to commitment length and will remain available until the current allocation is sold out, with additional rounds planned in the future, a spokesperson announced.

Anthropic surpasses OpenAI in enterprise adoption amid rising compute and cost pressures

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 05:41:33 GMT

Anthropic overtook OpenAI in enterprise AI adoption in April 2026, according to spending data from Ramp, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and VentureBeat, as growing demand collided with compute bottlenecks and mounting cost pressures. Ramp's tracking of more than 50,000 US companies found that 34.4% of enterprise customers used Anthropic products in April 2026, versus OpenAI's 32.3%.

SK Hynix reportedly shifts Cheongju mask fab toward HBM yield push

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 04:50:38 GMT

SK Hynix is reportedly moving to reshape part of its Cheongju campus around wafer testing, a shift that underscores how high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, is putting new pressure on the back end of the chipmaking process.

Vietnam issues AI regulations, requires OpenAI and Anthropic to appoint local government liaisons

Eifeh Strom — Thu, 21 May 2026 04:49:05 GMT

Vietnam has issued artificial intelligence (AI) regulations requiring companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic to appoint representatives to communicate with the government, with affected firms needing to comply by March 2027.

China uses iron-fist policies to expel inefficient TOPCon capacity from solar supply chain

Emily Kuo — Thu, 21 May 2026 04:35:34 GMT

China's top-down policies are creating a tech elimination battle in its solar supply chain. Because of severe oversupply in the mainstream N-type tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) technology, combined with intensifying internal competition and price-cutting wars, the overall solar industry is on a downfall. For TOPCon companies suffering long-term losses and struggling to survive, the Chinese government has directly ordered local governments to "prohibit bailouts," therefore accelerating industry reshuffling and the elimination of inefficient production capacity.

Tokuyama to build second high-purity IPA plant in Taiwan to bolster global semiconductor supplies

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 04:23:58 GMT

In a press release on May 20, Japan-based Tokuyama Corporation said it will build a second high-purity isopropyl alcohol plant in Kaohsiung through its joint venture with Formosa Plastics, a move aimed at strengthening global semiconductor supply chains by increasing capacity and quality assurance for electronic manufacturing chemicals and improving stability for customers worldwide through enhanced technical services.

Grab's Taiwan push goes beyond food delivery

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 04:22:05 GMT

As Grab Holdings pushes ahead with its proposed acquisition of foodpanda's Taiwan business, the Southeast Asian technology giant is betting that the future of delivery is no longer just about who can move food the fastest.

Exclusive: TOPCon faces funding cuts while HJT and BC receive government support

Emily Kuo — Thu, 21 May 2026 04:15:46 GMT

As China's solar market enters a downfall, market sources indicate that China's central government is reshaping the industry landscape through an aggressive dual-track strategy. On one hand, authorities continue tightening funding for the mainstream tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) technology. On the other hand, they are launching targeted national-level support measures for higher-efficiency next-generation technologies such as heterojunction (HJT) and back-contact (BC).

Tech Forum 2026: How much longer can semiconductors sustain Taiwan?

Emily Kuo — Thu, 21 May 2026 04:11:18 GMT

During a keynote discussion session at Tech Forum 2026, DIGITIMES senior reporter Monica Chen and semiconductor analyst Andrew Lu shared their views on current AI server technology transformations, concerns over capital expenditure bubbles among global cloud giants, changes in application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and chip architectures, and TSMC's global expansion strategy.

From anti-jamming drones to tumor-on-a-chip: Taiwan deep-tech courts Silicon Valley capital

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 04:07:06 GMT

Four Taiwanese deep-tech startups took the stage on the second day of the Plug and Play Silicon Valley May Summit, pitching to international investors and corporations in a session organized by Plug and Play Taiwan.

TSMC's cautious capex is averting an AI bubble, says investor

Lily Hess — Thu, 21 May 2026 03:52:58 GMT

TSMC's restrained expansion strategy is helping the global market avoid an AI bubble, according to veteran semiconductor investor Gavin Baker, the chief investment officer at Atreides Management. Speaking at the 2026 Sohn Investment Conference, Baker's view runs counter to market consensus at a time when tech giants are pouring money into AI chips and global chip manufacturing is under unprecedented strain.

Commentary: China builds its memory twin engines; IPO push for YMTC, CXMT intensifies

Levi Li — Thu, 21 May 2026 03:52:46 GMT

China's memory chip industry is entering a critical capital markets phase, with YMTC formally launching IPO counselling and CXMT resuming its STAR Market listing review after updating its prospectus. The parallel moves mark an accelerated push by China's two leading memory chipmakers to secure long-term funding and expand their role in the global semiconductor industry.

White House plans voluntary frontier-model review, in bid to close gap with China and EU

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 03:49:31 GMT

The White House Office of the National Cyber Director briefed leading AI developers on Tuesday on a planned executive order that would establish a voluntary framework for pre-release government review of frontier models, with US President Donald Trump potentially signing the order as early as May 21, according to The Information.

SpaceX IPO reveals Musk's US$4 billion AI gamble

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 03:09:31 GMT

SpaceX's long-awaited initial public offering filing landed on Wednesday with all the spectacle investors expected from Elon Musk — and all the contradictions that have come to define his empire. The document revealed a company burning billions on artificial intelligence (AI), wagering its future on technologies that do not yet exist, and asking public shareholders to trust almost entirely in Musk's vision of humanity's future in space.

Nvidia introduces ACIE sub-segment, adds Anthropic as partner, and breaks out Physical AI

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 02:52:36 GMT

Nvidia introduced a new segment reporting framework on its first quarter of fiscal 2027 call, splitting data center revenue into Hyperscale and ACIE (AI Clouds, Industrial, Enterprise) and breaking out Edge Computing as a separate platform.

From US$10m to US$2.2bn in 17 months: Starcloud bets on orbital fix for AI's energy crisis

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 02:37:24 GMT

Philip Johnston, co-founder and CEO of Starcloud, opened the second day of the Plug and Play Silicon Valley May Summit in Sunnyvale with a proposition that would have sounded implausible three years ago: the most economical place to build AI data centers may soon be in orbit.

Samsung labor dispute adds pressure to memory chip market

Sherri Wang — Thu, 21 May 2026 02:36:19 GMT

Surging demand for AI data center infrastructure has already pushed the memory market into a structural shortage. Now, Samsung Electronics' labor dispute is adding another layer of uncertainty for DRAM and NAND Flash prices.

How South Korea is pitching itself to Silicon Valley's startup elite

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 02:16:31 GMT

South Korea made its case to Silicon Valley investors and startups on the first day of the Plug and Play May Summit in Sunnyvale, positioning Seoul not as an emerging market but as a fully operational launch pad for global technology products.

Nvidia prices rivals out of AI factory race with Blackwell, Vera CPU, and Rubin

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 02:14:17 GMT

Nvidia used its first quarter of fiscal year 2027 earnings call on May 20, 2026 to lay out a three-tier silicon cadence that should make any rival roadmap look thin: a Blackwell ramp the company calls the fastest in its history, the first production silicon of Vera Rubin in the second half of this year, and a brand-new Arm CPU, Vera, that opens a US$200 billion TAM Nvidia has never touched.

Nvidia excludes China from its outlook while citing analyst estimates of US$1 trillion in hyperscaler capex by 2027

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 01:30:58 GMT

Nvidia continues to exclude Chinese data center compute revenue from its outlook, with CFO Colette Kress citing uncertainty around whether H200 imports will be allowed into the country despite recent US export license approvals.

OpenAI picks Singapore for first overseas applied AI lab

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:14:58 GMT

OpenAI will commit more than S$300 million (approx. US$235 million) to expand Singapore's artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem, choosing the city-state for its first applied AI lab outside the US as Singapore pushes to strengthen its position as a regional AI hub.

South Korea bets on KIST, LG to catch up in humanoid robots

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:14:52 GMT

South Korea has launched a five-year public-private project to build a domestic AI humanoid robot platform, bringing together KIST, LG affiliates, universities, and a hospital as the country looks to narrow the gap with the US and China in next-generation robotics.

Moonshot AI abandons offshore structure to pursue landmark Hong Kong IPO

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:14:47 GMT

Moonshot AI, the Beijing-based generative AI unicorn behind the widely popular Kimi chatbot, has informed its shareholders that it intends to dismantle its offshore corporate framework to clear a regulatory path for an initial public offering (IPO), likely in Hong Kong.

US targets Hua Hong's 7nm nodes while China targets South Korean partners to evade sanctions

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:14:42 GMT

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has reportedly issued "is-informed" letters to several major wafer fab equipment (WFE) manufacturers, ordering an immediate halt to tool shipments destined for Hua Hong Semiconductor, China's second-largest foundry. The restrictions specifically target two facilities within the Hua Hong Group, including its subsidiary Huali Microelectronics, which US officials believe are being positioned to scale China's most sophisticated logic nodes.

OSE targets AI server SMT growth as memory demand lifts outlook

Lily Hess — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:14:37 GMT

Orient Semiconductor Electronics (OSE) said that strong memory market demand is lifting its outlook and expanding its role in the memory supply chain, while also strengthening its importance in surface-mount technology (SMT) for AI server boards with major US clients.

SMIC, Hua Hong form materials supply platform to cut China chip chain reliance on US

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:14:31 GMT

China's semiconductor self-sufficiency drive has taken another step forward, with SMIC and Hua Hong Group jointly establishing Shanghai Electronic Materials International Supply Chain, in what market observers view as more than a conventional materials procurement platform.

FII challenges Broadcom and Nvidia as CPO race shifts to system integration

Lily Hess — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:14:25 GMT

As AI computing demand continues to grow exponentially, pressure to upgrade data center network architectures is intensifying. Co-packaged optics (CPO) is moving from concept to real-world deployment, and Foxconn Industrial Internet (FII) is quietly building a strong market position by leveraging its existing strengths in CPO all-optical switches as well as AI servers.

Iron Force eyes North America production, AI server cooling shipments in 2Q26

Kevin Wang — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:14:18 GMT

Iron Force Industrial saw short-term pressure in its operations during the first quarter of 2026, due to tariff swings in the US-China trade war, adjustments to its product mix, and foreign exchange losses from a stronger Chinese Yuan. The automotive safety parts and thermal solutions maker also pointed to new progress in its efforts to enter the AI server cooling market, with liquid-cooling products set to become a new growth driver as shipments begin in the second quarter.

China memory supplier Biwin's AI photonics funding raises questions about strategy and risk

Levi Li — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:14:13 GMT

China's AI infrastructure race is entering a new phase, with industry focus shifting from raw computing power toward data transmission efficiency.

Analysis: Lens Technology seeks control of Ju Teng to expand beyond Apple

Sherri Wang — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:14:04 GMT

Lens Technology's bid for control of Ju Teng International Holdings is putting renewed focus on changes in the notebook supply chain, as the Chinese supplier seeks to reduce its reliance on Apple and broaden its product portfolio.

NXP pitches CoreRide as a shortcut to software-defined cars

Sherri Wang — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:13:57 GMT

NXP Semiconductors is positioning its CoreRide platform as a way for automakers and Tier 1 suppliers to shorten development cycles for software-defined vehicles, even as the chipmaker's move deeper into system-level solutions raises questions about how its role in the automotive supply chain may evolve.

NXP CoreRide Z248 leverages Inventec, Delta support in SDV push

Rodney Chan — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:13:51 GMT

Driven by software-defined vehicles (SDVs), the automotive supply chain is being reshaped, embracing a business model relying on highly collaborative ecosystems. At a showcase in Taipei on May 19, NXP demonstrated its CoreRide Z248 platform, built together with automotive middleware vendor Vector.

Column: Agentic AI's autonomy problem—the security risks from machines that act

Jingyue Hsiao — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:13:45 GMT

Artificial intelligence is undergoing a fundamental shift. Generative AI — passive, prompt-dependent, inert without input — has given way to agentic systems that reason, plan, and act on their own. The change is not incremental. It is architectural.

AI server demand tightens passive component supply, lifting Taiwanese suppliers' share

Jingyue Hsiao — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:13:38 GMT

Demand for artificial intelligence servers and related power systems is pushing lead times higher for high-end multilayer ceramic capacitors, elongated electrolytic capacitors, and hybrid aluminum electrolytic capacitors, distributor Nichidenbo has reported, with typical waits rising from around 1.5–2 months to 3–4 months and in some cases much longer.

TSMC's COUPE push puts Samsung's silicon photonics ambitions under pressure

Emily Kuo — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:13:27 GMT

Samsung Electronics has launched silicon photonics foundry services and entered pilot production, signaling during its latest earnings call that optical communication modules will soon move to mass production — backed by aggressive investment. Yet compared with TSMC, which has already achieved breakthroughs in co-packaged optics (CPO) through Taiwan's well-established supply chain ecosystem, Samsung still has a long way to go.

Limited joint-load capacity threatens humanoid robots' ability to replace human labor

Jingyue Hsiao — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:13:18 GMT

Humanoid robot developers and suppliers are increasingly focused on joint-module load-bearing capabilities as a key barrier to replacing human workers, according to supply-chain sources. Industry participants cite limited payload capacity, reduced durability of reducers, and structural strength as primary constraints on commercialization.

Analysis: Why Taiwan's telcos aren't following the US playbook on satellite

Jingyue Hsiao — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:13:10 GMT

Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile have formed a joint venture to expand direct-to-device (D2D) satellite service and eliminate mobile coverage dead zones across the US, prompting scrutiny over whether Taiwan's three major telecom operators could replicate that model. The US move throws into relief the contrasts in market size, competition, and regulatory context that shape incentives for cooperation.

DFI flags supply crunch, not orders, as 2026's real growth ceiling

DIGITIMES — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:13:01 GMT

DFI Inc. said healthy order visibility and strong demand from medical and defense projects will sustain growth into the second half of 2026, but widening component lead times driven by AI and data center demand have become the primary constraint on revenue acceleration.

Nvidia revenue surges 85% as data center sales jump 92%

DIGITIMES — Wed, 20 May 2026 23:16:04 GMT

May 20, Nvidia reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue of US$81.6 billion, up 85% year-over-year and 20% sequentially. GAAP diluted EPS reached US$2.39, up 214% year-over-year, and non-GAAP EPS was US$1.87, up 140% year-over-year. Both topped consensus estimates, with revenue near US$79 billion and non-GAAP EPS of US$1.77, S&P Global Market Intelligence reported.

Samsung averts strike with last-minute labor deal, but deeper divisions remain

DIGITIMES — Wed, 20 May 2026 23:13:42 GMT

With less than an hour remaining before a planned strike was set to begin, Samsung Electronics and its labor union reached a tentative agreement late on May 20, narrowly avoiding what industry observers estimated could have triggered supply-chain disruptions worth more than KRW100 trillion (approx. US$66.8 billion).

Agibot claims 100% success rate in factory deployment as humanoid race shifts to real-world validation

DIGITIMES — Wed, 20 May 2026 16:43:54 GMT

Peng Chen, business development director at Agibot, used the robotics session of the 5th Mobis Mobility Day in Sunnyvale to make a pointed argument: the humanoid robotics industry has moved past prototype competition into a phase where real-world deployment results are the only metric that matters.

ASML to deliver first High-NA chips within months despite cost concerns

DIGITIMES — Wed, 20 May 2026 08:42:45 GMT

ASML expects its first advanced semiconductors made using next-generation High-Numerical Aperture (High-NA) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment to ship within months.