DIGITIMES Asia: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

China's SiC race shifts from EVs to AI data centers as SICC overtakes Wolfspeed

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:30:58 GMT

China's silicon carbide (SiC) supply chain is finding a new growth engine as AI strains data-center power systems, extending a market long driven by electric vehicles.

Halos signals Nvidia's bid to make safety certification the robotics gateway

Lily Hess — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:30:07 GMT

Nvidia does not make robots, but it is becoming a key force behind embodied intelligence companies. At Automate 2026, North America's largest industrial automation show, on June 22, Deepu Talla, vice president of Nvidia's robotics business, said on stage that the company hired 18,600 man-years of engineers to bring the safety architecture of autonomous driving to robots.

Arm says it tops 50% share in hyperscale cloud as x86 grip slips

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:29:42 GMT

Arm Holdings says its chip architecture has crossed the 50% threshold in the hyperscale cloud market, a milestone in a segment long dominated by Intel and AMD. The SoftBank-backed chip designer is now pushing further into the hardware business itself, even as supply chains strain under the weight of the AI infrastructure buildout.

Anthropic tops global unicorn list as China shifts to hard tech

Lily Hess — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:29:04 GMT

Hurun Research Institute released its Hurun Global Unicorn List on June 25, a ranking covering 1,603 companies across 52 countries and 299 cities. The number of companies is up 5.3% from the prior year, while total global unicorn value has surged 43% year on year to US$8 trillion, far outpacing growth in the number of companies.

PlayNitride expects 2H26 to outperform 1H26, driven by displays and AI glasses

Charlene Chen — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:28:24 GMT

PlayNitride reported revenue of NT$238 million (approx. US$7.5 million) in the first five months of 2026, down 41% year-over-year. The microLED company said stronger custom design orders and a higher mix of high-margin products will lift second-half revenue and gross margin above the first half, while it aims to improve again in the fourth quarter. Large-format TVs, wearables, and transparent displays remain the company's core businesses. Over the medium to long term, it is targeting high-end displays, AI glasses, and AI optical communications as its three growth engines.

Hyundai says one year of output beats Tesla's 10-year sales; manufacturing capacity crucial in physical AI race

Kevin Wang — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:27:52 GMT

Amid the ongoing AI race between the US and China, industry players in South Korea are now focusing on physical AI as a competitive factor, with manufacturing momentum as a core advantage, according to Park Min-woo, head of Hyundai Motor's Advanced Vehicle Platform (AVP) division and CEO of 42dot.

Commentary: Apple raises prices, markets flinch— but demand proves more resilient than feared

Willis Ke — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:27:27 GMT

Apple's latest round of price increases for Macs, MacBooks, and iPads has unsettled investors and weighed on Asian technology markets, but the reaction may be disproportionate to the likely impact on demand. While higher prices will inevitably slow some purchases, Apple's premium positioning, loyal customer base, and selective pricing strategy suggest the broader implications for shipments and the supply chain are likely to remain manageable.

Red Hat sees cloud-to-edge shift in Taiwan AI deployment

Rodney Chan — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:27:04 GMT

Enterprises are increasingly moving AI deployments from public cloud to on-premises systems as demand rises for data sovereignty, compliance, and local data control. Irene Sun, general manager for Red Hat Taiwan, said the same shift is taking hold in Taiwan, where companies are paying far more attention to who controls critical data, core models, and computing environments.

Intel-UMC tie-up talk runs into hard realities of process gaps and cash needs

Jingyue Hsiao — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:26:42 GMT

Rumors in Taiwan's capital markets that United Microelectronics Corp. may deepen cooperation with Intel from 12nm to Intel 3 are drawing skepticism from DIGITIMES analyst Luke Lin. He said the main obstacles are the technology gap and Intel's internal capacity allocation, which make a near-term move commercially difficult.

Yao Sheng bets on four new product lines, names Te-ching Shen as president

Eifeh Strom — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:26:08 GMT

Taiwanese electronic components manufacturer Yao Sheng Electronic held its 2026 annual shareholders meeting on June 25, noting that its transformation strategy in recent years has focused on optimizing its profit structure, targeting high total wattage, high technological barrier, and high gross margin applications. The company added that prior R&D investments and automation spending have helped incubate four niche product lines: artificial intelligence (AI) high-power power supplies, patented low-temperature heat dissipation materials, semiconductor testing, and medical devices certified by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

China memory makers fuel local chip equipment push as CXMT lands Tencent deal

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 09:29:05 GMT

ChangXin Memory Technologies has signed a long-term DRAM supply agreement with Tencent Holdings valued at more than CNY20 billion (approx. US$2.94 billion), three people with knowledge of the deal told Reuters, as the Hefei-based chipmaker prepares for one of China's largest stock listings in years.

Baidu subsidiary Kunlunxin seeks US$50B IPO valuation, asks investors to buy its chips

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 09:12:29 GMT

Kunlunxin, the semiconductor subsidiary of Chinese search engine giant Baidu, is targeting a US$50 billion valuation for its Hong Kong public offering. The company is also asking investors to commit to buying its chips as a condition of participation, according to The Information, underscoring the competitive dynamics shaping chip makers as Beijing moves to strengthen its domestic AI supply chain.

Chengxi approved for Taipei Exchange listing as AI reshapes customer service

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 09:07:40 GMT

Chengxi Information said on June 26 that the Taipei Exchange board approved its listing application, with Mega Securities serving as the lead underwriter. The company also held its shareholders' meeting the same day, approving the 2025 financial report and a profit distribution plan that includes a cash dividend of NT$5.3 per share and a payout ratio of more than 80%.

BYD's 4nm smart-driving chip signals deeper EV supply-chain integration

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 09:03:00 GMT

BYD plans to install its first in-house smart-driving chip in a Denza production model in 2027, marking a key step in the Chinese automaker's push to extend vertical integration from electrification into intelligent driving.

Kyocera to invest JPY650 billion in chip equipment and data center components

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 09:02:24 GMT

Kyocera is committing JPY650 billion (approx. US$4 billion) to its components businesses through fiscal 2031, as AI data center investment and semiconductor equipment spending lift demand for ceramic parts, optical communication packages, and advanced semiconductor packaging materials.

Taiwan launches quantum talent program, sends 15 abroad

Charlene Chen — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 08:58:56 GMT

Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs has tasked Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to set up the Quantum Industry Technology Promotion Office (QITPO) and has named dozens of companies as members of the quantum industry supply chain. To strengthen Taiwan's quantum science and application base, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) has announced the launch of a quantum technology program, with the first 15 PhD-level candidates selected for overseas study.

Taiwan's first homegrown submarine enters dive trials ahead of handover; shipbuilder eyes unmanned boat contracts

Joseph(C) Chen — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 08:56:45 GMT

Taiwan's first domestically built submarine, Haikun, has entered submergence testing and is on track to be handed over to the navy in the second half of 2026, state-owned shipbuilder CSBC Corp. Taiwan said at a shareholders' meeting.

BOE's military designation hands South Korean panel makers a strategic opening

Charlene Chen — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 08:52:01 GMT

The US government's move to add Chinese panel makers BOE and Tianma to a military-related list is raising concerns that Washington's tech restrictions are spilling beyond semiconductors into the display supply chain. South Korean panel makers are now watching to see whether tighter curbs on China could create a new opening for them.

Samsung chair backs Korea's southwest chip cluster, maps nationwide investment

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 08:38:13 GMT

Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong said Gwangju is being considered as a candidate site for Samsung's next semiconductor complex, lending corporate backing to South Korea's plan to build a second chip production base in Gwangju and the broader Jeolla region in the country's southwest.

US widens China tech ban to include legacy Huawei, ZTE equipment

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:56:03 GMT

The US is expanding its import ban on Chinese telecommunications and surveillance equipment, extending Federal Communications Commission (FCC) restrictions beyond newly launched products to cover older models previously approved for sale when deployed in national security-related applications.

DARPA seeks radically low-power, damage-tolerant computers for austere battlefield environments

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:43:25 GMT

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued a request for information (RFI) on June 18 seeking concepts for "low-resource computing" that can operate with almost no electricity, minimal memory, and continued function despite hardware damage. The RFI invited input from academic institutions, companies, and individual inventors and set a July 17 deadline for replies; DARPA said it will follow up with an invitation-only workshop in August in Hanover, New Hampshire, to review promising proposals.

Taiwan optics makers eye humanoid robot vision market as deployments accelerate

Scarlett Yu — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:35:38 GMT

As physical AI enters a pivotal growth phase in 2026, deployment of robotic systems is rapidly accelerating across the industry. Beyond established applications such as inspection, healthcare, and service robots, humanoid robots are emerging as a major demand driver. As AI moves toward practical deployment, demand for robot vision modules is expected to rise sharply, with volume production set to accelerate.

Taiwan smartphone shipments rose in May despite higher component costs

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:25:22 GMT

Taiwan's smartphone market saw shipments expand in May as Mother's Day buying and demand for AI-enabled premium models offset rising upstream component costs, industry participants said. Total shipments reached nearly 430,000 units in May 2026, up about 7% from 402,000 in April, while cumulative shipments for January through May hit 2.12 million units, a 2.7% increase year over year, according to handset channel players.

China's first diamond semiconductor supply chain project lands in Zhengzhou

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:24:32 GMT

China is accelerating its push into fourth-generation semiconductors, with the country's first fully integrated industrial project for ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductor materials set to be built in Zhengzhou. The project aims to strengthen domestic capabilities in diamond-based semiconductor materials for AI chips, advanced communications and electric vehicles, while expanding China's presence beyond silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN).

Musk backs Cook as AI memory crunch drives Apple price hikes

Levi Li — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:23:25 GMT

Apple has abruptly raised prices for Mac computers, iPads, and Vision Pro in the US, underscoring how the AI infrastructure boom is spilling from data centers into consumer electronics.

AI demand drives Foundry 2.0 market revenue up 23% in 1Q26, says Counterpoint

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:20:09 GMT

Global revenue for the semiconductor industry's "Foundry 2.0" market reached US$86 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 23% year-over-year, driven by strong demand for AI accelerators and advanced packaging, according to Counterpoint Research.

Samsung could become HBM market share leader in 2027

Lily Hess — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:14:22 GMT

Samsung Electronics could overtake SK Hynix in the global high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market in 2027, driven by the competitive edge of HBM4, the sixth generation of HBM. Market watchers also expect Samsung to expand 1c DRAM production for HBM4 while raising the latter's prices in 2027 to boost both market share and profitability.

Samsung, SK Hynix to build KRW800 trillion chip hub in South Korea’s southwest

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:02:28 GMT

South Korea is pushing to establish a second national semiconductor production base in Gwangju and South Jeolla in the country's southwest, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix planning to build two memory fabs each as part of a KRW800 trillion (approx. US$517.87 billion) national chip ecosystem project, Yonhap reported.

Apple reportedly seeks CXMT approval to secure DRAM supply amid memory crunch

Levi Li — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 06:56:09 GMT

DRAM and NAND Flash supplies are tightening as global AI data centers continue to expand. Apple is actively lobbying the Trump administration to allow it to buy DRAM from Chinese memory maker CXMT, underscoring the cost, supply, and geopolitical pressures bearing down on the global technology supply chain.

BYD's in-house smart driving chip reportedly faces long road to production vehicles despite vertical integration push

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 06:01:25 GMT

BYD's newly unveiled Xuanji A3 autonomous driving chip may represent a major milestone in the company's semiconductor ambitions, but industry experts say bringing the processor into production vehicles will take considerably longer than its public debut.

Orbbec builds Vietnam factory to broaden global reach

Jingyue Hsiao — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 05:59:04 GMT

Chinese 3D vision sensor maker Orbbec is expanding its global manufacturing network with a new production base in Vietnam, as robotics suppliers increase overseas capacity to strengthen supply chain resilience and serve international customers.

China adds 40 Japanese entities to export control and watch lists

DIGITIMES — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 05:57:49 GMT

China has imposed new export control measures on 40 Japanese entities, placing 20 organizations on its export control list and another 20 on a separate watchlist, citing national security concerns and the need to strengthen oversight of exports of dual-use items.

Wistron expands US production to meet AI server demand

Jingyue Hsiao — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 05:53:58 GMT

Wistron is stepping up factory spending in the US, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia to meet rising demand for AI servers. The expansion signals how global supply chains are shifting to support faster deployment of AI hardware, with California emerging as a key hub for its customers globally.

SK Hynix sets up new strategy unit as HBM race intensifies

Lily Hess — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 05:00:12 GMT

South Korean media report that SK Hynix has created a new memory strategy organization, a "Growth Strategy Department," to map out next-generation semiconductor strategy. The move is seen as an effort to reset its medium- to long-term plans in a rapidly shifting memory market and preserve its leadership position.

Rising lithium battery material prices trigger widespread inflation; Chinese battery makers forced to take action

Emily Kuo — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 04:54:09 GMT

China's electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage supply chains are undergoing a profound structural shift. Over the past year, prices of upstream battery materials have continued to rise. According to reports, the sharp increase in lithium battery raw material prices has challenged the market's previous assumptions about industry overcapacity and contradicted the belief that higher prices suppress demand.