DIGITIMES: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

Marvell revenue climbs 37% to a record US$2.74 billion on data center demand

DIGITIMES — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:34:41 GMT

Marvell Technology's second quarter of fiscal 2027 was the point at which its data center business stopped being the growth engine attached to a diversified infrastructure chipmaker and became substantially the whole company. Revenue for the three months ended August 1, 2026, reached a record US$2.74 billion, up 37% from a year earlier, with the data center end market contributing US$2.17 billion, or 79% of the total, against 74% a year ago. Everything else - the carrier, enterprise networking, consumer, and automotive businesses grouped as communications and other - grew 10% and shrank as a share of the company.

Honor Robot Phone enters mass production, making robotics central to its premium AI strategy

Levi Li — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:32:03 GMT

More than a year after Honor first debated the idea internally, its Robot Phone has moved from a contentious concept to a mass-produced commercial product. But the significance of the device extends beyond creating a smartphone with an unconventional form factor.

LG Innotek wins Zoox camera module order for robotaxi production

DIGITIMES — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:31:46 GMT

LG Innotek said it will mass produce and supply automotive camera modules for Zoox, Amazon's autonomous vehicle unit. The deal marks the Korean component maker's first mass production win for a robotaxi camera module and extends a partnership that began during Zoox's early development phase.

Samsung absorbs memory costs to chase smartphone crown

Lily Hess — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:31:14 GMT

Global smartphone shipments are set to shrink sharply in 2026 as soaring memory and core component prices hit the market, but Samsung Electronics is moving in the opposite direction. Rather than passing costs fully on to consumers like some rivals, Samsung plans to keep shipment volume steady through the Galaxy S26, Galaxy Z Fold 8, and Galaxy A series, and could even retake the No. 1 spot in global smartphone shipments.

Taiwan's next biotech prescription: AI drug discovery, smart devices and biomedical chips

Scarlett Yu — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:30:43 GMT

Taiwan is charting a new direction for its biomedical industry, drawing on its strengths in semiconductors, AI hardware, precision manufacturing and healthcare. AI-powered drug discovery, smart medical devices and biomedical chips are emerging as priority areas.

IntelliEPI says Japan substrate outage hit 2Q26 revenue

DIGITIMES — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:29:51 GMT

IntelliEPI said on August 27 that revenue in the second quarter of 2026 was pressured after a Japanese substrate supplier shut down for nearly three weeks during the Golden Week holiday, reducing InP substrate availability and limiting indium phosphide production. The compound semiconductor epitaxy maker said demand for InP products tied to high-speed optical communications in AI data centers remained strong, and that substrate supply, not market demand, was the main short-term constraint.

Global LCD TV shipments above 70 inches rise as large-screen prices fall

DIGITIMES — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:29:30 GMT

Global shipments of LCD TVs larger than 70 inches have climbed sharply over the past four years, with models above 98 inches rising 12-fold, according to a Nikkei report citing Counterpoint Research. The shift reflects a broader move by manufacturers toward larger, higher-margin sets as the LCD market matures.

China rises to No. 2 in global CMOS image sensors, overtaking Korea with 21% share

DIGITIMES — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:29:12 GMT

China's CMOS image sensor industry is gaining ground beyond smartphones, with robotics emerging as one of the latest areas where domestic suppliers are linking sensor technology with higher-level perception systems.

China's humanoid boom hits its next bottleneck: making robots measurable, interoperable and safe

DIGITIMES — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:27:34 GMT

Capital interest in China has become unusually concentrated on robotics following a state-backed commitment to redirect sizable portions of tech-related incentives from a perfectly mature EV market toward the robotics sector. Since the policy took effect, robot-oriented technologies have surged, with embodied intelligence emerging as one of the most prominent areas of development.

China reshapes helium supply chain as semiconductor demand rises and import risks persist

DIGITIMES — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:27:13 GMT

China is accelerating efforts to secure helium supplies as semiconductor manufacturing, commercial space launches, and medical imaging lift demand for a resource the country still imports heavily.

China's industrial reboot: AI, chips, robotics and 6G define next five years

DIGITIMES — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:26:55 GMT

China is setting out a five-year industrial strategy centred on artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, 6G, robotics and advanced manufacturing, seeking to strengthen the country's manufacturing base while turning emerging technologies into new growth engines.

Wah Lee targets 2Q27 ODM phase as robotics push moves beyond components

DIGITIMES — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:26:37 GMT

Wah Lee Industrial is targeting the second quarter of 2027 to move its Physical AI push into an ODM development phase, signaling an effort to capture more value beyond supplying materials, components and conventional automation systems.

US targets Singapore's Apex Logistics in widening probe into illicit Nvidia chip smuggling to China

DIGITIMES — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:26:20 GMT

Efforts to curb the illicit trade of advanced AI hardware to China have intensified following a series of indictments and probes targeting the supply chain.

Regulators fast-track lithium battery M&As as China shifts from capacity expansion to consolidation

Willis Ke — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:25:57 GMT

China's lithium battery industry is shifting from an era of aggressive capacity expansion toward consolidation, as regulators rapidly clear deals aimed at revitalizing existing assets and closing gaps across the supply chain. The unconditional approval of six recent transactions involving batteries, energy storage, and new-energy materials — including one cleared in just 10 days — signals that Beijing sees mergers and acquisitions (M&As) as an increasingly important tool for restructuring an industry squeezed by overcapacity and price wars.

AI chip demand squeezes capacity, Data Image secures 1-year supply

Lily Hess — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:24:39 GMT

As strong AI demand continues to soak up semiconductor capacity, some ICs and passive components are seeing shortages and longer lead times. Qisda's display maker Data Image has stepped up policy-driven inventory buildup, with some industrial control products now carrying supply lead times of as long as one year and materials for the first and second quarters of 2027 already secured in advance.

HITCON expands Taiwan's cybersecurity focus from agentic AI to post-quantum cryptography

Kevin Wang — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:24:22 GMT

With the recent surge of generative AI in enterprise and consumer applications, AI has begun taking on new roles, moving from simply answering questions to autonomously planning tasks and deploying external tools to execute these tasks. Agentic AI was thus a prominent topic at the recent 2026 Hacks in Taiwan Conference (HITCON) organized by the Association of Hackers in Taiwan, with sessions focusing on cybersecurity risks resulting from AI agents' greater system privileges, data access, and use of external tools.

P-Duke Technology optimistic on 2H26 growth as demand surges across three niche markets

Eifeh Strom — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:23:56 GMT

P-Duke Technology, a manufacturer of specialized niche power supplies, said during its earnings call on August 26 that it remains optimistic about its outlook for second-half and full-year 2026.

Siemens Taiwan chief to lead European Chamber in Taiwan from September 2026

DIGITIMES — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 10:45:00 GMT

The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan said on August 27 that Siemens Taiwan president and chief executive Frank Grunert will become its chairperson on September 1, 2026. The decision was approved unanimously by the chamber's council and puts a senior Taiwan-based executive in charge of the group representing European business interests on the island.

Trump declares emergency over foreign grid equipment, likely eyeing Chinese power hardware

DIGITIMES — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 10:00:02 GMT

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 26 declaring a national emergency over the security of America's electrical grid. It restricts the purchase, import, and installation of certain foreign-made "bulk-power system" equipment on cybersecurity and national-security grounds.

HP revenue hits record as PC shipments fall on rising component costs

DIGITIMES — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:55:00 GMT

HP reported record revenue in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, but PC shipments declined as higher average selling prices weighed on unit volume. The company said the same pattern is affecting other PC brands and expects it to become more visible in the second half of the year as component costs stay elevated.

MiniMax revenue surges 283% as enterprise adoption increases

DIGITIMES — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:40:41 GMT

Chinese AI startup MiniMax Group reported a 283.1% increase in revenue, rising from US$30.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2025, to US$116.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2026. This growth was primarily driven by the continued expansion of its global user base, surging demand for model inference, and the company's ability to translate model advancements into commercial products and services for global enterprises, developers, and individual users.

Rebellions targets 100-plus NPU racks as UK steps up chip spending

DIGITIMES — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 08:55:00 GMT

Rebellions is pursuing deployment of more than 100 NPU-based computing racks in the UK through a partnership with British AI infrastructure startup Callosum, giving the South Korean chipmaker a potential entry point into Europe's emerging sovereign computing market.

Driving measurable sustainability: CIDB Malaysia's blueprint for carbon accountability

DIGITIMES — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 08:40:45 GMT

At Sustainability Environment Asia Conference 2026, Suhaimi Mansor, deputy chief executive of the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia, delivered a clear mandate for the nation's built environment: sustainability must transition from simple assessment to measurable, lifecycle-wide performance across buildings and infrastructure.

Japan bets on launch frequency as H3 moves from national program to commercial contender

DIGITIMES — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 08:40:26 GMT

The current aerospace landscape is increasingly marked by a push into satellite connectivity and space-based infrastructure, as SpaceX daringly edges deeper into the more intricate layers underpinning the construction of a proprietary space economy.

Samsung signals zHBF push as memory race moves beyond HBM

DIGITIMES — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 08:22:24 GMT

Samsung Electronics is signaling a push into high bandwidth flash (HBF), extending its next-generation memory ambitions beyond HBM as rivals move to establish a new NAND-based memory tier for AI inference.

Malaysia's charging shortfall opens the door for Chinese hardware players

Charlene Chen — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 08:20:00 GMT

Southeast Asia's EV market is expected to reach US$23.58 billion by 2031, with a 2026-2031 CAGR of 31.55%. But Malaysia's charging infrastructure is falling well behind government targets, creating an opening for Chinese hardware suppliers.

Chart: Nvidia's hyperscale revenue doubled again — and that was the slower half of the business

DIGITIMES — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 07:55:00 GMT

Nvidia has made a point of it in three consecutive earnings decks: year-on-year growth has accelerated for four straight quarters, which the company calls unprecedented at its scale. It's true. But split the data center business into its two halves, and the acceleration has a single source, and it isn't the customers everyone assumes.

HBM hybrid bonding delayed by 300°C heat and CMP dishing

Yunnie Cheng — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 07:55:00 GMT

As high-bandwidth memory (HBM) stack counts continue to rise, the industry originally anticipated that hybrid bonding (HB), a next-generation packaging solution, would be officially introduced with HBM5. However, process control challenges and cost barriers are threatening to delay that timeline. Simultaneously, thermal management is emerging as the central bottleneck for the memory sector.

Malaysia's EV market sharpens, local brands face off against Chinese rivals

Charlene Chen — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 07:45:00 GMT

Hybrid and plug-in hybrid demand continues to grow across ASEAN, with Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand posting the strongest sales gains. The shift is drawing local Southeast Asian automakers and Chinese brands into a tougher fight for share.

Commentary: YMTC's high-profile IPO masks three long-term hurdles

Yunnie Cheng — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 07:45:00 GMT

Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) has officially kicked off its STAR Market IPO process. In the first quarter of 2026, China's largest 3D NAND Flash manufacturer delivered an impressive performance, generating CNY47.042 billion (approx. US$7 billion) in revenue and CNY33.379 billion (approx. US$5 billion) in net profit attributable to the parent company. Remarkably, its profit in a single quarter eclipsed its cumulative net earnings from prior years. This has turned YMTC's CNY33 billion (approx. US$4.9 billion) fundraising plan into one of the most anticipated semiconductor IPO in China since ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT).

KKCompany returns to Taiwan capital market

Rodney Chan — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 06:57:23 GMT

KKCompany, the parent company of KKBox, said it will list on Taiwan's emerging stock market on August 31, with Fubon Securities serving as lead underwriter and advisor, returning to the local capital markets more than two years after its IPO plan collapsed at the final stage in 2024.

Nvidia Vera Rubin drives 800VDC, lifts BBU demand

Lily Hess — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 06:55:00 GMT

Nvidia's GPU roadmap is pushing 800VDC into the spotlight as a key next-generation breakthrough, with battery backup modules (BBUs) set to gain in both quality and volume as high-density AI factories shift toward the new power architecture.

TI's multiaxial sensor exposes the next EV inverter race: precision catches up with power density

DIGITIMES — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 06:55:00 GMT

As EV traction inverters increasingly migrate toward 800V architectures, demand for further technological upgrades designed to improve current-sensing performance has pushed the automotive supply chain into a challenging trade-off between precision and lightweight design.

Grand Pacific Petrochemical teams up with Japan's AWI to enter Taiwan's semiconductor specialty materials market

Eifeh Strom — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 06:38:00 GMT

Taiwanese petrochemical maker Grand Pacific Petrochemical (GPPC) announced it has joined Japanese industrial gas manufacturer Air Water (AWI) in a capital increase for semiconductor specialty gas producer Hong-Kuang Hi-Tech (HK Hi-Tech). The move marks their entry into Taiwan's semiconductor specialty materials market as part of a joint Taiwan-Japan effort to develop the local industry.

Ford adopts Apple Maps data for next-gen smart driving

Kevin Wang — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Ford Motor Company has announced that it will be adopting Apple's MapKit for Automotive software development kit (SDK) for its own universal EV platform, and feed Apple Maps data to its Latitude AI team, which is working on its next-gen BlueCruise advanced driver assistance system (ADAS). The move reflects a broader willingness among automakers to incorporate data and tools from big tech into their core vehicle systems, and marks a shift from the former hostility between automakers and tech companies into pragmatic collaboration, as the global auto industry seeks to speed up its smart transformation.