DIGITIMES: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

Global server market, 2Q 2026: Supply constraints curb shipment momentum, global server shipments up 2.8% in 3Q26

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 09:21:53 GMT

In the second quarter of 2026, global server shipments were below prior expectations, growing 3.8% quarter-over-quarter. The main reason was tight supply of key components such as memory, CPU, and IC substrate, which curbed overall system shipment momentu

Why Chinese automakers are racing into humanoid robots

Scarlett Yu — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 09:18:06 GMT

As subsidies for China's new energy vehicle market gradually wind down and automaker margins continue to narrow, Beijing is shifting policy support toward embodied AI and humanoid robotics. That change is encouraging Chinese automakers to redeploy technologies originally developed for smart EVs and accelerate their push into humanoid robots.

Aurotek targets humanoid robot rollout gap with Physical AI push

Yunnie Cheng — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:35:00 GMT

Aurotek Corporation is accelerating its push into the robotics market, unveiling its first lights-out factory solution integrating multi-brand, multi-form-factor robots at Automation Taipei.

Samsung and Hyundai expand alliance from EV batteries into software-defined vehicles

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:10:01 GMT

Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Group have widened their partnership across electric vehicle batteries, software-defined vehicles, and robotics. Genesis' upcoming GV90 is expected to use Samsung SDI's square batteries. According to News1, the large electric SUV is scheduled to launch in September, extending Samsung SDI's role in Hyundai Motor Group's supply chain beyond the Hyundai IONIQ 3 and Kia EV2.

Samsung gains foundry pricing power as 4nm capacity stays tight through 2027

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:01:03 GMT

Samsung Electronics is gaining pricing power in its foundry business as AI and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) demand tightens advanced-node capacity, with its 4nm lines reportedly fully booked through 2027 and some customers being steered toward 5nm production.

China reportedly delays germanium, quartz clearances, impacting Taiwan optics and aerospace suppliers

Levi Li — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 07:55:10 GMT

China has reportedly delayed customs clearance for critical materials — including germanium, quartz-based materials and neodymium magnets — since 2025, lengthening delivery times for Taiwanese aerospace and optical suppliers and, in some cases, costing them orders.

China tightens grip on global LCD market as TV panel share tops 70%

Scarlett Yu — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 07:55:00 GMT

The global LCD panel industry continues to consolidate around Chinese manufacturers, whose share of the LCD TV panel market has remained firmly above 70% and is gradually approaching 80%. Their presence in LCD monitor panels is expanding just as rapidly, having surpassed 70% in the first half of 2026.

AI boom lifts Taiwan tax revenue forecast to record NT$3.52 trillion in 2027

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 07:38:49 GMT

Taiwan's government expects central tax revenue to reach NT$3.522 trillion in 2027, up 42% from the 2026 budget estimate, driven by continued growth in AI-related manufacturing and investment. The forecast, released by the Ministry of Finance, reflects rising revenue from a stronger industrial base, robust capital spending and increased market activity tied to the island's role in global AI hardware production.

Nvidia physical AI executive Madison Huang appears at Beijing WRC after LG Seoul visit

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 07:30:00 GMT

Two days after visiting LG Electronics' robotics hub in Seoul, Nvidia executive Madison Huang was in Beijing on August 20 for the 2026 World Robot Conference (WRC), highlighting the increasingly visible role she is playing in Nvidia's physical AI and robotics partnerships across Asia.

Unitree post-IPO: Chairman Wang weighs profit, scale and 80% home-robot threshold

Levi Li — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 07:08:05 GMT

Unitree Robotics' August 19 listing on China's STAR Market brought the humanoid robot maker into the public-market spotlight, but attention quickly spread beyond its share price. The company's listing reception that evening drew investors, technology figures and venture capital executives, reflecting how Unitree has accumulated interest across technology, capital markets and the broader public.

AMEC profit jumps 300%: China chip equipment maker expands beyond etch with US$520M plan

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 06:20:00 GMT

Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China (AMEC) posted a 300% surge in first-half 2026 profit and announced a CNY3.5 billion (US$520 million) capacity expansion, accelerating its shift from an etch specialist into a broader semiconductor equipment supplier.

AI drives network equipment demand as parts shortages deepen

Charlene Chen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 05:55:00 GMT

AI data center expansion and rising demand for enterprise network upgrades continue to lift the network equipment market, giving several vendors better order visibility. But surging prices for key components such as memory and PCBs, along with hyperscalers drawing heavily on supply-chain resources, are squeezing parts availability for other electronics and adding another layer of uncertainty to second-half operations.

Nexcom brings together dozens of partners to build open AI robotics ecosystem

Eifeh Strom — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 05:55:00 GMT

Industrial computer (IPC) maker Nexcom International on August 19 officially unveiled its RoboWIZ AI Robotics Open Platform concept at the 2026 Automation Taipei exhibition, bringing together Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Compal Electronics, German technology partner Synapticon, and dozens of key component partners from Taiwan and overseas to pursue commercialization opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI) robotics.

SK Hynix's new HBM team lands in Nvidia and AMD's backyard — co-design is becoming the way to win HBM4 orders

Joseph(C) Chen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 05:44:00 GMT

SK Hynix is reported to be assembling a high-bandwidth memory (HBM) design team in Silicon Valley, a move that would deepen its co-design work with major US chip customers. Analysts see it as evidence that HBM competition is shifting into a customized, jointly developed phase.

Analysis: Google keeps Sunfish at Broadcom, Zebrafish at MediaTek — Marvell's US$12.2bn warrant buys a category nobody was defending

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 05:25:28 GMT

One word in Marvell Technology's August 19 filing decides how the Google agreement should be read. The custom silicon programs, it says, attach to the tensor processing unit (TPU) ecosystem. Attach, not replace.

Qualcomm targets NT$10,000 entry-level PCs as 4 brands adopt

Charlene Chen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 05:20:00 GMT

Qualcomm is moving into the entry-level PC market with its Snapdragon C platform as Apple's US$599 MacBook Neo and surging DRAM and NAND costs squeeze low-priced Windows laptops from both ends. The chipmaker is aiming to give PC brands a lower-cost alternative and help them defend a segment that has become increasingly hard to profit from.

Commentary: How iPad Air became a catalyst for IT OLED expansion

Yunnie Cheng — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 04:40:26 GMT

Apple kicked off the tablet OLED era in 2024, introducing Tandem OLED in the iPad Pro to overcome bottlenecks in display lifespan and brightness. The iPad mini followed, set to adopt OLED in the second half of 2026, though with annual shipments hovering at just 2 million units, its impact is largely symbolic. Market research firm UBI Research noted that tablet OLED growth has largely stalled through 2024 and 2025, with OLED costs remaining the primary hurdle: panels currently run roughly twice the price of LCD alternatives, and narrowing that gap is widely viewed as the primary prerequisite for expanding OLED adoption in IT applications.

Jusung, PSK China sales plunge over 40% amid China's chip self-sufficiency drive

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 04:21:34 GMT

Jusung Engineering and PSK each lost more than 40% of their China revenue in 2025. The similarity ends there.

Nvidia, TSMC, chip gear makers ride AI boom into high-margin club

Charlene Chen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 04:14:57 GMT

Strong AI demand is driving a wave of high profitability across the semiconductor supply chain, with equipment and materials suppliers increasingly joining a "high-margin club." Trailing only Nvidia's 75% gross margin in the fiscal first quarter of 2027 (which ended in April 2026), TSMC posted a record quarterly gross margin of 67.72% in the second quarter, with its first-half margin also reaching 67%. Related suppliers have joined the club as well.

Delta expands AI automation push into robotics, semiconductors, machinery

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 04:11:09 GMT

Delta Electronics outlined a broader AI strategy at the Taipei International Industrial Automation Exhibition on August 19, unveiling robotics and smart manufacturing applications designed to speed deployment across machinery, electronics, and semiconductors. The Taiwan-based industrial technology company also introduced its first Embodied AI Dual-Arm Robot Platform as it sharpened its focus on factory automation and production autonomy.

OpenAI signals IPO could wait until 2027 as Anthropic weighs listing

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 04:00:17 GMT

OpenAI told employees it could go public in 2027, though an earlier listing remains possible if operating conditions improve. According to CNBC, the company framed an initial public offering as another funding round, not an endpoint, and said its US$122 billion capital raise in March gave it flexibility on timing.

Chinese SiC substrate maker SICC hits record Q2; 8-inch wafers top 50% of core revenue

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 03:52:48 GMT

SICC reported stronger first-half 2026 revenue and margins as its 8-inch silicon carbide substrate business gained scale, highlighting how the industry's migration to larger wafers is beginning to reshape SiC economics across electric vehicles and AI power infrastructure.

LG Energy Solution starts production at US$2B Michigan plant, pivoting to energy storage boom

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 03:51:35 GMT

LG Energy Solution has officially kicked off production of energy storage batteries at its nearly US$2 billion battery facility in Lansing, Michigan. The long-planned plant, originally announced in 2022 as a joint venture with General Motors, was eventually acquired entirely by LG Energy Solution in 2025 after GM scaled back its EV strategy.

Analysis: Unitree IPO exposes the economics behind China's humanoid robot boom

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 03:25:17 GMT

Unitree Robotics' August 19 debut on Shanghai's STAR Market did more than crown China's first mainland-listed humanoid robot maker. It marked a shift in the industry from competition between robot brands to a harder contest over supply-chain cost, AI capability, and mass production.

Taipower sees fuel costs jump over NT$120B as natural gas prices surge

Yunnie Cheng — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 03:24:42 GMT

Ongoing Middle East conflicts and surging natural gas prices are piling pressure on Taiwan's power supply costs, with Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) estimating its full-year fuel expenses will swell by over NT$120 billion (approx. US$3.8 billion). The utility noted that volatile international oil and gas prices are exacerbating cost pressures for an economy heavily dependent on imported energy.

Samsung to break ground on KRW6 trillion Onyang HBM packaging plant in September

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 03:08:45 GMT

Samsung Electronics will break ground in September on a KRW6 trillion (approx. US$4.31 billion) HBM production and advanced-packaging facility at its Onyang campus in Asan, South Korea, after the project cleared a provincial urban-planning review. The move advances a broader capacity buildout to meet growing AI memory demand.

LG acquires Mexico TV parts plant to cut production costs

Willis Ke — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 03:04:27 GMT

LG Electronics has acquired a local TV parts factory in Mexico. The move strengthens cost competitiveness and tightens control over its supply chain at one of its key North American production bases. It also gives the company an existing manufacturing facility and inventory already suited to its TV operations, bringing production of selected components closer to final assembly.

AI robotics opens a bigger prize for Taiwan's precision manufacturing supply chain

Levi Li — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 02:52:58 GMT

Intelligent Asia 2026 opened on August 19 at TaiNEX 1 and TaiNEX 2 in Taipei, with industry and government speakers repeatedly returning to one theme: Taiwan should use its manufacturing depth to anchor more production locally while connecting domestic suppliers more closely with global markets.

Kenmec subsidiaries target SiC, AIDC growth

Rodney Chan — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 02:50:21 GMT

Kenmec Group founder and president Frank Hsieh said on August 19 that two of the company's new businesses have taken shape, with Taisic Materials focusing on silicon carbide (SiC), a third-generation semiconductor material, and Kentec targeting the AI data center (AIDC) market. Both companies are expected to list on Taiwan's Emerging Stock Board in October 2026.

Taiwan chip designers see automotive demand rebound

Sherri Wang — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 02:44:38 GMT

Major European and US companies and Taiwan-based IC design firms are seeing a notable recovery in automotive chip demand so far in 2026, spanning smart cockpit platforms, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), analog ICs, display driver ICs (DDIs), Ethernet chips, camera-sensing chips, audio chips and interface chips.

Xiaomi's robotics ambitions reveal the next battleground for industrial AI

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 02:32:36 GMT

As artificial intelligence expands from digital environments into physical operations, embodied intelligence is emerging as a new frontier for technology companies. Xiaomi's latest earnings call offered a glimpse into how the company is approaching this field, with robotics positioned not as a standalone product category, but as a capability designed to enhance manufacturing, automation, and future industrial applications.

Xiaomi's AI strategy moves beyond models as MiMo becomes the intelligence layer across human-car-home ecosystem

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 02:20:57 GMT

As competition in artificial intelligence shifts from model development toward real-world deployment, Xiaomi is betting that its advantage will come not only from building foundation models, but from integrating those models across a broad hardware ecosystem spanning smartphones, smart homes, and electric vehicles.

Marvell issues Google warrant worth $12.2bn at exercise — custom chip work spans five TPU-related categories

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 02:11:24 GMT

Marvell Technology has issued Google a warrant to purchase up to 58,970,907 shares of its common stock at US$206.58 per share, according to a Form 8-K signed on August 19, 2026, by Mark Casper, the company's executive vice president, chief legal officer, and secretary. The filing does more than register a financing detail. It puts a company signature under a set of supply-chain reports that have circulated since the spring, and it attaches a dollar meter to how far the relationship is expected to run.

WRC 2026: Unitree GD01 mecha, Ubtech bionic U1 headline China's humanoid robot showcase

Levi Li — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 02:06:10 GMT

The 2026 World Robot Conference (WRC) recently opened in Beijing, with humanoid robots remaining the event's biggest focus. With China continuing to lead global humanoid robot shipments and the conference reaching new highs in scale each year, WRC has become a key showcase for humanoid robot makers to demonstrate their latest capabilities.

Analysis: Marvell's US$120bn Google deal is the AI chip industry's new playbook — equity for orders, not cash

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:59:58 GMT

Marvell Technology is set to deepen its role in Google's AI infrastructure through an expanded agreement to develop custom chips, in a deal that could generate roughly US$120 billion in revenue for the chipmaker through fiscal 2033 if Google meets purchasing targets tied to the warrant, according to Reuters. The scale of that figure is the story: it reframes Marvell not as a niche supplier, but as a structural bet by Google on custom silicon over merchant GPUs.

Asia Optical eyes Metalens, CPO, and AI cooling opportunities; digital camera shipments to surpass 4 million units

Yunnie Cheng — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:58:00 GMT

Asia Optical delivered strong second-quarter financial results while accelerating its strategic expansion across optical technologies. Key growth drivers include Metalens and Co-Packaged Optics (CPO), with digital camera shipments confirmed to top 4 million units in 2026.

Nvidia and AMD chase US open model lead as China shifts race

Charlene Chen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:57:33 GMT

Hugging Face's latest summer 2026 open model report says Chinese labs have continued to lead in frontier open-model parameter scale since 2026, while the US center of competition has shifted from model labs such as Meta and Google to chipmakers like Nvidia and AMD.

InPsytech 1H26 revenue jumps over 50% on AI data center wins

Charlene Chen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:57:21 GMT

InPsytech held its second-quarter 2026 earnings briefing and reported strong first-half results, with first-half revenue reaching NT$289 million (approx. US$9 million), up 50.4% from the same period in 2025. Net profit after tax came in at NT$89 million, underscoring the gradual impact of the company's core IP business and global expansion strategy.

Fudan Microelectronics profit jumps 339%, FPGA localisation gains traction

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:56:57 GMT

Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics Group reported a sharp first-half earnings increase in 2026, helped by stronger semiconductor demand, rising sales across its chip portfolio and investment gains, while tightening global FPGA supply is creating fresh opportunities for Chinese suppliers.

CXMT planned to use Samsung process data to develop DRAM, ex-engineer says

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:56:42 GMT

A former Samsung Electronics researcher has testified that ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) intended from its earliest days to develop DRAM using Samsung process data, an account that contrasts with the Chinese memory maker's description of its technology development in the prospectus for its recent Shanghai listing.

LG targets 100,000 hours of robot training data ahead of 2027 humanoid debut

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:56:24 GMT

LG Electronics is scaling up its robot training infrastructure with Nvidia, targeting 100,000 hours of real and synthetic data by the end of 2026 as it pushes its physical AI strategy toward commercialization. LG plans to use the data to improve its proprietary Robot Foundation Model (RFM) and unveil a bipedal humanoid in the first quarter of 2027, according to ETNews.

Robotics leaders present future of physical AI, but also deployment challenges

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:56:10 GMT

Tech leaders converged at the 2026 International Robotic Forum on August 19, where they laid out their visions for the evolution and next stages of physical AI. They noted that a robot's success does not lie simply in demonstrations or prototypes, but in whether it can function in real-world settings like factories, address safety concerns, and meet the needs of real customers.

Beyond Starlink: the LEO satellite market enters a multi-constellation race

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:55:51 GMT

For years, SpaceX's Starlink has defined the commercial low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite market, transforming satellite connectivity from a niche communications technology into a global broadband platform.

Solomon unveils AI vision tools for smart manufacturing at Automation Taipei 2026

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:55:44 GMT

AI vision company Solomon is presenting new factory automation tools at Automation Taipei 2026, including an agentic physical AI platform, AR smart wiring guidance, and a next-generation 3D vision camera. The demonstrations are aimed at smart manufacturing, autonomous robotics, and AI server assembly use cases.

Intel Malaysia packaging expansion draws HBM flows from Taiwan

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:55:42 GMT

South Korean export data showed a sharp shift in high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, shipments toward Malaysia and away from Taiwan, according to SemiAnalysis ChipBook. The shift suggested that some HBM shipments previously sent to Taiwan for TSMC's CoWoS packaging might be redirected to packaging plants in Malaysia.

LandSpace nails China's first private orbital booster landing, advancing reusable rocket race

Scarlett Yu — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:55:39 GMT

Chinese commercial space startup LandSpace successfully launched its Zhuque-3 Y2 carrier rocket on August 19 from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone (part of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center), placing Hongqing Technology's independently developed Honghu-03 satellite into its designated orbit. The rocket's first stage then completed a soft landing at a recovery site in Minqin County, Gansu, marking a successful mission.

China dominates global robot shipments as World Robot Conference opens in Beijing

Eifeh Strom — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:55:37 GMT

While robotics companies worldwide vie for business opportunities, Chinese vendors currently account for more than 90% of global humanoid robot shipments and occupy all five top positions by shipment volume, demonstrating China's strong position in humanoid robot development.

Gujarat's 12-hour shift approval for Micron shows how India is rewriting labour rules to court chipmakers

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:55:24 GMT

The Gujarat government's approval of 12-hour work shifts at Micron Technology's Sanand assembly and test plant is more than just a single-factory ruling. It is the clearest sign yet that Indian states are willing to reshape decades-old labor rules to fit the round-the-clock demands of semiconductor manufacturing, as they compete for a slice of a global chip supply chain shifting away from China.

Techman Robot lifts SI mix to 20% as server-heavier builds spur robot demand

Charlene Chen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:18:51 GMT

Techman Robot said on August 19 at Automation Taipei 2026 that it remains cautiously optimistic about the second half of 2026, expecting business to outperform the first half on continued strength in semiconductors and system integration (SI). The company also said server manufacturing's shift toward larger, heavier builds is creating new demand for high-payload robots.

Samsung repays 20 trillion won SDC loan early as memory demand surges

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:17:36 GMT

Samsung Electronics fully repaid a KRW20 trillion unsecured loan from Samsung Display ahead of schedule in the second quarter of 2026, according to South Korean publication ZDNet Korea and filings in the Financial Supervisory Service's DART system. The early repayment came as AI-related demand lifted memory prices and strengthened the company's cash position.

AI server market CAGR nears 40%; rack power density surging 100-fold poses grid strain

Yunnie Cheng — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:16:30 GMT

Speaking at the 2026 Taiwan AI Academy Annual Conference held on August 18 at Academia Sinica's Social Sciences building, Neo Yao, CEO of Foxconn's Visionbay.ai, and Huang-Jen Chiu, CTO of Delta Power and Systems Business Group, delivered keynote addresses emphasizing a stark reality: AI server shipment growth is severely outstripping power supply capabilities. Both executives urged that sustainable industry growth cannot rely solely on hardware expansion, calling for a stronger focus on software ecosystems and application development to build a balanced value chain.

YMTC parent advances IPO as NAND share hits 14% and AI storage scales

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:15:42 GMT

Yangtze Memory Technologies Holding, the parent of Chinese NAND flash maker YMTC, has completed a key stage of its pre-IPO process just as the memory maker gains global market share, expands enterprise storage products and prepares another round of capacity growth.

Gamers pivot to high-margin peripherals as PC price pressures drive double-digit growth in gaming monitors

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:15:11 GMT

High PC hardware prices are pushing gamers to delay full-system replacements and redirect their budgets toward targeted upgrades, driving strong demand for high-margin peripherals and gaming monitors, according to the latest data from market intelligence firm CONTEXT.

Innolux turns panel fabs into FOPLP capacity, banking on sticky advanced packaging ties

Levi Li — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:14:40 GMT

Innolux is accelerating its dual-track transformation and asset-light strategy, with second-quarter 2026 earnings per share rising 185% sequentially to NT$0.57. After disposing of Fab 2, Fab 5, and a small module plant, chairman Jim Hung said the company had reached an optimal stage in external asset sales and would now focus on repurposing existing production space for semiconductor processes, particularly fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP).

WPG sees chip supply remaining tight into 2027, plans NT$15 billion convertible bond sale

Sherri Wang — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:14:11 GMT

Taiwan-based IC distributor WPG Holdings expects AI-driven semiconductor demand to remain strong into 2027, with capacity tight across both advanced and mature process nodes, even as rising memory prices weigh on smartphone and PC shipments.

High-end PCB supply tightens as CCL expansions face delays

Sherri Wang — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:13:42 GMT

As AI applications demand faster data transmission from PCBs, M8 and higher-grade copper-clad laminate (CCL) materials are becoming increasingly mainstream in server boards. The shift is creating a supply gap, prompting suppliers in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and China to race to add capacity for higher-margin materials.

Sunplus expects automotive orders to rise in 3Q26 as memory costs threaten demand

Sherri Wang — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:13:18 GMT

Taiwanese IC design house Sunplus Technology expects its automotive orders to strengthen further in the third quarter of 2026, but warned that rising memory and component costs could weigh on overall market demand and dampen customers' willingness to place orders.

Rising demand for CPO, SiPh reshapes semiconductor testing

Rodney Chan — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:12:57 GMT

As chip power consumption, transmission speed and architectural complexity increase, testing has shifted from being a final pre-shipment quality gate to an earlier stage in product development and ramp-to-volume, according to KPMG managing director Jesse Chen, who previously worked at IBM and in venture capital. That shift is making testing a critical factor in product verification, yield ramp and supply chain stability.

Xiaomi's AI-EV Pivot gains momentum as memory costs pressure Q226 smartphone business

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:12:34 GMT

Xiaomi is accelerating its transition from a smartphone-focused electronics manufacturer toward a broader technology ecosystem company, as artificial intelligence (AI), electric vehicles (EVs) and smart connected devices become increasingly important growth drivers while its core smartphone business faces rising component costs.

India's chipmaking push faces its real test after initial wafers: yield

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:11:15 GMT

India's semiconductor manufacturing drive will face one of its toughest tests after equipment is installed and production begins: whether new fabs can consistently produce enough working chips to compete with established plants.

AI chip strategies echo StarCraft factions as memory bottleneck reshapes the race

Scarlett Yu — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:10:43 GMT

The global semiconductor ecosystem is facing an unprecedented shortage of memory chips, with hardware growth increasingly constrained by memory availability. At the same time, capacity at the world's leading advanced chipmakers has been fully booked, turning packaging capacity and memory allocation into major challenges for the broader AI market.

AI models show softer responses on authoritarian leaders, report finds

DIGITIMES — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:09:20 GMT

U.S.-based AI models were found to avoid direct criticism of authoritarian leaders more often than democratic ones, according to a July report from the Meta-funded Oversight Board. The findings raised concerns for enterprise users and AI developers because the pattern also appeared more often in Chinese-language prompts, where models were more likely to return pro-China responses.

Manz Asia targets PLP demand with three lines and three sizes

Charlene Chen — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 09:22:10 GMT

Manz Asia is broadening its push into panel-level packaging (PLP) as interest in the technology continues to rise. General manager Robert Lin said the company has shipped more than 50 panel-level electrochemical deposition (ECD) systems cumulatively from 2016 to 2026, covering sizes from 310mm to 700mm and spanning both R&D and production equipment.