DIGITIMES Asia: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

DrayTek's revenue slide drags into 2026, company pins hopes on Wi-Fi 7 and cybersecurity

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 18:56:00 GMT

Taiwan networking equipment maker DrayTek held its shareholders' meeting on June 26, acknowledging its 2025 business and financial reports along with its profit distribution plan.

SK On completes China battery joint-venture restructuring with Eve Energy

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 18:55:00 GMT

South Korean battery maker SK On has completed a share swap with China's Eve Energy, giving it full ownership of a battery manufacturing joint venture in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, as the company continues efforts to streamline operations and ease financial pressure.

MediaTek frames orbit compute and NTN as next strategic R&D priorities

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 18:55:00 GMT

MediaTek hosted MARC Workshop 2026 on June 24 through the MediaTek Advanced Research Center (MARC), recognizing the year's university-industry collaboration outcomes while outlining forward-looking R&D priorities in AI, satellite communications and next-generation connectivity.

Zettabyte urges new standard for quality AI compute as demand surges over two years

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 18:55:00 GMT

AI infrastructure firm Zettabyte said AI token generation exploded more than 330-fold over two years and urged that compute be measured by delivered useful work rather than raw hardware specs or hourly price. According to Alphabet's Google, monthly AI token generation grew from about 9.7 trillion to more than 3.2 quadrillion, and Zettabyte presented its quality-compute framework at a seminar hosted by Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute.

Samsung SDI targets US battery supply chains with US$20M Forge Nano investment

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 09:16:17 GMT

Samsung SDI, a battery and electronic materials manufacturer, has entered an agreement to help US-based Forge Nano build a 3 GWh per year battery manufacturing site in Morrisville, North Carolina. The deal capitalizes on both Samsung's desire to avoid US tariffs and the American military's goal to develop non-China supply chains, including in batteries.

SK Hynix fluorine leaks trigger safety inspections at 25 South Korean chip plants

Charlene Chen — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 08:35:58 GMT

South Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor has launched chemical safety inspections at 25 semiconductor manufacturers, including SK Hynix, after a series of fluorine gas leaks at chip plants raised fresh concerns over industrial accidents.

Inside Corning: a century of R&D bets, and why optical fiber is paying off again

Scarlett Yu — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 07:15:53 GMT

Preface

Taiwan IPC maker IEI Integration's margin fell to 28% in Q1, but rebound is coming

Jingyue Hsiao — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 07:08:24 GMT

IEI Integration said its first-quarter margin was squeezed by higher component costs and a changing product mix, but it expects a second-quarter rebound as high-end video conferencing shipments ramp up. The outlook matters for global industrial and enterprise technology buyers facing tighter supply, shifting production, and uneven demand across markets.

Acer's distribution arm bets on MacBook Neo, software to offset weak PC demand

Levi Li — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 07:06:12 GMT

Acer channel arm Weblink International remains upbeat on the second half of 2026, even as the PC industry looks increasingly likely to see weaker demand than in the first half.

Samsung eyes Gwangju chip site as SK Hynix weighs regional and overseas options

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 07:03:57 GMT

South Korea's plan to push semiconductor investment beyond the greater Seoul area is taking clearer shape, with Samsung Electronics reportedly moving closer to a new chip hub in Gwangju while SK Hynix continues to weigh a site in South Jeolla Province against overseas investment options.

Qualcomm HBC takes aim at HBM costs in AI data centers

Levi Li — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:57:41 GMT

Qualcomm has unveiled its latest AI data center platform, Dragonfly, at its annual investor day, highlighting a new technology it calls High Bandwidth Compute, or HBC, as a key weapon in its challenge to Nvidia, AMD and AI chip startups.

Agility Robotics IPO strengthens Foxconn's long-term robotics ambitions

Scarlett Yu — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:51:16 GMT

Humanoid robotics and physical AI pioneer Agility Robotics has announced plans to pursue a public listing, drawing significant attention from global capital markets and the technology industry. Behind the IPO, however, lies a notable Taiwanese supply-chain presence that adds broader strategic significance to the company's public market debut.

Seres' US$25bn wipeout tests the price of Huawei's EV halo

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:44:56 GMT

Seres Group, once the clearest listed proxy for Huawei's EV ambitions, has lost more than CNY180 billion (US$25 billion) in A-share market value from its peak, despite strong sales and profit.

Z.ai's HK$1tn rally tests China AI boom: model leap or market mirage?

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:43:41 GMT

Chinese AI startup Z.ai, also known as Zhipu AI, has turned GLM-5.2 into the clearest test yet of China's frontier AI gap with Anthropic and OpenAI. Its stock surge is now raising a second question: whether investors are pricing a real technology shift or a thin-float capital-market fever.

Global intelligent eyewear market surges as AR and smart glasses gain ground

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:41:08 GMT

Global demand for intelligent eyewear is rising fast, with shipments jumping 83% in the first quarter of 2026, according to Counterpoint Research. For readers worldwide, the shift signals a faster move toward AI-enabled wearables, while VR headsets continue to struggle with weak demand and slower product refreshes.

AuthenX targets AI data center interconnects with plug-and-play FAU for CPO

Lily Hess — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:35:26 GMT

AI-driven hyperscale data center expansion is pushing the global AI race beyond raw GPU computing power into a broader contest over high-speed interconnects and electro-optical integration. As Nvidia's next-generation AI factory moves toward petabyte (PB)-scale data transfers, co-packaged optics (CPO) is heading toward commercialization, lifting the importance of key components such as fiber array units (FAU) and external laser sources (ELS).

Groundhog Technologies wins world's first telecom GenAI order, eyes LEO satellite optimization market

Kevin Wang — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 05:59:05 GMT

Groundhog Technologies is eyeing opportunities in low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite applications by targeting the satellite resource optimization market, according to chairman David Chiou at the company's latest shareholders' meeting on June 24. Chiou also announced that Groundhog has won the first generative AI order worldwide in the field of telecom engineering, with Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) as its client.

AIDC showcases advanced composite materials for next-gen aircraft, drones

Eifeh Strom — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 05:54:42 GMT

To meet the aerospace industry's push for lighter, more environmentally sustainable next-generation aircraft, Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) has stepped up research and development of thermoplastic composite materials in recent years.

Taiwan to draft new drone budget after defense bill cuts

Kevin Wang — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 05:47:50 GMT

Taiwan's Executive Yuan has decided to draft a separate special bill to support drone development and procurement after the Legislative Yuan cut relevant items from the NT$1.25 trillion (approx. US$39 billion) special budget for national defense, with the Executive Yuan citing national security concerns and the need to build an autonomous industrial supply chain. The move comes as a delegation of lawmakers, led by Speaker Daniel K.Y. Han, returns from a visit to TSMC's Arizona plant and meetings with US lawmakers, yet it remains unclear whether that trip will help win opposition support for the drone bill.

OpenAI to release GPT 5.6 model on staggered basis in face of US regulatory uncertainty

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 04:44:03 GMT

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told staff that its latest model, GPT 5.6, would be released on a staggered basis, with a small group of entities first gaining preview access to it after approval by the US government. The case highlights the regulatory uncertainty many local AI developers are facing after US President Donald Trump announced a voluntary review system before the release of frontier models, with the industry remaining concerned that it is not so voluntary after all.

Samsung's reported US$648 billion plan shifts focus to South Korea's chip belt

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 04:31:25 GMT

Samsung Group is expected to announce a domestic investment plan worth more than KRW1,000 trillion (approx. US$648 billion) on June 29, when South Korean President Lee Jae-myung chairs a public briefing at the presidential office in Seoul on what his administration is calling the country's "three mega-projects for a great leap forward," Maeil Business Newspaper reported.

Exclusive: SK Hynix races to build Yongin memory megasite as supply crunch deepens

Sherri Wang — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 04:08:12 GMT

The global memory market is facing a structural supply-demand imbalance that shows little sign of easing. Micron's stronger-than-expected quarterly results have drawn fresh attention from investors and the technology industry, while the broader supply picture remains tight.

Taiwan revives NT$210 billion drone procurement plan amid industry hopes and concerns

Charlene Chen — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 03:59:13 GMT

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense has revived a NT$210 billion (approx. US$6.6 billion) special bill for unmanned vehicle procurement after the Legislative Yuan in May 2026 stripped out all domestic-industry-friendly items from an earlier defense special budget, leaving only arms purchases. The Executive Yuan has now approved the draft, raising hopes and concerns across the drone industry.

Teradyne expands India focus with new country manager

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 03:56:59 GMT

US-based automated test equipment supplier Teradyne plans to expand its presence in India and has appointed Alpa Sood as India Manager, as the company seeks to deepen engagement in a semiconductor ecosystem moving toward manufacturing scale.

Corning weighs South Korea site as chip packaging race turns to glass

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 03:54:27 GMT

Corning is studying South Korea as a possible manufacturing base for semiconductor glass substrates, a sign that the US specialty glass and optical materials maker is looking to extend its AI exposure beyond data-center connectivity into advanced chip packaging.

Academia Sinica readies Taiwan-made quantum chip for engineering push

Lily Hess — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 03:53:00 GMT

Academia Sinica has built a 20-qubit quantum chip from scratch, and the team now says the next phase is less about lab breakthroughs and more about engineering a scalable, reproducible manufacturing system. Chii-Dong Chen, executive director of Academia Sinica's Center for Quantum Computer, says Taiwan's quantum chip effort is moving into that engineering battleground.

OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google turn to deployment engineers as AI focus shifts to enterprise use

Jingyue Hsiao — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 03:52:15 GMT

AI companies are racing to hire forward deployed engineers, or FDEs, as the industry shifts from model-building to implementation. For global readers, the trend signals that the next wave of AI competition may hinge less on smarter systems and more on whether businesses can actually use them effectively at scale.

Analysis: Why Apple can't wait out this memory shortage

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 03:35:15 GMT

Apple raised prices across its Mac and iPad lineup on June 25, and the timing wasn't a choice so much as a deadline.

Honyi International rebrands as Tianyi Water and Energy Solutions to seize water-power integration opportunities

Eifeh Strom — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 03:10:53 GMT

Following its rebranding from Honyi International to Tianyi Water and Energy Solutions, president Ching-chi Li said the company will leverage the resources of its parent group Lealea Group to provide integrated services addressing corporate water and electricity needs. The aim is to help customers meet growing challenges related to water and power resilience. The company currently has orders from multiple customers in traditional industries and the semiconductor sector.

SK Hynix races to open Yongin triple-deck fab in 2027

Sherri Wang — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 02:59:36 GMT

SK Hynix is racing to complete the first cleanroom at its massive Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, by February 2027, ahead of rival capacity expansion timelines. The site's first fabrication facility will break from conventional flat-floor layouts, stacking production floors three levels high in a pioneering triple-deck fab design.

Apple reportedly revamps Mac chip roadmap to accelerate AI push

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 02:52:10 GMT

Apple is preparing its biggest shift yet to the release strategy for its in-house Mac processors, opting to skip high-end M6 Pro and M6 Max chips and instead bring more powerful AI-focused M7 Pro and M7 Max processors to market in 2027, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter.

Academia Sinica targets quantum chip manufacturing scale with Taiwan's semiconductor tool base

Lily Hess — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 02:46:48 GMT

Academia Sinica's Center for Quantum Computer is focusing only on hardware, not algorithms or applications, and executive director Chii-Dong Chen said that approach is similar to the mission Taiwan's government gave ITRI in the early days of the foundry industry. He said Taiwan enjoys a strong advantage in quantum chip manufacturing, but turning the new Quantum Chip Fabrication Space (QC-Fab) into a technology transfer model for private companies will still require regulatory easing.

How big tech is nudging cloud emissions on customers

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 02:46:08 GMT

In a corporate interview, Alexis Bateman, Head of Sustainability at Amazon Web Services (AWS), promoted the tech giant's latest environmental milestones and tools built to track data center carbon metrics. This includes the AWS Sustainability Console, a tracking hub launched to build on the Customer Carbon Footprint Tool (CCFT).

Apple's rare price hikes signal AI memory boom is reshaping consumer electronics

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 02:40:45 GMT

Before the price hikes became official, Apple had already warned investors that soaring memory costs would increasingly pressure margins. The company has now followed through on one of the rarest moves in its history: raising prices across much of its Mac, iPad, home device, and Vision Pro lineup to offset an AI-driven surge in memory and storage costs.

Japan puts JPY101.6 trillion AI chip push at heart of JPY370 trillion growth roadmap

DIGITIMES — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 02:21:49 GMT

Japan is moving to anchor its long-term growth strategy around AI, semiconductors, and strategic infrastructure, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi seeks to use state-backed investment as a strategic push to lift private-sector spending and rebuild the country's industrial base.

DIGITIMES Asia: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain

DrayTek's revenue slide drags into 2026, company pins hopes on Wi-Fi 7 and cybersecurity

SK On completes China battery joint-venture restructuring with Eve Energy

MediaTek frames orbit compute and NTN as next strategic R&amp;D priorities

Zettabyte urges new standard for quality AI compute as demand surges over two years

Samsung SDI targets US battery supply chains with US$20M Forge Nano investment

SK Hynix fluorine leaks trigger safety inspections at 25 South Korean chip plants

Inside Corning: a century of R&amp;D bets, and why optical fiber is paying off again

Taiwan IPC maker IEI Integration's margin fell to 28% in Q1, but rebound is coming

Acer's distribution arm bets on MacBook Neo, software to offset weak PC demand

Samsung eyes Gwangju chip site as SK Hynix weighs regional and overseas options

Qualcomm HBC takes aim at HBM costs in AI data centers

Agility Robotics IPO strengthens Foxconn's long-term robotics ambitions

Seres' US$25bn wipeout tests the price of Huawei's EV halo

Z.ai's HK$1tn rally tests China AI boom: model leap or market mirage?

Global intelligent eyewear market surges as AR and smart glasses gain ground

AuthenX targets AI data center interconnects with plug-and-play FAU for CPO

Groundhog Technologies wins world's first telecom GenAI order, eyes LEO satellite optimization market

AIDC showcases advanced composite materials for next-gen aircraft, drones

Taiwan to draft new drone budget after defense bill cuts

OpenAI to release GPT 5.6 model on staggered basis in face of US regulatory uncertainty

Samsung's reported US$648 billion plan shifts focus to South Korea's chip belt

Exclusive: SK Hynix races to build Yongin memory megasite as supply crunch deepens

Taiwan revives NT$210 billion drone procurement plan amid industry hopes and concerns

Teradyne expands India focus with new country manager

Corning weighs South Korea site as chip packaging race turns to glass

Academia Sinica readies Taiwan-made quantum chip for engineering push

OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google turn to deployment engineers as AI focus shifts to enterprise use

Analysis: Why Apple can't wait out this memory shortage

Honyi International rebrands as Tianyi Water and Energy Solutions to seize water-power integration opportunities

SK Hynix races to open Yongin triple-deck fab in 2027

Apple reportedly revamps Mac chip roadmap to accelerate AI push

Academia Sinica targets quantum chip manufacturing scale with Taiwan's semiconductor tool base

How big tech is nudging cloud emissions on customers

Apple's rare price hikes signal AI memory boom is reshaping consumer electronics

Japan puts JPY101.6 trillion AI chip push at heart of JPY370 trillion growth roadmap

MediaTek frames orbit compute and NTN as next strategic R&D priorities

Inside Corning: a century of R&D bets, and why optical fiber is paying off again