SK Hynix's decision to halt evaluation of a Solidigm pre-IPO and IPO has renewed questions over how it will finance a planned NAND flash plant in the US. Selling remaining assets linked to its investment in Kioxia has emerged as a potential funding option, but Kioxia's share-price decline and the investment's strategic and shareholder value have complicated the timing and necessity of any sale.

As Nvidia introduces a new generation of AI chips each year, gains in computing performance are driving increasingly demanding thermal management requirements.

DRAM price growth has slowed sharply in the fourth quarter of 2026, but severe supply shortages are intensifying as manufacturers continue to restrict shipments. Industry sources expect DRAM supply from leading manufacturers to shrink by 30% to 50% for the next two to three quarters, widening the supply gap in 2027.

Pegatron Corp. Chairman Tung Tzu-hsien said on November 4 that claims AI is in crisis because the Democratic Party won the US election are somewhat overblown, adding that the narrative could be the work of short sellers.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's visit to Kazakhstan highlighted plans to build an AI computing hub for Europe, with projects spanning GPU clusters, data centers, talent, and physical AI. The initiative depends on power infrastructure, foreign technology, and Kazakhstan's ambition to develop and export its own AI capabilities across Central Asia.

Affected by weak notebook and PC demand, Darfon Electronics reported third-quarter 2026 consolidated revenue of NT$7.011 billion (US$214 million), up 7.8% year-over-year but down about 6.7% quarter-over-quarter. The company said notebook and PC demand weakened after higher raw material and component costs pushed up end-product prices, dragging down its IT peripherals business, which accounts for about 40% of revenue. Although its green energy and integrated components businesses maintained year-over-year growth, they were not enough to offset the decline.

South Korean company UTI, the second supplier of ultra-thin glass (UTG) cover glass for Apple’s first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, has begun shipments to Samsung Display (SDC), but mass production is running about one quarter behind schedule.

Apple's Greater China revenue rose 21% year-over-year to a record US$17.5 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, ended September, while full-year revenue increased 28%, driven by the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro series. The results underscore the flagship iPhone's continued competitiveness in China, while rising memory prices threaten to pressure profit margins and growth.

Apple's first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, could reignite upgrade demand in the mature iPhone market, but supply constraints and reported display-quality issues highlight the challenge of turning product excitement into profits. Slowing Services growth, regulatory pressure on the App Store business model, and rising memory costs from the AI boom are also testing Apple's hardware ecosystem and supply-chain efficiency, placing a major growth challenge before CEO John Ternus.

Although the defense market has emerged as a new blue ocean for the auto industry, entering it is far from smooth sailing. The main concern remains the national security sensitivities inherent in defense work. Amid international rivalry, automotive supply chains moving into defense can easily become targets, raising the risk that defense gains could shake companies' core automotive businesses. In addition, small, customized defense orders may offer limited profit margins, posing another concern for automakers.

Foxtron Vehicle Technologies became Taiwan's top-selling EV brand for the first time in October 2026 by capitalizing on Tesla's early-quarter supply gap. The milestone is a sign that the homegrown automaker is gaining scale, even as Tesla still dominates the market.

Alphabet's autonomous taxi service Waymo began operations in San Diego, California, in September 2026 and expanded its coverage on October 27. However, EV owners have reported that large numbers of robotaxis are using public fast-charging stations, forcing other drivers to queue and prompting local politicians to call for tighter oversight of autonomous vehicles.

LG Energy Solution expects revenue to keep rising in the fourth quarter while profit dips. On its November 3 earnings call, it told analysts that its North American energy storage system (ESS) business is improving its profitability more slowly than the market expected. Executives also said tighter sourcing rules in the US and Europe are shaping how the battery maker buys materials, chooses customers, and plans its balance sheet.

LG Energy Solution's third-quarter recovery shows energy storage as a growing earnings driver as the battery maker redirects production toward North American demand. Better factory utilization helped restore operating profit even without manufacturing incentives, although a consolidated net loss and cash outflow show that the recovery remains incomplete.

Geopolitical tensions, volatile crude oil prices, and tightening sustainability requirements are reshaping the global chemical industry, creating new challenges and opportunities for Taiwan's specialty chemicals sector. Against this backdrop, the government-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) forecasts that Taiwan's specialty chemicals output will reach NT$185.7 billion (US$5.7 billion) in 2026, up 10.9% from 2025, partly driven by higher oil prices pushing up specialty chemical prices.

California startup Reflect Orbital plans to reflect sunlight from space onto designated areas of Earth at night, targeting solar power, nighttime search-and-rescue and lighting markets through a "Sunlight as a Service" model. The company aims to deploy up to 50,000 large mirror satellites by 2035, but its first demonstration satellite and recent ground tests have raised concerns over potential light pollution.

Taiwan has launched its first maritime unmanned vehicle exhibition, drawing major military unmanned boat makers from the US, UK, Singapore, and other countries to showcase technologies and explore opportunities in the island's expanding defense technology market.

Chinese commercial launch provider CAS Space launched its Kinetica-2 rocket at 8:15:25am on 3 November from the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Experimental Zone, placing 18 Spacesail Constellation satellites into their designated orbit. It was the rocket's first deployment mission for the low-Earth-orbit network, also known as G60 Starlink.

Apple is reportedly developing high-mobility oxide (HMO) technology for next-generation OLED displays and evaluating it at its own research facilities in Taiwan. Although the mass-production process has not been finalized, Apple, Samsung Display (SDC), and LG Display (LGD) all appear to favor existing sputtering processes.

Samsung Electronics is considering a major overhaul of its TV lineup for 2027, replacing technology-based product names with three tiers modeled on its Galaxy smartphones as it looks to increase shipments and expand its services business, South Korea's ETNews reported.

DIGITIMES forecasts that global large-size TFT LCD shipments will reach 910 million units by 2031 as supply expansion slows and panel capacity continues to be restructured. While TV demand remains relatively stable, IT applications face growing substitution pressure from AMOLED, with TV and IT products expected to account for 27.1% and 50.1% of shipments, respectively.