Samsung Electronics has reportedly pushed the production yield of its sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) close to 80%, marking a sharp improvement from the start of mass production as competition with SK Hynix increasingly shifts toward production capacity and supply stability.
TSMC has been roughly doubling its CoWoS and SoIC capacity annually for the past several years, and is running CoWoS at better than 98% yield — sometimes 99% — on multiple AI customer products already in high-volume manufacturing. By Jun He's account, that is finally almost enough.
SK Hynix has emerged as Kioxia's largest shareholder after Toshiba continued reducing its holding, a shift that could affect the balance of power in the global NAND flash market. The change matters beyond Japan and Korea because Kioxia's ownership is closely tied to future supply, competition, and industry restructuring worldwide.
The latest indication of global demand for AI hardware comes not from a hyperscaler capex presentation, but from unaudited monthly filings in Taipei. Major Taiwanese companies across the AI server supply chain, including server assembly, cooling, power, networking, and testing, reported combined July revenue of NT$2.59 trillion (US$80.34 million), according to the filings.
Taiwanese power management IC (PMIC) maker Global Mixed-mode Technology (GMT) said at a recent investor conference that its revenue and profit for the second quarter of 2026 were close to expectations. Looking ahead to the third quarter, the company said wafer manufacturing and back-end testing capacity remain extremely tight, leaving little room to offer customers additional supply beyond already secured volumes.
Following growing momentum behind large-scale infrastructure buildouts in South Korea, the industry is witnessing an aggressive wave of AI-related initiatives aimed at expanding the nation's semiconductor production capacity. But the broader objective extends beyond capacity ramps alone toward building a more self-reinforcing semiconductor ecosystem across some of the most critical stages of advanced chip manufacturing.
Taiwanese display driver IC (DDI) maker Fitipower Integrated Technology's Chairman Young Lin said the company will roll out several new products for sampling and mass production in 2026, laying the groundwork for continued revenue growth. He added that the e-paper and electronic label markets are a major focus, with Fitipower hoping for sequential quarterly growth this year. However, he said end-market demand is not yet strong and still requires caution.
