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Thursday 2 April 2026

Asahi Kasei enters AI chip fiberglass market to challenge Nittobo's dominance

Japan's Asahi Kasei has announced its official entry into the AI chip supply chain with fiberglass cloth as an insulating substrate material, targeting the current global leader Nittobo, which holds a 90% market share. Meanwhile, Nippon Electric Glass (NEG) also plans to invest in AI-specific fiberglass cloth, signaling accelerated competition among Japanese materials makers for semiconductor opportunities.

Thursday 2 April 2026

Samsung ramps Texas fab as engineers gather for 2nm push

Samsung Electronics has reportedly moved into the equipment installation and testing phase at its foundry in Taylor, Texas, transitioning from construction to operational setup for 2nm production. More than 3,000 engineers from Samsung and global equipment suppliers have begun gathering at the site, according to ET News, signaling the start of large-scale ramp-up activities.

Thursday 2 April 2026

Topco maintains stable shipments despite Middle East conflict, builds safety stock as AI demand accelerates

As the US-Iran conflict enters its second month, concerns are mounting over potential disruptions to global energy supplies and petrochemical feedstocks. Against this backdrop, Jeffery C.L. Pan, chairman of Taiwan's Topco Scientific, stated that the company's operations remain stable, with shipments unaffected to date and upstream cost pressures largely contained.

Thursday 2 April 2026

Ajinomoto faces stakeholder pressure to raise ABF prices

UK-based fund Palliser Capital announced on March 31 that it has become one of the top 25 shareholders of Ajinomoto and has requested a price increase of more than 30% for its semiconductor interlayer insulating material. This material is marketed under the name Ajinomoto Build-up Film (ABF).

Thursday 2 April 2026

TSMC's US expansion held ransom as JASM takes flight

TSMC is winning quietly in Japan and losing loudly in Washington — and the reason may have nothing to do with chips.

Thursday 2 April 2026

Mobile chip inventory correction weighs on OSAT supply chain

As the industry enters the stocking phase ahead of new smartphone launches, mobile chip customers are undergoing an inventory adjustment period. The supply chain indicates that this demand correction has cascaded from IC design down to foundry, packaging, and testing — expected to significantly dampen order growth for Taiwanese OSAT players such as ASE, SPIL, and KYEC heading into the consumer peak season.

Thursday 2 April 2026

Samsung upgrades Austin fab, signals dual-track US chip strategy

Samsung Electronics is accelerating the introduction of next-generation manufacturing equipment at its semiconductor facility in Austin, Texas, as part of a broad upgrade program aimed at positioning the site for long-term operations. The move is seen as a key step to reinforce the competitiveness of its existing US production lines as part of its North America semiconductor strategy.

Thursday 2 April 2026

South Korea's market volatility hands Taiwan a rare edge in AI

During a lecture hosted by the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (CNAIC), DIGITIMES Chairman Colley Hwang analyzed the East Asian industrial landscape. While headlines often focus on the chip wars between the US and China, Hwang shed light on a quieter, more structural divergence: the widening "resilience gap" between Taiwan and South Korea, as manifested through the lens of currency.

Thursday 2 April 2026

TSMC plans 12 fabs in Arizona as supply chain shifts from passive to active

TSMC's expansion scale in the US has exceeded expectations, prompting Taiwanese suppliers with existing or planned local operations to take a more proactive approach. Reportedly, companies covering cleanroom, plant engineering, electromechanical integration, and equipment sectors have seen surging visa applications and staffing demands. This surge has kept intermediaries and legal service providers busy both in Taiwan's Hsinchu Science Park and Arizona, highlighting peak mobilization within the supply chain.

Thursday 2 April 2026

Intel buyback signals shift beyond austerity as chipmaker regains confidence

Intel's US$14.2 billion buyback of its Ireland fab stake signals a shift beyond austerity, reflecting improved finances, renewed confidence in AI-driven CPU demand, and a strategic move to regain full control of key manufacturing capacity amid persistent global semiconductor supply constraints.

Thursday 2 April 2026

Top 10 Chart: Advanced packaging, not volume, drives OSAT shift as markets signal 2026 inflection

Taiwan's outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) sector is entering 2026 with relatively modest revenue growth, but market behavior suggests a far more significant structural shift is underway.

Thursday 2 April 2026

TSMC says COUPE platform set for production as Samsung outlines SiPh push

TSMC said its COUPE silicon photonics platform is set to enter volume production this year, as rising demand for high-speed interconnects in AI data centers pushes optical technologies closer to commercial deployment.

Wednesday 1 April 2026

Samsung auctions 123 chip tools during Xi'an NAND upgrade to V8

Samsung Electronics is reportedly overhauling its production lines, offering 123 idle semiconductor tools for sale across South Korea and Xi'an as it shifts to more advanced process technologies.

Wednesday 1 April 2026

SiPh and advanced packaging shine at Touch Taiwan

The annual Touch Taiwan exhibition will take place April 8-10, 2026, featuring over 300 companies from 12 countries across 820 booths. Jim Hung, chairman of the TDUA, highlighted that with the panel industry undergoing a full transformation, half of the exhibitors this year are non-display manufacturers. The event focuses heavily on new business opportunities in silicon photonics (SiPh) and advanced packaging amid the arrival of the "light over copper" era.

Wednesday 1 April 2026

Nexchip applies for HK listing amid mature-node expansion

Chinese semiconductor foundry Nexchip has applied to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's Main Board, Guandian.cn reported on March 31, as the company moves to consolidate its position in the mature-node foundry market.

Wednesday 1 April 2026

AMEC acquires Sizone to expand CMP capabilities, outlines 2026 strategy

Chinese semiconductor equipment maker Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC) announced on March 30, 2026, plans to acquire a stake in chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) equipment firm Sizone through a combination of share issuance and cash. This move could mark AMEC's entry into the wet process segment, an area where it previously had limited presence.

Wednesday 1 April 2026

TSMC eyes SiPh breakthrough as industry consensus forms

TSMC is advancing its silicon photonics (SiPh) advanced packaging platform, Compact Universal Photonic Engine (COUPE), shifting from development to commercial mass production. TSMC vice president and co-chair of the SEMI Silicon Photonics Industry Alliance (SiPhIA), K.C. Hsu, said that over the past 3-6 months, the industry has gradually reached a consensus on the technology roadmap and direction for the next 3-5 years. SiPh has also been designated by the government as a key policy focus in this new era.

Wednesday 1 April 2026

India accelerates semiconductor push with Kaynes plant launch

India is stepping up its semiconductor ambitions as a new domestic plant begins production, underscoring efforts to build a resilient supply chain and position the country as a global chip manufacturing hub.

Wednesday 1 April 2026

Nvidia moves beyond GPUs with three-system push to own the AI stack

At GTC 2026, Nvidia introduced three new systems simultaneously: the Groq LPX inference rack, the Vera ETL256 CPU rack, and the STX storage reference architecture. These launches extend Nvidia's portfolio beyond its traditional GPU compute core into low-latency inference, CPU orchestration, and storage layers, signaling a systematic redefinition of AI infrastructure boundaries.

Wednesday 1 April 2026

China's AI chip demand drives advanced foundry growth amid geopolitical split

Under a push to localize capacity, China's leading domestic foundries are well-positioned to leverage their home market and policy advantages to replicate TSMC's growth trajectory. This momentum is fueled by a virtuous cycle of massive orders supporting substantial R&D and capital expenditure, which is accelerating domestic substitution toward advanced process nodes.

Wednesday 1 April 2026

Samsung's 2nm Exynos 2600 loses to Qualcomm's 3nm on battery and thermals

Samsung's Exynos 2600 application processor (AP), built on the company's 2nm process, lags in battery endurance behind Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 — a 3nm chip — by about 30%, according to a recent test. This gap has had a tangible impact on Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S26 series, with battery life varying significantly across regions depending on which AP the device uses.

Tuesday 31 March 2026

CEA-Leti bets on Taiwan fabs to turn Europe’s chip research into reality

Europe is tightening its semiconductor research links with Taiwan's manufacturing engine, with French research institute CEA-Leti positioning itself as a primary gateway between the two ecosystems.

Tuesday 31 March 2026

Global Foundry 2.0 market climbs to record US$320 billion in 2025 revenue

The semiconductor industry has formally entered the Foundry 2.0 era, a phase defined by the deep integration of manufacturing, assembly, and testing, profitably driven by the global AI boom. According to Counterpoint Research's latest Foundry Market Supply Tracker, the global Foundry 2.0 market's revenue grew to US$320 billion at 16% year-over-year.

Tuesday 31 March 2026

Samsung targets 1nm production by 2030, challenges TSMC with new chiplet technology

Samsung Electronics is aiming to launch its 1nm semiconductor process by 2030 as part of a direct technological competition with rival TSMC. The move seeks to secure leadership in the next-generation semiconductor market.

Tuesday 31 March 2026

Flex to acquire Electrical Power Products for US$1.1 billion

Flex said it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Electrical Power Products (EP2), a specialist in engineered-to-order electrical control and protection systems, as it expands its footprint in critical power infrastructure.

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