Intel has fallen noticeably behind rivals including Nvidia and AMD in the generative AI boom. Rather than concentrating all its resources on catching current market leaders, the company is pursuing quantum computing, neuromorphic computing, silicon photonics, new materials, and in-memory computing to prepare for the next shift in computing architectures.
Trinity Fab, a semiconductor testing facility backed by SK Hynix and South Korean public bodies, will begin testing chipmaking equipment and materials in October 2027, The Elec reported on November 8. The KRW874.6 billion (approx. US$651 million) facility will operate under SK Hynix's mass-production standards, giving domestic suppliers access to production-grade testing without building their own facilities.
AI infrastructure investment is accelerating the shift toward optical connectivity, as rising data-center traffic exposes the power and bandwidth limits of conventional electrical signals. Nvidia and ASE's SPIL are expanding the supply of optical engines for co-packaged optics (CPO), targeting a 15x capacity increase by mid-2027 and a 30x increase by the end of 2028 as CPO moves toward volume shipments.
Mitsui Chemicals plans to acquire semiconductor materials maker JSR in a transaction valued at JPY1.84 trillion (approx. US$11.6 billion), including assumed debt, as it seeks to strengthen its position in the global semiconductor materials market and accelerate a broader business portfolio transformation.
In a Cambridge laboratory, an automated testing machine sits at the end of a process that has traditionally demanded years of specialized engineering: designing a photonic chip, sending it for fabrication, and discovering whether light behaves inside the finished device as simulations predicted.
Memory chipmakers have long been reluctant to outsource sensitive photomask production over intellectual property concerns, but growing artificial intelligence (AI) demand and capacity constraints are pushing more work to merchant suppliers, according to Japan's Tekscend Photomask. Manufacturers are keeping their most advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) masks in-house while outsourcing more conventional photomasks.
Yankey Engineering’s order backlog reached a record NT$57.1 billion (US$1.74 billion) as of the end of September, with its subcontracting project for the second wafer fab in Kumamoto, Japan, expected to contribute revenue from 2027. The company said strong global AI infrastructure demand, advanced semiconductor processes, advanced packaging, and memory expansion drove its revenue and profit to record levels in the first three quarters of 2026.
As the global semiconductor industry continues to focus on Nvidia, Intel is looking beyond GPUs to determine where next-generation computing architectures will go. In an interview with Japanese publication PC Watch, Intel chief technology officer Pushkar Ranade outlined the company's technology roadmap, spanning advanced process technology, AI accelerators, quantum computing, neuromorphic computing, silicon photonics, in-memory computing, and new materials.
Gallium oxide (Ga2O3), a compound ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductor material, is poised to hit a critical turning point in 2027. Semiconductor supply chain sources indicate that market attention is currently focused on whether substrate prices will reduce past historical trends. Notably, select material suppliers have already signaled to customers that larger price cuts are on the horizon, drawing keen industry interest.
Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) said its Singapore wafer fab is expected to become a growth driver in 2027, with capacity nearly sold out, customer commitments secured, and artificial-intelligence interposers projected to generate about half of revenue. The expansion could accelerate, but rising depreciation and fixed costs are expected to pressure profitability.
Vanguard International Semiconductor expects utilization of its 8-inch mature-node fabs to exceed 90% in the fourth quarter of 2026, as AI data center demand lifts orders for power management ICs and power components. The forecast points to tighter capacity, higher prices, and a growing role for AI revenue in its business.
Rapidus President Atsuyoshi Koike said the Japanese chipmaker will use Taiwan as a model for building a semiconductor industry cluster in Hokkaido, while IBM Japan is establishing a new office near Rapidus’ plant to strengthen support for the company.
Infineon Technologies and Solum have agreed to expand cooperation on high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power systems for artificial intelligence data centers, as rising computing demand increases pressure on operators worldwide to improve efficiency, power density, and reliability. The partnership will cover intermediate bus converters, battery backup units, and power supply units.
China's Lens Technology plans to build and operate its first through-glass via (TGV) glass substrate pilot line by the end of 2026 and is seeking partnerships with South Korean semiconductor and memory companies as it pushes from smartphone glass into advanced chip packaging. Jiang Nan, the company's China region president, outlined the plans in an interview with ZDNet Korea on October 28 at the C-TOUCH & DISPLAY SHENZHEN 2026 exhibition in Shenzhen, published on November 9.
The race to build powerful quantum computers has long revolved around an unfamiliar set of engineering challenges: maintaining delicate quantum states, operating complex cooling systems, and scaling processors far beyond the capabilities of today's experimental machines.
Hanwha Semitech has named chief business officer Kim Jin-woo as its incoming CEO after semiconductor equipment revenue more than doubled in the third quarter of 2026. The South Korean company announced the appointment on November 9 as it moves to expand its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) bonding equipment business.
Tong Hsing Electronic Industries (THEIL), a semiconductor packaging company under the YAGEO Group, said its board has approved the acquisition of a 100% stake in Singapore-listed Global Testing Corporation for approximately SGD76.71 million (US$59.88 million). The deal will take Global Testing private and is intended to transform Tong Hsing from a traditional packaging manufacturer into a comprehensive packaging and testing service provider.
Taiwan will continuously elevate its self-reliant space technology capabilities while leveraging its long-standing strengths in semiconductors, electronics, telecommunications, and precision manufacturing, President Ching-Te Lai stated today (Nov. 9) as the 2026 Taiwan International Assembly of Space Science, Technology, and Industry (TASTI 2026) opened in the southern Taiwan city of Tainan.
King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) president Gauss Chang said the AI era is creating new challenges for capacity expansion, as rapidly rising chip prices and shorter product cycles are reshaping the value of semiconductor testing. He also warned that demand can become increasingly distorted as it moves through the AI supply chain, making actual end-market demand difficult to assess.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang appears to have become a target of Chinese intelligence activity, while his admission of an extramarital affair has drawn attention to his relationship with a former female executive at Singapore data-center operator Megaspeed. The episode highlights chip-transshipment risks and export-control loopholes in Singapore and Malaysia.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are competing to secure extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment from ASML as the Dutch supplier warns that its planned capacity will fall short of customer demand in 2027 and 2028, raising concerns about the availability of critical tools for advanced DRAM expansion.
Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is approaching a pivotal industrial inflection point. On one hand, wafer sizes are scaling up to seamlessly integrate with existing semiconductor manufacturing lines. On the other hand, material prices are expected to decline substantially starting in 2027. The convergence of these two trends is unlocking commercial viability for this new high-voltage power material, which targets ultra-high-voltage applications above 3,000V and grid infrastructure in the 10kV class.
Paras Semiconductors, a subsidiary of Indian defense company Paras Defence & Space Technologies, announced a strategic technology partnership with US-based BroadPak Corporation on November 6 to build advanced semiconductor packaging capabilities in India, anchored by a planned INR62 billion (US$658.77 million) OSAT facility in Madhya Pradesh.
Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron are reportedly collaborating on charging standards for mobile robots used in semiconductor fabs, seeking to accelerate factory automation and lay the groundwork for unmanned manufacturing. The initiative is unusual as it brought together major industry rivals to standardise robotic components, equipment, communications and system interfaces, potentially drawing broader attention across the semiconductor industry.
