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Monday 25 May 2026
Analysis: Lisa Su moves on China — and Nvidia's CUDA moat
For AMD CEO Lisa Su, the current moment presents an opening that Nvidia does not have. Nvidia's high-end chips have repeatedly faced scrutiny and export restrictions in China, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang only recently confirmed in May that Nvidia once held as much as 95% market share there. That dominance has since been reset, with the bulk of that share ceding to domestic rival Huawei.
Monday 25 May 2026
Weekly news roundup: TSMC faces its first real rivals; Agibot claims 100% success rate in factory deployment
Below are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories from the week of May 18-24, 2026:
Monday 25 May 2026
Global Electronics Policy Council formed to coordinate industry response to tariffs and export controls
The Global Electronics Association announced the formation of the Global Electronics Policy Council on Monday to centralize policy advocacy for the electronics supply chain in response to rising tariff volatility, export controls, and domestic-investment policies across multiple countries. Founding members include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, US electronics manufacturing services firms Jabil, Flex, and Plexus, and printed circuit board makers AT&S and TTM Technologies, and the council will operate with formal bylaws and a defined leadership structure.
Monday 25 May 2026
India roundup: India accelerates chip ambitions, but ecosystem gaps remain a key challenge

India is advancing its technology and semiconductor ambitions through new fab projects, packaging facilities, data center investments, and industry partnerships. However, analysts say the next phase of the India Semiconductor Mission will depend on addressing weaknesses in equipment, materials, supply chains, talent, and R&D, as the country seeks to convert investment momentum into a sustainable semiconductor ecosystem and broader digital manufacturing growth.

Sunday 24 May 2026
Geopolitics disrupts chips — can Taiwan and South Korea cooperate to hold the line?
The global semiconductor industry is being pulled in two directions. On one side, the cost of building a single advanced chip factory has ballooned to as much as US$40 billion, concentrating production in the hands of a shrinking club of players. On the other hand, US-China technology rivalry is redrawing the map of who gets to make what — and for whom.
Saturday 23 May 2026
Jensen Huang says he uses Claude at work and his son runs AI agents at home to manage the family
Jensen Huang fielded a wide-ranging set of questions during his Taiwan visit this week, touching on China market access, rising memory costs, silicon photonics, the LPU versus GPU debate and the future of AI agents — while making clear that Nvidia's commitment to Taiwan's supply chain runs deeper than any competitor's announced figure.
Saturday 23 May 2026
Jensen Huang lands in Taiwan, calls Vera Rubin biggest product ramp in computer history
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang arrived in Taiwan on May 23 ahead of COMPUTEX, telling reporters that the company's next-generation AI server platform — codenamed Vera Rubin — will be the most successful product generation in Nvidia's history and potentially the largest product rollout Taiwan's electronics industry has ever seen.
Saturday 23 May 2026
IBM and US DoC announce America's first purpose-built quantum foundry, supported by proposed US$1 billion CHIPS award
IBM and the US Department of Commerce (DoC) announced a Letter of Intent (LOI) to build an American quantum chip foundry, securing the nation's global quantum leadership and fueling the country's growing quantum ecosystem. The CHIPS incentive from the DoC will support the research and development efforts of a new IBM company: Anderon, which will be America's first pure-play quantum foundry. This initiative represents one of the most significant commitments by the US Government to date in quantum R&D to position the US to manufacture most of the world's quantum wafers.
Saturday 23 May 2026
Seoul as next frontier for global startups
At the Plug and Play Silicon Valley May Summit 2026, industry leaders gathered for the "Seoul Forward: Where Global Startups Scale Next" session to discuss the city's rapid evolution into a premier global innovation hub. Lee Ji-hyung, President and CEO of Invest Seoul, noted that Seoul and Silicon Valley share a core DNA of talent and collaboration, positioning the city as an ideal testing ground for global companies expanding across Asia. Sobhan Khani, President and Partner at Plug and Play, echoed this sentiment, highlighting the immense talent pool in South Korea and the ongoing mission to connect innovation dots worldwide.
Saturday 23 May 2026
Analysis: AMD bets the future of AI runs on CPUs as much as GPUs
Under CEO Lisa Su, AMD is reshaping itself for the age of artificial intelligence. To describe AMD today simply as a hardware company is no longer accurate. As Jensen Huang has often said of Nvidia, his company is "not just a GPU company." AMD is making a similar argument about its own future.
Saturday 23 May 2026
Trump revives chip theft claim, heaping pressure on Taiwan semiconductor firms
US President Donald Trump has again repeated the false claim that Taiwan stole America's chip industry after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month, sparking concerns that he is renewing pressure on Taiwanese chipmakers to invest further in America in a bid to reshore semiconductor production.
Friday 22 May 2026
EverDisplay appoints former Hua Hong executive as chairman in board overhaul
China AMOLED panel maker EverDisplay Optronics completed a board reshuffle and senior management overhaul after a board meeting on May 20, appointing a former Hua Hong Semiconductor executive as chairman and naming a new general manager as it builds a new leadership team. The changes included a slate of shareholder-representative directors and retained an existing director, the firm announced.
Friday 22 May 2026
Amkor expands Arizona semiconductor packaging campus with additional 67 acres

Amkor Technology today reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening advanced semiconductor packaging and test capabilities in the US through continued investment in its Arizona manufacturing operations.

Friday 22 May 2026
AMD deepens China packaging alliance with TF-AMD expansion in Suzhou
AMD CEO Lisa Su appeared in Suzhou on May 20 to attend the launch ceremony for the second-phase expansion of Suzhou TF-AMD Semiconductor Co. (also known as Suzhou Tongfu Advanced Microelectronics), underscoring AMD's growing focus on advanced packaging capacity as AI and high-performance computing demand accelerate globally.
Friday 22 May 2026
Taiwan rides chip-led export boom to bankroll industrial overhaul
AI-driven demand and other emerging technologies kept Taiwan's export momentum strong in the first quarter of 2026, with exports reaching US$195.74 billion, rising 51% year on year. Economic growth hit 13.69%, the highest quarterly growth in 39 years. Taiwan's GDP is forecast to reach NT$32 trillion (US$1.02 trillion) in 2026.
Friday 22 May 2026
Xiaomi expands YU7 lineup with new GT model and entry-level variant
On May 21 in Beijing, Xiaomi held its "Human–Car–Home" ecosystem product launch event, where founder, chairman, and CEO Lei Jun unveiled the updated Xiaomi YU7 family, introducing two new variants: the YU7 GT and the YU7 Standard Edition.
Friday 22 May 2026
Tata's Assam OSAT plant nears production as India expands chip manufacturing ambitions
Tata Group's semiconductor facility in Assam is expected to begin production soon, marking a significant milestone in India's push to build a domestic semiconductor manufacturing industry and strengthen its standing in global technology supply chains.
Friday 22 May 2026
Samsung's GaN setback puts foundry shift in focus

Samsung Electronics is reportedly preparing to shift more of its gallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductor strategy toward foundry services after struggling to secure customers for its own GaN devices and modules, according to The Elec.

Friday 22 May 2026
Samsung's quiet Taiwan play: Pairing memory with foundry to chip away at TSMC
Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong quietly visited Taiwan on May 21 and met with MediaTek CEO Rick Tsai, according to semiconductor supply chain sources, in a move aimed at expanding Samsung's foundry business by securing another major customer after deals with Tesla and renewed work with AMD. Samsung declined to comment, and MediaTek had not issued an official response by press time.
Friday 22 May 2026
AMD backs Taiwan EFB packaging chain to cut CoWoS reliance

AMD said it plans to invest more than US$10 billion in Taiwan's technology ecosystem to accelerate AI infrastructure development, while also revealing a new strategic direction centered on an elevated fanout bridge (EFB) packaging ecosystem.

Friday 22 May 2026
Analysis: Samsung deal prevents walkout but deepens internal rifts over compensation
Samsung Electronics and its union signed a provisional agreement late at night, about an hour before a scheduled May 21 strike, averting an industry estimate of more than KRW100 trillion (approx. US$66.8 billion) in supply chain disruption. The deal eases an immediate labor crisis but leaves unresolved structural conflicts and rising personnel costs.
Friday 22 May 2026
South Korea aims for 50% domestic defense semiconductor supply by 2029
South Korea announced a national plan to raise domestic production of defense semiconductors to 50% by 2029, targeting heavy reliance on US and Taiwan supply chains to bolster national security. The initiative, unveiled at the 2026 Advanced Strategic Semiconductor Innovation Conference, covers research and development, manufacturing, ecosystem building and workforce training and follows the recent passage of the Defense Semiconductor Act by the National Assembly on May 7, 2026.
Friday 22 May 2026
Lam Research's Salzburg PLP center signals push toward panel production, but hurdles remain for large-scale adoption
Lam Research has opened a Panel-Level Packaging (PLP) Innovation Excellence Center in Salzburg, Austria, underscoring the company's move deeper into advanced packaging as customers explore panel-based processes. Aaron Fellis, corporate VP and GM of dielectric atomic layer deposition (ALD) products at Lam Research, said leading chip firms are testing PLP in R&D or alliances and that several customers could start trial production within the next one to two years.
Friday 22 May 2026
Global corporates take the pitch stage at Plug and Play Silicon Valley May Summit 2026
At Plug and Play Silicon Valley May Summit 2026, 12 global corporate leaders took the stage for a "Corporate Reverse Pitch," inviting potential partners to co-create solutions for the next decade of industry challenges.
Friday 22 May 2026
AMD deepens Taiwan supply chain ties with US$10B-plus push
AMD CEO Lisa Su arrived in Taiwan on May 20, 2026, on a private jet and largely followed the same itinerary as her April 2025 visit, including a meeting with TSMC, a technology forum and dinner with Taiwan supply chain partners, and an about one-hour summit forum. This time, AMD also made the rare announcement that it will invest more than US$10 billion in Taiwan's industrial ecosystem to accelerate AI infrastructure buildout.