Loongson Technology said it has completed development of its first in-house GPU, the 9A1000, which is moving into tape-out testing. Pending successful results, shipments to customers could start as early as the third quarter of 2025.

MediaTek announced on September 16, 2025, that it has completed the tape-out of its first flagship system-on-chip (SoC) using TSMC's 2nm process, becoming one of the earliest adopters of the advanced node. Mass production is expected by late 2026. The companies have a long history of collaboration across smartphones, automotive, computing, and data center chips, with MediaTek calling the achievement a major milestone in its strategic partnership with TSMC.

Taiwanese passive component manufacturer Yageo Corporation has announced plans to acquire up to 28.5% of power management IC (PMIC) design firm Anpec Electronics through a public tender offer valued at approximately NT$4.89 billion (approx. US$161.9 million). This marks Yageo's continued shift toward expanding its presence in active components following its recent acquisition of Japan's Shibaura Electronics.

On the evening of September 8, 2025, Xiaomi issued an internal notice that abruptly ended Wang Teng's rapid nine-year rise within the company. The under-40 executive, who had served as general manager of Xiaomi's China marketing division, was officially terminated for "leaking confidential company information" and "conflicts of interest."

The United Kingdom demonstrated a prominent presence at SEMICON Taiwan 2025 last week, reinforcing its position as a key player in innovative technology. The UK Department for Business and Trade and Innovate UK, the national innovation agency, led a delegation of over 30 emerging companies across semiconductor manufacturing, design, testing, and materials sectors to the event.

Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics Group (FMSH), one of China's major IC design companies, has been placed on the US Commerce Department's Entity List with the strict Footnote 4 (FN4) designation. The label requires licenses for all US export-controlled technologies supplied to FMSH, with approvals almost certain to be denied. The FN4 status effectively blocks the company's access to critical chip design tools and manufacturing services, cutting off its development pipeline.

Qualcomm has introduced its latest flagship mobile platform, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2, built using TSMC's 3nm process and incorporating a customized Oryon core to deliver improved performance. Simultaneously, Chinese consumer electronics giant Xiaomi announced that its next-generation smartphones will bypass the "16" series and launch directly as the Xiaomi 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max, all powered by Qualcomm's new chip.

The Trump administration has officially reduced the tariff rate on passenger cars imported from Japan from 27.5% to 15%, effective from 12:01 a.m. on September 16, 2025 (1:01 p.m. Japan time), according to documents released by the US Department of Commerce. However, ambiguity remains over whether Japan's semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries will receive most-favored-nation (MFN) treatment under the agreement.

Intel Corp. has completed the sale of a controlling stake in its Altera programmable chip unit to private equity firm Silver Lake, marking a significant step in the company's ongoing efforts to streamline operations and concentrate on core businesses.

Power semiconductors, particularly silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), emerged as key themes at SEMICON Taiwan 2025. The toughest competition was in SiC equipment, with Chinese, US, and Japanese suppliers all aggressively fighting for market share.

The increasing demand for big data storage driven by artificial intelligence data centers is expected to intensify a supply shortage of QLC NAND Flash memory, potentially resulting in a significant deficit by 2026. Major US cloud service providers are planning to replace traditional hard disk drives with enterprise-grade solid-state drives on a large scale starting in 2026, which will drive explosive growth in demand for high-capacity QLC SSDs. This transition is anticipated to narrow the price gap between SSDs and HDDs to roughly three times.