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Apr 27, 10:50
TSMC's refusal of ASML's expensive High-NA EUV equipment, explained
ASML has launched its 0.55 High Numerical Aperture Extreme Ultraviolet (High-NA EUV) in an effort to extend Moore's Law. The market had originally expected TSMC to adopt it first, but the company has held back. TSMC Senior Vice President of Global Business Kevin Zhang stated at the North America Technology Symposium that there are currently no plans to introduce High-NA EUV before 2029, mainly because "it's too expensive!" This decision also reflects how TSMC is shifting competition focus from equipment to process integration and cost efficiency.

As enterprise adoption of generative AI accelerates, a new phase of infrastructure demand is beginning to take shape. According to DIGITIMES' special report, Accelerating enterprise AI: Hardware advancements and compute architecture transformation, the industry is moving beyond the initial buildout of training capacity and into a stage defined by large-scale deployment—where inference workloads are emerging as the primary driver of compute growth.

Samsung Electronics has reportedly become the first company in the world to develop a single-digit nanometer-class 10a DRAM working die, using the prototype to fine-tune process conditions to rapidly improve yield.
Thailand's PCB industry moves upmarket, local supply gaps persist
Apr 27, 16:32

Thailand is fast emerging as a critical hub for high-end electronics manufacturing, as global supply chains shift and demand for AI computing power accelerates.

Meta and Amazon announced on April 24 that Meta will use Graviton5 CPUs made by Amazon Web Services (AWS). The deal illustrates the growing importance of CPU chips for increasingly complex compute tasks as AI technology makes the leap from model training to autonomous agents.
1.6T optical communication modules are set for broad adoption in AI data centers in 2026, with optical transceiver vendors and key IC design houses preparing for shipments. Broadcom's digital signal processor (DSP) chips and Marvell's fully integrated Light Engine have begun volume production and testing, with revenue contributions expected to grow quarter by quarter this year.

Japanese auto parts supplier Denso said on April 27 that it is considering all options, including withdrawing its acquisition proposal for chipmaker Rohm, after failing to secure the company's support.

Global outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) leader ASE Technology Holding (ASEH) held its 2025 ASE Supplier Award ceremony, inviting more than 100 suppliers of packaging and testing equipment, raw materials, components, and processing, along with its subsidiaries Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), and Universal Scientific Industrial (USI).
Below are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories from the week of April 20-27, 2026:
MediaTek's application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) business is drawing market attention as volume production of Google's tensor processing units (TPUs) is expected to ramp from the second half of 2026. Views differ on how fast the segment will grow, though some estimates suggest ASIC revenue could overtake smartphone chips by 2027 to become the company's largest revenue source.
South Korea and Vietnam have expanded cooperation across technology, energy, and infrastructure, signing dozens of agreements during Korean President Lee Jae-Myung's visit to Hanoi, as both countries seek to reinforce supply chain resilience amid global volatility.

India is accelerating its semiconductor ambitions, from Micron Technology's Sanand ramp to new fabrication and advanced packaging projects, while expanding design partnerships. At the same time, regulatory pressure on Apple, weakening smartphone demand, and solar policy tensions highlight challenges alongside growing global supply-chain integration.