Cooperation between Taiwan and Japan in semiconductors will go beyond supply-chain partnerships towards joint technological innovation and talent development, according to Taiwan's former Minister of Economic Affairs Jyh-huei Kuo.
Memory module maker Team Group posted record profit in the first half of 2026, as surging demand and a persistent DRAM supply-demand gap lifted earnings to all-time highs.
Taiwanese research institute Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) released Taiwan's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for July 2026 on August 3. The seasonally adjusted PMI rose 0.8pp to 61.5%, marking the tenth consecutive month of growth and the fastest pace of expansion since September 2021. The six-month outlook index also edged up 0.3pp to 64.5%, remaining above the 60.0% expansion threshold for a seventh consecutive month.
The question of where the limits of cloud AI high-speed interconnects will fall has been a major market focus over the past six months. MediaTek addressed the issue for the first time in its 2026 second-quarter earnings call, saying its work on the more advanced SerDes 448G specification is roughly halfway complete.
Tight memory supply is expected to persist into 2027, with industry sources saying manufacturers have already completed much of their capacity-allocation negotiations for next year.
Onsemi's second-quarter results pointed to a broadening recovery in semiconductor demand, with AI data-center applications emerging as the company's fastest-growing business, while the automotive and industrial markets are showing signs of stabilization. The outlook suggests that improving utilization and product mix could support further margin expansion, though the absence of a major upside surprise in third-quarter guidance suggests a broader inventory-replenishment cycle has yet to begin.
As Chinese automakers accelerate in-house chip development, the strategy is increasingly about more than smart vehicles. It is also tied to supply chain self-reliance, overseas expansion, and the longer-term push into artificial intelligence robots, even as advanced chips still rely on external foundries.
AI-driven demand, new fab construction, and conflict-led raw material inflation are combining to squeeze semiconductor suppliers in 2026, according to Topco Scientific Co. senior CEO Dennis Chen. He said higher upstream costs are flowing through the industry, while shortages in wafer front-opening unified pods (FOUPs) are adding another layer of strain as manufacturers expand capacity and compete for inventory.
China's CXMT drew fresh attention after its parent ChangXin Memory Technology (CXMT) went public, with market estimates of the firm's future valuation ranging from US$160 billion to US$1.1 trillion. The gap underscores uncertainty over how much the memory maker could disrupt the global DRAM market, including competition, pricing, and supply-chain dynamics.
Sandisk and SK Hynix have published a technical specification for high-bandwidth flash through the Open Compute Project, a move that could shape future AI infrastructure worldwide. The standard is meant to help developers build faster, more efficient inference systems as demand rises for memory that sits closer to compute and handles larger workloads.
Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp. (YMTC) has rejected claims that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) invalidated all 19 claims of a core 3D NAND patent, calling the reports "seriously misleading" while its patent battle with Micron Technology expands across the US, China, and Europe.
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