Samsung Electronics' foundry division chief told employees on June 12 that a return to profitability in the contract chipmaking business looks difficult next year, with 2028 emerging as a more likely timeline, Yonhap, ZDNet Korea, and Chosun reported.
Japan's Rapidus has signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK Semiconductor Centre, a government-backed body established in 2025 to support Britain's semiconductor ecosystem, marking a step toward cooperation on future semiconductor manufacturing and potential customer development in the UK, according to Rapidus and reports from Nikkei, Bloomberg, and Reuters.
INPAQ Technology, a unit of PSA Walsin Technology, reported that revenue and profit in the first quarter of 2026 fell year on year, citing a supply-demand imbalance in the memory market and sharp raw material price increases. The company said it expected a gradual recovery in the second half of 2026 as industry inventories normalized and new products and customers began contributing. INPAQ also outlined a strategic shift to deepen its antenna businesses and expand passive components for AI servers and high-performance computing.
Equipment maker Manz recently announced the successful delivery of the world's first 310mm x 310mm panel-level packaging (PLP) electrochemical deposition (ECD) mass-production tool, further expanding its footprint in advanced packaging process equipment and demonstrating integrated capabilities spanning in-house R&D, process and system integration, and mass-production deployment.
Walsin Technology expects the tight supply of passive components could last into 2028, as demand from AI infrastructure, automotive electronics, and future device upgrades lifts orders while memory shortages weigh on shipments across the broader electronics supply chain.
Galatek Technologies has opened a manufacturing, assembly, and delivery center in Penang, marking the AI-enabled automation and semiconductor equipment supplier's first manufacturing site in Malaysia.
As global semiconductor supply chains are rebuilt, Southeast Asia is evolving from a back-end test-and-pack region into a resilient, multi-center advanced packaging and equipment ecosystem, according to industry participants. Migration drivers include pushes for local production and service, faster ramps for AI chip capacity, and customer demands for supply chain resilience amid de-Americanization and de-Chinaization pressures.
Wus Printed Circuit is pressing ahead with an AI-driven transformation, with its chairman and president outlining plans to move toward profitability as demand builds across high-performance computing and emerging technology markets.
