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Jul 9
What China's rumored limited reopening to Nvidia's H200 implies for US-China chip contest and Beijing's drive for self-reliance
China's rumored tentative plan to allow a handful of its largest artificial intelligence (AI) companies to purchase a small number of Nvidia H200 chips has implications that extend well beyond a single procurement decision. The plan is possibly, though not only, for the shifting balance between US export leverage and Beijing's push to reduce its dependence on foreign silicon.

Samsung Electronics' preliminary earnings have shaken financial markets. Drawing on a report from a US brokerage, DIGITIMES Intelligence analyst Luke Lin examined the actual progress of advanced-node capacity expansion at TSMC, Intel, and Samsung, arguing that market expectations in several areas have run ahead of reality.

SK Group, which hosts the annual SK AI Summit as its flagship technology event to showcase its latest AI and semiconductor developments, is reportedly postponing the 2026 edition. Originally scheduled for the second half of 2026, the event is now expected to take place in the first half of 2027. Industry sources believe the move is intended to better align the summit with Nvidia GTC, which is held each March.

Apple and Broadcom have extended their custom-chip partnership through 2031 under agreements expected to exceed US$30 billion, reinforcing Broadcom's position as a critical Apple chip supplier.

TSMC is accelerating advanced packaging capacity expansion as supply remains tight, with market chatter indicating its CoWoS monthly output will reach at least 200,000 wafers in 2027. Equipment makers are still waiting for TSMC to finalize order allocation, a delay that is raising fears of price-cutting competition and delivery delays, as lead times run at least seven to nine months.

JCET plans to invest about CNY10 billion (approx. US$1.4 billion) in fixed assets in 2026, sharply increasing spending on AI-driven advanced packaging, automotive electronics and selected mainstream packaging capacity while its major Chinese plants run on strong orders.
Topco Scientific (TSC) posted June 2026 revenue of NT$7.51 billion (approx. US$233.49 million), an increase of NT$970 million from May and 32.9% from a year earlier, setting a new single-month record. Cumulative revenue for the first half of 2026 reached NT$39.32 billion, up 20.2% year-over-year and setting a record for the period.

Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology are taking different manufacturing paths for the logic base die in HBM4, opening a new front in the competition over advanced memory performance, yield and supply.

Micron Technology's decision to lift its planned US investment to more than US$ 250 billion through 2035, unveiled July 9 alongside the first concrete pour at its Clay, New York, site, is fundamentally a bet on where the AI era's most contested commodity, memory, will be manufactured.

GigaDevice Semiconductor expects first-half 2026 net profit to reach about CNY6.9 billion (US$960 million), a 1,099% increase from a year earlier, after tight memory chip supply lifted both shipment volumes and prices.

GlobalWafers and Micron have signed a 10-year supply agreement, alongside US$500 million in strategic financial support, in a move that underscores how artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC), data centers, and advanced memory demand are reshaping semiconductor sourcing. The deal extends US supply chain localization beyond wafer production and into upstream critical materials.

Chunghwa Precision Test Tech president Scott Huang said on July 7 that the company's biggest challenge over the next five years will be capacity as artificial intelligence demand surges across the semiconductor supply chain. He also urged Taiwan to increase investment in quantum technology and nuclear fusion, saying both fields could shape the island's long-term industrial future.