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Sunday 28 December 2025

TSMC operations stable after magnitude 7.0 quake, Taiwan's third largest in 26 years

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) confirmed that its personnel are safe and facility safety systems are functioning normally following a powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck off the eastern coast of Taiwan late Saturday night.

Sunday 28 December 2025

Tatun Electric eyes AIDC, ultra-high-voltage markets as power transmission bottleneck looms

Market attention in the modern AI computing power competitive landscape has mainly focused on semiconductor chip upgrades. But according to Chih-Ming Lin, chairman of Tatun Electric, the real challenge lies elsewhere. The company, with more than 70 years of industry experience, believes AI will not turn into a bubble—provided power transmission issues are effectively resolved.

Sunday 28 December 2025

South Korea's AI chips struggle beyond cost advantage

South Korea's drive to build a domestic artificial intelligence semiconductor industry is hitting a key constraint. Despite gains in power efficiency and pricing, industry executives say the lack of large-scale validation environments is slowing commercial adoption and limiting the ability of local chips to compete beyond pilot deployments.

Saturday 27 December 2025

Chipbond finds new growth engine in silicon photonics

With panel industry demand remaining weak, display driver IC testing and packaging specialist Chipbond is pursuing a second growth engine and has formally entered the silicon photonics (SiPh) packaging market.

Friday 26 December 2025

Japan quadruples chip and physical AI spending, deepens state backing for Rapidus

Japan is preparing a major expansion of state support for advanced semiconductors and artificial intelligence, with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) set to nearly quadruple related funding from fiscal year 2026, starting in April 2026.

Friday 26 December 2025

AMD wins major Alibaba MI308 chip order to challenge Nvidia H200

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently received US President Donald Trump's approval for the H200 to return to the China market. Shipments to Chinese customers were reportedly fast-tracked for around February 2026.

Friday 26 December 2025

SMEE wins China lithography order, yet ASML still controls advanced-node tools

A disclosure on China's government procurement platform shows that Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE) has won a contract to supply a step-and-scan lithography system valued at CNY109 million (US$15.5 million). The buyer, identified only by a coded designation under China's Ministry of Science and Technology, has reignited industry scrutiny of Beijing's push to localize semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

Friday 26 December 2025

Winbond prepares 16nm 8Gb DDR4 mass production for 2026 shipment upgrade

Memory maker Winbond Electronics has recently continued to expand capital expenditures by increasing capacity for 16nm and DDR4 DRAM. As inventories of legacy DDR3 products decrease, DDR4 will officially become Winbond's main product in the first half of 2026. The company's new 8Gb DDR4 products manufactured on its in-house 16nm process have recently passed customer qualification smoothly and are expected to enter mass production and shipment in the first to second quarters of 2026.

Friday 26 December 2025

Tariff restraint masks continued hard line as US weighs broader controls on Chinese chip capabilities

The US government has decided not to impose additional semiconductor tariffs on China for the next 18 months, despite concluding that Beijing's state-led chip industry policies involve unfair subsidies and market distortion. DIGITIMES analyst Luke Lin stressed in a recent podcast that this should not be misinterpreted as a softening stance toward China.

Friday 26 December 2025

South Korean giants race to mass-produce semiconductor glass substrates in 2026

As demand for artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors continues to surge, the market for glass substrates, which are widely regarded as a critical material for next-generation advanced packaging, is gaining momentum. South Korean companies such as Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEMCO) and LG Innotek are gearing up to compete for leadership in this emerging segment.

Friday 26 December 2025

ENE Technology eyes custom ICs amid US drone import ban

Microcontroller (MCU) maker ENE Technology has officially entered the drone industry, partnering with Taiwan's HY Tech, Aeroprobing, and Egis to integrate communications, vision modules, and AI image processing and computing technologies. The company also established a new business unit staffed with drone experts to compete in the customized drone IC market.

Friday 26 December 2025

Nvidia reportedly tests Intel 18A process but does not move forward

Intel's 18A process node has reportedly drawn interest from Nvidia, though the chipmaker has yet to commit to using the technology, according to Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter. The potential collaboration has not progressed, leaving the future of Intel's 18A node in question.

Friday 26 December 2025

Exclusive: Ex-TSMC COO discusses how mass production sparked full-scale advancement

J.K. Wang, a veteran leader in the semiconductor industry and former COO of TSMC, shared insights on TSMC's large-scale wafer fab mass production during his first media interview since retirement. Speaking on DIGITIMES' IC Broadcasting podcast, Wang highlighted how TSMC's success stems from meticulous teamwork rather than any single individual.

Friday 26 December 2025

US and China escalate semiconductor state capitalism amid global supply chain shifts

The semiconductor industry is increasingly central to national strategies as the US and China intensify state-led investments amid growing tech geopolitical tensions. The US CHIPS and Science Act and China's multibillion-yuan semiconductor funding illustrate a resurgence of state capitalism in high-tech sectors, reshaping global supply chains and industrial competition.

Friday 26 December 2025

FineMat pivots to drones, chip packaging amid China's display supply chain localization

FineMat Applied Materials is retooling its business as China's push to localize its display supply chain cuts into demand for the Taiwanese company's core products, prompting new investments in drones and advanced semiconductor packaging substrates, the company said.

Thursday 25 December 2025

US and European chipmakers lead GaN push for data centers

Gallium nitride power devices are rapidly penetrating AI data centers as soaring electricity demand forces operators to rethink power efficiency and density. The shift is pushing US and European power semiconductor suppliers to accelerate partnerships and product development.

Thursday 25 December 2025

TEL Taiwan shake-up: Chairman and president replaced following legal scrutiny

Japanese semiconductor equipment giant Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL) announced on December 24, that it will launch a major organizational restructuring and executive management reshuffle in early 2026. As part of the changes, Hikaru Ito, chairman of Tokyo Electron Taiwan, and president Roger Chang will be reassigned to new roles. Tatsuya Nagakubo will assume the position of chairman, while Seiji Nakama will take over as president.

Wednesday 24 December 2025

Japanese startup pushes diamond semiconductors toward commercialization in EVs and satellites

A Japanese startup originating from Waseda University, Power Diamond Systems (PDS), showcased its diamond-based semiconductors at SEMICON Japan 2025, presenting for the first time an evaluation system that confirmed the devices' operation after packaging.

Wednesday 24 December 2025

Unimicron leases Dajia plant to Uniflex, spins off flexible PCB business

Taiwan-based IC substrate maker Unimicron recently announced that it will sublease part of its Taichung Dajia land and factory to its flexible PCB (FPCB) subsidiary Uniflex Technology. The move addresses overseas customers' non-China production requirements.

Wednesday 24 December 2025

Innolux shifts FOPLP from volume to validation as US client drives orders, plant closures loom

Chairman Jim Hung said Innolux will deprioritize shipment volume for its fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP) business in 2026, shifting its focus to redistribution layer (RDL) and through-glass via (TGV) technology development to complete customer qualification.

Wednesday 24 December 2025

TSMC's N-2 restrictions hand Samsung US advanced chip opening

Samsung Electronics is poised to capitalize on US demand due to Taiwan's N-2 policy restricting TSMC's advanced process transfers and its capacity being booked by Apple and Nvidia. The company is testing its second-generation 2nm process with AMD and collaborating with Google for 2026 production, outpacing TSMC's planned 3nm output in 2027.

Wednesday 24 December 2025

Softstar rebrands as Star Fusion Group in major pivot toward chips and power tech beyond gaming

On December 23, 2025, Softstar Entertainment held an extraordinary shareholders' meeting to approve its official name change to Star Fusion Group, signaling a decisive transformation into a technology- and energy-focused conglomerate. Chairman David Tu said the group now employs around 3,600 people across 11 subsidiaries and more than 30 affiliated companies, spanning gaming, semiconductors, cybersecurity, dining, third-party payments, and heavy electrical equipment.

Wednesday 24 December 2025

TSMC Nanjing in no danger of operation disruption, says branch head

As US-China technology controls continue to shape the global semiconductor supply chain, the operation of TSMC in China remains under close scrutiny from the market.

Wednesday 24 December 2025

Taiwan remains key AI and semiconductor hub in new digital economy era

Deloitte Taiwan released a report on December 23, 2025, highlighting that AI has moved beyond proof of concept to large-scale commercial deployment, rapidly expanding across core areas such as smart manufacturing, generative content, personalized marketing, and integration with 5G/6G and edge computing. Notably, advances in agentic AI are becoming a major driver of industrial growth. Taiwan continues to hold a critical position as a global node for AI and semiconductors.

Wednesday 24 December 2025

Taiwan's November export orders up nearly 40%, driven by US AI demand

Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced on December 23, 2025, that export orders from the US reached US$28.45 billion in November 2025, up 12.5% sequentially and 56.1% year-over-year. Orders for information and communications products, focused on artificial intelligence (AI) servers, rose by US$6.43 billion, marking a sharp year-over-year increase of 117.7%.

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