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Tuesday 13 October 2026

AI substrate material shortages ease, but advanced equipment emerges as expansion bottleneck

As the customer base for AI accelerators expands rapidly and consumes IC substrate capacity, advanced packaging remains a critical industry bottleneck. Consequently, supply chain attention has shifted from upstream T-glass cloth used in copper-clad laminates (CCL) to the advanced manufacturing equipment required to expand IC substrate capacity.

Tuesday 13 October 2026

Samsung's US$9B chip expansion faces funding, supply hurdles

Samsung affiliates plan to invest a combined KRW12.26 trillion (approx. US$9.18 billion) in semiconductor operations across South Korea and Vietnam, but the projects face different financial and supply-chain challenges. Samsung Electronics plans to finance about 63% of its Vietnamese memory testing investment through future profits, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEMCO) faces potential equipment delivery delays and material supply constraints as it expands semiconductor substrate production.

Tuesday 13 October 2026

AI server tracker: Taiwan's CCL, PCB and IC substrate suppliers see widening growth gap despite AI boom

Taiwan's copper-clad laminate (CCL), printed circuit board (PCB) and IC substrate suppliers are seeing uneven returns from AI infrastructure spending. All 10 tracked companies recorded nine-month year-over-year revenue growth, and seven generated more revenue by September 2026 than in all of 2025, although their momentum differed markedly.

Tuesday 13 October 2026

South Korea's YMT targets fivefold rise in glass-substrate plating capacity

South Korean electronic materials supplier YMT is accelerating its expansion into glass-substrate electroplating. The company plans to increase related capacity to roughly four times its current level by the end of 2026 to meet customer demand for through-glass via (TGV) development.

Tuesday 13 October 2026

Korea Alcohol Group speeds up pivot into semiconductors

Korea Alcohol Group is accelerating its shift toward semiconductor materials with a KRW450 billion (US$337 million) production base at Yesan County in South Korea's South Chungcheong Province, which will also link up its operations in raw-material supply, high-purity solvents, process chemicals, and recycling.

Tuesday 13 October 2026

AI Server tracker: Taiwan's AI server chain grew 55% in September, but the growth narrowed to fewer suppliers

The AI buildout is still lifting Taiwan's server supply chain faster than almost any other industry, yet September's filings show the lift concentrating into fewer hands. The 49 listed Taiwanese companies tracked across the AI server chain reported combined September revenue of NT$2.95 trillion (US$92.35 billion), up 55.0% from a year earlier and 3.8% from August. Strip out Hon Hai Precision Industry, and the same group's September revenue fell 6.8% from August. For the first nine months, the group has booked NT$21.39 trillion, up 53.9% year-on-year.

Monday 12 October 2026

How 'Filter Moore's Law' is doubling revenue for a Taiwan chip filter maker

Under what the industry terms the "Filter Moore's Law," each process node shrink lowers tolerance for airborne molecular contaminants, causing filtration demand to grow exponentially. For global airborne molecular contamination (AMC) filtration leader Ye Siang Enterprise, that demand is now showing up in record revenue.

Monday 12 October 2026

Sumitomo Bakelite expands packaging material production across Singapore, China

Sumitomo Bakelite announced that it is expanding production capacity for encapsulation materials used in advanced chip packaging at its facilities in Singapore and Suzhou, China. This is expected to approximately double its production capacity for mold underfill (MUF) materials and approximately triple that for compression-molding granules.

Monday 12 October 2026

AI racks approach megawatt power levels as SiC, GaN, silicon divide power delivery roles

The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is driving demand for higher power and voltage levels, pushing power semiconductor development toward greater efficiency, higher power density, and tighter integration.

Monday 12 October 2026

Weekly news roundup: Musk's Terafab faces reality check; Samsung HBM4E clears quality validation

This week's (October 5 to October 11, 2026) coverage highlights intensifying efforts to build resilient semiconductor and AI hardware supply chains. Elon Musk's Terafab project faces manufacturing, packaging, printed circuit board (PCB) yield, partnership, and governance questions, while Intel remains involved and TSMC's role may be limited. Samsung reportedly advances HBM4E high-bandwidth memory validation and glass interposer testing. Vicor expands patent litigation over AI server power systems. Taiwan restricts China-made fiberglass sleeves, and China's new five-year plan prioritizes advanced PCBs, materials, equipment, and domestic investment.

Monday 12 October 2026

India roundup: AI data center buildout accelerates as semiconductor push continues to broaden

India's technology buildout is deepening across semiconductors and AI infrastructure, with chip IP, packaging and equipment initiatives advancing alongside data center expansion, high-density computing, optical connectivity and GPU deployments.

Saturday 10 October 2026

TPCA Show 2026 to spotlight AI computing, Unimicron chair keynote

As explosive AI computing demand drives hardware architecture change, Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA) is set to open its annual flagship event, with the 21st International Microsystems, Packaging, Assembly and Circuits Technology Conference (IMPACT-IAAC 2026) kicking off on October 19, followed by the 27th TPCA Show 2026 from October 20 to 22.

Saturday 10 October 2026

Semco moves glass substrates to package-level testing

Samsung Electro-Mechanics (Semco) has reportedly completed initial reliability testing of its 100mm glass substrates and moved to package-level verification using customer chips, marking progress toward commercializing next-generation packaging technology as AI accelerators grow larger and more complex. The development comes as the company expands its existing semiconductor substrate business while facing uncertainty over the commercialization timeline for glass substrates.

Saturday 10 October 2026

JNTC bets US$259 million on glass substrates ahead of 2028 ramp

South Korea's JNTC plans to invest KRW347 billion (approx. US$259 million) in glass substrate manufacturing as it reports a sharp reduction in copper-filling time for thick glass cores, potentially easing a major bottleneck in advanced semiconductor packaging. The investment comes as the company advances customer evaluations, although meaningful mass-production revenue is not expected until 2028.

Saturday 10 October 2026

Advanced packaging leads Malaysia's push up the chip value chain as AI reshapes demand, says Yole analyst

Malaysia is moving from traditional semiconductor back-end manufacturing toward higher value-added work, with advanced packaging set to drive growth over the next two to three years, according to Nur Hilwani, Technology & Market Analyst, Semiconductor Equipment at France-based Yole Group. Talent, IP ownership and supply-chain gaps remain hurdles.

Friday 9 October 2026

Ample revenue slips in September as passive component demand stays strong

Ample Electronic, a supplier of conductive paste materials for the passive components industry, reported September 2026 revenue of NT$304 million (approx. US$9.6 million), down 0.4% from August but up 76.3% from a year earlier. The company said strong demand for multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) and related parts continued to support results, while third-quarter 2026 revenue rose to NT$879 million, up 23.6% quarter-over-quarter and 82% year-over-year.

Friday 9 October 2026

Inpaq reshuffles management, appoints Joyin chair as new head

Inpaq, part of the PSA Group, said it will eliminate the chief executive officer (CEO) position effective immediately as it adjusts its organizational structure and management responsibilities. In a related personnel change, Joyin chair Jui-Tsung Chang will serve as general manager, while former CEO and president Eunice Chen will remain a company director.

Thursday 8 October 2026

Hanmi wins rare Samsung order amid US$5 billion chip substrate expansion

South Korea's Hanmi Semiconductor has secured a KRW24.48 billion (approx. US$18.3 million) equipment order from Samsung Electro-Mechanics, a rare deal with a Samsung Group affiliate after years of limited business following a patent dispute. The contract comes a week after Samsung Electro-Mechanics announced a KRW6.78 trillion expansion of its AI server substrate business, as demand for advanced chip packaging continues to grow.

Thursday 8 October 2026

Viking Tech lead times stretch to 6 months; orders seen into 2H27

Viking Tech said demand from AI, data centers, server power, military, and aerospace applications has kept capacity fully loaded as it enters the fourth quarter of 2026, with its book-to-bill ratio still at 1.5, though down slightly from the April peak of 1.7. The thin-film resistor maker said average lead time for both precision thin-film and standard thick-film resistors has now extended to 25 weeks, or nearly half a year, while some orders are already scheduled into the second half of 2027. The company said shortages are concentrated in 1206 and 0603 sizes.

Thursday 8 October 2026

AI demand drives Episil SiC V-shaped recovery as GaN and TVS capacity reaches full utilization

Episil Technologies Chairman Rex Hsu said overall demand has gradually recovered following an industry downturn, with silicon carbide (SiC) capacity utilization rebounding sharply from approximately 30% in the first half of 2026 to around 90% currently. Meanwhile, production capacity for gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon-based transient voltage suppressor (TVS) diodes has reached full utilization.

Thursday 8 October 2026

Doosan bets big on China as CCL prices climb

South Korea's Doosan is directing more than half of its record KRW968.4 billion (approx. US$724 million) copper-clad laminate (CCL) investment to China, positioning itself closer to major printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturers as tight supplies and rising prices strengthen the business case for expanding high-end materials production.

Thursday 8 October 2026

Chang Wah Technology posts record revenue as demand broadens across electronics and AI

Chang Wah Technology said record September and third-quarter revenue reflected recovering customer restocking, expanding applications, and rising demand in AI and satellite markets. The lead frame maker's growth points to tighter global supply capacity, broader industrial adoption, and stronger shipments to customers across electronics and advanced technology sectors.

Wednesday 7 October 2026

Sigurd raises prices, signs long AI capacity contracts, eyes higher 2026 capex

Taiwanese OSAT provider Sigurd Microelectronics and its subsidiary Winstek Semiconductor held a joint investor briefing on October 6. President Charles Yeh reported that surging demand across AI CPUs, GPUs, ASICs, silicon photonics, and memory is severely tightening testing capacity, prompting long-term contracts, price adjustments, and a potential upward revision to 2026 capex.

Wednesday 7 October 2026

Apple Watch sensor demand and InP supply tightness lift TASC's 2H26 outlook

Taiwan-Asia Semiconductor Corporation (TASC) expects a stronger second half of 2026 as new Apple Watch demand lifts sensor orders. The company said weak consumer electronics demand has not materially affected its business, with smartwatch and earphone orders arriving faster than expected. More sensors per device and seasonal demand should lift fourth-quarter performance above the third, making the second half clearly stronger than the first.

Wednesday 7 October 2026

Low-cost terahertz SoC takes shape as Taiwan advances next-generation communications

As the global communications industry moves toward the 6G era around 2030, front-end modules supporting frequency ranges such as D-band at 130-150GHz and W-band at 77-95GHz have become major research priorities across academia and industry.

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