China Resources Microelectronics (CR Micro), a Chinese power semiconductor integrated device manufacturer, has notified customers and partners that it will raise prices across its entire product lineup starting July 1, with increases beginning at 15%.
Volatile precious metal prices weighed heavily on passive component suppliers in early 2026, but the cost pressures have also created unexpected order-transfer opportunities for Taiwanese manufacturers.
Infineon China said on July 3 that it is pursuing legal remedies after several gallium nitride (GaN) products became the subject of a removal dispute at electronica Shanghai 2026, saying public accounts of the incident did not fully reflect the case's background or specific circumstances.
Taiwanese power management IC (PMIC) design houses have been expanding into new applications and broadening their product portfolios in recent years, aiming to move beyond consumer electronics into higher-spec, more stable markets as the AI boom accelerates.
Taiwan's passive component suppliers are entering the second half of 2026 with stronger order momentum, as demand from AI data centers, networking equipment, power systems, and automotive electronics helps offset earlier pressure from volatile metal prices and weaker consumer electronics planning.
China's power semiconductor makers are entering a broader price-hike cycle, as AI server demand, raw material inflation, and tight mature-node capacity force suppliers to defend margins after years of low-end price wars.
China's display makers, led by BOE Technology (BOE), are pushing deeper into semiconductors, with BOE advancing glass substrates, and a 12-inch wafer fab reportedly slated to begin mass production in the second half of 2026. Industry analysts say China is extending display technologies built up with strong government backing into semiconductors as the US tightens restrictions, adding pressure on South Korea's chip and panel industries.
Despite rising concerns over memory price hikes, Apple's PCB supply chain has seen little change to the company's 2026 order pull-in schedule as of the second quarter, according to people familiar with the PCB industry.
Europe's intensifying heatwave is reshaping the region's air conditioner market, driving a surge in China's air conditioner exports and lifting demand for upstream power semiconductors, power management ICs and mature-node capacity.
Touch module maker General Interface Solution Holding (GIS) said the second half of 2026 will be more challenging as global memory shortages weaken end-market demand, compounded by the planned year-end closure of Sharp subsidiary Sakai Display Products' (SDP) large-size display panel plant.
As the AI wave drives rapid growth across the global semiconductor industry, the upstream electronic materials supply chain has become a key bottleneck for AI-related shipments. To keep pace with AI investment, Qnity was spun off from US chemical giant DuPont and listed independently in November 2025.
SK Hynix's latest senior hiring drive has reignited debate in South Korea's semiconductor industry, with the move seen as more than routine R&D reinforcement and as a sign that competition in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market has entered a new stage. As AI chips demand more from memory, logic design, advanced process nodes, and packaging integration, talent with system semiconductor and foundry experience has become a strategic asset.
Ability Opto-Electronics Technology, an optics maker, said on June 29 that its V-groove and mechanical transfer (MT) products for co-packaged optics (CPO) are likely to become its second-largest product line after notebook camera modules, as the company pushes to expand into new growth drivers. Chairman Weiya Gao said the expected 10% to 20% cut in 2026 shipments by notebook brands would have a relatively limited impact, since the company mainly supplies high-end business notebook cameras.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics is in final-stage talks to supply multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) to a major US cloud provider for AI servers, while also expanding substrate production capacity and securing a separate silicon capacitor contract, according to Korean media reports and company statements.
