As the industry shifts toward greater use of optical interconnects and less reliance on copper, market speculation has emerged that wider adoption of co-packaged optics (CPO) could reduce high-speed transmission requirements for AI server motherboard printed circuit boards (PCBs).
More technical details on 2026 mobile systems on a chip (SoCs) from major vendors are emerging, and the biggest changes in chips such as Apple's A20 Pro and MediaTek's Dimensity 9600 Pro are clearly concentrated in the neural processing unit (NPU). Qualcomm also published a technical article on NPU development on September 10, saying its next-generation NPU will expand shared memory capacity to improve access efficiency and speed for model data, helping mobile AI maintain fast response times.
Gallium nitride (GaN) is emerging as a key power semiconductor for AI data centers, where rising rack power and the shift toward higher-voltage architectures are forcing suppliers to improve efficiency and power density. But despite rapidly expanding orders and falling costs, industry researchers say GaN remains at an early stage of adoption and is unlikely to displace silicon broadly for another two to three years.
In response to rapid AI market growth, the Taoyuan City Government announced plans to establish a 40-hectare high-end integrated circuit (IC) substrate zone within Phase 1 of the Taoyuan Aerotropolis Industrial Area. Utilizing a phased construction and staggered site handover model to accelerate tenant entry, the city aims to begin joint land preparation with manufacturers in 2028, with options to scale the zone up to nearly 100 hectares based on industry demand.
Fast-moving advances in chip production have spurred a semiconductor boom, markedly altering the manufacturing scope of the broader high-tech industry.
Foreign commitments timed around SEMICON India are moving deeper into the supply chain. In the three days before the 2026 edition opened on September 17, Lam Research, Applied Materials, and Fujifilm announced India plans worth a combined INR144 billion (US$1.50 billion), covering silicon components, chip equipment, and process chemicals rather than chip production itself.
Global cloud service providers are continuing to expand AI infrastructure, driving a surge in demand for high-frequency, high-speed PCBs and making copper-clad laminate (CCL) upgrades increasingly critical to system performance. With both PCB layer counts and material specifications rising, Taiwan suppliers including Elite Material (EMC), Taiwan Union Technology (TUC), Iteq, Nan Ya Plastics, and Ventec are expected to sustain strong shipments through the second half of 2026.
AI, high-performance computing, and advanced packaging are accelerating demand for glass substrates, but smaller through-glass vias are making conventional filling methods harder to use. Geckos is promoting a copper paste process with vacuum printing as an alternative that could improve yield, lower costs, and support denser interconnects.
Murata Manufacturing is considering a new, potentially larger expansion of multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) capacity beyond its existing investment plans, as demand from AI servers is expected to remain strong through the end of the decade.
AI servers are reshaping the global multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) market. Murata Manufacturing and Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEMCO) are steering limited capacity toward high-value server components, tightening conventional supply, lifting prices, and creating an opening for Chinese suppliers in PCs.
As artificial intelligence applications accelerate, surging global semiconductor demand is pushing advanced packaging, co-packaged optics (CPO), glass core substrates (GCS), and fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP) to the forefront of industry attention. Corning is expanding its footprint across the semiconductor supply chain by leveraging its core strengths in advanced glass formulations and optical fiber technologies, collaborating closely with value-chain partners to navigate next-generation technological shifts.
At this year's China International Optoelectronic Expo (CIOE), Sivers Semiconductor brought two products to its booth that trace the trajectory of the optical networking industry: a 1.6T pluggable optical transceiver currently ramping toward mainstream adoption, and a prototype module built for external light source (ELS) architectures, a technology that could define the next generation of data center interconnects.
