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Wednesday 18 March 2026

Nexcom launches humanoid robot development kit built on Nvidia IGX Thor

Nexcom Group has launched its first humanoid robot development kit based on the Nvidia IGX Thor platform, unveiling the MARS400 T20 at the Nvidia GTC 2026. The kit integrates real-time motion control, functional safety modules, high-speed communication, and thermal management technologies. It is aimed at collaborative robot system integrators to shorten development and production cycles.

Wednesday 18 March 2026

Nvidia partners with chipmakers to advance industrial robotics

At Nvidia's GTC 2026 conference, major chipmakers — including Texas Instruments (TI), Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors, Analog Devices (ADI), and Synopsys — announced new collaborations centered on robotics built around Nvidia's platform. Robotics is now the defining focus for IDM firms and the broader industrial control chip ecosystem.

Wednesday 18 March 2026

Nvidia GTC 2026: Memory, power, and deployment challenges reshape AI infrastructure

Amid tightening memory supply and surging demand for AI-ready infrastructure, hardware vendors are racing to redesign systems for the next phase of enterprise AI adoption — a shift thrown into sharp relief at Nvidia's GTC 2026.

Wednesday 18 March 2026

IBM completes Confluent acquisition to power real-time AI data

On March 17, IBM completed its acquisition of Confluent, Inc., the data streaming platform used by more than 6,500 enterprises — including 40% of the Fortune 500 — to power real-time operations. Under the agreement, IBM acquired all issued and outstanding common shares of Confluent for US$31 per share in cash, representing an enterprise value of approximately US$11 billion.

Wednesday 18 March 2026

Nvidia GTC 2026: Nvidia charts optical-copper path

At GTC 2026, Nvidia outlined a dual-track approach combining copper cables and silicon photonics (SiPh) to meet surging AI-driven demand for data center interconnects. CEO Jensen Huang emphasized that as AI compute needs escalate, future data centers will require expanded capacity across copper cabling, optical communication, and co-packaged optics (CPO) — establishing optical-copper parallelism as the industry's defining development path.

Wednesday 18 March 2026

Foxconn and SAP forge strategic alliance to drive enterprise AI in APAC

On March 18, Foxconn (Hon Hai) announced a strategic partnership with SAP to accelerate the adoption of next-generation enterprise artificial intelligence across the Asia-Pacific region. The collaboration is built on the AI Factory initiative, which Foxconn says seeks to reshape future manufacturing processes and supply chain management while opening pathways for global deployment.

Wednesday 18 March 2026

Syscom presents AI as a new operational workforce, promising measurable business change

Syscom Computer Engineering showcased an "AI mobilization" theme at the 2026 Smart City Expo, integrating physical service robots with intelligent digital workers and presenting the technology as a core operational force for enterprises. The company described this integration as marking the arrival of "enterprise digital workers" — entities designed to function alongside human staff and reshape business models.

Wednesday 18 March 2026

Taiwan smart city expo spotlights AI robotics across industries

The 2026 Smart City Summit & Expo features an AI robot application zone, jointly planned by the Taiwan Smart City Solutions Alliance, the Tainan City Government, and the Special Interest Group. The zone will gather more than 15 domestic robot manufacturers to showcase components, systems, and applications.

Wednesday 18 March 2026

Apple adopts MediaTek Wi-Fi chip for MacBook Neo to save costs, say sources

Apple's recently launched affordable MacBook Neo has been found to use MediaTek's Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips instead of Broadcom or Apple's own N1 chip, according to teardown reports. Industry insiders assess that Apple likely made this decision to reduce costs while buying time to improve its in-house N-series chip specifications.

Wednesday 18 March 2026

Dreame rollout plan for five chips: chips for robots today, AI data centers in orbit tomorrow

At an industry forum in Shanghai this month, a young Chinese semiconductor startup laid out a sweeping vision: designing chips not only for smartphones and self-driving cars, but also for robots, personal AI supercomputers — and eventually, computing centers in orbit.

Wednesday 18 March 2026

Surging US AI demand drives contract manufacturing fees higher for Taiwan electronics makers

Aggressive AI investments by major US cloud service providers (CSPs) are driving a surge in demand for Taiwan's semiconductor and ICT hardware, pushing exports, prices, and private investments toward record levels despite supply constraints.

Wednesday 18 March 2026

Taiwan on track to outpace China's growth again in 2026

Driven by US President Donald Trump's push for American reindustrialization and efforts to shift industries away from China through high tariffs, Taiwan's economy is set to outpace China's growth for the second consecutive year in 2026.

Wednesday 18 March 2026

Wistron eyes sales model shift as AI server volume squeezes margins

Wistron Group posted record revenue and earnings per share in 2025, driven by strong demand for AI servers. Still, its gross margin fell as higher unit prices and material costs tied to increased shipments of AI server racks weighed on profitability.

Tuesday 17 March 2026

Mech-Mind Robotics champions eyes and brains for embodied AI industry

Mech-Mind Robotics, a leading provider of 3D vision systems and software for industrial robots, laid out its plans at Automation World (AW) 2026 to become a global leader in embodied AI. It provides innovative solutions that empower robots with "eyes" and "brains." Through combining advanced 3D cameras with powerful software for perception, path planning, and deep learning, Mech-Mind enables flexible automation and unlocks the full potential of robotics across diverse industries globally.

Tuesday 17 March 2026

MSI to increase gaming product prices by up to 30% as memory costs spike

With artificial intelligence (AI) demand surging and key components such as memory in tight supply, Micro-Star International (MSI) chairman Joseph Hsu and president Jeans Huang said the company is actively expanding in the AI server market, achieving growth of 50 to 100% in 2025, and expects to maintain strong growth in 2026. In addition, they expect gaming products to see a price increase of about 15 to 30% in 2026 due to the impact of rising memory costs.

Tuesday 17 March 2026

Dixon guarantees up to US$10 million for Padget Electronics' raw material purchases from Foxlink

Dixon Technologies (India) Limited disclosed on 16 March that it has issued a guarantee for its wholly owned unlisted material subsidiary, Padget Electronics Private Limited, in favour of Foxlink India Electric Private Limited. The disclosure was made to the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange under Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, and in compliance with a SEBI master circular dated 30 January 2026.

Tuesday 17 March 2026

Nvidia GTC 2026: Jensen Huang projects US$1 trillion inference market, LPU chip to be made by Samsung

As generative AI advances into the inference and agentic AI stages, global demand for AI computing power is entering a new surge. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang outlined during his keynote at GTC 2026 that AI development has officially shifted from early model training to an era centered on inference and autonomous agents. He significantly raised Nvidia's forecast for the AI infrastructure market size, estimating that related demand will double and surpass US$1 trillion between 2025 and 2027.

Tuesday 17 March 2026

Foxconn eyes steady growth in 2026 with 5-year AI transformation plan

Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn) achieved record-high profits and cash dividends in 2025. Foxconn chairman Young Liu stated that the company's growth momentum will continue in 2026, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. The company is also simultaneously launching the next phase of its five-year AI-centered transformation plan.

Tuesday 17 March 2026

Middle East conflict disrupts supply chains, Taiwan materials maker flags rare force majeure notices

Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corporation (SSFC) is accelerating its transformation into AI, semiconductors, biotechnology, and optical films, positioning itself as an advanced materials supplier for next-generation industries.

Tuesday 17 March 2026

Foxconn eyes high double-digit AI server shipment growth in 1Q26

Amid rising demand for AI computing power and sustained high capital expenditure from global cloud service providers (CSPs), AI servers and data center infrastructure have become the key growth drivers in the ICT supply chain over the past two years. Foxconn, a leader in the AI server industry, forecasts that its AI rack shipments in the first quarter of 2026 will grow by a high double-digit percentage compared to the previous quarter.

Tuesday 17 March 2026

SK Hynix dethrones Samsung as South Korea's most desired employer

South Korea's largest job platform Saramin has named SK Hynix the top "most desired large company" for the first time, displacing perennial leader Samsung Electronics. The shift reflects the explosive growth of the AI chip market and its growing influence on job seekers' priorities.

Tuesday 17 March 2026

Middle East conflict and Section 301 put manufacturers in a double bind

Escalating conflict in the Middle East and a newly launched Section 301 investigation by the US are together creating a combination of pressures for global industries, including rising tariffs, higher energy prices, and growing inflation risks. Thomas T.L. Wu, chairman of the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (CNAIC), said that the conflict has exceeded market expectations and could push up oil prices, driving up domestic inflation and production costs for businesses.

Tuesday 17 March 2026

WPG expects memory shortage to ease by 2027 as AI drives nearly half of computing products

As AI boosts demand for computing power, IC distributor WPG Holdings reports a significant rise in the share of computing products, which have become its main revenue driver. However, the ongoing memory shortage is expected to persist until 2027 before easing. While this may suppress demand in consumer markets like smartphones and notebooks, shipments of AI-enabled phones and AI notebooks are projected to grow in 2026.

Tuesday 17 March 2026

Taiwan's exports to US hit record highs as FedEx and UPS expand cargo hubs

Driven by growing demand for AI servers and high-performance computing (HPC) applications, Taiwan's exports to the US surged 83% in the first two months of 2026, marking a strong performance. Following FedEx's launch of its expanded transshipment center at Taoyuan International Airport on March 11, US logistics giant UPS has announced it will open its largest Asia-Pacific logistics hub at the same airport on March 25.

Monday 16 March 2026

India's 2026 budget targets semiconductor supply chain with five-year tax exemptions and near-zero import duties

India's Union Budget 2026 has introduced a comprehensive set of tax exemptions and duty-free incentives aimed at securing a larger share of the global technology supply chain, though the measures hold particular relevance for semiconductor and electronics manufacturers.

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