The surge in AI-driven high-speed computing and data transmission demands has prompted major players to invest heavily in co-packaged optics (CPO) technology. Compound semiconductor firm IntelliEPI announced a share-swap partnership with optical communications company EZconn, drawing renewed market attention.
Nvidia has reportedly invested US$20 billion to acquire technology licenses from Groq, marking its largest investment to date. The move is drawing significant attention in South Korea as Groq is backed by Samsung Electronics and collaborates with it in the foundry sector.
Set-top box maker Skardin Industrial confirmed that it has recovered a portion of its bad debt from an Argentine client, recognizing approximately NT$110 million (US$3.5 million) in bad-debt reversal gains, which have significantly strengthened operating cash flow. The company plans to continue advancing its transformation strategy, focusing on green energy, internet data centers (IDC), and resilient communications modules as its next growth engines.
Nvidia has announced a US$20 billion deal to acquire non-exclusive technology licenses from AI chip startup Groq, with Groq's current CEO and core research and development team joining Nvidia to work on technology integration. Meanwhile, Groq's CFO will succeed as the new CEO and continue operating services, including Groq Cloud.
In 2025, the global electronics supply chain transformed due to rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC), boosting servers, chips, and cooling sectors. Geopolitical tensions, export controls, and multi-location approaches also reshaped the supply chain to improve flexibility and risk management. The DIGITIMES Asia news team has summarized the top 10 key developments from this shift.
Japanese firms like Rohm and AOI Electronics built partnerships with Indian partners. Foxconn is mimicking its strategy in China, setting up a factory city in India.
South Korean PNT has secured its first mass-production order for battery copper foil in China, marking a strategic expansion beyond its core battery equipment business into materials and strengthening its foothold in the Chinese market.
Demand for green talent in Taiwan has surged to unprecedented levels. The pending implementation of carbon fees, continued growth in the green technology sector, and rising demands for net-zero emissions in global supply chains have created a massive workforce gap. Statistics show that Taiwan's green workforce shortfall neared 30,000 in 2025, marking a new record high at nearly 300% the level eight years ago. The electronics, IT, and semiconductor industries show the strongest hiring needs. AI skills have also become highly sought after, with employers favoring expertise in software engineering and R&D.
Taiwanese pneumatic components maker Chelic said it is redirecting its growth strategy toward semiconductors, liquid cooling, and robotics, as new sensing and energy management products move into customer testing with revenue contributions expected to begin in early 2026.
Taiwan's economy saw outstanding growth in 2025, emerging as an outlier not just in Asia but also worldwide. In its recently released forecast for 2026, the Institute of Economics at Academia Sinica sharply revised its estimate for GDP growth to 7.41% for 2025, up 4.48pp from its previous estimate of 2.93%. Although growth in 2026 is likely to slow down due to the high baseline in 2025, AI-related industries will continue to prop up external demand and investments in Taiwan.
Rising global investment in artificial intelligence is accelerating data center construction. This is intensifying demand for power, cooling, and energy storage equipment, reinforcing reliance on Chinese-made components even as governments push to diversify supply chains.
As AI workloads intensify and data centre architectures evolve, optical communications vendors are positioning co-packaged optics (CPO) and silicon photonics (SiPh) as core mid- to long-term growth markets. LuxNet expects 800G products to surpass 400G as the market mainstream in 2026, with 1.6T products entering initial shipments and supporting growth over the next two to three years. TrueLight is moving into the AI high-performance computing (HPC) supply chain via continuous-wave (CW) laser foundry services and expects the foundry revenue share in 2026 to exceed 2025 levels.
Connector maker U.D. Electronic revealed at an investor briefing on March 23, 2025, that it expects significant growth momentum in 2026, driven by the commissioning of its Vietnam manufacturing plant and the integration of Linkpower Electronics. The company highlighted that AI servers and edge computing are pushing transmission speed upgrades, with products supporting speeds above 2.5G projected to exceed 30% of sales next year.
FIC Group reported strong demand from its optical communication customers amid ongoing supply shortages. The company's new Johor Bahru, Malaysia production facility recently passed customer certification. It is slated to begin mass production in the first quarter of 2026. FIC also announced plans for continued capacity expansion at the Johor plant throughout 2026 while exploring semiconductor precision manufacturing growth opportunities.
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%.
In mid-December 2025, a China-based assembler for Apple was reportedly targeted in a cyberattack, potentially compromising production-line information linked to the tech giant's operations. This situation has raised concerns among customers regarding supply stability and cybersecurity risks.
British Petroleum (BP) subsidiary Castrol announced plans to apply its expertise in fluid science and thermal management toward advancing liquid cooling and power solutions for Taiwan's AI infrastructure. The initiative aims to bolster Taiwan's competitive position in the global AI computing sector by developing high-performance data center environments for future AI applications.
XING Mobility announced it will showcase advancements in electric vehicles (EVs), energy storage systems, and AI data center backup batteries at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2026) in the US. The presentation will focus on a decade of development in immersive cooling technology.
Chinsan, a Taiwanese aluminum capacitor manufacturer, held an in-person investor briefing on December 22, 2025. General manager Ching-Hsin Chiang said that growth momentum in the first half of 2026 will be driven mainly by the cloud and server markets, which are expected to show strong positive trends extending into 2027. In contrast, consumer electronics, industrial automation, and new energy sectors are forecasted to remain flat or slow down.
Taiwan's major automation equipment controller maker Syntec Technology has begun construction of its second-phase factory in Malaysia, representing a strategic investment of over NT$600 million (approx. US$19 million). The new facility aims to serve as the firm's key overseas manufacturing and operation hub, supporting markets including India, Turkey, ASEAN, and the US.
Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, better known as Foxconn, is rapidly expanding its manufacturing footprint in India, hiring tens of thousands of workers at a new iPhone plant near Bengaluru and laying the groundwork for what sources familiar with the project describe as a factory-city model similar to those it previously built in China, according to the Economic Times.
Taiwan's leading motherboard manufacturers—AsusTek, GIGABYTE, Micro-Star International (MSI), and ASRock—have navigated a turbulent global economic environment in 2025 marked by inflation, currency swings, and escalating US-China tensions. While the consumer electronics sector contends with rising costs and shifting demand, these companies have leveraged AI server growth to bolster financial performance amid a shrinking PC DIY market.
Taiwan's Central Bank has sharply revised its economic growth forecast for 2025 to 7.31% from the 4.55% projected in September, citing the absence of US semiconductor tariffs under Section 232 and a stronger-than-expected surge in AI demand driving export momentum.
Taiwan's Amtran Technology is reshaping its growth trajectory, pivoting from scale-driven contract manufacturing to a profit-focused strategy built around high-value products—a shift now clearly reflected in its financial performance and product mix.
