Global demand for AI and high-performance computing (HPC) has lifted investment returns for Taiwan-listed companies in China, with Foxconn continuing to lead the pack. According to CRIF, Foxconn's total China investment returns in the first half of 2026 reached NT$117.6 billion (US$3.7 billion).
Taiwan's semiconductor supply chain is moving to close a gap that turned costly during the industry's last major crunch: the plastic tubing that carries chemicals through chip fabs. TSMC suppliers Nichias and Gold Stone Development are building a factory in Hsinchu to produce fluoropolymer (PFA) tubes domestically, Nikkei Asia reported, citing sources with direct knowledge of the plan.
AI data centres are becoming a new stress point for the global power and semiconductor supply chain. As facilities shift towards megawatt-scale architectures, demand is rising for power semiconductors, battery backup systems, liquid cooling, grid capacity and low-carbon electricity.
The US has informally expressed dissatisfaction with the South Korean government's KRW800 trillion (US$578.5 billion) plan to build a semiconductor cluster in the country's southwest. The complaint comes as Washington escalates its demands for South Korean investment on American soil, and reflects frustration that Seoul is throwing its weight behind domestic chip projects while moving slowly on commitments in the US.
Kulicke and Soffa Industries has appointed Raj Talluri as president and chief executive officer, a leadership change that may influence the company's strategy in semiconductor equipment markets used across Asia, the US, and Europe. The move signals continuity for investors, while highlighting the global competition shaping chip manufacturing supply chains.
Intel pitched its next-generation Diamond Rapids Xeon at Hot Chips 2026 as the company bets that agentic AI will increase the role of general-purpose processors in AI infrastructure, even as AMD and Arm gain ground in the server CPU market. The company also detailed Crescent Island, a GPU aimed at AI inference, and Wildcat Lake for client and edge systems.
OmniVision Group reported a sharp drop in first-half 2026 profit as weakness in consumer electronics and automotive electronics weighed on its core image sensor business, even as machine vision, robotics and edge AI emerged as faster-growing sources of revenue.
According to 36Kr, Shanghai Guangyu Xinchen Technology says its TC1000 series of 3D-stacked near-memory-computing AI processors has moved from silicon validation to mass-production deployment, marking a claimed acceleration in the commercialization of memory-centric computing for edge AI.
Nvidia has reportedly notified major customers that server systems using its AI chips will rise by more than 15%, with the new pricing set to apply to models shipping from early 2027, including Grace Blackwell and the next-generation Vera Rubin platform. The move is expected to ripple through the chip and system supply chain, while industry figures say it could also lift the appeal of inference ASICs.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are stepping up equipment spending at their NAND flash plants in China through 2027, upgrading existing production lines even as future access to Western chipmaking tools becomes less predictable.
Chinese analog and mixed-signal chipmaker Novosense Microelectronics has introduced the NSM350x series, a Hall-based magnetic encoder designed for high-precision angular measurement in robot joints and industrial motion-control systems, reports Sina Finance.
More coverage
