Micron Technology's labor dispute in Taiwan appears set for resolution after its Taichung union signed a labor-management agreement with the company and withdrew from the mediation session scheduled for October 22. According to an internal email circulated by employees, Micron will introduce quarterly profit-sharing bonuses based on employee level in fiscal year 2027. The plan will cover employees at the director level and below.

Li Auto's chip and domain controller subsidiary, Mahe Xin Technology, has entered a first-round equity financing agreement worth CNY 1.625 billion (approx. US$243.33 million). The fundraising follows the automaker's recent opening of its in-house technologies to external customers, mirroring similar moves by other Chinese EV companies.

Infineon Technologies and US-based silicon carbide (SiC) leader Wolfspeed announced on October 15 a new multi-year supply agreement for 8-inch SiC wafers. This deal transitions their existing supply partnership from 6-inch to 8-inch substrate technology, positioning both companies to meet future demand across electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy systems, and AI data center power infrastructure.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are upgrading their NAND flash factories in China to make chips with more than 200 layers, Reuters reported on October 21, citing four people familiar with the plans. The move would let the South Korean memory makers win back ground lost to Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC), even though US curbs on upgrading their China operations remain formally in place.

AMD and Intel plan to consolidate their PyTorch optimizations for x86 processors in oneDNN, aiming to give AI developers a common path to performance improvements across both companies' CPUs and reduce the work of maintaining separate software paths.

With a strike by Micron Taiwan employees looming, Micron Technology said Micron Memory Taiwan and the Taichung chapter of the Taiwan Micron Memory Union had reached agreement on several issues after multiple rounds of constructive discussions. The two sides signed a labour-management agreement and agreed to withdraw the mediation scheduled for October 22. Micron will continue talks with its Taoyuan union, which has planned a one-day strike for that date.

Japan's Murata Manufacturing has developed the world's smallest NTC thermistor, the 008004 NCU01 series, measuring 0.25mm × 0.125mm. Compared with Murata's previous smallest 01005-inch thermistor, measuring 0.4mm × 0.2mm, the new product cuts mounting area by about 60% while maintaining equivalent temperature-sensing performance, with both resistance and B-constant tolerances at ±1%.

Rapid advances in AI and high-performance computing (HPC) are driving printed circuit boards (PCBs) toward higher layer counts, greater density, and higher-performance materials, triggering an open-ended shortage of upstream materials and equipment. Key suppliers of copper-clad laminates (CCL), copper foil and drill bits are launching capacity expansion plans covering the next 3-4 years.

The 27th Taiwan Printed Circuit Industry International Exhibition (TPCA Show 2026) opened in Nangang on October 20, with Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim calling on the PCB industry to seize opportunities created by the AI boom. Taiwan's PCB industry is expected to generate more than NT$1 trillion in output for the first time in 2026 as AI infrastructure drives demand across the technology supply chain.

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon told employees in a memo on October 19 that the company will conduct global, performance-based layoffs after completing its annual employee evaluations, with notifications expected to begin in November. The move aims to build a stronger performance culture and address the company's continued failure to meet expectations.

The US imposed sanctions on five Chinese entities tied to ex-Google engineer Linwei Ding for theft of trade secrets. The action follows his conviction for stealing confidential AI technology from Google, apparently to benefit Chinese firms.