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Tuesday 19 August 2025
Last-minute rush orders shake up Taiwan's chip industry
Taiwan's chip design firms say second-quarter results point to a clear trend, with inventories climbing in value even as turnover days hold steady. Executives say the increase is not due to weaker demand but rather to clients placing frequent rush orders, forcing companies to hold more stock as a buffer.
Tuesday 19 August 2025
Arm reportedly hires Amazon AI exec to advance chip ambition
Chip designer Arm has hired Amazon's artificial intelligence chip director Rami Sinno as it pushes into developing its processors, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Tuesday 19 August 2025
AMD opens new office and engineering lab in Penang
AMD recently inaugurated a new office and engineering lab facility in Bayan Lepas, marking a major expansion of its global business services and engineering operations in Malaysia.
Tuesday 19 August 2025
Intelligo reports 52% jump in Q2 profit, sees stronger 2H25
Taiwan-based ASIC design firm Intelligo Technology, which specializes in AI-powered acoustics and speech recognition, posted solid gains in the second quarter of 2025 as consumer electronics demand picked up. The company booked consolidated revenue of NT$349 million (US$10.8 million), up 12.4% from the prior quarter and 94.7% year-over-year.
Tuesday 19 August 2025
China's memory makers adopt domestic EDA: Empyrean in spotlight
China's semiconductor sector is intensifying its localization push. As ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technology Corp. (YMTC) ramp up mass production of DRAM and NAND flash, industry focus is shifting to the backbone of chip development: replacing foreign reliance with homegrown electronic design automation (EDA) tools.
Tuesday 19 August 2025
SoftBank to invest US$2B in Intel, strengthening US semiconductor ties
On August 18, SoftBank Group Corp. and Intel Corporation announced the signing of a definitive securities purchase agreement under which SoftBank will invest $2 billion in Intel common stock.
Tuesday 19 August 2025
Commentary: Trump weighs 10% stake in Intel as US explores new model of industry control

The Trump administration is reportedly weighing a plan to take a 10% stake in Intel, potentially making the US government the chipmaker's largest shareholder. The move, under discussion through a conversion of Chips Act subsidies into equity, marks an escalation of Washington's intervention in strategic industries.

Monday 18 August 2025
Advent International acquires Swiss positioning chipmaker U-blox, expanding European footprint
Advent International has acquired Swiss positioning chip company U-blox in a deal valued at CHF1.05 billion (approx. US$1.86 billion). On August 18, 2025, U-blox announced that ZI Zenith, a subsidiary of Advent, publicly offered to acquire shares of U-blox. SEO Master Fund LP, the largest shareholder holding about 9%, has committed to selling all its shares.
Monday 18 August 2025
Beijing reportedly pushes local chip usage as H20 sales resume in China
As Nvidia's H20 artificial intelligence (AI) chips become a focal point in US-China tech competition, Beijing is taking a cautious and increasingly assertive approach toward their use domestically. The move underscores China's broader strategy to reduce reliance on foreign technology while strengthening its own semiconductor industry.
Monday 18 August 2025
Empyrean Technology's revenue climbs, but profit plunges 92% in EDA spending squeeze

Empyrean Technology Co., one of China's leading EDA software developers, posted first-half 2025 revenue of CNY502 million (approx. US$70 million), up 13% from a year earlier. However, net profit attributable to shareholders plunged 91.9% to CNY3.07 million, while adjusted net profit excluding non-recurring items registered a loss of CNY18.62 million. Earnings per share stood at CNY0.0057. The company said it would not pay dividends, issue bonus shares, or convert reserves into equity.

Monday 18 August 2025
AMD CEO calls export controls noise, reveals counter-strategy
Recently, there has been widespread discussion about US President Donald Trump imposing "export taxes" on American AI chipmakers such as Nvidia and AMD for products exported to China. Wired magazine published an in-depth interview with AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su. However, the interview took place in late June, so questions regarding the AI chip "export tax" were not addressed. Nonetheless, Su pointed out that even if the US stops exporting AI chips, AI technology development will continue globally, and described export controls as merely noise.
Monday 18 August 2025
Section 232 investigations loom over Taiwan's key industries
Despite TSMC's US$165 billion investment in the US, Taiwan does not appear to have any special favor from the United States. Taiwan faces a higher reciprocal tariff compared to Japan and South Korea, and US President Donald Trump has even threatened to impose a 300% tariff on semiconductors. However, companies that already have factories or plan to build them in the US are exempted.
Monday 18 August 2025
Weekly news roundup: Apple's US$599 MacBook, China's HBM3 breakthrough, and TSMC 2nm leak update
Below are the top DIGITIMES Asia stories from August 11 to 17, 2025. Leading the headlines: Apple is preparing to launch a US$599 MacBook, with mass production of key components expected by the end of 2025. China's leading DRAM manufacturer has begun domestic production of HBM3 chips, with samples already sent to Huawei for final validation. Meanwhile, a reported leak of TSMC's 2nm technology involving employees from TSMC and Tokyo Electron (TEL) sparked espionage concerns but appears less severe after further investigation.
Monday 18 August 2025
Infineon completes acquisition of Marvell's Automotive Ethernet business
Infineon Technologies has finalized its acquisition of Marvell Technology's Automotive Ethernet business, following regulatory approvals. The deal, first announced in April, is valued at US$2.5 billion and will be financed through Infineon's existing funds and additional debt capital secured from banks.
Monday 18 August 2025
Intel demonstrates cutting-edge 18A process for non-x86 SoCs, aiming to challenge TSMC
Intel has showcased a non-x86 reference system-on-chip built on its Intel 18A process, underscoring the US chipmaker's commitment to expanding its most advanced manufacturing technology across a broader range of markets while winning more customers for Intel Foundry Services. In a newly released video, the company presented the prototype as proof that 18A can serve not only its upcoming Panther Lake processors but also designs from external clients, potentially including Apple's M-series, Qualcomm's Snapdragon line, and Nvidia's Grace CPUs.
Friday 15 August 2025
Weltrend sees strong 2025 growth on AI server cooling chip demand
Weltrend Semiconductor projects strong double-digit revenue growth in 2025, fueled by rising demand for motor driver ICs in AI server cooling systems and an improving product portfolio.
Friday 15 August 2025
GlobalFoundries folds MIPS into AI, edge computing ambitions
GlobalFoundries (Nasdaq: GFS) has finalized its acquisition of MIPS, a US-based supplier of AI and processor IP, in a bid to fortify its position in differentiated semiconductor manufacturing and expand into high-growth segments such as artificial intelligence, edge computing, and advanced computing solutions.
Friday 15 August 2025
AI boom fuels Foxconn's best-ever second quarter; growth to accelerate in Q325
Foxconn, the world's largest electronics manufacturer, reported record second-quarter results on August 14, 2025, with revenue, operating profit, and net income all reaching historic highs for the period. The company credited surging demand for AI servers and expects strong momentum to continue into the third quarter. However, rotating CEO Kathy Yang also flagged ongoing trade tariffs and currency fluctuations as key risks to monitor.
Friday 15 August 2025
Can Tesla's chip shift uplift Samsung foundry services?
Over the past two weeks, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has promoted his company's new partnership with Samsung Foundry for manufacturing its AI chips. At one point, South Korean media speculated that Samsung might even take over exclusive foundry orders for Tesla's Dojo chips originally handled by TSMC, only to discover later that Musk had decided to shut down the supercomputer project.
Friday 15 August 2025
Taiwan's motor driver IC makers capture AI server market share
Taiwan's IC design houses are seeing steady returns from years of investment in motor driver ICs, with demand rising across a wider set of applications and competition intensifying.
Friday 15 August 2025
China pushes back against Nvidia H20 chip exports amid US trade tensions
Chinese authorities have recently voiced concerns about the reauthorization of shipments for Nvidia Corporation's H20 AI chips, highlighting fears that these chips could be remotely disabled by the US. This capability, they argue, could be exploited to hinder China's AI development. In response, reports indicate that Beijing is encouraging domestic cloud providers to shift away from Nvidia's chips in favor of locally produced alternatives.
Friday 15 August 2025
Trump's corporate crackdown: When national security overrides boardroom independence
Since the US first announced reciprocal tariffs in early April 2025, President Donald Trump has frequently delivered "surprises" to the global market over nearly four months. Recently, he took to social media to publicly criticize Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, demanding his immediate resignation. He also called on companies like Nvidia and AMD to hand over to the US government 15% of their revenue from sales of specific AI chips to China, sparking a new round of market turmoil.
Friday 15 August 2025
DeepSeek's R2 stalls as Huawei Ascend chips fall short of Nvidia H100's capabilities
In the 2025 AI arms race, China's DeepSeek has become both a showcase of ambition and a cautionary tale on domestic chip limitations. Founded in Hangzhou in 2023 and backed by hedge fund High-Flyer, the startup's R1 large language model — trained on Nvidia H100 GPUs — gained global recognition in January for advanced reasoning, coding, and multilingual performance, positioning it alongside OpenAI's GPT-4.
Friday 15 August 2025
Asicland, Primemas team up for chiplet SoC efforts
Leading South Korean IC design firm Asicland is partnering with fellow IC design startup Primemas to spearhead an ecosystem for chiplet-based system-on-chip (SoC) platforms.
Friday 15 August 2025
Samsung turns to MediaTek for Galaxy Tab S11, reducing Qualcomm dependence

Samsung Electronics' upcoming Galaxy Tab S11 series is reportedly set to feature a MediaTek Dimensity 9400 application processor (AP), a notable shift from its previous reliance on Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform. Analysts say the move is part of Samsung's broader strategy to reduce component costs and improve bargaining power when sourcing APs.