The global 8-inch wafer foundry market has entered a price upcycle. Foundries, including SMIC and Hua Hong Semiconductor, along with major Taiwanese and South Korean mature-node players, have notified customers that 8-inch foundry prices are set to rise by around 5 to 10% starting in the first quarter of 2026, covering specialty processes such as BCD and high-voltage (HV) platforms.
On the afternoon of December 26, 2025, Wingtech Technology convened its fifth extraordinary shareholders' meeting of 2025, sending a resolute signal: the company is prepared not only to regain full control of Nexperia but also to pursue as much as US$8 billion in international arbitration claims.
The global semiconductor industry's transition into the "Foundry 2.0" era is now measurable in revenue, utilization, and competitive positioning. The expanded foundry ecosystem generated US$84.8 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2025, up 17% year over year. Growth was driven by a simultaneous surge in advanced-node wafer output and AI-led demand for advanced packaging, according to Counterpoint Research.
Foxconn's operating structure is clearly shifting. Previously driven mainly by consumer electronics cycles, it is now gradually tilting toward AI servers, cloud, AI infrastructure, and high-performance computing (HPC). With continued investment and deployment in emerging businesses such as electric vehicles (EVs), results are expected to surface in 2026.
According to Nikkei, although electric vehicle (EV) demand has been below expectations, weighing heavily on Rohm Semiconductor's SiC power semiconductor equipment investments, the company has decided to expand applications into the AI server sector. Rohm's annual revenue from server-related fields is only around JPY10 billion (approx. US$64 million), but it has already started supplying new products in collaboration with Nvidia.
Data centers are entering a new phase of infrastructure upgrades in 2026, feeding off generative AI under Nvidia's leadership. While silicon photonics (SiPh) and co-packaged optics (CPO) technologies are still in the deployment stage, the optical communications industry is expected to move into commercialization by 2026.
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.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) confirmed that its personnel are safe and facility safety systems are functioning normally following a powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck off the eastern coast of Taiwan late Saturday night.
Market attention in the modern AI computing power competitive landscape has mainly focused on semiconductor chip upgrades. But according to Chih-Ming Lin, chairman of Tatun Electric, the real challenge lies elsewhere. The company, with more than 70 years of industry experience, believes AI will not turn into a bubble—provided power transmission issues are effectively resolved.
South Korea's drive to build a domestic artificial intelligence semiconductor industry is hitting a key constraint. Despite gains in power efficiency and pricing, industry executives say the lack of large-scale validation environments is slowing commercial adoption and limiting the ability of local chips to compete beyond pilot deployments.
With panel industry demand remaining weak, display driver IC testing and packaging specialist Chipbond is pursuing a second growth engine and has formally entered the silicon photonics (SiPh) packaging market.
Japan is preparing a major expansion of state support for advanced semiconductors and artificial intelligence, with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) set to nearly quadruple related funding from fiscal year 2026, starting in April 2026.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently received US President Donald Trump's approval for the H200 to return to the China market. Shipments to Chinese customers were reportedly fast-tracked for around February 2026.
A disclosure on China's government procurement platform shows that Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE) has won a contract to supply a step-and-scan lithography system valued at CNY109 million (US$15.5 million). The buyer, identified only by a coded designation under China's Ministry of Science and Technology, has reignited industry scrutiny of Beijing's push to localize semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
Memory maker Winbond Electronics has recently continued to expand capital expenditures by increasing capacity for 16nm and DDR4 DRAM. As inventories of legacy DDR3 products decrease, DDR4 will officially become Winbond's main product in the first half of 2026. The company's new 8Gb DDR4 products manufactured on its in-house 16nm process have recently passed customer qualification smoothly and are expected to enter mass production and shipment in the first to second quarters of 2026.
The US government has decided not to impose additional semiconductor tariffs on China for the next 18 months, despite concluding that Beijing's state-led chip industry policies involve unfair subsidies and market distortion. DIGITIMES analyst Luke Lin stressed in a recent podcast that this should not be misinterpreted as a softening stance toward China.
As demand for artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors continues to surge, the market for glass substrates, which are widely regarded as a critical material for next-generation advanced packaging, is gaining momentum. South Korean companies such as Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEMCO) and LG Innotek are gearing up to compete for leadership in this emerging segment.
Microcontroller (MCU) maker ENE Technology has officially entered the drone industry, partnering with Taiwan's HY Tech, Aeroprobing, and Egis to integrate communications, vision modules, and AI image processing and computing technologies. The company also established a new business unit staffed with drone experts to compete in the customized drone IC market.
Intel's 18A process node has reportedly drawn interest from Nvidia, though the chipmaker has yet to commit to using the technology, according to Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter. The potential collaboration has not progressed, leaving the future of Intel's 18A node in question.
J.K. Wang, a veteran leader in the semiconductor industry and former COO of TSMC, shared insights on TSMC's large-scale wafer fab mass production during his first media interview since retirement. Speaking on DIGITIMES' IC Broadcasting podcast, Wang highlighted how TSMC's success stems from meticulous teamwork rather than any single individual.
The semiconductor industry is increasingly central to national strategies as the US and China intensify state-led investments amid growing tech geopolitical tensions. The US CHIPS and Science Act and China's multibillion-yuan semiconductor funding illustrate a resurgence of state capitalism in high-tech sectors, reshaping global supply chains and industrial competition.
FineMat Applied Materials is retooling its business as China's push to localize its display supply chain cuts into demand for the Taiwanese company's core products, prompting new investments in drones and advanced semiconductor packaging substrates, the company said.
Gallium nitride power devices are rapidly penetrating AI data centers as soaring electricity demand forces operators to rethink power efficiency and density. The shift is pushing US and European power semiconductor suppliers to accelerate partnerships and product development.
