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Monday 3 August 2026
Taiwan manufacturing business climate improves in June, headlined by electronics sector
Taiwan's manufacturing climate improved in June 2026, with the electronics sector once again showing the clearest visibility, according to the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER), which released its individual industry business climate indicators for June on July 31.
Monday 3 August 2026
India advances semiconductor ambitions as Visakhapatnam OSAT plant anchors South India packaging push

India is moving deeper into semiconductor manufacturing with construction beginning on an INR23.87 billion (US$250 million) OSAT facility in Visakhapatnam, supporting New Delhi's broader effort to build a domestic semiconductor ecosystem beyond chip design.

Monday 3 August 2026
Intel EMIB yields hit target, MediaTek eyes 2028 ASIC ramp

MediaTek said at its latest earnings call that its second-generation data-center ASIC product remains on schedule for mass production in 2028, and that the Intel embedded multi-die interconnect bridge (EMIB) advanced packaging process it uses has already reached a very good yield level. MediaTek also said its first-generation product remains on track for volume ramp-up in the fourth quarter of 2026 and is expected to generate US$2 billion in revenue.

Monday 3 August 2026
India expands chip talent pipeline amid surging global chip demand
India has stepped up efforts to build a larger semiconductor workforce through training, curriculum reform, and industry partnerships. The plan matters beyond India because chip supply chains are global, and shortages in skilled engineers, fab workers, and packaging specialists can slow production, innovation, and investment worldwide.
Monday 3 August 2026
Pat Gelsinger joins xLight in bid to bring TSMC into US-made lithography project
US semiconductor policy is moving deeper into the most critical layers of advanced chipmaking, with former Intel chief executive Pat Gelsinger again emerging as a central figure. After previously urging Apple, AMD, Nvidia and Qualcomm to support Intel Foundry as part of a broader US manufacturing revival, Gelsinger is now backing xLight, a start-up seeking to challenge one of ASML's most entrenched advantages in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography.
Monday 3 August 2026
Samsung's GaN rumored setbacks threaten foundry launch, leaving it racing to close reliability gap
Samsung Electronics' gallium nitride (GaN) foundry effort has reportedly suffered another setback, with high-temperature reliability failures potentially pushing mass production into 2027. The delay follows earlier problems securing device customers and abandoning a government-backed project, underscoring the technical and strategic challenges of entering a market already served by established rivals.
Monday 3 August 2026
Weekly news roundup: Intel revives DDR4, Samsung challenges TSMC at 2nm, Qualcomm raises chip prices
AI-driven chip shortages, rising memory costs and intensifying foundry competition dominated the technology sector, with Intel reviving DDR4 platforms, Qualcomm raising prices, Samsung challenging TSMC at 2nm and Beijing accelerating domestic chip adoption. Below are the most-read DIGITIMES stories from the week of July 27- August 2, 2026.
Monday 3 August 2026
Doosan's SK Siltron acquisition reshapes semiconductor supply chain, accelerates AI-focused portfolio shift
Doosan Group's agreement to acquire a controlling stake in SK Siltron for KRW2.3 trillion (US$1.6 billion) will expand its semiconductor footprint from materials and testing into wafer manufacturing, while giving SK Group additional resources for its AI semiconductor strategy. The deal also highlights how rising AI demand is reshaping wafer valuations, investment priorities, and industry consolidation.
Monday 3 August 2026
India roundup: R&D hubs, domestic tooling, OSAT investments, and AI hubs are powering India’s chip push

India is expanding its semiconductor ambitions through new R&D centers, indigenous design tools, packaging facilities and AI infrastructure investments, aiming to strengthen domestic capabilities and reshape global technology supply chains.

Monday 3 August 2026
FICG launches Singapore-Malaysia dual-core strategy
FICG's advanced manufacturing subsidiary PRO3C signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with AME Elite Consortium Berhad, a Malaysia-listed integrated industrial space solutions provider. FICG also signed an MOU with JTC, Singapore's government agency for industrial master planning and infrastructure development.
Sunday 2 August 2026
Memory costs overtake smartphone chip costs as SoC shipments are set to fall 14%
Memory costs have moved ahead of smartphone system-on-chip (SoC) costs, and Counterpoint Research said the shift was already reshaping handset pricing and demand. The research firm expects global smartphone SoC shipments to fall 14% in 2026, with the entry-level segment taking the biggest hit and declining by more than 30%.
Sunday 2 August 2026
ESMT posts record second-quarter profit on higher contract memory prices
Elite Semiconductor Microelectronics Technology (ESMT) reported a record second-quarter 2026 profit as contract prices rose for niche memory products, lifting results sharply from the previous quarter and a year earlier. The Taiwanese chipmaker said net income reached NT$5.908 billion, while earnings per share hit NT$20.21, both all-time highs.
Saturday 1 August 2026
AUO commits US$721M to TGV, glass core and CPO expansion
AUO sold three factories within two days, with disposal gains expected to reach NT$17.7 billion (approx. US$548 million). Chairman Paul Peng said the proceeds would be reinvested in high-value products, new technologies and AI-related initiatives.
Saturday 1 August 2026
Obituary: Powerchip chairman Frank Huang dies after reshaping Taiwan's DRAM and foundry industry

Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (PSMC) chairman Frank Huang died on July 31, 2026, at age 76, closing a career that spanned medicine, electronics, DRAM and foundry manufacturing. His life traced nearly 30 years of booms and busts in Taiwan's memory and semiconductor industries.

Saturday 1 August 2026
Posiflex revenue rises 46% in the second quarter on Europe and Asia demand
Posiflex Technology reported a sharp sequential rebound in the second quarter of 2026, with consolidated revenue climbing 46% to NT$5.183 billion (US$160.3 million). The industrial PC maker said net profit after tax increased 58% from the prior quarter to NT$467 million, or NT$4.34 per share, even as higher memory and CPU costs weighed on margins.
Saturday 1 August 2026
At OCP's Taiwan summit, servers take a back seat to optics and advanced packaging

When the agenda for this year's OCP APAC Summit landed, seasoned observers noticed something unusual. TSMC, Applied Materials, Advantest, and ASE are sharing the stage with Microsoft, Nvidia, and Google.

Friday 31 July 2026
Exclusive: Asian chipmakers' shift to US helium raises concentration risk
Chipmakers in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan have avoided broad helium-related production disruptions so far, but their rapid shift toward US supply is creating a new concentration risk.
Friday 31 July 2026
ASE lifts 2026 capex to record US$10.5 billion, expects LEAP revenue to double in 2027

Driven by robust AI-related demand for advanced packaging and testing, ASE Technology Holding has raised its 2026 capital expenditure budget for a second time this year to a record US$10.5 billion, up from its original plan of US$8.5 billion.

Friday 31 July 2026
Samsung chip engineers eye SK hynix as AI-driven bonus gap fuels talent war
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently appeared alongside SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong at a high-profile AI gathering in San Francisco, highlighting the deepening ties among the companies driving the global AI supply chain.
Friday 31 July 2026
Tokyo Electron raises outlook as AI data center spending lifts memory demand
Tokyo Electron lifted its operating profit outlook for April-September 2026 on July 30, citing continued investment in AI data centers and stronger semiconductor capital spending. The Japanese equipment maker said demand for memory chips and advanced-process tools remained solid as major customers expanded capacity.
Friday 31 July 2026
Powertech bets on AMD FOPLP mass production in 2027
Powertech Technology is pressing ahead with new growth drivers, with chairman DK Tsai saying its FOPLP project with AMD for AI advanced packaging is on schedule and is expected to enter mass production by mid-2027. The company also said it has teamed with Broadcom in Singapore on FOPLP RDL development and is moving into optical communications, with μ-Bump-based optical engine samples expected to enter small-scale production by year-end.
Friday 31 July 2026
Auto chip demand recovers, but restocking remains elusive

Automotive chip sales are improving across Europe and the US, but major suppliers say global carmakers and their suppliers are still buying largely for immediate needs. A fuller inventory rebuild — one that could affect prices and supply globally — has yet to begin, leaving the recovery more cautious than expected.

Friday 31 July 2026
Shanghai rises as China's lithography hub, powered by SMEE, Huawei and rising DUV rivals

China's lithography equipment sector has returned to the global semiconductor spotlight following reports that a domestically developed immersion deep ultraviolet (DUV) system has entered mass production.

Friday 31 July 2026
TSMC reportedly develops EMIB-like packaging to counter Intel

TSMC is reportedly developing a new advanced chip-packaging technology modeled on Intel's Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB), signaling that competition in AI semiconductor packaging is becoming as critical as chip manufacturing itself. The project, internally described as "EMIB-like," is being developed with Taiwanese substrate supplier Kinsus Interconnect Technology as TSMC seeks to broaden its packaging portfolio and address growing customer demand.

Friday 31 July 2026
Analysis: Samsung's HBM4 base die is the foundry weapon TSMC and Intel can't copy

The most revealing thing about Samsung Electronics' foundry commentary on its second quarter of 2026 earnings call was not any single number. It was the shape of the customer list: cloud service providers, AI/HPC designers, an LPU maker ramping at 4nm, and talks with Broadcom. This is not the mobile-centric foundry business Samsung has run for a decade. It is the profile of a fab catching overflow from a leading-edge market that has run out of capacity.