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Thursday 16 July 2026
C.C. Wei on EMIB, memory envy, and why TSMC won't squeeze its customers
TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei used the company's second-quarter 2026 earnings call to push back on two narratives gaining traction among analysts: that rival packaging technologies threaten TSMC's advanced packaging business, and that the company should be extracting windfall margins from its dominant market position.
Thursday 16 July 2026
TSMC says 2nm has four times as many tape-outs as 3nm at the same stage
Customer tape-outs for TSMC's N2 process have reached four times the number recorded by its 3nm technology at the same stage, showing faster design activity as the foundry ramps production of its first 2nm process.
Thursday 16 July 2026
AI chips are running hotter — and Niching is betting its future on keeping them cool
As AI chips and HPC chips continue to draw more power, major advanced packaging orders at ASE, Powertech Technology, and Amkor remain strong, lifting demand for heat spreaders. Semi-conductor materials supplier Niching incorporated heat spreader maker Ming Chun Yuan Micro Precise Technology into the group on July 1, 2026, and analysts expect the merger to lift revenue by 30% and gross margin by 10%.
Thursday 16 July 2026
Taiwan OSATs expand non-China capacity with US and SEA push
As the global AI boom drives up demand for semiconductor packaging and testing, Taiwan's OSAT players are accelerating overseas capacity expansion beyond their home market and China. ASE, SPIL, KYEC, Greatek, and Tong Hsing are all pushing ahead in 2026 to strengthen supply-chain resilience amid geopolitical risk.
Thursday 16 July 2026
TSMC boosts US investment by US$100B as C.C. Wei outlines long-term capacity planning with customers

To address structural long-term growth in semiconductor demand, TSMC chairman C.C. Wei said the company works closely with customers — and its customers' customers — to jointly plan future capacity.

Thursday 16 July 2026
TSMC eyes record quarter: 2nm ramp drives 3Q26 guidance above US$44B

TSMC is projecting its strongest quarter ever, guiding third-quarter 2026 revenue to between US$44.6 billion and US$45.8 billion on the back of accelerating demand for leading-edge chips and the steep ramp-up of its 2-nanometer process technology.

Thursday 16 July 2026
TSMC lifts 2026 revenue growth above 40% on strong AI demand from cloud giants

TSMC expressed strong confidence during its July 16 earnings conference that demand for its advanced process technologies remains robust, with chairman C.C. Wei saying the company's 2nm process has entered volume production and is progressing smoothly through its production ramp.

Thursday 16 July 2026
TSMC 2Q26 profit surges 77% to a record on AI demand, first 2nm revenue

TSMC reported record second-quarter 2026 results on July 16, with revenue, profit, and earnings per share all surpassing market expectations, underscoring sustained demand for AI and high-performance computing (HPC) chips.

Thursday 16 July 2026
InP substrates emerge as strategic asset as optical engine supply chain heads for reshuffle
As AI server interconnects advance toward 1.6T and co-packaged optics (CPO), high-power continuous-wave (CW) lasers are becoming a strategic battleground for global technology companies. At the heart of these optical engines, indium phosphide (InP) manufacturing is shifting toward larger 4-inch and 6-inch wafer production. While existing suppliers have yet to fully meet growing demand, Taiwanese companies may find an opportunity to break into the market by addressing the widening supply gap.
Thursday 16 July 2026
India trims chip subsidies but widens their reach as it courts electronics supply chain away from China
India approved two large incentive packages on July 15 that together recast how New Delhi subsidizes electronics manufacturing: learner-per-project chip subsidies spread across a much broader slice of the value chain, paired with a new smartphone scheme designed to reward domestic components and homegrown brands rather than assembly alone. The twin moves signal a shift from simply attracting fabs and iPhone assembly toward deepening local value addition, as India tries to pull more of the global electronics supply chain away from China.
Thursday 16 July 2026
Samsung weighs outsourcing Google TPU back-end design as 2nm demand grows

Samsung Electronics is considering outsourcing some or all of the back-end design work for an input/output die in Google's reported 10th-generation tensor processing unit, as growing demand for Samsung's 2nm foundry process reportedly stretches its internal engineering resources.

Thursday 16 July 2026
Commentary: Chip lead times extend as cloud AI squeezes capacity
Reports of longer chip lead times have been mounting. ADI has notified customers that, as recovering demand tightens supply, lead times for some analog chip products have stretched to six months, and it has urged customers to place orders early to avoid delivery delays. Meanwhile, a channel player said STMicroelectronics (ST) MCU lead times have extended to 52 weeks, prompting distributors to begin asking customers about demand for all of 2027.
Thursday 16 July 2026
ASML's rumored move to raise lithography prices sets up rare clash with TSMC as AI hands toolmakers pricing power
An AI-fueled earnings beat has emboldened ASML to do something it rarely does: raise prices on the lithography machines that are essential to making advanced chips. That plan is now setting up an unusual confrontation with its largest customer, TSMC, and threatens to fall hardest on Chinese chipmakers with the fewest alternatives. It also lands in the middle of a broader 2026 repricing cycle that is sweeping through foundry, memory, and packaging costs at once, one whose bill ultimately reaches Nvidia, Apple, and every buyer of advanced silicon.
Thursday 16 July 2026
Samsung, SK hynix race to make Gwangju memory hub operational within four years
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are set to anchor a KRW800 trillion (US$532.4 billion) semiconductor cluster at the former Gwangju military airport site in South Korea. Industry experts describe the project as a race against time, with an ambitious target of bringing four fabrication plants online within four years. Whether land, power, water, talent, and supply-chain infrastructure can be developed in parallel has become a key concern for South Korea's semiconductor industry and global observers alike.
Thursday 16 July 2026
ASML signals pricing power and a two-year capacity sprint as AI tightens the lithography bottleneck
During the question-and-answer session of ASML's second-quarter 2026 earnings call on July 15, executives at the world's only maker of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems signaled that they now have room to raise prices and are preparing to expand output of their most important machines by roughly 30% in each of the next two years — all without building new cleanrooms. The tone confirmed a same-day exclusive from The Information, which reported that ASML plans price increases across its equipment despite resistance from its largest customer, TSMC.
Thursday 16 July 2026
Taiwan power device makers gain from automotive inventory buildup and order shifting
Semiconductor supply chains remain tight, and Taiwan power device suppliers say the automotive market, after two years of inventory digestion, is now building up extra stock to avoid shortages. Rebounding demand from 3C end markets is also expected to support revenue in the second half of 2026.
Thursday 16 July 2026
Samsung's Honam semiconductor investment faces union pushback as 80% oppose project
As Samsung Electronics pushes ahead with a major semiconductor investment project in South Korea's Honam region, including Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, labor-management relations have once again emerged as a source of uncertainty.
Thursday 16 July 2026
Column: From K-Semiconductor to AI superpower —How South Korea is taking its next chip leap

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung unveiled the country's Three Mega Projects for AI and Semiconductors in late June 2026, an ambitious national strategy designed to strengthen South Korea's global leadership in artificial intelligence and semiconductors. The initiative centers on three pillars—semiconductors, physical AI, and AI data centers—and aims to double the nation's DRAM output within five years while expanding capabilities in high-bandwidth memory (HBM), advanced packaging, AI processors, and next-generation memory technologies. It also seeks to extend South Korea's semiconductor footprint beyond the Seoul metropolitan region.

Thursday 16 July 2026
Silan Microelectronics forecasts stronger first-half 2026 profit on sales growth and investment gains
Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics said its first-half 2026 profit is set to rise sharply, driven by revenue growth, product upgrades, and fair-value gains on financial assets. The outlook matters for global semiconductor markets because it points to resilient demand across automotive, industrial, and energy applications despite rising costs and competition.
Wednesday 15 July 2026
JCET forecasts higher first-half profit on AI-driven chip demand
China's JCET expects stronger first-half earnings as global demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure lifts semiconductor activity. The outlook signals continued momentum in chip packaging and testing, a sector closely watched by investors because it reflects broader technology spending trends that affect supply chains across Asia, the US, and Europe.
Wednesday 15 July 2026
Intel qualifies High-NA EUV for Panther Lake; ASML preps TSMC and Samsung for next wave
ASML confirmed on July 15 that Intel Foundry has become the first company in the industry to ship a high-volume logic product manufactured using High-NA EUV lithography, marking a significant milestone in the commercial readiness of the Dutch equipment maker's most advanced lithography technology.
Wednesday 15 July 2026
SK Siltron begins 300mm wafer production at KRW2.3 trillion Gumi plant

SK Siltron has begun volume production and customer shipments from a KRW2.3 trillion (approx. US$1.54 billion) expansion of its Gumi wafer plant in South Korea, Newsis reported, as the company ramps up supplies of 300mm silicon wafers used to manufacture advanced memory chips.

Wednesday 15 July 2026
Tongfu Microelectronics forecasts sharp first-half profit rise on AI and memory demand
Tongfu Microelectronics said its first-half profit is likely to climb sharply, reflecting broader gains in semiconductor demand that could matter for global chip supply chains, AI infrastructure builders, and memory market watchers. The company pointed to stronger utilization, higher sales of mid- to high-end products, and investment returns as key drivers of the expected increase.
Wednesday 15 July 2026
AI drives memory shortage through 2027, PSMC lifts 2Q26 margin to 28%
AI-driven demand for memory, power management chips, and advanced packaging has continued to tighten supply and demand in the foundry market. Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing (PSMC) reported second quarter 2026 revenue of NT$17.291 billion (approx. US$537.8 million), up 27% quarter-over-quarter and 53% year-over-year, while gross margin jumped to 28%, up 18pp from the first quarter; operating margin reached 21%, turning positive from the same period in 2025, and net profit after tax came to NT$3.291 billion, an EPS of NT$0.76.
Wednesday 15 July 2026
PSMC lifts DRAM foundry prices 45% as 3D AI Foundry targets 20% revenue share
Major cloud service providers (CSPs) have front-loaded purchases of future DRAM capacity, and the global memory supply-demand gap is expected to last through 2027. Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing (PSMC) said on a July 14, 2026, online earnings call that it raised DRAM wafer start prices in July by about 45% from June, with the increase expected to flow into revenue and profit from November, while 8-inch and 12-inch logic foundry prices also rose 10-15%.