DIGITIMES Semiconductors: IC manufacturing news

Home Tech Semiconductors IC manufacturing

Monday 4 May 2026

BenQ Materials unit Cenefom enters memory supply chain with CMP brush wheels

BenQ Materials is accelerating its expansion into semiconductor materials as its subsidiary Cenefom officially begins operations at its new Guangyuan plant. The facility's chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) brush wheels have entered the Taiwan supply chain of a major memory manufacturer.

Monday 4 May 2026

ESMC confirmed to be on schedule — and sets its sights on AI

The European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC), a joint venture among TSMC, Bosch, Infineon Technologies, and NXP Semiconductors, is set to begin initial production in 2027. On April 29, the German Trade Office Taipei confirmed that construction is progressing as scheduled and expressed confidence in the timely delivery of the first batch of chips.

Monday 4 May 2026

Holtek raises low-margin MCU prices, expands AI server cooling and optical comms

Microcontroller (MCU) maker Holtek announced it has raised prices on low-margin MCUs following wafer foundry and packaging cost hikes in China at the end of 2025. This price adjustment has since driven order inflows for touch MCUs and other products. Holtek expects strong growth momentum in the security and health segments in the first half of 2026, with some orders already visible up to six months ahead. The company is also advancing the development of brushless DC motor (BLDC) products and external laser optical communication modules targeting AI servers.

Monday 4 May 2026

India roundup: India accelerates AI, semiconductor, and manufacturing push with major investments and startup bets

India's technology ecosystem is seeing rapid expansion across AI infrastructure, semiconductors, and electronics manufacturing. From startup bets on AI inference to multi-billion-dollar data center plans and OSAT capacity buildouts, global and domestic players are deepening commitments. The momentum underscores India's rising role in supply chains and compute-driven industries.

Monday 4 May 2026

AI data center demand boosts IDM growth in industrial market

Recovery in the industrial chip market, driven by AI data center demand, is poised to reshape manufacturers and supply chains worldwide, as Texas Instruments and NXP Semiconductors report stronger performance in their industrial segments. Improved demand visibility and projected growth through 2026 could influence component sourcing, pricing, and investment strategies for technology stakeholders.

Sunday 3 May 2026

CSP capex push toward US$700B as AI race intensifies, but ASIC demand timing remains uncertain

At their latest earnings calls, all four major US cloud service providers (CSPs) offered updated views on their 2026 capital expenditure (capex) plans. While Amazon's AWS maintained its already elevated capex levels, the other three — Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta — each raised their spending outlooks.

Sunday 3 May 2026

Taiwan quartz makers target LEO satellite boom by 2027

As wireless communication applications surge, demand for quartz components and filters is rising in tandem, with manufacturers actively expanding into the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite sector. An industry insider says ground receiving stations currently drive the strongest demand for filters and quartz parts, forecasting a market explosion by 2027 as satellite communication users grow.

Saturday 2 May 2026

MediaTek taps retiring TSMC packaging veteran to strengthen foundry ties, not to bridge to Intel

Chen-Hua Douglas Yu, one of the six R&D leaders known inside TSMC as the "six knights," and a central figure in the foundry's advanced packaging development, has joined MediaTek following his 2025 retirement from TSMC. MediaTek confirmed the move, saying it is "honored to have Mr. Yu serve as an informal adviser."

Saturday 2 May 2026

Onsemi expands collaboration with NIO to support 900V EV platforms

Onsemi's expanded collaboration with NIO to support the automaker's move to 900V electric vehicle platforms could accelerate global EV adoption by improving range, charging speed, and drivetrain efficiency, influencing vehicle performance and manufacturing scalability for new models introduced worldwide, including those scheduled to debut at the 2026 Beijing Auto Show.

Friday 1 May 2026

TeraFab is already changing the semiconductor landscape — before a single chip is made

Elon Musk has a habit of building what he cannot buy.

Friday 1 May 2026

Advantest beats on AI chip testing, cautious outlook dents shares

Japan's Advantest closed its fiscal year with strong results, highlighting how AI-driven chip demand is reshaping semiconductor testing economics, even as a cautious outlook weighed on sentiment.

Friday 1 May 2026

Mitsubishi Electric proposes three-way power chip JV with Rohm, Toshiba

Mitsubishi Electric president Kei Uruma said the company aims to establish a joint venture with Rohm and Toshiba to integrate their power semiconductor businesses, signaling continued progress in three-way consolidation talks.

Friday 1 May 2026

Macronix eyes steady growth from 1Q26 amid eMMC supply gap

Memory maker Macronix (MXIC) is emerging from an operational slump in the first quarter of 2026, driven by explosive revenue growth in embedded multi-media cards (eMMCs) as major global players exit the multi-level cell (MLC) NAND segment. The company reported a quarterly increase of 94% and an annual surge of 3,993% in eMMC sales.

Friday 1 May 2026

Samsung strike threat highlights rising labor risk to AI chip supply chain and corporate pay models

Samsung Electronics is facing its largest labor escalation in years after unions representing tens of thousands of workers voted to authorize strike action. The dispute centers on compensation structures, particularly performance-based bonuses linked to semiconductor profits, which workers argue have become increasingly opaque and insufficient relative to the company's record earnings in the AI-driven chip cycle.

Friday 1 May 2026

KLA 3Q26: AI chip demand drives process control, guidance fails to clear bar

KLA Corporation's fiscal 3Q26 results underscore a familiar pattern in the current semiconductor cycle: strong execution tied to AI infrastructure demand, but investor expectations are rising even faster.

Thursday 30 April 2026

Taiwan OSAT Powertech lifts capex to US$1.6bn, targets AI packaging growth

Memory packaging and testing provider Powertech Technology posted net profit of NT$1.84 billion (US$57 million) for the first quarter of 2026, its second-highest for the same period, and raised its full-year outlook. The company increased its planned 2026 capital expenditure from NT$40 billion to NT$50 billion and expects broad price increases for logic and memory products in the second quarter of 2026, supporting sequential revenue gains and high single-digit to low double-digit annual growth.

Thursday 30 April 2026

ASE Technology sees seasonality fade as AI demand drives steady 2026 growth

Global outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) leader ASE Technology Holding (ASEH) held an earnings call on April 29, reporting a robust first quarter of 2026 that broke from the traditional seasonal slowdown. Growth was driven primarily by sustained strong demand for leading-edge advanced packaging (LEAP) technologies, alongside a simultaneous rebound in wire bonding orders — together fueling an 87% year-on-year surge in quarterly net profit after tax, the second highest on record for the period.

Thursday 30 April 2026

Taiwan wafer maker Episil triples capex to scale silicon photonics for AI

Episil Precision will reallocate production toward larger-diameter silicon epitaxy and silicon photonics to improve profitability and meet AI supply chain demand, the company announced. The move includes cutting lower-margin small-wafer lines and expanding capex to scale capacity for 2027 and 2028.

Thursday 30 April 2026

Intel kills three projects in two months as Kechichian launches multi-year reset

Intel's reorganization under Kevork Kechichian, backed by CEO Lip‑Bu Tan, aims to reposition amid Nvidia's AI dominance and Arm's rise, signaling a shift to CPU-centric orchestration alongside GPUs and ASICs—an opportunity with major worldwide implications for data-center economics, AI deployment strategies, and competition in the next two to three years.

Thursday 30 April 2026

Chunghwa Precision Test raises capex as HPC probe card orders hit 30% of sales

Chunghwa Precision Test Tech reported that strong demand from high-performance computing chip customers drove first-quarter 2026 revenue to NT$1.357 billion (US$43 million) and operating profit to NT$342 million, with earnings per share reaching 10.43 despite seasonal headwinds. The firm said probe card sales tied to HPC workloads surged, lifting full probe card revenue to NT$405 million and accounting for nearly 30% of total sales in the quarter.

Thursday 30 April 2026

UMC stresses disciplined price hike, Intel deal, and memory foundry rumors draw attention

United Microelectronics (UMC) held its earnings call, where market focus centered on its recent price increases, progress in silicon photonics (SiPh) and advanced packaging, and speculation about entering memory foundry services.

Thursday 30 April 2026

Wingtech losses widen on Nexperia dispute, triggering delisting risk

China's Wingtech Technology is entering a critical phase marked by a sharp deterioration in financial performance, regulatory scrutiny, and operational disruption tied to its contested control of Nexperia. The convergence of these pressures is not merely a balance sheet issue — it reflects how geopolitical intervention and corporate restructuring are reshaping China-linked semiconductor groups with overseas operations.

Thursday 30 April 2026

ASE raises 2026 capex to record US$8.5 billion on strong advanced packaging demand

ASE Technology Holding Co. raised its 2026 capex plan to as much as US$8.5 billion as demand for advanced packaging and testing services exceeded expectations, the company said.

Thursday 30 April 2026

Samsung highlights stable 4nm tech as AI, automotive demand grow

Samsung Electronics is emphasizing the maturity and yield stability of its 4nm FinFET process as it seeks to secure more foundry customers, amid rising demand for larger and more complex artificial intelligence (AI) chips, according to Korean media reports and company disclosures.

Thursday 30 April 2026

Samsung Electronics' record chip profits signal strengthening AI memory supercycle

Samsung Electronics reported a sharp increase in first-quarter 2026 profitability, led by its semiconductor division, as AI-driven demand for memory chips continued to accelerate. The company's chip unit delivered an operating profit of approximately KRW53.7 trillion (US$360 billion), accounting for the vast majority of group earnings and marking a significant expansion from the prior year.

More IC manufacturing coverage