Taiwan's drive to scale artificial intelligence and robotics faces a critical setback as political deadlock in the Legislative Yuan blocks passage of the 2026 central government budget, freezing billions of New Taiwan dollars in new technology investment across multiple ministries.
In the midst of the global energy transition, expanding AI infrastructure, and rising electricity demand, international copper prices have recently remained at high levels, bringing raw material cost pressures back into focus across the electronics industry supply chain.
Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision) has teamed up with UK-based carbon capture and storage (CCS) design firm Pace CCS to establish a joint laboratory in Taiwan, focusing on developing corrosion-prevention techniques for CCS pipelines. This collaboration aims to enhance Foxconn's position in the green energy supply chain amid rising global net-zero commitments.
Demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is crowding out production capacity for consumer memory. Despite capacity expansions by major memory makers, including Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix, the supply of HBM for AI servers remains tight, and the demand from large chipmakers is difficult to satisfy immediately. IC distributors report that lead times from memory manufacturers have now extended to 52 weeks. With priority allocation given to large clients, almost no stock is available. Both distributors and customers must now pay upfront and wait in line for delivery.
As quantum technology, one of South Korea's national strategic technologies, gradually shifts from government-led R&D to the private sector, growing AI computing workloads have brought quantum processing units (QPUs) into the spotlight. Quantum equipment maker SDT stated that the proportion of government funding in its R&D budget has significantly declined, with demand steadily shifting toward private-sector customers.
Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) has raised concerns that prolonged delays in budget approvals could cause Taiwan to miss the critical 2026 global takeoff for silicon photonics (SiPh) and co-packaged optics (CPO), two cornerstone technologies underpinning next-generation AI servers.
Foxtron, backed by Foxconn, held an investor briefing on December 31, 2025, to review recent performance and forecast its strategy amid a cautious market outlook for 2026. Despite acknowledging revenue difficulties, the company positioned 2026 as a year of recovery and growth.
As artificial intelligence (AI) moves beyond its infrastructure build-out phase, the industrial PC (IPC) sector anticipates 2026 as a key year for scaling AI from centralized cloud setups to diverse edge computing environments. This transition marks a turning point in which AI-powered edge devices become integral to real-world operations across the manufacturing, medical, transportation, defense, and public safety sectors.
The upcoming CES 2026 is set to elevate artificial intelligence (AI) from a prominent topic to the exclusive central theme, reflecting the technology's maturation toward everyday application. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), organizer of the event, announced that all showcased products and innovations will focus on AI, indicating a shift in focus from prior years, when AI was one of several highlights.
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has announced that artificial intelligence (AI) will be the central theme of CES 2026, under the banner "AI Forward." The event will emphasize AI's impact on product launches and technological advancements, with keynote addresses and major announcements from leading technology companies.
As 2026 begins, DIGITIMES has conducted in-depth analyses of sectors within the electronics industry. The current landscape theme can be described as "one core, two keys, three drivers." The core, semiconductors, has two keys —the satellite industry and memory— and will be driven by three factors: AI servers, defense, and green energy. These areas will be critical to watch in 2026.
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