China has given its leading AI startup DeepSeek approval to buy Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence chips, with regulatory conditions still being finalized, according to Reuters.
Cloud service providers (CSPs) continue to maintain strong capex, driving steady growth in AI servers and high-speed network switches markets while elevating the grade of copper-clad laminate (CCL) materials. As orders for high-end products gradually increase, Taiwan's top three CCL manufacturers are set to deliver significant revenue growth with double-digit year-over-year gains in 2025.
On January 28, 2026, Minister of Economic Affairs Ming-Hsin Kung highlighted Taiwan's commitment to comprehensive collaboration with the US in developing a "non-China" supply chain, marking a new milestone following recent agreements such as the Taiwan-US investment cooperation MOU and the Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue (EPPD).
As generative AI gradually extends from the cloud to enterprise and edge environments, industry competition is shifting from a single high-performance computing platform toward multi-layered application scenarios. With expanding demand across use cases, market competition is evolving from a single technology path to a layered market structure that clearly segments large cloud data centers, enterprise data centers, and Small Office, Home Office (SOHO) personal applications. This segmentation is also reshaping supply chain roles and collaboration.
Counterpoint held an online seminar on January 28, 2026, to discuss the smart glasses market outlook, noting that with Google, Samsung, and Apple potentially entering the space, the market could shift in 2026 from a single dominant player to a three-way competition.
Physical AI has emerged as an important direction for AI applications in smart manufacturing and automated services, addressing labor shortages, with humanoid robots taking the spotlight as key embodiments of physical AI.
Recent reports from mainland China indicate that authorities have approved the import of an initial batch of Nvidia's H200 chips. The move highlights yet another turn in the intensifying US–China technology rivalry.
As artificial intelligence (AI) applications expand, the rising scale and density of server computing have placed a premium on system stability. AI servers, characterized by high costs, extreme power consumption and significant heat generation, face the risk of substantial losses from system outages. This has heightened the importance of baseboard management controllers (BMCs), which provide real-time monitoring of voltage, temperature and system status, driving steady growth in Aspeed Technology's operating performance.
The collaborative robot (cobot) industry, a pivotal segment for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, anticipates new growth opportunities despite a weak economic recovery, according to leading manufacturers Universal Robots and Techman Robot. Both companies predict AI to be the main catalyst for expansion in 2026.
Altos Computing, Acer's AI server solutions subsidiary, is optimistic about its 2026 outlook as enterprise AI adoption gains momentum across Asia-Pacific. With a growing project pipeline and rising demand for practical AI deployments, the company expects a significant portion of its opportunities to convert into orders, supporting its double-digit growth goal for the year.
Prices for laptops and consumer IT devices are climbing as a sustained rally in memory semiconductor costs ripples through the market. The trend, described by industry observers as "chipflation," is beginning to reach consumers as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics debut their latest notebooks with sharply higher price tags.
More coverage
