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Aug 4, 09:04
Interview: Rising material costs and FOUP shortages threaten semiconductor supply chains
AI-driven demand, new fab construction, and conflict-led raw material inflation are combining to squeeze semiconductor suppliers in 2026, according to Topco Scientific Co. senior CEO Dennis Chen. He said higher upstream costs are flowing through the industry, while shortages in wafer front-opening unified pods (FOUPs) are adding another layer of strain as manufacturers expand capacity and compete for inventory.

Taiwan's government has recently begun classifying the semiconductor and AI industries as high-energy consumption industries in recent documents. This marks a notable development, as the manufacturing sector in general moves toward improving energy efficiency and eliminating toxic materials and waste products in pursuit of more eco-friendly measures to lessen the impact of climate change.

Wistron will provide 2.4 million hours of AI computing capacity in 2026 and support Taiwan's first open-source language model for three years as it steps up efforts to strengthen Taiwan's sovereign AI capabilities.

Onsemi's leadership fielded a wide range of investor questions following the company's second-quarter 2026 results, with much of the discussion centered on its accelerating AI data center business, capacity utilization, and how the company is managing rising input costs.

Alibaba Group unveiled Qwen3.8-Max on August 3, calling it its largest and most capable artificial intelligence (AI) model to date, as DeepSeek's low-cost V4-Flash intensified competition over the price of running advanced AI systems.
Taiwan-based specialty chemicals supplier Johnson Fine Chemical expects robust growth in electronic materials demand driven by AI, high-performance computing (HPC) and advanced communications applications. The company is expanding production capacity in both Taiwan and China and plans to raise prices for selected products by 10-20% in the third quarter of 2026 to offset higher raw material costs. Management forecasts revenue growth of about 20% in 2026 from a year earlier, with profits also expected to increase, while 2027 is projected to deliver even stronger results.
Taiwanese research institute Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) released Taiwan's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for July 2026 on August 3. The seasonally adjusted PMI rose 0.8pp to 61.5%, marking the tenth consecutive month of growth and the fastest pace of expansion since September 2021. The six-month outlook index also edged up 0.3pp to 64.5%, remaining above the 60.0% expansion threshold for a seventh consecutive month.
MediaTek sees SerDes 448G as copper's final battleground
Aug 4, 10:27
The question of where the limits of cloud AI high-speed interconnects will fall has been a major market focus over the past six months. MediaTek addressed the issue for the first time in its 2026 second-quarter earnings call, saying its work on the more advanced SerDes 448G specification is roughly halfway complete.

India is reportedly proposing to extend key tax exemptions for foreign electronics manufacturers until 2041, a move that hands Apple a lobbying win and deepens a widening set of incentives designed to pull global hardware production away from China.

Palantir Technologies raised its full-year revenue and profitability forecasts after reporting a sharp acceleration in commercial demand, particularly in the US, underscoring the growing role of AI deployment and data sovereignty in enterprise software spending. The company's results also highlight a widening geographic divide: US sales are expanding rapidly, while procurement complexity, data-sovereignty concerns, and resistance to US technology providers constrain international growth.

Topco Scientific is expanding in Japan and other markets to support a global semiconductor buildout that is reshaping supply chains for customers, vendors, and investors worldwide. The move underscores how chip manufacturing is spreading across multiple regions, creating demand for local service hubs, materials, and logistics support.

Riding continued investment in AI infrastructure, industrial PC (IPC) maker Advantech extended its strong growth momentum in the second quarter of 2026, posting record second-quarter revenue and earnings.