As artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC), high-speed networking, and edge computing applications continue to expand rapidly, global demand for custom ASIC solutions is rising at an unprecedented pace. Faced with the escalating design complexity and development costs associated with advanced process nodes at 6/5/4/3nm, balancing time-to-market, cost efficiency, and production quality has become a critical challenge for IC design companies and system vendors worldwide.PGC (TPEx: 8227), with over 35 years of expertise in ASIC design services, is a member of the TSMC Design Center Alliance (DCA) and a Synopsys IP OEM Partner. With a track record of more than 1,500 tape-out projects and over 100 tape-outs completed annually, PGC delivers comprehensive capabilities spanning advanced-node design, APR (Automatic Place and Route), design verification, and volume production ramp. In response to growing market demand for advanced-node ASIC development, PGC announces the further enhancement of its Customer-Owned Tooling (COT) business model, integrating ASIC design services, IP resources, and semiconductor supply chain ecosystems to help customers shorten chip development cycles, accelerate tape-out, and rapidly secure engineering samples and production capacity.COT Business Model: Balancing Design Ownership with Development EfficiencyThe COT business model enables customers to retain ownership of critical design assets — including IP, EDA tool licenses, and design data — preserving their core intellectual property and technical autonomy while leveraging PGC's professional ASIC design team and proven design flows to jointly complete chip development. Compared to traditional turnkey models, COT effectively reduces long-term NRE (Non-Recurring Engineering) investment, eliminates vendor lock-in, and enhances flexibility for product iteration, multi-project development, and cross-generation platform continuity.In practice, customers adopting the COT model have achieved development cycle reductions of over one month, along with long-term NRE cost savings of more than 10%, giving them greater autonomy and strategic flexibility in product planning and technology roadmap execution.Synopsys IP OEM Partnership: Lowering IP Licensing Barriers and Accelerating DevelopmentAs a Synopsys IP OEM Partner, PGC provides customers with comprehensive Synopsys IP licensing and integration services. Customers can flexibly incorporate market-proven, high-quality IP based on project requirements, simplifying licensing processes, lowering upfront investment thresholds, and accelerating IP integration and verification through PGC's expertise — further shortening ASIC development cycles and time-to-market.ASE Packaging and Test Integration: Bridging Design to Volume ProductionIn the area of packaging and test, PGC has established a close collaboration with ASE Group, integrating advanced packaging and test resources to provide customers with comprehensive production support from wafer to finished product. This collaboration covers BGA, Flip Chip, and Wire Bond packaging and full test services, helping customers accelerate production ramp while ensuring shipping quality and reliability.One-Stop Solution: End-to-End Support from Design to Mass ProductionBeyond ASIC design services, PGC offers a diverse range of prototyping options, including TSMC CyberShuttle (suited for early-stage design verification, leveraging multi-project wafer sharing to reduce prototyping costs) and VIS (Vanguard International Semiconductor) MPW (suited for specialty process or mature node requirements), enabling customers to complete engineering sample verification with maximum flexibility.PGC delivers a comprehensive one-stop solution encompassing ASIC design, IP integration, APR, DFT, tape-out, prototype verification, packaging and test (OSAT), and volume production ramp — helping customers rapidly obtain engineering samples, complete product validation, and seamlessly transition to mass production, significantly compressing time-to-market.PGC CEO Fred Lai stated: "In a market environment where AI and HPC applications continue to drive demand for advanced-node solutions, customers need more than a design service provider — they need a comprehensive partner capable of integrating IP, design, prototyping, and volume production. By enhancing our COT business model and deepening our three-way ecosystem collaboration with TSMC, Synopsys, and ASE, our goal is to help customers reduce their ASIC development cycles by more than 10%, bringing innovative products to market faster."Looking ahead, as demand for AI inference chips, HPC accelerators, and high-speed networking ASICs continues to grow, PGC will continue to expand its advanced-node service capabilities and further extend its customer reach into the US market, empowering global customers to seize opportunities in the advanced-node semiconductor landscape.

The data center industry is undergoing its largest structural transformation in the past decade due to the rapid development of generative AI. As AI models drive growing demand for GPUs, high-speed connectivity, and high-density computing, data center requirements are evolving beyond traditional colocation services to encompass comprehensive upgrades in power supply, cooling, networking, and overall infrastructure architecture. At the recent DIGITIMES 2026 Enterprise Data Center Forum, Chunghwa Telecom Senior Engineer Hsueh Jen-Hao presented "Meeting the AI Challenge: The Evolution of Data Center Requirements and Infrastructure Upgrade Strategies," outlining Chunghwa Telecom's key strategies for responding to the AIDC (AI Data Center) trend and helping enterprises plan their AI computing capacity. Hsueh Jen-Hao noted that power demand per rack has surged from the traditional 2 kW to 5 kW range to 100 kW and even 200 kW. This underscores that the AI era is driving not merely an upgrade of data center equipment, but a paradigm shift across data center design, cooling architecture, energy management, and cross-border network connectivity. AI Servers Drive Higher AIDC Service StandardsHsueh Jen-Hao described AIDC as a "five-star hotel," illustrating the fundamental transformation in the nature of data center services. As AI servers are high-value, power-intensive, and highly sensitive to environmental conditions, data centers must not only operate around the clock without interruption, but also maintain stable temperature and humidity levels, power supply, and network quality, while adjusting environmental conditions in accordance with customers' SLA requirements.To meet the operating environment required by AI servers, Chunghwa Telecom is also upgrading the infrastructure of its data centers. Hsueh Jen-Hao noted that with a single rack often weighing more than 1,250 kilograms, data center floor loading requirements have increased significantly from 500 kg/m2 to 2,000-2,500 kg/m2. Structural specifications are now approaching those of heavy industrial facilities, redefining the conventional concept of an IT data center. Furthermore, the rapid rise in rack power consumption has pushed cooling requirements beyond the limits of traditional air-cooling systems. From Air to Liquid Cooling: Chunghwa Telecom Delivers Customized SolutionsAI computing has driven a dramatic increase in rack power density, from 30 kW-132 kW for NVIDIA H100 clusters to 140 kW per rack for the liquid-cooled GB200 NVL72 architecture. In response to this trend, traditional downflow air-conditioning systems and fan-wall cooling systems, which can support only up to approximately 20 kW, are gradually becoming unable to meet the cooling requirements of next-generation servers.To address the surge in cooling demand driven by AI computing, Chunghwa Telecom is actively introducing liquid-cooling technologies and tailoring solutions to individual customer requirements. From facility planning and design to project management, Chunghwa Telecom offers one-stop services to deliver the essential infrastructure needed for high-density AI computing, including cooling systems, power distribution, and power backup mechanisms. Through flexible modular designs, the data centers can be expanded alongside customers' business growth, satisfying the requirements for large-scale computing and data processing. Hsueh Jen-Hao noted that driven by both the thermal demands of AI servers and international regulations incorporating data center energy performance, liquid cooling solutions are gradually becoming a standard configuration for AIDCs. AIDC Ecosystem Expansion: Green Energy, All-Photonics Networks, and Submarine CablesIn response to the AI wave and the growing adoption of innovative applications, Chunghwa Telecom is not only enhancing cooling technologies within its data centers, but is also pursuing a comprehensive strategy spanning energy, networking, and submarine cable infrastructure. First, Chunghwa Telecom launched its Green Energy AIDC initiative in 2020. As of 2025, approximately 40% of the electricity consumed by its data centers came from renewable energy sources. The company aims to achieve its sustainability goal of powering data centers with 100% renewable electricity by 2030. Second, as cross-regional collaboration and data exchange continue to expand rapidly, high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity has evolved from a competitive advantage into a fundamental requirement for data centers. To support the development and advancement of internet technologies, Chunghwa Telecom is promoting reference architectures, frameworks, and specifications for next-generation ICT infrastructure centered on all-photonics networks (APN), meeting the increasingly stringent requirements of innovative applications and AI computing for power efficiency, bandwidth, and latency. In addition, Chunghwa Telecom is Taiwan's first and currently only telecommunications operator to serve as a board member of the IOWN Global Forum.Hsueh Jen-Hao noted that the attractiveness of a data center location is directly proportional to the availability of local submarine cable resources. The continued growth of data centers in Hong Kong and Singapore, for example, is largely attributable to their roles as major international submarine cable hubs in Asia. To this end, Chunghwa Telecom has continued to invest in Taiwan's submarine cable infrastructure. On the international front, in addition to the completed SJC2 submarine cable system, the APRICOT system is also scheduled for completion in 2027. To enhance domestic network resilience, the Taiwan-Penghu-Kinmen-Matsu No. 4 submarine cable is expected to be completed in 2026. As these submarine cable projects come online, they will not only significantly strengthen Taiwan's international connectivity, but also provide a solid infrastructure foundation for cross-border AI computing and the deployment of international data centers.From floor loading capacity and liquid-cooling technologies to renewable energy initiatives, all-photonics networks, and submarine cables, Chunghwa Telecom's data center investments in recent years may appear to span different domains. However, they are all guided by the same strategic objective: systematically strengthening data center infrastructure to support enterprise AI adoption, ensure uninterrupted operations, and enhance Taiwan's competitiveness in the AI era. 

Smiths Interconnect, a Molex company, announces its top performing distributors in 2025. The Distribution Awards program honors distributors which have made a meaningful impact on the growth of Smiths Interconnect across its three key regions: the Americas, EMEA, and Asia.Award recipients in each region are selected based on their outstanding performance compared to the previous fiscal year and on outstanding local service and support. This year, the strong commitment and dedication shown by distributors worldwide have resulted in a larger group of recognized companies. Seven distributors in total have been distinguished for their exceptional achievements.In the Americas, FDH Electronic Products Group, LLC. has been named Distributor of the Year for the second consecutive year. This recognition reflects FDH's outstanding performance, strong partnership, and unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional service and support to its customers.Over the past year, FDH achieved impressive sales growth, demonstrating not only market strength but also a deep dedication to driving their mutual success. Their ability to navigate challenges, adapt quickly, and maintain focus on execution has been instrumental in delivering consistent results and strengthening the partnership.The second distributor recognized in the Americas as Highly Commended Distributor for Business Growth 2025 is Arrow Electronics.Through a focused and strategic customer approach, Arrow has delivered impressive business growth, reinforcing their position in driving market expansion and customer engagement.Arrow's commitment to collaboration, responsiveness, and execution has played an important role in achieving these results. Their team has consistently demonstrated the ability to identify opportunities, adapt to evolving customer needs, and deliver value across joint initiatives.In the EMEA region, Smiths Interconnect has recognized two distinct distributors for their outstanding growth throughout the year.RFMW Ltd is recognised for delivering the strongest growth in 2025 across the company's RF component product lines, reflecting exceptional commercial execution and deep customer engagement. Their results in key South European territories were achieved through a close, collaborative partnership that enabled both organisations to navigate a highly competitive landscape effectively.RFMW consistently converted design activity into revenue while expanding presence in target markets, demonstrating a shared commitment to technical excellence, partnership, and sustained value creation.For the Connectors product line, the top performing distributor was Heilind Electronics GmbH, which supported sales growth with a strong focus on the DAC countries.This success was also driven by well-managed inventory levels, enabling fast deliveries and reliable local support for customers.Last but not least, Asia was one of the most active areas from a distribution standpoint. Three key distributors were appointed: Fusoh Shoji Co., Ltd, Bizmile Co. Ltd, and Conn-Tek Electronics Inc.First, Fusoh Shoji Co., Ltd was named Distributor of the Year 2025 for the Fiber Optic and Components product lines. The company has demonstrated outstanding performance in expanding these product lines in Japan, playing a key role in strengthening its market presence and supporting a solid foundation for future growth.Meanwhile, in the Connectors product line, Korea's Bizmile Co. Ltd secured the Distributor of the Year 2025 title. Awarded for its outstanding contribution to business growth, design-in excellence, and value delivery, Bizmile demonstrated exceptional support to key accounts by driving significant growth through strong inventory commitment and strategic project support. The company also excelled in design-in activities, successfully contributing to major defense programs while consistently delivering measurable value to customers. Its strength in commercial execution, strategic account development, and an ecosystem-driven approach has enabled sustained growth, improved profitability, and strong future demand visibility.Rounding out the region's success, Conn-Tek Electronics Inc was named Distributor of the Year 2025 for the Semiconductor Test product line for the second consecutive year. This award recognizes Conn-Tek's exceptional performance across business growth, design-in excellence, and strategic market development. The company achieved remarkable revenue growth in both China and international markets while demonstrating strong leadership in design-in activities with key customers. Furthermore, Conn-Tek experienced significant expansion in high-value product segments—particularly with the DaVinci coaxial test socket—and successfully penetrated new customer markets. Its design-led, partnership-driven approach has delivered sustained growth, improved profitability, and enhanced strategic value across the Asia region.