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Jul 14
China launches first 8-inch 2D chip line to bypass EUV limits

Shanghai AtomIC Technology has launched what it describes as the world's first 8-inch pilot line for two-dimensional semiconductors, marking a shift from laboratory research to engineering validation, small-batch tape-outs and early industrialisation.

The US has become the leading source of helium and other noble gases for Taiwan, South Korea and Japan as disruptions to Qatari production and China's temporary export ban reshape supply routes for materials used in semiconductor manufacturing, according to a Nikkei Asia analysis of customs data and related reporting.

Intel has unveiled Starfire, a space-grade processor that leverages its leading-edge 18A manufacturing process for satellites and other systems designed to survive beyond Earth's atmosphere. The move extends Intel's most advanced node — the centerpiece of its foundry turnaround — into a defense-and-space niche long dominated by specialist radiation-hardened suppliers. It stakes the design on a selling point that rivals cannot easily match: domestic US production.

Tower Semiconductor is placing a roughly US$3 billion wager that the artificial-intelligence buildout will force data centers to move data with light rather than electricity, anchoring the bet in Japan with backing from Tokyo.
Nvidia and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are weighing a partnership under which the Japanese industrial group would supply cooling systems and energy management equipment for the artificial-intelligence data centers Nvidia is building with partners worldwide, Nikkei reported. The talks point to where the AI buildout is now bottlenecked: not chips, but the power and heat they generate.
Taiwan's memory sector delivered an extraordinary June 2026, with aggregate revenue reaching US$2,829.5 million, up 6.4% month-over-month and a staggering 288.3% year-over-year — by far the fastest-growing category in Taiwan's entire semiconductor supply chain, dwarfing silicon foundry (~54% year-over-year) and OSAT (~24% year-over-year). The surge reflects the AI/HBM-driven DRAM and NAND pricing supercycle layered on a depressed year-ago base.
Taiwan's back-end packaging and testing (OSAT) industry posted US$3,105.4 million in June 2026 revenue, up 2.9% month-over-month and 23.7% year-over-year — a solid, steady pace, but one that masks sharply divergent performance beneath the surface.

Shanghai Orient Computing Core Technology has launched the DF1000, a 14-nanometre AI accelerator that uses software-defined computing and 3D-stacked near-memory architecture to reduce reliance on advanced process nodes and high-bandwidth memory, as Sohu and ICsmart reported.

South Korea is accelerating plans to supply electricity to a new semiconductor cluster in the country's southwest by 2030, potentially expanding the domestic energy-storage market as chip fabs and AI data centers add to power demand.

QBit Semiconductor reported a June consolidated revenue of NT$132 million (US$4.1 million) in 2026, a record high marking a rise of 108.5% from the previous month and 41.1% from a year earlier. The Taiwan-based IC design company said its first-half revenue for 2026 reached NT$320 million, up 91.7% year on year and equal to 75% of its full-year 2025 sales.
Nam Liong posts strong Q2 as high-value materials drive growth
Jul 15, 08:44
Nam Liong Global Corporation reported consolidated revenue of NT$245 million (US$8.4 million) for June 2026, down 2.56% from the previous month but up 21.66% year over year, reflecting mid-year inventory adjustments by some customers and normal seasonal shipment patterns. Second-quarter revenue reached NT$743 million, rising 23.73% sequentially and 17.07% from a year earlier. Revenue for the first half totaled NT$1.343 billion, up 8.87% year over year.

CXMT is preparing China's largest chip-sector IPO of 2026, seeking up to US$4.3 billion to expand DRAM and HBM capacity, deepen vertical integration, and challenge Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology under rising AI demand and tighter US export controls.