Breaking from the industry's mainstream reliance on III-V compound semiconductors, Taiwanese startup Taiwan Nano & Micro-Photonics (N&M) is using complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes to develop a single chip capable of emitting more than four wavelengths of mid- to far-infrared light.

Nuvoton Technology sees robots and other physical AI applications becoming an important source of demand for microcontrollers (MCUs) over the next decade as computing moves from the cloud into edge devices, smart factories, drones, and care applications.

Taiwanese IC design companies have recently begun highlighting opportunities in physical AI and robotics. Arm's recently announced expansion of its Arm Total Design for Physical AI ecosystem, for example, includes Taiwanese IC designer Realtek Semiconductor.

For years, smartphone processors have competed through a familiar formula: faster CPUs, stronger graphics, and increasingly smaller process nodes. Apple's newly unveiled A20 Pro suggests that formula is beginning to change.