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Friday 24 April 2026

Intel keeps capex steady as it shifts spending toward capacity expansion

Intel is holding its 2026 capex broadly flat year over year, not because of reduced ambition, but because of a strategic reallocation of spending toward equipment that directly boosts chip output. Executives signaled that existing factory space is sufficient for now, allowing the company to prioritize tools and productivity gains to meet rising AI-driven demand. This measured approach reflects confidence in near-term demand—particularly for server CPUs—while maintaining financial discipline amid macroeconomic uncertainty and rising input costs.

Friday 24 April 2026

CPUs regain central role in AI as Intel highlights growing importance alongside rising ASIC demand

Intel executives are placing renewed emphasis on the central role of CPUs in artificial intelligence (AI), arguing that shifting workloads are elevating their importance even as specialized chips gain traction. Management said the transition from model training to real-world deployment is driving stronger demand for server CPUs, reinforcing confidence in Intel's competitive position. At the same time, the company is expanding into custom silicon, or ASICs, as part of a broader strategy to address evolving AI infrastructure needs.

Friday 24 April 2026

Intel bets on CPUs as backbone of AI growth

Intel executives are expressing growing confidence in the company's long-term outlook, arguing that a fundamental shift in artificial intelligence toward real-world deployment aligns with Intel's core strengths. CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the transition from model training to inference, agentic systems, and edge computing is driving renewed demand for CPUs, positioning Intel for sustained growth. Management's confidence rests on what they describe as a structural, not cyclical, change in computing architectures — one that places CPUs back at the center of the AI ecosystem.

Friday 24 April 2026

Intel flags price increases and supply shortages as CPU demand strengthens

Intel signaled that industry-wide supply shortages and selective price increases are helping offset weaker PC demand, even as the company works to expand supply capacity across its product lines. Management said constrained output continues to limit revenue upside in parts of the business, while rising prices and improving server CPU demand are supporting overall resilience. The company also pointed to ongoing efforts to increase supply availability, though demand in several segments continues to outpace output.

Friday 24 April 2026

Intel's AI-driven CPU rebound signals early-stage revival

Intel's first-quarter 2026 results point to a company in the midst of a credible revival, as improving execution and rising demand for AI-related computing begin to reshape its trajectory.

Friday 24 April 2026

Intel says 18A yield improves as 14A advances to early customer engagement stage

Intel reported steady progress on its most advanced manufacturing technologies, saying its 18A process node is seeing meaningful yield improvements, while the next-generation 14A node has reached early design enablement stages with initial customer engagement underway. Management emphasized that 14A is currently at the 0.5 PDK stage, with a 0.9 PDK milestone expected next, marking a key step toward customer design commitments and future volume production. The company framed both nodes as central to its foundry turnaround, while acknowledging that commercial scale and margin benefits will take multiple quarters to materialize fully.

Friday 24 April 2026

PC chipmakers warn CPU shortages cloud 2026 shipment outlook

CPU shortages in the PC sector have emerged as a new concern for shipments this year, in addition to ongoing memory supply issues. Industry players supplying PC peripheral chips observe that while current CPU shortages from x86 vendors like Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) have not yet severely impacted PC shipment forecasts, future trends remain uncertain.

Friday 24 April 2026

Interview: Taiwan-Korea cooperation not limited to memory giants; Hwaseong City aims to expand alliances

When it comes to Taiwan-Korea semiconductor cooperation, the outside world often focuses on orders and R&D between memory giants such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and TSMC. However, centered on Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, emphasizes that the potential of Taiwan-Korea cooperation goes far beyond this; both sides should establish more direct supply chain alliances at the SME level in equipment and components.

Friday 24 April 2026

China chipmaker scales beyond security ICs into AI, automotive

Unigroup Guoxin Microelectronics reported steady growth in 2025, reinforcing its position across specialty ICs and security chips while accelerating expansion into AI, automotive electronics, and other emerging applications.

Thursday 23 April 2026

SpaceX eyes GPU push as Tesla taps Samsung for chip upgrade

SpaceX is exploring in-house production of graphics processing units (GPUs) as it cites potential chip supply constraints, even as Tesla advances its artificial intelligence (AI) chip roadmap with manufacturing support from Samsung Electronics.

Thursday 23 April 2026

Parade offsets weak PC demand with TTED, high-speed, and automotive growth

Parade Technologies' first-quarter 2026 results and revised outlook carry broader supply-chain and demand implications for global PC and electronics markets. Memory shortages and price hikes are depressing PC shipments, while the company pivots into automotive, data-center, and other non-PC segments to offset anticipated declines through the rest of 2026 and beyond.

Thursday 23 April 2026

Qualcomm mulls return to Samsung's 2nm as TSMC targets its LPU market

Global semiconductor leaders are accelerating the restructuring of their supply chains. Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon recently made a quiet, low-profile visit to South Korea, signaling a potential return to Samsung's foundry services. Meanwhile, TSMC laid out its ambitions during its latest earnings call, announcing plans to seize orders for AI Language Processing Units (LPUs) currently produced by Samsung, intensifying the rivalry between the two foundry giants.

Thursday 23 April 2026

Japan's LSTC launches optoelectronic advanced packaging project around Rapidus cluster

Research on optoelectronic integration — referring to the application of optical communication technology to computing — is gaining momentum. Its semiconductor packaging component officially got underway in April 2026 in Chitose City, Hokkaido, Japan, where Rapidus's semiconductor factory is located. The project is led by the Leading-edge Semiconductor Technology Center (LSTC), with participation from Rapidus and other organizations, and has established a development base at the Chitose Institute of Science and Technology. By using light to connect individual chips within chiplets, the technology aims to significantly reduce the power consumption of AI chips.

Thursday 23 April 2026

Lam Research signals sustained AI-driven momentum as WFE outlook improves

Lam Research delivered a strong start to 2026, with first-quarter 2026 results exceeding expectations and reinforcing confidence in a semiconductor upcycle increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence demand. Revenue reached US$5.84 billion, up 24% year over year, while margins and earnings also came in above guidance.

Thursday 23 April 2026

Texas Instruments signals a stronger recovery on industrial and AI demand

Texas Instruments (TI) reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of US$4.83 billion, up 19% year on year, with net income rising 31% to US$1.55 billion and earnings per share of US$1.68. Operating profit increased 37% to US$1.81 billion.

Thursday 23 April 2026

Texas Instruments signals broad recovery across industrial and data center markets with cautious optimism

Texas Instruments reported that improving demand in industrial and data center markets is driving sustained sequential growth, while management maintained a cautious stance on macroeconomic uncertainty and the durability of the current cycle.

Thursday 23 April 2026

Google debuts TPU 8t and 8i as AI workloads diverge

Google Cloud Next 2026 kicked off on April 22 in Las Vegas, with Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian declaring that the experimental phase of artificial intelligence is over. Nearly 75% of Google Cloud customers are already using AI in production environments, he said, adding that the key challenge now is scaling AI deployment across entire enterprises.

Thursday 23 April 2026

IndieSemiC partners with Nordic on wireless modules as India expands design-led semiconductor push

IndieSemiC, an Indian semiconductor and chip design company, has partnered with Nordic Semiconductor to design and commercialize wireless modules for connected devices, as Indian firms seek to capture more value in the semiconductor chain through design, RF integration, certification, and module-level manufacturing.

Wednesday 22 April 2026

Focus: South Korea builds a semiconductor talent pipeline

South Korea's long-running experiment with job-guaranteed semiconductor education is entering a more consequential phase, with the first large wave of students from expanded industry-linked programmes set to enter the workforce from 2027. The shift is drawing fresh scrutiny over whether a model built around direct hiring pipelines, practical training, and university-industry coordination can do more than produce graduates at scale and whether it can ease the country's persistent shortage of semiconductor design talent.

Wednesday 22 April 2026

Flagship smartphone SoCs upgrade to 2nm drives cost surge and brand procurement shifts

Starting in the second half of 2026, all flagship smartphone SoCs will transition to the 2nm process node. While this promises enhanced performance for flagship devices, it also triggers a rapid rise in production costs.

Wednesday 22 April 2026

China pledges to stabilize memory chip supply as industrial growth and AI-driven manufacturing expand

China's industrial economy posted steady first-quarter 2026 growth, driven by strong performance in high-tech manufacturing and broad sectoral expansion, according to Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) officials, as cited by Xinhua and People's Daily.

Wednesday 22 April 2026

Powerchip returns to profitability in 1Q26 following fab sale to Micron

Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing (PSMC) reported revenue of NT$13.57 billion (approx. US$432 million) in the first quarter of 2026, up 6% from the previous quarter and 22% year over year, benefiting from the disposal gains related to the sale of its Tongluo fab in Taiwan to Micron Technology. Net profit after tax reached NT$14.23 billion, with earnings per share (EPS) of NT$3.36, ending 10 consecutive quarters of losses.

Wednesday 22 April 2026

China's Nvidia targets IPO, pivots to Fuxi GPUs for AI and edge computing

China's domestic GPU push has gained a new contender in the capital markets race. Xiangdi Xian Computing Technology (Chongqing) Co., also known as XDXCT, has formally launched pre-IPO preparations after signing a financial advisory agreement with CSC Financial Co., marking a strategic shift from survival mode to expansion.

Tuesday 21 April 2026

Enflame tests IPO path with fast growth, Tencent reliance, and rising losses

Enflame is moving closer to a STAR Market listing, highlighting a central tension in China's AI chip sector: strong demand and rapid revenue growth have yet to translate into a sustainable business model.

Tuesday 21 April 2026

ASML's memory revenue tops logic in 1Q26, AI-fueled HBM demand surges

ASML revealed during its first quarter 2026 earnings call that revenue from memory systems has, for the first time, exceeded that of logic chips. Against a backdrop of sustained AI infrastructure investment, DRAM manufacturers are aggressively competing for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) equipment capacity, signaling a shift in global semiconductor demand patterns.

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