DIGITIMES Semiconductors: IC design, distribution news

Home Tech Semiconductors IC design, distribution

Thursday 12 February 2026

Global Mixed-Mode's DDR5 PMIC push signals tighter memory supply and margin focus

Global Mixed-Mode Technology said it is expanding its DDR5 power management IC (PMIC) portfolio and prioritizing production for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), while warning that rising memory prices make PC and smartphone end-demand unpredictable. The company disclosed its operational outlook and market observations during an investor briefing on February 10, 2026.

Thursday 12 February 2026

Chinese MCU price hikes open door for Holtek's quality play

Holtek Corp. said recent price increases announced by Chinese microcontroller (MCU) maker Cmsemicon are a positive development for the sector, arguing that rising prices among Chinese competitors will help ease excessive price wars and narrow price gaps, potentially prompting customers to choose suppliers based on quality. The company expects to capture transferred orders while maintaining margins and broadening its market presence.

Wednesday 11 February 2026

Nvidia finalizes deal for first overseas HQ in Taipei; groundbreaking set for June 2026

Nvidia has officially finalized a deal to establish its first overseas headquarters in Taipei, marking a major milestone in Taiwan's evolution into a global AI powerhouse.

Wednesday 11 February 2026

Analysis: Arm pivots to data centers as smartphones slump

Arm reported record revenue in its fiscal third quarter of 2026. The UK-based semiconductor IP company is navigating ongoing smartphone market headwinds while shifting its growth focus toward artificial intelligence inference workloads in data centers.

Wednesday 11 February 2026

Silan raises device prices about 10% from March, signaling wider cost pass-through

On February 9, 2026, Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics said that it will raise prices on certain device product categories by about 10% on average starting March 1, 2026, citing severe global metal price volatility and sustained increases in the cost of precious metals used in wafer processing.

Wednesday 11 February 2026

Taiwan breaks ground on 12-inch semiconductor R&D base at ITRI, backed by TSMC equipment donations

Taiwan has launched construction of a new 12-inch semiconductor pilot production platform at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), aiming to strengthen the island's advanced R&D capabilities while lowering development and verification barriers for startups and small-to-medium IC design firms.

Wednesday 11 February 2026

Analysis: Big tech's AI buildout spending spree set to reshape global supply chains

America's largest technology companies — including Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft — have begun disclosing their capital spending plans for 2026. The numbers reveal an investment surge driven by the rapid expansion of generative artificial intelligence. Combined capital expenditures by the group are now estimated to reach between US$600 billion and US$630 billion. This far exceeds market expectations and rivals the annual gross domestic product of many mid-sized nations.

Wednesday 11 February 2026

Commentary: Foreign EDA playbook frays as China's domestic camp mobilizes

Qun Ge, global senior vice president and chairman and president of Synopsys China, is set to depart. The move appears routine. But it points to deeper structural shifts in the global EDA industry's China market.

Wednesday 11 February 2026

AI demand pushes Taiwan's Topco Scientific to record January revenue

Taiwanese semiconductor materials distributor Topco Scientific (TSC) reported record revenue for January 2026, buoyed by robust demand from artificial intelligence-driven advanced chip production. The company said January revenue reached NT$6 billion (approx. US$190 million), an 8.25% increase from the same month a year earlier. The figure marks the highest January performance in the company's history and ranks as the third-highest monthly revenue on record.

Tuesday 10 February 2026

Renesas turns to China and India for recovery after first net loss in six years

Renesas Electronics recorded its first net loss in six years in fiscal 2025, reflecting weak demand for automotive semiconductors and a limited contribution from AI-related products. The company is recalibrating its strategy, with India and China positioned as key pillars in its recovery roadmap.

Tuesday 10 February 2026

South Korea's NUCODE eyes partnership with Realtek to lead IoT market

South Korean IoT startup NUCODE is leveraging ultra-low-power communication technology to streamline hardware development and bridge the gap between prototyping and mass production. The company, which has already drawn interest from industry leaders Nordic Semiconductor and Infineon Technologies, is now pivoting toward Taiwan's semiconductor ecosystem with a strategic focus on Realtek as its primary partner.

Tuesday 10 February 2026

India launches PRITVI-ACE pre-silicon validation facility to boost domestic chip design ecosystem

According to The Economic Times, India's Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) inaugurated its largest pre-silicon validation facility in Bengaluru on February 6, 2026. Named PRITVI-ACE (Platform for Reconfigurable Integrated Testing and Validation of IPs – Advanced Chip Evaluation), the facility offers large-scale, near-silicon-speed prototyping and validation of complex semiconductor designs before fabrication. It addresses a critical bottleneck in India's chip design ecosystem.

Tuesday 10 February 2026

Synopsys China faces leadership shakeup as chairman and president Qun Ge set to depart

On February 9, Synopsys' China office circulated an internal memo announcing that Qun Ge, global senior vice president and chairman and president of Synopsys China, will leave the company, a move that has prompted significant discussion within China's technology industry.

Tuesday 10 February 2026

Behind Nvidia’s fried-chicken diplomacy

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reportedly hosted a "fried chicken and beer" meeting in Silicon Valley on February 5, 2026, with SK Group chairman Tony Choi, according to industry sources cited by Yonhap News Agency and The Hankyung. The informal dinner in Santa Clara took place at the restaurant "99 Chicken" and followed a similar high-profile gathering Huang held in Seoul in October 2025 with Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Eui-sun.

Tuesday 10 February 2026

Onsemi delivers solid fourth-quarter results as markets stabilize, outlook points to cautious recovery

Onsemi reported steady fourth-quarter results for 2025, supported by disciplined execution and record free cash flow generation, while management signaled improving stability across key end markets even as near-term recovery expectations remain measured.

Tuesday 10 February 2026

India does the heavy lifting: RISC-V moves into cars and factories

RISC-V is gaining commercial traction in automotive and industrial electronics, though its adoption remains constrained by execution risk and uneven ecosystem maturity, according to IT services firm UST.

Tuesday 10 February 2026

Japanese election landslide puts Korean spotlight on chips, Rapidus and TSMC

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi secured a decisive victory in the February 8, 2026, lower house election after her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won 316 seats, surpassing the two-thirds threshold required to control parliamentary committees and initiate constitutional revisions.

Monday 9 February 2026

LG CNS partners with FuriosaAI, bringing South Korea's NPU to enterprise AI services

To promote the formal deployment of South Korea's domestic NPU and reduce reliance on Nvidia, LG Consulting & Solutions (CNS), the IT services arm of South Korea's LG Group, has joined forces with local IC design company FuriosaAI. The two will jointly integrate FuriosaAI's second-generation RNGD NPU into LG CNS's enterprise agentic AI platform, targeting the public-sector digital transformation market.

Monday 9 February 2026

PixArt diversifies product mix to offset memory impact, eyes growth in gaming mice and sensors

IC design house PixArt held its earnings call on February 6, reporting that its fourth-quarter 2025 performance largely met expectations, with modest revenue growth. Gross margin, however, declined slightly due to a higher proportion of CMOS image sensor (CIS) shipments.

Monday 9 February 2026

Qualcomm's 2nm tape-out marks India's arrival in cutting-edge chip design

According to ANI and IANS, Qualcomm Technologies has completed the tape-out of its 2-nanometre semiconductor design with significant contributions from its engineering centres in India, underscoring the country's rising importance in the global race toward next-generation chip technologies and aligning with New Delhi's push to strengthen domestic semiconductor design capabilities.

Monday 9 February 2026

India's semiconductor push shifts focus under ISM 2.0 from fabs to design, equipment and IP

According to The Economic Times, India's Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0 will prioritise chip design companies and startups, followed by building a domestic ecosystem for semiconductor equipment and materials, and strengthening the talent pipeline to support end-to-end semiconductor development.

Monday 9 February 2026

Taiwan posts fastest growth in 15 years as AI boom drowns out hollowing-out fears

Taiwan's economy expanded 8.63% in 2025, its strongest growth in 15 years, as the island's semiconductor-driven supply chain continued to underpin global demand for AI computing. Minister of Economic Affairs Ming-hsin Kung said on February 5 that despite a high base effect from the previous year, Taiwan is expected to maintain resilience and flexibility into 2026.

Monday 9 February 2026

India advances semiconductor ambitions as TSMC fabricates DLI-backed startup chips

India marked a milestone in its semiconductor push as seven chip designs from startups under the design-linked incentive (DLI) scheme were successfully fabricated, including advanced nodes at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC). The progress underscores India's aim to develop indigenous chip design and manufacturing capabilities amid global supply constraints.

Sunday 8 February 2026

AMD's investment in photonics and modular architecture signals shift in AI infrastructure development

AMD is positioning itself to address the future needs of artificial intelligence (AI) computing through advances in chip design and system architecture, particularly by integrating photonics technology and modular rack-scale platforms. CTO Mark Papermaster, speaking in a recent interview, highlighted how AMD's evolving engineering strategies will shape AI hardware capabilities and scalability over the next several years.

Sunday 8 February 2026

Record Japan blizzard threatens AI chip supply chains

A record-breaking blizzard driven by extreme weather has battered Japan's northern Aomori Prefecture, dumping snow at more than two and a half times the historical average. The storm has claimed lives, paralyzed local commerce, and raised fresh concerns about the resilience of global technology supply chains.

More IC design, distribution coverage