CONNECT WITH US
Saturday 12 July 2025
Japan's OSAT firms unite to cut costs and reclaim industry ground
Japan's outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) industry, long composed of small, regional firms with limited resources, is making a rare push for collective strength. In April 2025, about 30 companies joined forces to launch the Japan OSAT Federation (J-OSAT)—the country's first official industry group aimed at reviving its struggling backend chip manufacturing segment.
Saturday 12 July 2025
Malaysia semiconductor sector squeezed as SuperSiC project highlights deepening China ties
Malaysia's role as a key node in the global semiconductor supply chain is drawing sharper scrutiny as it deepens industrial ties with China while facing mounting trade and export control pressures from the United States. The latest example is SuperSiC's new facility in Penang, launched by a subsidiary of China's JSG.
Saturday 12 July 2025
Exit of TSMC's star procurement VP raises industry eyebrows
Vanessa Lee, Vice President of Materials Management at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), has drawn industry attention with her unexpected resignation. One month after taking an extended leave, TSMC announced on July 11 that Lee has stepped down for personal reasons and will officially depart on July 13, 2025.
Friday 11 July 2025
AI boom offsets EV slump as Disco raises quarterly forecast
Japanese semiconductor equipment maker Disco has revised its financial forecast for the second quarter of 2025, now expecting a consolidated profit of JPY23.7 billion (US$161 million), a slight 0.2% increase year-over-year. This revision overturns a previous forecast of a 30% profit decline and sets a new quarterly record.
Friday 11 July 2025
AI-powered NPU race spurs growth for test interface companies
As the global smartphone application processor market undergoes a major shift toward AI-driven performance, chip giants like MediaTek and Qualcomm are ramping up efforts to dominate the neural processing unit AI computing power playing field. This has triggered a series of upgrades in high-speed specifications, with semiconductor test interface companies such as WinWay Technology and Chunghwa Precision Test experiencing renewed growth momentum.
Friday 11 July 2025
How Taiwan's EMS evolved: From PCs and smartphones to AI servers and deep semiconductor integration
The advent of the personal computer (PC) provided an opportunity for Taiwan's manufacturing services to further evolve.
Friday 11 July 2025
Samsung bets big on 2nm chips as foundry unit faces make-or-break moment

Samsung Electronics is placing a high-stakes bet on its 2nm chip manufacturing technology, as its foundry division works to reverse mounting losses and compete more effectively with global leader TSMC.

Friday 11 July 2025
Acter group hits new highs as global chip demand spurs growth
Acter Group, a leading Taiwanese provider of integrated electromechanical systems for cleanrooms, reported consolidated revenue of NT$3.82 billion (US$130 million) for June 2025, marking a 38% year-over-year increase. Second-quarter revenue reached NT$10.91 billion, up 27% from the previous quarter and 42% year-over-year. Cumulative revenue for the first half of 2025 totaled NT$19.46 billion — a 48% surge compared to the same period in 2024, setting new records for June, the second quarter, and the first half of the year.
Friday 11 July 2025
AI-fueled fab expansion propels Trusval Technology's record 1H25 revenue
Trusval Technology reported consolidated revenue of NT$670 million (approx. US$22.9 million) in June 2025, a 39% monthly and 136% annual increase. Benefitting from strong customer demand, their second quarter revenue reached NT$1.641 billion (approx. US$56.2 million), a quarterly increase of 21% and an annual increase of 108%. For the first half of 2025, consolidated revenue hit NT$2.996 billion (approx. US$102.6 million), a sharp 109% increase over the same period in 2024. The company set new all-time highs for revenues in June, the second quarter, and the first half of the year.
Friday 11 July 2025
Taiwan's talent crunch in the age of AI: Macronix's Miin Wu and Deputy Minister Benson Yeh on rewiring education and industry
As Taiwan rides the wave of the AI revolution—with booming exports of GPUs and AI servers—some experts say the country risks losing sight of deeper, long-term challenges.
Friday 11 July 2025
Malaysia's Penang eyes semiconductor upgrade as AI demand reshapes industry
Malaysia's Penang state, home to about 13% of global semiconductor assembly and testing capacity, is positioning itself to capture more advanced chip manufacturing as artificial intelligence (AI) drives demand for sophisticated packaging technologies.
Friday 11 July 2025
Tricorntech expands 2nm business to hit record 1H revenue
Tricorntech, a major supplier of advanced airborne molecular contamination (AMC) monitoring systems for semiconductor fabrication, reported June revenue of NT$35.43 million (approx. US$1.2 million), down 20.14% from the same period in 2024. However, the company has upgraded new products and expanded its consumer base, resulting in its cumulative revenue for the first half of 2025 reaching NT$217 million (approx. US$7.4 million), up 43.08% annually and marking a record high for the period.
Friday 11 July 2025
SiPearl raises EUR130 million to mass-produce Rhea1 chip with TSMC, advancing Europe's AI and HPC goals
French microprocessor startup SiPearl has secured EUR130 million (US$152.53 million) in a Series A funding round, with investors including Taiwan's Cathay Venture Inc. The company will use the funds to mass-produce its Rhea1 chip and develop next-generation processors aimed at advancing Europe's capabilities in supercomputing and artificial intelligence (AI).
Friday 11 July 2025
Samsung recalibrates chip strategy as 2nm becomes the new battleground
Samsung Electronics is entering a period of introspection and recalibration in its semiconductor foundry business, shifting focus from speed-driven innovation to consolidating its technological foundation. The South Korean tech giant is now betting on the more mature 2nm process as its critical path forward, aiming to restore client confidence, stabilize production yields, and alleviate growing financial pressure.
Friday 11 July 2025
NXP plots wafer shift to China as new CEO joins push for local supply chain
Kurt Sievers, the CEO of Dutch semiconductor giant NXP Semiconductors, who is set to officially step down at the end of October 2025, recently visited Shanghai and met with the mayor of Shanghai, Zheng Gong. Sievers stated that the Chinese market has become NXP's largest single global market. The company values its cooperation with Chinese enterprises and believes that success in China will translate into global success. Notably, Sievers' successor, Rafael Sotomayor, also accompanied him on this trip, underscoring NXP's strong emphasis on the Chinese market.
Friday 11 July 2025
Qualcomm losing presence in Chinese flagship phones with MediaTek catching up

In a surprising change within the smartphone industry, MediaTek, long seen as the second largest chipmaker in the high-end sector, is gaining ground against American semiconductor giant Qualcomm in China's premium smartphone segment.

Friday 11 July 2025
GaN surge: Innoscience targets 20K/month 8-inch wafer milestone by year-end

Innoscience, a leading Chinese GaN specialist, plans to expand its monthly production of 8-inch (200mm) wafers from 13,000 to 20,000 by the end of 2025, advancing toward its five-year target of 70,000 wafers per month. As the first IDM to mass-produce 8-inch GaN-on-silicon wafers, Innoscience's expansion highlights the growing global pivot to GaN technologies in power electronics.

Friday 11 July 2025
Korea’s Rebellions taps Taiwan alliance to challenge Nvidia in AI chip race
Seoul-based AI chip startup Rebellions is moving fast to stake its claim as South Korea's top domestic supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors. The company is ramping up production of its second-generation chip and forging new partnerships across Asia to grow its footprint.
Friday 11 July 2025
Exclusive: TSMC’s GaN exit pulls rug from under BYD
TSMC has confirmed that it will phase out its gallium nitride (GaN) foundry operations within two years, which is expected to shake the industry given its role as the global leader in GaN wafer fabrication. The move has drawn attention to Navitas Semiconductor, a key TSMC GaN client that first disclosed the exit before TSMC confirmed it. Navitas, now parting ways with its long-time partner, is actively searching for alternative foundry partners.
Friday 11 July 2025
Topco Scientific denies rumors of cooperation with Chinese firms, stresses compliance with export controls
In response to external allegations regarding collaboration with Chinese companies to develop chips and the involvement in exporting sensitive semiconductor materials to China, Topco Scientific Co. (TSC) issued a statement on July 10, 2025, to clarify the matter.
Friday 11 July 2025
Advanced packaging crisis hits as Asahi Kasei halts PSPI supply
Risks continue emerging one after another as the supply shortage of essential advanced packaging materials from Japan's chemical giant Asahi Kasei continues to escalate.
Thursday 10 July 2025
Jim Keller to headline RISC-V Summit in Shanghai, highlighting China's open-source chip ambitions
Jim Keller, acclaimed semiconductor architect and Tenstorrent CEO, will deliver his first keynote at the fifth RISC-V Summit China from July 16 to 19 in Shanghai. His speech, "Open Hardware for Future Intelligence," highlights the event's growing importance amid US-China tech tensions and China's push for chip independence.
Thursday 10 July 2025
Jim Keller: US restrictions only accelerate China's chip development
As the global semiconductor competition intensifies, Silicon Valley chip guru and Tenstorrent CEO Jim Keller has shared exclusive insights on China's chip market, export restrictions, and the future of RISC-V. A legend in the industry known for leading AMD's Zen architecture, Apple's A-series chips, Tesla's AI hardware, and Intel core technology, Keller champions open-source, high-performance computing (HPC), and AI chip development at Tenstorrent. He aims to make HPC more accessible to the broader developer community.
Thursday 10 July 2025
Japan secures 'golden share' in Rapidus to safeguard chip tech, bolster 2nm push
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said it will condition public investment in chip startup Rapidus on the issuance of a "golden share" that grants the government veto power over critical corporate decisions. The move underscores Tokyo's efforts to strengthen state oversight in strategic sectors and prevent the outflow of sensitive semiconductor technologies, particularly in the face of potential foreign acquisitions.
Thursday 10 July 2025
Samsung's foldable focus on high-end smartphones sparks chipmaker optimism
Samsung Electronics has introduced its latest flagship foldable smartphones, adding fresh momentum to what is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the foldable device market. While Samsung remains one of the pioneers in this category, it now faces intensifying competition from Chinese smartphone makers, which some industry executives believe could help grow the overall market, rather than diminish its prospects.