Global spending on 300mm front-end fab equipment is projected to reach US$149 billion in 2026, up 31% from a year earlier. Spending is expected to keep growing at double-digit rates and reach US$227 billion in 2029, SEMI said in its latest 300mm Fab Outlook, released October 13 at SEMICON West in San Francisco.

Tata Group's semiconductor fab in Gujarat, held up as the foundation of India's chipmaking ambitions, now faces scrutiny from within, as the group's controlling shareholder presses for quicker returns on capital-intensive bets.

ASE has expanded its PowerSiP platform with a 3D system-in-package solution aimed at vertical voltage regulator modules (VRMs) for AI data centers and high-performance computing systems. The move could matter globally as demand for AI infrastructure rises, since more efficient power delivery may help lower energy losses, support denser computing, and ease the strain on rapidly expanding digital infrastructure.

Automotive drivetrain manufacturer Tsang Yow reported consolidated revenue of NT$86.36 million (US$2.69 million) in September 2026, down 2.3% month-over-month and 1.24% year-over-year as demand from the Americas aftermarket temporarily slowed. Supported by its semiconductor business, consolidated revenue reached NT$269 million in the third quarter of 2026, up 7.5% year-over-year, while revenue for the first nine months rose 4.04% year-over-year to NT$824 million.

Kingboard Laminates Holdings (KB Laminates), a leading Chinese manufacturer, announced its eighth price increase of 2026 on October 13, raising prices by 15% for laminates and prepreg (PP) made with style 2116 or thinner fiberglass fabrics.

Some back-end manufacturing equipment intended for SK Hynix's sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) production may be deferred from the second half of 2026 into 2027, raising questions about the chipmaker's expansion plans as rising conventional DRAM prices create competing opportunities for capital spending.

Huawei has begun mass-producing its Kirin 9050 series with LogicFolding, a 3D chip architecture that improves transistor density and computing efficiency without relying solely on smaller process nodes. Its next-generation Kirin chip, scheduled for 2027, has entered testing, with initial results meeting expectations.

Nvidia's share of AI chips in China's data center market has fallen by 34% in the first half of this year, according to a new report. The drop follows months of US restrictions on advanced chip sales to the country, Chinese authorities' push to rely less on Nvidia imports, and domestic players like Huawei moving to fill in this supply gap.

JCET is directing most of its increased capital spending towards advanced packaging, modules and testing while reorganising its two South Korean factories to meet AI infrastructure demand. The company expects benefits from the transformation of its South Korean operations to emerge from the second half of 2026 and to become more pronounced in 2027 and 2028, according to a recently released investor relations activity record.

As demand for artificial intelligence computing accelerates, the competitive focus in semiconductors is shifting beyond single-chip speed to the efficiency of entire data centers. Nvidia, Broadcom, and Qualcomm executives said memory bandwidth, chip interconnects, power use, and heat management are now among the biggest constraints on AI performance, forcing closer coordination across chips, memory, packaging, and system design.

Broadcom's Frank Ostojic said semiconductor firms need joint innovation across equipment, materials, and design to overcome bottlenecks that affect AI chips worldwide. He warned that die size, packaging, power delivery, and cooling are becoming major constraints as workloads evolve, making faster coordination essential for future system performance.