SK Hynix's production workers' union has approved a revised pay agreement that raises the cash share of employee profit-sharing bonuses, ending weeks of uncertainty after members rejected the previous proposal by just 25 votes.

Global cloud service providers are continuing to expand AI infrastructure, driving a surge in demand for high-frequency, high-speed PCBs and making copper-clad laminate (CCL) upgrades increasingly critical to system performance. With both PCB layer counts and material specifications rising, Taiwan suppliers including Elite Material (EMC), Taiwan Union Technology (TUC), Iteq, Nan Ya Plastics, and Ventec are expected to sustain strong shipments through the second half of 2026.

As AI servers drive demand for higher-speed optical interconnects and co-packaged optics (CPO) moves toward volume production, silicon photonics testing is shifting from component-performance verification toward wafer-yield protection and earlier risk screening.

AI, high-performance computing, and advanced packaging are accelerating demand for glass substrates, but smaller through-glass vias are making conventional filling methods harder to use. Geckos is promoting a copper paste process with vacuum printing as an alternative that could improve yield, lower costs, and support denser interconnects.

Samsung Electronics' in-house Exynos application processors (APs) are steadily regaining lost ground in the global smartphone market. Samsung's share of the global smartphone AP market rose to 9% in the second quarter of 2026, up 2 percentage points from the previous quarter and 3 percentage points from a year earlier, marking a second straight quarterly increase.