On May 5, AMD reported first-quarter 2026 results that exceeded expectations, supported by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, according to company data and media reports. Revenue reached US$10.25 billion, while net profit rose to US$1.38 billion, reflecting robust year-on-year growth across key metrics.
Global semiconductor sales are projected to reach US$1 trillion this year and could double to US$2 trillion by 2035, driven by rapid growth in AI data centers. But the boom is also shining new light on Southeast Asia's limited front-end manufacturing base, as SEMI urges the region to add more fabs to reduce chip supply-chain concentration in China and Taiwan.
Samsung Electronics' labor dispute is widening beyond a fight over bonuses, after board chairman Shin Je-yoon made a rare appeal for management and unionized workers to resolve the standoff through dialogue as a planned strike threatens to disrupt chip production, customer trust, and South Korea's broader economy.
As AI shifts from training to inference and from single-task use to multi-agent collaboration, South Korea's semiconductor industry is seeking to recast the market around memory rather than GPUs. South Korean academia and industry figures say the AI era will be defined by memory architectures, with the country aiming to build its own framework and challenge an order long dominated by Nvidia.
Ardentec's Longtan plant is set to begin taking AI ASIC wafer-probing orders in the third quarter of 2026, as the semiconductor testing provider moves to capture spillover demand from foundry strategic partners.
The PCB industry is entering a new phase of transformation in the AI era, as rising demand for high-frequency and high-speed applications accelerates upgrades in upstream copper-clad laminate (CCL) materials. Among the beneficiaries is impregnation equipment maker Asia Metal Industries (AMI).
Intel has announced that it has appointed Alex Katouzian as head of its Client Computing and Physical AI Division. With this hire, Intel seeks to align its consumer PC business with physical AI applications spanning robotics and AI -enabled devices.
The global semiconductor industry is entering a "multi-trillion-dollar" growth cycle sooner than expected, SEMI President and CEO Ajit Manocha said, urging Southeast Asian countries to strengthen cooperation to address talent, energy, and geopolitical challenges. Manocha predicted rapid revenue expansion driven by AI, IoT, and quantum demand.
Apple is exploring a significant shift in its semiconductor supply chain, holding early discussions with Intel and Samsung Electronics to produce the main processors used in its devices, according to Bloomberg. The move would mark a potential diversification away from its long-standing reliance on TSMC, Apple's exclusive partner for more than a decade.
Nanya Technology reported consolidated revenue of NT$25.49 billion (approx. US$805.3 million) for April 2026, surging 717.33% from NT$3.12 billion a year earlier and 40.29% from March, setting a record high as memory contract prices continue to rise.
Machvision reported consolidated revenue of about NT$343 million (US$10.84 million) for April 2026, up 1.4% from the previous month and 3.75% from a year earlier, marking another monthly high.
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