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Jul 1
AI fuels OSAT pricing power as chip packaging orders fill through 2027
Cloud AI demand is reshaping the seasonal cycle of the semiconductor industry, with capacity tightness spreading from front-end manufacturing to back-end packaging and testing. Since late 2025, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test, or OSAT, capacity has tightened steadily. New capacity added in 2026 has also been filled quickly, prompting multiple IC design houses to lock in capacity and pushing order visibility beyond 2027.

Singapore authorities have filed additional fraud and money laundering charges against four individuals and brought fresh charges against four companies, as part of an investigation linked to the movement of servers that may have contained Nvidia artificial intelligence chips subject to US export controls. The case has been reported by multiple outlets, including CNA, The Straits Times, and Reuters.

Taiwan's passive component suppliers are entering the second half of 2026 with stronger order momentum, as demand from AI data centers, networking equipment, power systems, and automotive electronics helps offset earlier pressure from volatile metal prices and weaker consumer electronics planning.

The global memory market is enjoying one of its most profitable cycles in years. AI data center demand has driven DRAM and NAND prices sharply higher, and the three companies that dominate global supply — Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix — are posting results that would have seemed unlikely two years ago.
Micron Technology and General Motors (GM) have signed a strategic customer agreement to secure a long-term supply of memory and storage products for vehicle production. The deal underscores how automakers and suppliers are trying to stabilize global semiconductor access as cars become more software-driven, connected, and reliant on advanced electronics worldwide.

An ongoing investigation into alleged AI server smuggling has once again put Taiwan's motherboard industry under the spotlight. Veteran motherboard maker Albatron Technology has become a focal point after its general manager, Alex Lu, and an employee of Super Micro Computer (Supermicro) were detained without visitation rights as part of the investigation.

Samsung Electronics used its annual foundry ecosystem event on July 1 to signal that its contract chipmaking business is regaining momentum, laying out a longer-term manufacturing roadmap alongside signs of firmer near-term demand.

LG Electronics has begun offering application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design services to outside chip companies, drawing on system-on-chip (SoC) development work the company has done for its own products since the early 2000s, according to industry sources cited by ZDNet Korea. LG declined to confirm the report when contacted.

China's power semiconductor makers are entering a broader price-hike cycle, as AI server demand, raw material inflation, and tight mature-node capacity force suppliers to defend margins after years of low-end price wars.

Infineon Technologies completed its acquisition of the non-optical analog and mixed-signal sensor portfolio from ams OSRAM on Tuesday, expanding its position in automotive and industrial sensing and adding roughly 230 employees across three new locations.

Memory suppliers are renegotiating high-bandwidth memory contracts, and PC brands say price increases may slow later this year. For global buyers, that relief could be short-lived, as supply-chain sources warn that shortages tied to artificial intelligence demand are likely to keep memory markets tight through 2027.

Socionext announced that it would develop a high-performance compute chiplet using TSMC's A14 process technology, positioning the project as a platform for next-generation custom silicon aimed at AI data center infrastructure.