SanDisk delivered a strong fiscal second quarter in 2026, reflecting accelerating demand across data centers, industrial applications, and consumer electronics, driven by the ongoing AI infrastructure buildout. The US flash memory maker reported revenue of US$3.03 billion, up 61% year over year, while net profit surged 7.7-fold to US$803 million, according to its January 29, 2026, earnings release.
AI server architectures are rapidly shifting toward ultra-high-density designs, keeping advanced CoWoS packaging capacity persistently tight. The primary bottleneck stems from continuously expanding chip sizes, which introduce warpage and thermal stress challenges while driving ABF substrate demand to multiply, creating structural supply pressure and underpinning a recovery in 2025 operations for Taiwan's three leading IC substrate makers.
The recent surge in DRAM prices is widening pricing headroom across the semiconductor supply chain, prompting Chang Wah Electromaterials (CWE), a major semiconductor materials supplier and distributor, to plan price increases for epoxy molding compound (EMC) starting in March 2026.
China's two largest technology companies, Alibaba and Baidu, have launched initial public offering (IPO) processes for their semiconductor design subsidiaries, a move widely seen as part of Beijing's broader push to strengthen domestic chip self-sufficiency and secure local AI computing capacity under tightening US technology restrictions.
Recent reports from mainland China indicate that authorities have approved the import of an initial batch of Nvidia's H200 chips. The move highlights yet another turn in the intensifying US–China technology rivalry.
As artificial intelligence (AI) applications expand, the rising scale and density of server computing have placed a premium on system stability. AI servers, characterized by high costs, extreme power consumption and significant heat generation, face the risk of substantial losses from system outages. This has heightened the importance of baseboard management controllers (BMCs), which provide real-time monitoring of voltage, temperature and system status, driving steady growth in Aspeed Technology's operating performance.
Memory demand remains strong, intensifying the industry's supply-demand imbalance. Contract prices for the first quarter of 2026 are rising sharply, with major South Korean memory suppliers releasing new quotations showing DDR5 price hikes of up to 80%, while DDR4 prices are holding at roughly 50% increases. Parts of the server memory supply chain are still awaiting official price settlements in February 2026.
With artificial intelligence (AI) technology advancing at a breakneck pace—particularly as applications move from the training phase to inference—demand for high-capacity, high-performance storage in data centers and embedded devices is surging. Once considered a low-margin segment prone to market volatility, NAND flash has taken on a new strategic role in Nvidia's blueprint for next-generation AI infrastructure, becoming an indispensable component for AI inference workloads.
Taiwan's semiconductor test supply chain is experiencing strong growth driven by increased demand for AI and HPC chips, industry sources report. Close collaborations with foundries and IC design houses have helped local firms meet advanced testing requirements, boosting the competitiveness of domestic chips.
ASML Holding reported record financial results for 2025, marked by strong growth in both revenue and profitability. Full-year revenue reached EUR32.67 billion (US$38.96 billion), up 15.6% from the previous year, while net profit rose 26.9% to EUR9.61 billion—gross margin held at 52.8%.
Following Intel's major global wafer fab plan cuts, including halting projects in Germany and Poland, GlobalFoundries (GF) and STMicroelectronics (ST) have faced fresh scrutiny over their joint 12-inch wafer fab project in Crolles, France. French media recently revealed GF has yet to fulfill its investment commitments, casting doubt on the collaboration's future amid both companies increasing investments in China while GF expands capacity in the US under the Trump administration's "Made in America" drive.
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