Record-high precious metal prices upstream are tightening cost pressure across the passive components industry, but the impact on protection components has so far been contained. Thinking Electronic Industrial said silver prices have surged since 2025, yet supply-demand dynamics have limited immediate price pass-through, allowing product prices to stabilize after a prolonged period of decline.
AP Memory is expanding into AI servers and high-performance computing, with its S-SiCap roadmap delivering concrete progress. Fourth-generation discrete silicon capacitors are set to adopt embedded substrate packaging first, having already entered sample-based process validation, with phased mass production starting from 2026.
AMEC, China's leading semiconductor equipment vendor, has sent its clearest signal yet that it no longer intends to remain a single-discipline specialist. Its planned acquisition of a controlling stake in Hangzhou Sizone Electronic Technology marks a strategic shift toward becoming a platform-scale equipment group, rather than a company defined by individual tools.
Rafael Microelectronics is positioning optical communications and custom ASIC services as the twin pillars of its growth strategy heading into 2026, as the company accelerates its transition from a niche receiver-chip supplier into a broader high-speed signal transmission solutions provider.
As AI workloads reshape data center design, performance is no longer defined solely by computing power. Thermal management has emerged as an equally decisive battleground. Unlike traditional CPU-centric systems, modern AI servers rely heavily on GPUs and specialized accelerators, each drawing hundreds of watts per chip. The resulting thermal density far exceeds the limits of conventional air-cooling, turning heat dissipation into a core infrastructure challenge rather than a peripheral engineering concern.
Rising memory prices are prompting end customers to procure notebooks early, a shift that is expected to keep shipments steadier than usual during the traditionally weak first half of 2026, even as brands are set to raise their end notebook prices to reflect the increasing costs, according to sources from the notebook supply chain.
