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Wednesday 11 February 2026

AI demand fuels photonics-semiconductor convergence at APE 2026

As artificial intelligence workloads push traditional computing architectures to their limits, the photonics industry is emerging as a critical enabler of next-generation data center infrastructure. The third Asia Photonics Expo (APE 2026), which concluded on February 6, 2026, reflected this shift, bringing together more than 240 exhibitors and nine international pavilions to showcase how optical technologies are becoming increasingly intertwined with semiconductor manufacturing and high-performance computing systems.

Wednesday 11 February 2026

Topoint plans second price hike in 1Q26 as tungsten price rises

Affected by the continued rise in tungsten carbide prices, PCB drill manufacturer Topoint Technology said that it plans to implement another price increase in the first quarter of 2026. The adjustment will extend from tungsten white drills to high-end coated products, passing on cost pressure to downstream customers.

Wednesday 11 February 2026

South Korean IC designers face year-long packaging delays

Surging demand for artificial intelligence servers and high-performance computing (HPC) has tightened capacity across the semiconductor supply chain. For many small South Korean communications IC designers relying on mature process technologies, the bottleneck has shifted from wafer fabrication to packaging and testing.

Tuesday 10 February 2026

Ever Ohms follows price hike on chip resistors, AI applications could account for 10% in 2026

Because of rising raw material costs, Taiwanese chip resistor manufacturers have begun increasing prices, with the wave spreading from major passive component makers such as Yageo and Walsin to smaller players like Ta-Yi Technology and Ever Ohms. After issuing a price increase notice to customers, Ever Ohms said that long-term competition in the Chinese market had kept chip resistor prices under pressure. However, recent surges in the costs of silver, palladium, ruthenium, tin, and copper have forced several Taiwanese and Chinese passive component suppliers to raise prices.

Tuesday 10 February 2026

Zhen Ding Tech sees record January revenue driven by high-end AI applications

PCB giant Zhen Ding Technology (ZDT) reported that despite the traditional consumer electronics off-season in the first quarter of 2026, strong demand for advanced AI products propelled server, optical communication, and IC substrate sales to grow over 60% year-over-year. This surge set new monthly records and pushed January revenue to an all-time high.

Tuesday 10 February 2026

Analysis: How Singapore turns talent, R&D into an optics edge

Despite possessing a land area roughly one-fiftieth the size of Taiwan, Singapore has established itself as one of the most closely watched economies and supply chain hubs in Asia. This ascent is the result of a long-term strategy to internationalize its education system and labor force.

Tuesday 10 February 2026

Yageo sees record January revenue driven by AI demand, pre-holiday stocking

Passive component giant Yageo reported year-over-year and sequential revenue increases in January 2026, fueled primarily by strong, sustained order momentum from customers related to artificial intelligence (AI). The growth was also supported by the return to a normal number of working days and increased inventory buildup by customers in Greater China ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Saturday 7 February 2026

Lead frame supplier CWTC reaches 40-month revenue high in January

Driven by a broad demand recovery and the gradual effect of price increases, Chang Wah Technology (CWTC) reported both month-on-month and year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue in January 2026, reaching the highest monthly level in nearly 40 months and the second-highest for the same period on record.

Friday 6 February 2026

MetaOptics drives heat-resistant metalenses into CPUs

At the Asia Photonics Expo (APE 2026) in Singapore, DIGITIMES interviewed MetaOptics, the first planar lens company listed on the Singapore Exchange's Catalist board. Aloysius Chua, the company's deputy CEO, outlined MetaOptics' latest technological advances and global footprint, with a particular focus on its progress in co-packaged optics (CPO).

Friday 6 February 2026

ASE expects advanced packaging and testing revenue to double in 2026

OSAT leader ASE Technology Holding is optimistic that its growth momentum will extend through 2026 and beyond, benefiting from the short supply of advanced packaging and testing capacity. COO Tien Wu said order visibility has improved over the past three months, prompting the company to further raise its 2026 advanced packaging and testing revenue target to US$3.2 billion. This would represent a doubling from US$1.6 billion in 2025, and is more than 20% higher than the previous forecast of US$2.6 billion. Of the total, 75% is expected to come from advanced packaging, with the remaining 25% contributed by advanced testing.

Friday 6 February 2026

PSMC narrows losses as DRAM prices and AI demand boost revenue

Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, one of Taiwan's smaller but strategically positioned chipmakers, reported a sharp narrowing of losses in the fourth quarter of 2025, buoyed by rising memory prices, a stronger US dollar, and income from an overseas partnership with India's Tata Group.

Friday 6 February 2026

Nittobo targets 2028 launch for next-generation glass fiber cloth

Nitto Boseki (Nittobo), which currently holds around 90% market share in the semiconductor materials glass fiber cloth segment, is planning to launch its next-generation T-glass glass fiber cloth at early as in 2028, with the goal of reducing the coefficient of thermal expansion from the current 2.8ppm to 2ppm, a decrease of about 30%, aiming to improve resistance to thermal deformation, addressing thermal expansion and warpage issues caused by the increasing size of AI chips and memory integration, according to a report by Nikkei.

Thursday 5 February 2026

SiTime to buy Renesas timing unit for US$3 billion

SiTime said it will acquire assets related to Renesas Electronics' timing business in a transaction valued at about US$3 billion, as the Japanese chipmaker narrows its focus on embedded computing while retaining an equity stake in the US precision timing company.

Thursday 5 February 2026

Google AI platform win elevates Innoscience's 8-inch GaN manufacturing clout

Driven by expanding AI servers, data centers, and new energy applications, third-generation semiconductor gallium nitride (GaN) is moving from niche technology toward mainstream power device solutions.

Thursday 5 February 2026

Japan's Ibiden channels US$3.3bn into IC substrate expansion for AI servers

Ibiden plans to invest JPY500 billion (about US$3.3 billion) over three years starting in fiscal 2026 to expand production of its core IC package substrates. By fiscal 2028, capacity allocated to generative AI servers and high-performance server products is expected to reach around 2.5 times current levels based on product area.

Wednesday 4 February 2026

Samsung Electro-Mechanics poised to enter Nvidia NVSwitch substrate supply chain

Samsung Electro-Mechanics (Semco) has secured its first supply role with Nvidia, the world's leading GPU manufacturer, to provide high-end flip chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) substrates for NVSwitch systems. According to South Korea's Seoul Economic Daily, the agreement marks the company's first engagement as a supplier of these specific components to Nvidia.

Tuesday 3 February 2026

Huawei-linked Hubble invests in automotive chipmaker Norelsys pre-IPO

Norelsys (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. has begun IPO counseling after filing registration for listing guidance with the Tianjin branch of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, according to regulatory disclosures.

Tuesday 3 February 2026

Shanghai fast-tracks 'Oriental IC Port,' adds fourth-gen semiconductors to roadmap

China is pushing ahead with its semiconductor materials strategy. Shanghai, one of the country's leading cities, has included brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and fourth-generation semiconductors among its priority future industries, signaling early preparation for a new materials era beyond third-generation semiconductors.

Tuesday 3 February 2026

Ample Electronic expects quarterly growth as silver price drop prompts passive component clients to resume orders

Ample Electronic Technology, a major upstream manufacturer of conductive pastes for passive components, said that the sharp decline in silver has revived downstream customers' ordering momentum. Despite seasonal factors affecting February, the company remains optimistic about strong shipment demand in the first quarter of 2026, likely matching the fourth quarter of 2025 and supporting steady quarterly growth for the full year.

Tuesday 3 February 2026

C Sun invests NT$1.48 billion in Taichung plant to boost AI advanced packaging equipment

Semiconductor and printed circuit board (PCB) equipment maker C Sun announced plans to invest approximately NT$1.48 billion (US$46.87 million) to acquire a nearly 3,000-ping (106,750 square feet) production site in Nantun, Taichung, Taiwan. The expansion is intended to support the development of next-generation process equipment for artificial intelligence (AI) advanced packaging without disrupting existing plant operations in Taichung.

Tuesday 3 February 2026

Sumitomo Bakelite to acquire Kyocera unit, paving way for Chang Wah expansion

Japanese materials maker Sumitomo Bakelite has announced plans to acquire the materials business of Japanese electronic components company Kyocera. Industry observers say the companies' product lines are highly complementary, positioning the deal to deliver stronger synergies. Leveraging Kyocera's strengths in discrete and power products in China is expected to support Sumitomo Bakelite's global market expansion.

Monday 2 February 2026

Kinsus approves US$744M ABF expansion on clear three-year demand outlook

Kinsus, the IC substrate arm of Pegatron, has approved additional project-based capital spending totaling NT$23.5 billion (approx. US$744 million) to support ABF substrate equipment purchases over the next three years. The expansion will be located at its Plant 6 facility in Yangmei, Taoyuan, with monthly output expected to increase by about 25% by 2027.

Monday 2 February 2026

Chinese process control powerhouse Jingce targets nearly triple profit growth in 2025

Wuhan Jingce Electronic Group forecasts net profit of CNY80 million to CNY90 million (approx. US$11.5 million to US$13 million) for 2025, representing year-over-year growth of 181.97% to 192.21%. Net profit excluding non-recurring items is expected to reach CNY21.66 million to CNY31.66 million, up 113.66% to 119.97%, reversing losses from the previous year.

Monday 2 February 2026

Semco's Tianjin MLCC plant capacity runs flat out on EV, AI server expansion

Rising automotive electronics demand has pushed Samsung Electro-Mechanics (Semco)'s Tianjin plant to full capacity across its multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) production lines, with about 8,000 workers running operations 24 hours a day. The Tianjin site is Semco's largest global manufacturing base, focused primarily on automotive MLCCs while also supplying consumer electronics and server markets.

Monday 2 February 2026

Taiwan PCB makers vie for AI server market with new 2026 capacity

As demand for AI infrastructure continues to grow steadily, major networking and server PCB suppliers such as Gold Circuit Electronics (GCE), First Hi-tec (FHt), and Allied Circuit (ACCL) have benefited from a significant uptick in shipments of high-end boards, pushing full-year 2025 revenue to record highs.

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