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Oct 20
Intel says it is the only high-volume fab for 12-inch InP silicon photonics as co-packaged optics nears deployment
Intel is pitching its foundry as the industry's supplier of light sources for AI data center optics, claiming at the 2026 Open Compute Project (OCP) Global Summit that it is the only high-volume fab that can deliver 12-inch indium phosphide (InP) silicon photonics (SiPh) at scale to the industry.
AMEC is seeking an entry into South Korea's power semiconductor market through MOCVD equipment trials with SK Keyfoundry and Magnachip. The Chinese equipment supplier holds a large share of its domestic MOCVD market but remains unable to supply Samsung Electronics' and SK Hynix's South Korean fabs.
Growing demand for AI servers, advanced packaging, and data centers is reviving interest in idle LCD plants, with companies acquiring and converting existing sites into semiconductor packaging substrate lines, advanced packaging facilities, and AI computing hubs. LG Innotek is reportedly evaluating the acquisition of an LCD plant operated by LG Display, following similar deals in Japan and Taiwan.
PCB manufacturer Zhen Ding Technology (ZDT) Group is exhibiting at TPCA Show 2026 under the theme "One ZDT, Next AI," highlighting its latest technology and R&D achievements in AI servers, high-speed optical communications, and AI terminal devices. The company is presenting comprehensive PCB solutions spanning AI infrastructure and smart terminals.
Axcelis Technologies plans to break ground on a US$35 million ion implantation equipment manufacturing facility in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, expanding its semiconductor infrastructure for customers worldwide. The project highlights investment in advanced semiconductor capacity as the global economy enters the artificial intelligence era, with production scheduled to begin in 2028.
SpaceX has spent two decades proving that hardware once considered too complex, too capital-intensive, or too dependent on entrenched suppliers could sometimes be pulled in-house. Its Q3 earnings call suggests the company now wants to test that philosophy on perhaps the hardest manufacturing problem of all: advanced semiconductor production.
Micron Technology's Taoyuan union has announced a one-day warning strike for October 22, coinciding with a second round of labour mediation between the company and its Taichung union. The Taoyuan union is demanding a concrete response to its profit-sharing proposals, particularly the percentage and amount of a one-off bonus for 2026 and a future profit-sharing framework.
The AI infrastructure race is increasingly becoming a contest over who can turn electrical capacity, cooling systems, and hardware into usable compute the fastest.
Chinese tech giants ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent have collectively ordered more than 3 million units of Nvidia's new RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards, representing a total value exceeding US$35 billion, as reported by Reuters.
Growing AI computing demand is bringing the semiconductor industry to a technological turning point. Transistor scaling has long driven gains in chip density, performance, and energy efficiency. Advancing process nodes now bring greater complexity in device architectures, materials, process integration, and design, extending innovation beyond individual chips.
Samsung Electronics' foundry business has yet to finalize contracts with major global technology companies for its 2nm process, while demand has pushed its 4nm production lines close to full capacity, according to industry reports. The company is expanding efforts to win new 5nm orders as it seeks to increase utilization of established processes and improve foundry profitability.
Topoint Technology is positioning its precision PCB drilling business for rising demand from AI servers, high-performance computing, and high-speed transmission applications. At TPCA Show 2026, the company presented tools and processing technologies for advanced materials, including ABF substrates, quartz cloth, and PTFE, while outlining its capacity expansion in Taiwan and China.