Taiwan's stock exchange placed MediaTek — the chip designer behind silicon used in Samsung phones, Chromebooks, and a growing share of AI hardware — under trading restrictions from May 7 through May 20 after its market value surged past NT$5 trillion (approx. US$165 billion) on strong demand for its custom AI chips. The Financial Supervisory Commission said it would review the rules that triggered the move.
As global supply chains continue shifting under "China+1" and "Taiwan+1" strategies, Southeast Asia has emerged as a key destination for semiconductor and electronics investment. For Taiwanese power and automation company Delta Electronics, Malaysia is becoming a central part of that regional expansion strategy.
WinWay said April 2026 revenue fell nearly 20% from the previous month due to its customer mix and product profile, but still rose more than 50% from a year earlier as orders for AI and high-performance computing (HPC) applications surged. The test interface maker said its Coaxial Socket high-end test socket capacity kept coming online.
MediaTek announced the opening of a new research and development data center at the Tongluo Science Park in Miaoli, Taiwan, aimed at supporting growing demand for edge AI and cloud AI development.
Nuvoton is seeing stronger demand for baseboard management controller (BMC) chips as AI servers drive higher requirements for remote server control and system monitoring. The company said the number of BMCs needed in a single rack has increased from 80 to 120, reflecting the growing complexity of AI server systems.
Global semiconductor sales reached US$298.5 billion in the first quarter of 2026, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported, underscoring robust worldwide demand with possible implications for technology supply chains, pricing, and production investment. The results come as markets eye a potential US$1 trillion year, driven by broad regional growth across Asia Pacific, the Americas, and China.
The SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group reported a 13.1% year-over-year rise in global silicon wafer shipment area to 3,275 million square inches in the first quarter of 2026, signaling stronger demand for wafers used in AI data centers and reshaping supply and production priorities across the global semiconductor supply chain.
Elon Musk is rapidly expanding his ambitions beyond rockets and electric vehicles (EVs), positioning SpaceX at the center of a vertically integrated artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure strategy spanning semiconductors, data centers, AI models, robotics, and space systems.
South Korea plans to provide KRW500 billion (US$344.3 million) in state funding for a large-scale research and development project aimed at localizing next-generation power semiconductors, ETNews reported.
Darfon Electronics reported that its first-quarter 2026 profit and gross margin improved as consolidated revenue rose 9.9% year on year to NT$6.025 billion (US$192.11 million). The company announced on May 6 that its gross margin recovered to 18% from 15.7% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and that second-quarter order momentum remained positive as it pursued a full-year twin-growth target.
Msscorps reported consolidated revenue of NT$579 million (US$18.46 million) in the first quarter of 2026, up 24.54% year-on-year and a record for the period, but still recorded a net loss of NT$31.85 million and an EPS loss of NT$0.61, marking a third straight quarter in the red. The firm said strong demand from materials analysis and AI chip analysis orders, along with growing revenue contribution from overseas sites, lifted scale and profitability during the quarter.
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