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Tuesday 30 June 2026
Asia Neo Tech and Brooks sign 15-year FOUP deal

Asia Neo Tech has announced a 15-year technology licensing agreement with US-based Brooks Automation to cooperate on FOUP (front-opening unified pod) cleaning equipment and expand its reach into global markets. The two companies held a signing ceremony on June 30, 2026.

Tuesday 30 June 2026
Ability Opto-Electronics targets CPO growth with V-groove and MT lines

Ability Opto-Electronics Technology, an optics maker, said on June 29 that its V-groove and mechanical transfer (MT) products for co-packaged optics (CPO) are likely to become its second-largest product line after notebook camera modules, as the company pushes to expand into new growth drivers. Chairman Weiya Gao said the expected 10% to 20% cut in 2026 shipments by notebook brands would have a relatively limited impact, since the company mainly supplies high-end business notebook cameras.

Tuesday 30 June 2026
TSMC fast-tracks CoPoS—whole supply chain under gag order

TSMC is accelerating CoWoS capacity expansion while also pushing ahead with next-generation panel-level packaging, CoPoS, aiming to use a new "round-to-square" architecture to break through cost and capacity bottlenecks in large AI chip packaging and build its next competitive moat.

Tuesday 30 June 2026
TSMC 2nm, CoWoS, and CoPoS broadly lift Taiwan's equipment, materials, and packaging suppliers

As AI demand continues to fuel global semiconductor investment, customers are keeping wafer starts strong, and TSMC is accelerating its push into 2nm-and-below nodes as well as advanced packaging technologies such as CoWoS. Industry sources said the AI-driven investment wave is now spreading beyond foundries into the equipment, materials, factory engineering, and inspection supply chains.

Tuesday 30 June 2026
Interview: Why DuPont spinoff Qnity is betting its Taiwan growth on packaging, not process nodes

As Taiwan becomes the core of the global AI hardware supply chain, Qnity — the century-old company spun off from US chemicals giant DuPont and separately listed — is likewise expanding its production capacity investment in Taiwan. Asia-Pacific president Dennis Chen said in an interview with DIGITIMES that future investment will center closely on three main battlegrounds: advanced processes, advanced packaging, and thermal management.

Tuesday 30 June 2026
Corning's East Coast edge: IP, manufacturing depth, and AI-era return of optical fiber
Protecting patents around the world is a core value for any R&D-driven company. It is also a commitment to partnering with customers. In 2025, glass giant Corning filed nearly 400 patent applications and close to 1,000 international applications. Its active patent portfolio now totals around 11,400 patents worldwide.
Tuesday 30 June 2026
Samsung commits KRW2,655 trillion to future industries, anchoring new Gwangju fab
Samsung said on June 29 it will invest a combined KRW2,655 trillion (approx. US$1.72 trillion as of June 30, 2026) across its domestic operations, splitting the figure between continued buildout of its existing Pyeongtaek and Yongin semiconductor clusters and a fresh push into Korea's southwestern Honam region, where the bulk of the new money is aimed at memory capacity.
Tuesday 30 June 2026
AI hands foundries pricing power: TSMC leads, but the boom spreads industry-wide

AI demand in 2026 is no longer confined to GPUs, but is broadening into ASICs, networking, PMICs, and a wide range of peripheral ICs, tightening capacity across both 8-inch mature processes and 12-inch advanced nodes. CoWoS's advanced packaging and HBM capacity are also set for a prolonged supply shortage, effectively rewriting the foundry industry's business cycle.

Tuesday 30 June 2026
Samsung revives 1.4nm foundry push as 2029 timeline takes shape

Samsung Electronics is moving forward again on its 1.4nm foundry process, but on a slower schedule than originally planned, The Bell reported, citing industry sources.

Tuesday 30 June 2026
SK Hynix accelerates Yongin fab timeline by 12 years as HBM strains memory capacity
SK Hynix said on June 29 it will spend KRW1,100 trillion (approx. US$710 ​billion) across three sites in South Korea over the coming decades, accelerating its Yongin cluster timeline by 12 years as it warned that even faster construction will not be enough to meet projected AI memory demand.
Tuesday 30 June 2026
China's third-largest pure-play foundry's HK filing shows growth, but also rising risks

Nexchip Semiconductor has filed for a Hong Kong listing to fund expansion, following rapid revenue growth and a stronger market position. The prospectus highlights its scale in display driver chips and image sensors, while also warning investors about customer concentration, heavy capital needs, and exposure to shifting trade policy.

Tuesday 30 June 2026
South Korea looks to Taiwan as model for semiconductor decentralization
South Korea is overhauling its semiconductor manufacturing footprint to secure an edge in the AI era, drawing direct inspiration from a fierce competitor: Taiwan.
Tuesday 30 June 2026
Taiwan reportedly expands AI server smuggling probe, searches Supermicro and listed firms

Taiwanese prosecutors have reportedly expanded their investigation into the alleged illegal export of high-end AI servers to China, Hong Kong, and Macau, launching a second round of raids targeting Supermicro's Taiwan branch and two listed Taiwanese technology companies.

Tuesday 30 June 2026
Expected MCU price hike drives early 1H26 pull-ins

Microcontroller customers are accelerating shipments into the first half of 2026 as higher production costs ripple through the supply chain, with global implications for electronics pricing and availability. Industry sources said buyers are seeking to secure supply before further increases, while weak demand and AI-related capacity pressure continue to shape the market.

Tuesday 30 June 2026
Riken and Taiwan academia join forces on next-gen compound semiconductors
Japan's world-renowned Riken institute announced in late March 2026 that its homegrown superconducting quantum computer, "Ei-II," jointly developed with the University of Osaka, had officially gone online with 144 qubits and 99.9% fidelity. Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) said Riken will next work with Taiwan's academic community on research, including next-generation compound semiconductors.
Tuesday 30 June 2026
Samsung, SK Hynix step up CO₂ buying as supplies tighten
South Korea's inventories of high-purity carbon dioxide, a critical material used in advanced semiconductor manufacturing, have fallen below normal buffer levels, raising procurement concerns across the chip industry, according to The Elec.
Tuesday 30 June 2026
China's SiC race shifts from EVs to AI data centers as SICC overtakes Wolfspeed

China's silicon carbide (SiC) supply chain is finding a new growth engine as AI strains data-center power systems, extending a market long driven by electric vehicles.

Tuesday 30 June 2026
Intel-UMC tie-up talk runs into hard realities of process gaps and cash needs

Rumors in Taiwan's capital markets that United Microelectronics Corp. may deepen cooperation with Intel from 12nm to Intel 3 are drawing skepticism from DIGITIMES analyst Luke Lin. He said the main obstacles are the technology gap and Intel's internal capacity allocation, which make a near-term move commercially difficult.

Monday 29 June 2026
China's first diamond semiconductor supply chain project lands in Zhengzhou

China is accelerating its push into fourth-generation semiconductors, with the country's first fully integrated industrial project for ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductor materials set to be built in Zhengzhou. The project aims to strengthen domestic capabilities in diamond-based semiconductor materials for AI chips, advanced communications and electric vehicles, while expanding China's presence beyond silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN).

Monday 29 June 2026
AI demand drives Foundry 2.0 market revenue up 23% in 1Q26, says Counterpoint
Global revenue for the semiconductor industry's "Foundry 2.0" market reached US$86 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 23% year-over-year, driven by strong demand for AI accelerators and advanced packaging, according to Counterpoint Research.
Monday 29 June 2026
Samsung could become HBM market share leader in 2027
Samsung Electronics could overtake SK Hynix in the global high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market in 2027, driven by the competitive edge of HBM4, the sixth generation of HBM. Market watchers also expect Samsung to expand 1c DRAM production for HBM4 while raising the latter's prices in 2027 to boost both market share and profitability.
Monday 29 June 2026
SK Hynix sets up new strategy unit as HBM race intensifies
South Korean media report that SK Hynix has created a new memory strategy organization, a "Growth Strategy Department," to map out next-generation semiconductor strategy. The move is seen as an effort to reset its medium- to long-term plans in a rapidly shifting memory market and preserve its leadership position.
Monday 29 June 2026
Foxconn unit ShunSin confirms TSMC COUPE partnership; capex to hit NT$5 billion for CPO and OCS
ShunSin Technology Holdings, Foxconn's semiconductor packaging and testing subsidiary, is accelerating its transition toward co-packaged optics (CPO). The company's latest appointment of a former TSMC executive as an independent director by Chairman Chiang Shang-yi has also drawn industry attention to the commercialization progress of its high-speed optical transceiver business.
Monday 29 June 2026
Weekly news roundup: South Korea takes physical AI push from policy to practice; Europe aggressively pursues non-red supply chains
Below are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories from the week of June 22-28, 2026:
Monday 29 June 2026
Potens expands into AI cooling and power markets, server revenue share hits double digits

With growing demand for AI server cooling and power management solutions, power semiconductor design company Potens reported that revenue from its server-related business has risen from 4.5% of total revenue in 2025 to 13.5%, a significant jump that reflects strong momentum in the segment. The company also remains optimistic about continued expansion in the AI, automotive, and motor control markets. Order transfers from Western manufacturers seeking to reduce reliance on China are also materializing.