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Monday 17 August 2026
OCP APAC 2026: When AI starts running the hardware that runs it
The tech industry has long been fixated on one persistent bottleneck: the physical limitations of high compute in the AI era. But what if the industry's focus, rather than pouring endless resources into infrastructure scaling and thermal architecture, should instead turn toward the reverse of that equation?
Monday 17 August 2026
Topoint's high-end drill bits hit 56% share ahead of schedule, aims to double capacity by end of 2028

Printed circuit board (PCB) drill bit manufacturer Topoint Technology stated during its second-quarter 2026 earnings call that strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers and high-performance computing (HPC) has significantly improved its product structure. High-end coated drill bit products accounted for 56% of product share in the first half of the year, already exceeding the company's original full-year target of 55%.

Monday 17 August 2026
AI server growth is lifting Taiwan ODM revenue, but margins now face the harder test
Taiwan's top six original design manufacturers are seeing AI servers become the main revenue engine in 2026, but the boom is also bringing heavier exposure to expensive GPUs, CPUs, high-bandwidth memory, and networking parts. That has broadened the sales base while making gross margin protection a central concern in the industry.
Monday 17 August 2026
Weekly news roundup: AI expansion fuels supernodes, post-HBM memory, liquid cooling and supply-chain shifts
This week's most-read stories traced the AI boom across the stack, from supernodes and next-generation memory to liquid cooling, solar power, telecom services and PCB demand. Below are the most-read DIGITIMES stories from the week of August 10-16, 2026.
Monday 17 August 2026
LG, Nvidia deepen ties on humanoid robots, AI factories, and vehicles
LG said on Wednesday that it is developing a next-generation bipedal humanoid robot with Nvidia technology, a move that could influence how factories, vehicles, and service robots are built and deployed worldwide. The South Korean conglomerate also outlined plans for AI manufacturing sites and a future vehicle platform, signaling broader competition in physical AI.
Monday 17 August 2026
AI server tracker: Demand drives strong growth across Taiwan's CCL, design services, substrate, and testing supply chains
Taiwan's AI server supply chain continued to show strong growth in July 2026, with revenue rising across copper-clad laminate (CCL), design services, substrates, and testing. All four segments recorded year-over-year growth, while design services posted the strongest monthly increase.
Monday 17 August 2026
India roundup: India's electronics push gains momentum as water, China ties and chip incentives collide

India's electronics and AI infrastructure ambitions are accelerating, but mounting environmental opposition, tighter Chinese visa curbs, and intensifying competition for semiconductor investment are exposing new challenges. As Google advances a US$15 billion AI data center, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) restructures its cloud business, and Dixon Technologies expands its smartphone OEM business, states are sweetening incentives to strengthen India's position in global technology supply chains.

Monday 17 August 2026
DFI accelerates edge AI rollout in 2H26 with ‘Right Compute’ strategy
Industrial PC (IPC) maker DFI held its second-quarter 2026 earnings conference on August 14, reporting a sharp improvement in profitability as its embedded, intelligent automation and network security businesses all gained momentum. Revenue growth accelerated further in July, strengthening the company's confidence in the second-half outlook.
Sunday 16 August 2026
China's AI supernode build-out turns more chips into more computing power

China is accelerating construction of its national computing network, and a growing share of new capacity is likely to use supernodes. With domestic AI accelerators still trailing leading global chips in single-card performance, Chinese vendors are increasingly relying on larger card counts, high-speed interconnects and system-level optimisation to close the gap.

Sunday 16 August 2026
Edgecore pushes all-optical networking for distributed AI data centers
Edgecore Networks said distributed AI infrastructure will become more important as data centers run into limits on power, space, and cooling. Speaking at the 2026 OCP APAC Summit, the company outlined an all-optical networking approach designed to connect GPUs, servers, and storage across multiple sites and regions.
Saturday 15 August 2026
Gelsinger calls HBM 'lousy', SK Hynix says it's not memory's final answer

High-bandwidth memory (HBM), a core component in AI semiconductors, has drawn fresh scrutiny after former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger called it "lousy" at a recent AI summit in Paris. SK Hynix, the market leader in this type of memory, also said it is not the final answer to AI memory bottlenecks, underscoring the industry's push to find a next-generation memory architecture beyond HBM.

Saturday 15 August 2026
Lotes sees tight supply, says demand remains intact

Connector maker Lotes is deepening its server business, with its server quick disconnect (QD) line set to enter mass production in July, and expansion is expected to accelerate at the same time. A new-generation server platform is expected to begin small-volume shipments in the fourth quarter of 2026, followed by a larger-scale ramp-up in early 2027, making both key growth drivers to watch in the coming quarters.

Saturday 15 August 2026
Tripod posts record second-quarter margins on strong server and memory demand
Tripod Technology said revenue and profit both hit record highs in the second quarter of 2026, driven by strong shipments of server and memory products and the continued effect of price increases implemented to pass on higher raw material costs. The PCB maker said gross margin rose above 30% for the first time as demand held up across its key business lines.
Friday 14 August 2026
Research insight: Delta, Lite-on raise capex to 9% of revenue in AI data center power race
The speed of AI data center deployment is raising the bar for power and cooling suppliers. Chipmakers such as Nvidia and AMD are refreshing platforms annually, with each generation bringing sharp increases in power density and thermal requirements. Suppliers that cannot match that pace in R&D or capacity deployment risk missing the next design cycle.
Friday 14 August 2026
AI server tracker: Demand drives July revenue gains across Taiwan infrastructure suppliers
Data center infrastructure providers reported revenue gains across baseboard management controllers (BMCs), optical modules, power supply components, and thermal management products. Some companies, such as LandMark Optoelectronics and Auras Technology, reported year-over-year July revenue growth exceeding 100%.
Friday 14 August 2026
Alibaba Cloud's 6-year evolution: five super data centers pivoting to AI compute

Alibaba Cloud's Lingjun Zhenwu M890 supernode has officially gone live, with its initial commercial deployment in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia—the same super data center launched six years ago. The site is now hosting next-generation AI supernode compute capabilities, bringing Alibaba Cloud's "Five Super Data Centers" back into the spotlight as the company positions itself for the AI era.

Friday 14 August 2026
Alibaba Cloud races ahead with Ulanqab AI infrastructure
Since early 2026, AI upstarts such as DeepSeek have increasingly pivoted toward building or co-owning their own data centers. This reflects a broader shift across China's AI sector: moving away from asset-light models reliant on leasing server space to gaining deep control over computing infrastructure. AI firms are no longer merely buying GPUs; they are stockpiling strategic compute assets, with 10,000-to-100,000-card GPU clusters becoming the baseline requirement.
Friday 14 August 2026
OCP APAC 2026: What if AI's next efficiency breakthrough is simply moving less?

For years, the logic of AI infrastructure has been straightforward: move more data, push more power, transmit more signals, remove more heat.

Friday 14 August 2026
Alibaba Cloud cuts AI data center build time to 100 days, triples global modular capacity
Alibaba Cloud has cut the delivery cycle for large AI data centers to 100 days with its CUBE 5.0 modular architecture, while lowering construction costs by more than 10% and increasing computing density as demand for AI infrastructure accelerates.
Friday 14 August 2026
Compal lifts profit on AI PCs and servers as component costs rise
Compal Electronics said second-quarter 2026 revenue and profit increased as AI PCs and server demand offset higher memory and other component costs. The Taiwanese electronics maker said the PC industry is moving into a gross margin readjustment phase, and it plans to defend margins while pushing for higher absolute gross profit as AI server scale-up becomes more important in 2027.
Friday 14 August 2026
Analysis: Taiwan Mobile takes control of Systex to close ICT gap with Chunghwa Telecom, Far EasTone

Taiwan Mobile announced on August 13 that it will acquire additional common shares of Systex through its wholly owned subsidiary Taiwan Cellular, raising its total stake to more than 50% and securing majority control of the IT services provider.

Friday 14 August 2026
LandMark Optoelectronics says silicon photonics capacity is "very, very tight"
LandMark Optoelectronics said demand for its silicon photonics (SiPh) products is extremely strong, with output expected to keep rising over the next several quarters as capacity at downstream foundries continues to increase. The optical communications epiwafer maker also said "the current capacity is very, very tight," and that it is prioritizing continuous-wave (CW) laser products as it works to expand production through 2027 and 2028.
Friday 14 August 2026
Quanta posts record second quarter revenue as AI server demand surges
Quanta Computer reported record second-quarter results on August 13, driven by strong demand for AI servers and notebooks. The Taiwanese electronics manufacturer said consolidated revenue, gross profit, operating profit, and earnings per share all reached quarterly highs in the second quarter of 2026.
Friday 14 August 2026
Alibaba Cloud launches Zhenwu M890 supernode for commercial use
Alibaba Cloud has begun commercial service for its Zhenwu M890 supernode in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, giving global customers an early look at how AI infrastructure is shifting toward larger, faster, and more tightly connected systems. The launch could influence future cloud costs, model access, and enterprise AI deployment well beyond China.
Friday 14 August 2026
China PCB makers pour billions into AI server, HPC, optical markets
Chinese printed circuit board (PCB) makers are stepping up investment in higher-value markets including AI servers, high-performance computing (HPC) and optical communications. Following similar expansion in semiconductors and display panels, Chinese companies are rapidly adding PCB capacity as they seek to catch up with South Korean suppliers that have established an early presence in the high-end substrate market.