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Japan is broadening its semiconductor support strategy by expanding subsidies for domestic production of legacy chips, aiming to strengthen economic security and reduce reliance on overseas suppliers....

TSMC held its annual technology symposium in Hsinchu on May 14, 2026, after its North America stop, with executives noting that AI applications are rapidly expanding from cloud data centers to edge devices — driving surging demand for semiconductor compute density, high-bandwidth connectivity, power efficiency, and thermal management. Ray Wan, director of Asia-Pacific business, said TSMC will leverage advanced process technology and advanced packaging to help customers accelerate innovation in the AI era....

IC design firm QBit Semiconductor will list on the Emerging Stock Board on May 15, 2026, and chairman Simon Shen, a former Kinpo executive, said the debut marks a new milestone for the company and underscores a promising growth outlook....

Tower Semiconductor reported a strong start to 2026, marked by double-digit revenue growth and a significant jump in net profit. Following a "solid" first quarter, the company issued guidance for the second quarter that would represent the highest revenue in its history. Management highlighted surging growth in silicon photonics and a strategic restructuring of manufacturing in Japan as key drivers of long-term expansion....

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) used its 2026 Technology Forum on May 14 to outline a sweeping view of the AI-driven transformation in semiconductors. Co-COO and senior vice president Kevin Zhang argued that the AI revolution is advancing far faster than anticipated and is reshaping the industry from generative AI and AI agents to inference computing....

As demand for AI data centers, high-speed transmission, and cloud infrastructure continues to rise, the fiber-optic industry has once again become a focal point in the global market, with China's supply chain playing a critical role in the expansion. From heavy reliance on overseas technology and materials to building a complete industrial cluster and becoming a major global supplier, China's fiber-optic industry has undergone nearly half a century of technological catch-up and supply-chain growth....

A Taiwan Intellectual Property Office report released in 2026 showed that AI demand accelerated a global patent race in data center and server cooling technologies, with Inventec, Foxconn, and Quanta emerging among Taiwan's top patent holders. The report analyzed 8,449 published and announced patent families from 2015 through 2024 and found cooling-related patent families grew at a 17% compound annual growth rate over the past decade, and entered a distinct growth phase in 2022 when annual filings first exceeded 1,000....

China's Luxshare is accelerating its push into the global automotive supply chain through a proposed acquisition of BeijingWest Industries International Limited, marking another major step in its transition from a consumer electronics assembler into a global automotive Tier 1 supplier....

Samsung Electronics is reportedly reviving delayed semiconductor initiatives across next-generation NAND flash, compound semiconductors, advanced packaging, and substrates — areas it set aside after more than a year of prioritizing DRAM design and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) competitiveness. The move signals a shift from catch-up mode back toward longer-term technology investment....

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping struck an optimistic tone at their summit in Beijing on Thursday, though their opening remarks quickly revealed competing priorities....

Pegatron announced its first-quarter 2026 financial results on May 13, with profit down more than 60% compared with the same period a year earlier, while earnings per share (EPS) hit its lowest level for the same period in nearly seven years....

Google announced Gemini Intelligence in the US on May 13, further integrating Gemini's AI capabilities into Android. The move pushes Android from a traditional operating system toward a "smart system," but in China, local AI ecosystems leave little room for Gemini Intelligence to gain traction....

The ongoing Samsung Electronics labor dispute highlights sharply different labor models in South Korea and Taiwan, where firms such as TSMC operate with minimal union presence and rely instead on compensation-driven workforce stability. Industry observers say the Samsung conflict reflects broader tensions over profit sharing during the AI-driven semiconductor upcycle, while Taiwan's tech sector continues to favor high mobility and individual incentives over collective bargaining....

Google's The Android Show 2026 reframed its Android and AI strategy around Gemini Intelligence, signaling a shift toward premium hardware as the primary battleground for AI. The move integrates Gemini across devices and partners, aligning Google with an Apple-like model that places the hardware layer at the center of AI rollout....

Appier, an AI-native Agentic AI-as-a-Service company, reported on May 13 that first-quarter 2026 revenue and profit reached record highs and that it expects second-quarter 2026 results to exceed prior guidance as scaled Agentic AI deployments expand operating leverage. The firm said the strong start to the year was driven by go-to-market execution across key verticals and broader adoption of Agentic AI, which it said laid a firmer foundation for profitability....

Swancor Holding is continuing its push into high-value materials, with aerospace composites and AI robot-related businesses now accounting for 14% and 4% of revenue, respectively. Alongside these contributions, the company is targeting the AI server supply chain with its M8 copper-clad laminate (CCL) materials, which have already entered the customer testing phase, though shipment volumes currently remain low....

Asus Computer Inc. reported first-quarter 2026 brand revenue of NT$194.051 billion (US$6.19 billion), a record high and a 44% increase year on year, driven by surging AI server demand and stable notebook shipments. The company's co-CEOs, S.Y. Hsu and Samson Hu, raised the full-year server revenue growth target to "at least double," up from a prior 50% to 100% range....

Despite weakness in the personal computer market, surging DDR5 memory prices, and tight CPU supply, ASMedia Technology posted record results in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring early gains from its shift beyond PC connectivity chips into custom silicon, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and automotive electronics....

SoftBank is committing JPY1 trillion (US$6.34 billion) through fiscal 2030 to make artificial intelligence, data centers, and energy infrastructure its next growth engines, according to company materials as well as Bloomberg and Nikkei reports....

Sony announced on May 13 that it will launch the Xperia 1 VIII flagship phone as it seeks to reclaim market share amid intensifying competition in the premium smartphone segment. The company said the device debuts a new AI photography assistant powered by Xperia Intelligence and a redesigned telephoto image sensor aimed at improving detail and high-resolution performance for distant subjects....