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Unlike IC design brands, IDM companies are typically conservative regarding demand conditions for the automotive chip market. The difference is partly related to operating base levels. New entrants continue to expand their market share in certain emerging automotive electronics functions and are in a growth phase. On the other hand, IDMs and some more traditional analog chip suppliers face relatively fixed market structures. With overall vehicle sales momentum not particularly strong, their 2026 outlook is more cautious....

Benefiting from surges in AI GPU, and ASIC demand, both TSMC and non-TSMC camps have raised their 2026 CoWoS capacity plans. Notably, due to CoWoS supply shortages and Nvidia's requirements, TSMC's foundry orders are gradually spilling over to OSAT companies like Amkor and ASE, raising market concerns about a potential loss of TSMC's market share....

These are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories in the week of December 15 to December 21, 2025....

Etron Technology founder Nicky Lu says the boom in AI is accelerating semiconductor innovation and restoring the momentum of Moore's Law, even as a global memory shortage threatens to persist through the first half of 2027. Speaking in Taipei as the industry closes a record-breaking year, Lu noted that the demand for high bandwidth and customized memory architectures is forcing a structural shift in how chips are designed and manufactured....

King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) is accelerating its expansion efforts in Taiwan and Singapore to address rising demand for AI chip testing services. The Taiwanese testing and assembly firm plans to establish its first overseas manufacturing base in Singapore, aiming to commence mass production by 2027, according to KYEC chairman C.K. Lee....

Taiwan-based networking solutions provider Zinwell Corp reported a dramatic revenue rebound, with September 2025 sales soaring 216.6% year-over-year and accelerating to 319.8% in October. The company credited the surge to successful product validations and a shift toward mass production for major international clients....

Sun Tech, a third-party payment brand under Softstar Entertainment, submitted its application on December 17, 2025, to list on the Taiwan Exchange's Emerging Stock Board (ESB). The company will hold a pre-listing earnings call on December 29, 2025, to outline its future business strategies and growth drivers, with the official ESB debut scheduled for January 5, 2026....

The PC market has been heavily impacted by memory supply disruptions. In response, Acer Group's subsidiary Acer Gadget has partnered with Quanta Group's RoyalTek and Taiwan's leading auto parts retailer New Focus Auto (NFA) to launch smart in-vehicle products....

The long-rumored transfer of Luxgen, the automotive brand under Yulon Motor, to Foxtron Vehicle Technologies—a joint venture between Foxconn and Yulon—was formally confirmed on the evening of December 19. The announcement has drawn intense scrutiny from both financial markets and the manufacturing sector, as its ripple effects across Taiwan's automotive supply chain continue to unfold....

AOI Electronics, a Japan-based semiconductor assembly and test provider, has entered into a business alliance with India's Kaynes Semicon Private Limited and Japan's Mitsui to support the establishment of a semiconductor back-end processing business in India....

According to Nikkei, Yuichi Hotta, president of TSMC's Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing (JASM), confirmed on December 19 that construction of the second wafer fabrication plant in Kikuyo Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, is continuing. This statement counters recent reports by Japanese media suggesting the project had stalled....

Rising memory chip prices are unlikely to slow the world's largest technology companies as they accelerate investment in artificial intelligence computing, but the surge risks squeezing consumer electronics demand in 2026, IC distributors said, as components and capacity continue to shift toward AI infrastructure....

Samsung Electronics launched its first tri-fold smartphone, the Galaxy Z TriFold, in Taiwan on December 18. The company announced on December 19 that the entire initial shipment had sold out on launch day....

Apple's iPhone 17 series has achieved strong sales following its September 10 launch, with the standard iPhone 17 maintaining its price despite upgraded specifications. This contributed to sales initially surpassing expectations and sustaining momentum through October, leading the iPhone 17 to capture over 20% of the market share in China during that month....

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc. and founder of xAI, recently declared that if xAI survives the critical next two to three years, it will surpass competitors like OpenAI and Google by harnessing massive GPU computing power. Speaking at an all-hands meeting at xAI's San Francisco headquarters, Musk outlined an aggressive expansion plan for the company's AI infrastructure and emphasized its substantial financial backing....

Foxtron Inc. has confirmed its acquisition of 100% of Luxgen Motor from Yulon Group for NT$7.876 billion (US$250 million), aiming to solidify its foothold in Taiwan's electric vehicle (EV) market. The deal, announced at a joint press conference on the evening of December 19, marks a significant step in Foxtron's strategic expansion within the local EV sector....

Wistron's board approved a new investment plan on December 19 to expand AI server and networking production. The company will build a new factory in Vietnam for network products and increase AI server capacity at its Hsinchu campus. To support this growth, Wistron authorized up to NT$21.528 billion (approx. US$683 million) for machinery and facility upgrades at Hsinchu, aiming to meet rising AI demand....

Corporate demand for green electricity is accelerating as Taiwan prepares to implement carbon fees in 2026 and as the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) reshapes export requirements. Data from Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) show that direct supply of green power has risen sharply in recent years, a trend the utility expects to continue as net-zero pressures intensify across supply chains....

AMEC, China's leading semiconductor equipment vendor, has sent its clearest signal yet that it no longer intends to remain a single-discipline specialist. Its planned acquisition of a controlling stake in Hangzhou Sizone Electronic Technology marks a strategic shift toward becoming a platform-scale equipment group, rather than a company defined by individual tools....

At the HAIC2025 Artificial Intelligence Innovation Conference in Kunshan on December 18, Dawning Information Industry Co. (Sugon) unveiled its scaleX 10,000-accelerator supercluster, marking the first physical debut of a domestically developed AI cluster at this scale....