12 Dec
Latest News and Trends

AI hardware landscape shifts from GPUs to NPUs as edge computing gains ground

As artificial intelligence (AI) transitions from cloud-centric operations to edge devices, the hardware that powers AI is undergoing significant change. While graphics processing units (GPUs) have long dominated both AI training and deployment, neural processing units (NPUs) are now emerging as a viable alternative, particularly for edge applications, according to Jeffrey Chen, vice president of product marketing at Kneron. Chen elaborated on these evolving trends at the recent Human-Machine Co-Creation New Era annual summit.

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12 Dec
Latest News and Trends

Japan’s major banks and corporations back Rapidus with massive financing and new investments

Japan is accelerating its national push to rebuild an advanced semiconductor ecosystem as Rapidus, the country’s flagship next-generation chip venture, secures financing from major banks and private equity from more than twenty Japanese companies. According to reports from Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun, Japan’s three megabanks, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, and Mizuho Bank, will provide Rapidus with up to JPY2 trillion (approx. US$12.8 billion) in financing.

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12 Dec
Latest News and Trends

Camellia expands automotive sector revenue with three-phase Southeast Asia strategy

Steel bar and wire maker Camellia Metal has steadily grown sales from the automotive sector, increasing the sector’s share of revenue from 33% in 2023 to 39% in 2025 despite challenging conditions. The company is actively expanding into the Southeast Asian market with a three-stage plan aimed at competing against established Japanese supply chains.

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12 Dec
Latest News and Trends

VPEC will focus on optical components in 2026

AI data centers are seeing rapidly increasing demand for HPC and big data processing. The shift from traditional copper wiring to fiber optics boosts data transfer rates while lowering power consumption. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) epitaxy maker Visual Photonics Epitaxy Co. (VPEC) stated that while the smartphone market in 2026 is expected to remain flat or show slight growth, rising transmission efficiency requirements in AI data centers will drive planned equipment purchases and expanded capacity, making data centers the company’s main growth driver for 2026.

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12 Dec
Latest News and Trends

Taiwan firms tighten hold on AI-server PCB drilling supply chain

Explosive AI infrastructure investment is driving a broad upgrade across the PCB value chain, pulling high-end AI server and materials demand sharply higher. PCB layer counts and CCL specifications are rising in tandem, lifting earnings for downstream suppliers. The same momentum is now pushing upstream drilling consumables and equipment into a tight supply, a sign of how quickly AI hardware cycles are compressing.

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12 Dec
Latest News and Trends

TSMC pauses work on second Kumamoto wafer fab amid potential shift to AI chip production

TSMC, through its Japanese subsidiary Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing (JASM), has halted construction on its second wafer fabrication facility in Kikuyo Town, Kumamoto Prefecture. The project, initially intended to produce 6-7nm and 40nm automotive and image sensor chips, saw a near-complete stoppage roughly two months after groundbreaking in October 2025.

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12 Dec
Latest News and Trends

Huawei and YMTC expand into South Korea’s consumer SSD market following Micron’s exit

Huawei is moving to capitalize on a tightening consumer solid-state drive (SSD) market in South Korea, introducing new products this month as established suppliers raise prices and Micron prepares to exit the segment. The shift, driven by surging demand for enterprise products supporting artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, is pushing South Korean PC makers to seek alternative suppliers, potentially opening the door for Chinese brands.

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