Regional politics will become a new variable to the development of the semiconductor industry in the next decade, and semiconductor players should manage to learn its unpredictability and work out effective solutions to meet challenges and opportunities, Tien Wu, chief operating officer at ASE Technology Holding, has said at a pre-show press conference for Semicon Taiwan 2022.

Taiwan’s Phison Electronics, dedicated to supplying NAND flash controllers and devices, has stepped up efforts to diversify the target markets for its SSD offerings to include aerospace and other niche-market applications, looking to offset declines in shipments for consumer electronics devices, according to industry sources.

Burn J Lin, a former TSMC vice president best known for his pioneering work on immersion lithography, has lately offered a dose of optimism towards the Taiwanese foundry’s future, even as it faces continuous competition from Samsung and a resurgent Intel. In an interview with the Taiwanese news media CNA, Lin referred to TSMC’s successful track record of fighting off competitors, and believes the foundry will retain its industry leadership.

Challenges such as entry barriers for substrates and other raw materials, and rising production costs are facing Taiwan’s compound semiconductor industry supply chain, according to Doris Hsu, chairperson for GlobalWafers.