Zhen Ding Technology Group (ZDT), the world’s largest printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer, returned to SEMICON Taiwan 2025 to highlight how the AI boom is reshaping PCBs from passive circuit carriers into critical enablers of computing power. Chairman Charles Shen said AI-driven advanced packaging is emerging as a core growth engine for the industry, adding that with chip complexity rising and 3D packaging gaining ground, PCBs now play a decisive role in unlocking full processing performance.

US electronic design automation (EDA) giant Synopsys faced ongoing challenges from US export restrictions to China and difficulties with key foundry customers. As of July 31, 2025, the company’s revenue and profit for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025 fell short of market expectations, prompting an announcement of a 10% workforce reduction.

The semiconductor landscape has fundamentally shifted. As we move from 2025 to 2026, three forces dominate global technology discourse: semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and the Trump administration’s trade policies. In Japan and South Korea, semiconductors are aptly called the “rice of industry”—and in our data-driven economy, this metaphor has never been more relevant.