Fusion energy, often referred to as an artificial sun, has become a central focus of global sustainable energy development in recent years. However, despite nearly 70 years of worldwide R&D, commercial fusion power remains unrealized. This is primarily due to several critical technical hurdles, including heating plasma to over 100 million°C and maintaining stable long-term operation, developing materials resistant to high-energy neutrons, tritium breeding, and ensuring overall system reliability. These challenges underscore that fusion power relies not on a single breakthrough, but on a highly integrated system engineering effort.

Silicon photonics (SiPh) is emerging as a core theme at SEMICON Taiwan 2026, and while the sector is still in an early, fast-growing stage, production-line investments are already under way. As optical makers move into co-packaged optics (CPO), the source and capability of laser equipment are becoming critical to whether they can secure market share.

China’s memory industry is shifting from a single-champion model towards a three-pronged structure. ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is building its position in DRAM, Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) in 3D NAND, while Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing (XMC) is concentrating its next phase on NOR Flash, 3D integration and optoelectronics.