Cloud AI’s ripple effect: A comeback for 8-inch wafers
The boom in cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) is reverberating far beyond the most advanced chipmaking nodes.
26
Feb
25
Feb
UMC streamlines leadership: Jason Wang named CEO as co-president model concludes
Leading global semiconductor foundry, United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), has announced on February 25, 2026, a significant restructuring of its executive leadership structure.
25
Feb
IC design house Raydium flags DDI off-season; large-panel orders advance on early stocking
Display driver IC supplier Raydium reported its 2025 financial results, posting full-year revenue of NT$22.4 billion (approx. US$715 million), down 8.1% year-over-year. Gross margin was 28.5%, down 1.5pp, while operating net profit reached NT$1.52 billion, down 28.4% from a year earlier.
25
Feb
Without memory chips, Korea’s semiconductor edge over China erodes, KIET warns
As the AI era accelerates, South Korea’s competitive position is weakening relative to China. Even semiconductors, long a pillar of the Korean economy, are now assessed as being in a state of co-opetition rather than clear leadership.
25
Feb
Unimicron names UMC’s SC Chien chair in substrate strategy shift
Unimicron held an investor conference on 25 February 2026. A day earlier, its board approved the appointment of UMC co-president SC Chien as chairman and group chief strategy officer. He will also join the Sustainable Development & Nominating Committee.
25
Feb
SK Hynix signals seller’s market as memory prices set to climb all year
SK Hynix, one of the world’s top three memory chip makers, told investors on a recent Goldman Sachs conference call that the global memory market has fully shifted to a “seller’s market,” with prices expected to climb throughout 2026.
25
Feb
US tariff ruling sparks transatlantic tensions, European auto industry on edge
After the US Supreme Court ruled that tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were unconstitutional, President Donald Trump reacted sharply, invoking Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act to impose a 15% tariff on global imports. The move has once again cast a shadow of uncertainty over US trade policy.
25
Feb
Chart: Why Taiwan’s OSAT sector just flipped the switch
The latest January revenue data for Taiwan’s Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) sector—disclosed this month—confirms a powerful industry-wide resurgence.
25
Feb
TSMC’s record profits signal AI boom far from over
Blowout earnings from TSMC in 2025 — and an even more bullish outlook for 2026 — have reignited investor enthusiasm across the global semiconductor sector. Attention is now turning to Nvidia, whose latest quarterly results are widely expected to surpass already lofty forecasts.
25
Feb
Unimicron’s 4Q25 profit surpasses combined earnings of first 3 quarters; 2026 capex raised to NT$34 billion
Given the steady demand for AI and high-performance computing (HPC) chips, Unimicron stated that orders for IC substrates and PCBs have picked up. This has not only steadily increased capacity utilization rates, but the company has also negotiated with customers for ABF and BT substrates to gradually reflect rising raw material costs. These factors drove a marked improvement in operations in the fourth quarter of 2025, with single-quarter profits surpassing the combined total of the previous three quarters.