TSMC and Micron boom drives Taiwan ‘fab five’s 1H26 profits

TSMC, Micron, ASE, and SPIL continue to expand their advanced-node and OSAT investments, driving stronger first-half 2026 results for Taiwan’s fab engineering players — including UIS, MIC, L&K Engineering, YKE and Acter. Together, these five companies, which design and build the specialized facilities and infrastructure that chipmakers rely on, make up what the industry calls the “fab five.” With expanding reach into the US, ASEAN and Singapore, the “fab five” have maintained high order backlogs.

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Taiwan extends graduate stays to 2 years to ease talent shortages

Taiwan has begun allowing overseas Chinese and foreign graduates with associate degrees or higher to extend their residence for up to two years, a change that has already driven a sharp rise in applications. The policy took effect in January 2026 and is intended to help address the island’s talent shortage while making it easier for employers to hire recent graduates.

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AI vision sensing demand heats up for Novatek, PixArt, Elan, Realtek

Taiwanese IC design firms that have been building out AI vision sensing businesses are now reaping the rewards, with major players including display driver IC (DDI) leader Novatek Microelectronics, Himax Technologies, and Realtek Semiconductor, as well as PixArt Imaging and Elan Microelectronics, saying that revenue in this area is rising quickly. The companies see AI vision sensing as set to become a key part of their overall revenue mix.

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India roundup: India’s electronics push gains momentum as water, China ties and chip incentives collide

India’s electronics and AI infrastructure ambitions are accelerating, but mounting environmental opposition, tighter Chinese visa curbs, and intensifying competition for semiconductor investment are exposing new challenges. As Google advances a US$15 billion AI data center, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) restructures its cloud business, and Dixon Technologies expands its smartphone OEM business, states are sweetening incentives to strengthen India’s position in global technology supply chains.

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Toppan eyes FC-BGA substrate price hikes as new line fills up

Japan’s Toppan is negotiating price increases for FC-BGA substrates with customers as its new FC-BGA substrate plant ramps up, lifting the operating margin of its electronics business and doubling consolidated net profit. Nikkei Asia reported that the additional production line at Toppan’s FC-BGA substrate factory in Niigata, Japan, began operations in January 2026, doubling the plant’s FC-BGA substrate capacity from the first half of fiscal 2022 (April-September 2022).

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