TSMC’s board held its first meeting in Kumamoto, Japan, where it approved the promotion of Y.L. Wang and T.S. Chang to senior vice presidents (SVPs), marking a significant leadership transition within the company. The meeting followed an earlier session in Arizona, US, in 2025, and also saw Yuan-Guo Huang promoted to vice president overseeing procurement after Wen-Ru Li’s departure.

As artificial intelligence workloads push traditional computing architectures to their limits, the photonics industry is emerging as a critical enabler of next-generation data center infrastructure. The third Asia Photonics Expo (APE 2026), which concluded on February 6, 2026, reflected this shift, bringing together more than 240 exhibitors and nine international pavilions to showcase how optical technologies are becoming increasingly intertwined with semiconductor manufacturing and high-performance computing systems.

As demand for higher transmission performance rises alongside the expansion of artificial intelligence and data centers, the 2026 Asia Photonics Expo (APE 2026), held in Singapore, underscored the deepening convergence between the semiconductor and photonics industries. Against this backdrop, DIGITIMES interviewed Sukumar Verma, managing director of Informa Markets Singapore, on development trends shaping the city-state’s high-tech sector.

After US President Donald Trump took office, he vigorously promoted the reshoring of the chip manufacturing supply chain, prompting some Taiwanese companies to shift the focus of their overseas expansion from previously favored new hubs in Southeast Asia to Arizona, where TSMC is located. Dr. Tien Wu, chief operating officer of ASE Technology Holding, said that the group’s future overseas manufacturing footprint will still center on Penang, Malaysia, with the Philippines and South Korea serving as complementary bases, targeting automotive and robotics orders from global IDM customers.