Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) reported consolidated revenue of NT$4.01 billion (approx. US$127 million) in January 2026, reflecting a decline in wafer shipments. The figure was down 18.6% from December 2025, when revenue totaled NT$4.93 billion, but up 18.4% from a year earlier, underscoring uneven but improving demand conditions.

SK Hynix is expected to begin shipments this month of its sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory, HBM4, a high-performance, low-power semiconductor designed for Nvidia’s next-generation artificial intelligence accelerator, Vera Rubin.

With China’s solar products set to lose a 9% export tax rebate in April 2026, compounded by raw material inflation, a wave of pre-rebate-cancellation stockpiling should theoretically emerge. Instead, this buying momentum has mainly come from overseas players. Meanwhile, many other foreign customers, faced with being passed on higher raw material costs, have ultimately chosen to stay on the sidelines. Survival in the industry is increasingly dependent on cash reserves rather than technological superiority.

Facing challenges from soaring memory prices, inflation, and geopolitical risks, the global smartphone demand is widely expected to decline by 2-3% in 2026. However, Samsung Electronics, as one of the world’s largest memory suppliers, holds an advantage this year in securing mobile memory supply and controlling costs compared to competitors.