Semiconductor News 20260309

Main News

1. Global Semiconductor Sales Record 46.1% Year-Over-Year Growth
   Data from SIA and WSTS show that global semiconductor sales grew a strong 46.1% in January 2026 compared to the same month last year, with a surge in global semiconductor demand, especially AI-related demand, driving the market strongly, indicating that the industry The overall industry is entering a strong growth cycle. Companies are rushing to expand production capacity to meet the robust demand.
2. NAND Prices Predicted to Surge in H2 2026
   ADATA’s chairman predicted that NAND flash memory prices will surge in the second half of 2026. Phison is also taking advantage of the AI boom to post record profits and predicts explosive growth through 2026, as demand for AI infrastructure puts pressure on general-purpose memory production quotas, and the memory market continues to experience a wave of tight supply and price spikes that are significantly boosting the earnings of related companies.
3. Leading Banks Cultivate Financing for ¥8 Trillion Semiconductor Market
   With Japan’s semiconductor-related market expected to grow to ¥8 trillion, Mizuho Bank and other mega-banks in Japan are cultivating financing in earnest. Mizuho Bank has established a new base to support Japan-Taiwan collaboration in Kyushu, which is thriving due to TSMC’s expansion and other factors. Financial institutions are becoming increasingly active in supporting the industry in order to tap into the huge demand for funds to rebuild the semiconductor supply chain.
4. AI Growth May Face Energy Limits, Not Chips
   The vice president of Applied Materials warned that growth in the rapidly expanding AI field may face an energy challenge wall before the limits of chip miniaturization. As the power consumption of massive AI data centers increases significantly, there is an urgent need to develop technologies that fundamentally improve the power efficiency of the entire system. Not only performance improvement, but also consideration of environmental impact and power supply networks will be key to building the AI infrastructure of the future.
5. China’s Defense Chips and Satellite Systems Achieve Full Domestic Production
   Chinese scholars have revealed that defense chips and satellite systems are already 100% domestically produced. In the face of decoupling due to strict U.S. export controls, China is rapidly establishing self-sufficiency in core technologies in the military and aerospace sectors. Technological independence in areas directly related to security is expected to have a significant impact on the future geopolitical balance of power and the global struggle for technological supremacy.
6. China’s Ministry of Commerce Warns Netherlands on Semiconductor Supply Crisis
   China’s Ministry of Commerce has strongly warned the Netherlands, which is sympathetic to U.S. pressure to tighten restrictions on semiconductor equipment exports, to take full responsibility if it again causes a crisis in the global semiconductor production and supply chain. critical technologies such as ASML. As the conflict between the U.S. and China over key technologies such as ASML intensifies, China is pushing back strongly against any clampdown on its own high-tech industry, heightening tensions in the global semiconductor trade.
7. Broadcom ‘s AI Semiconductors Perform Well, While Other Businesses Face Complications
   Broadcom’s earnings report showed that its AI-related semiconductor business is performing extremely well and driving growth, while other non-AI businesses are facing complexities, including weak demand. The report also highlighted the polarization of the semiconductor market’s demand structure, with a clear divide in performance between areas that have benefited strongly from special AI demand and traditional enterprise IT and telecommunications infrastructure areas.
8. Price hikes in China’s semiconductor industry, domestically produced equipment in full operation
   China’s semiconductor industry is entering a tidal wave of price hikes, and the market is booming, with DENKE CHIP’s loan balance reaching RMB636 million. In addition, domestically produced semiconductor production equipment, such as wafer cutting equipment from Guangli Technology, is in continuous full operation, and new orders from domestic encapsulation and testing companies are pouring in. Against the backdrop of U.S. regulations, investment in the establishment of semiconductor supply chains and domestic production in China is progressing strongly.
9. Samsung Electronics Labor Union Announces General Strike in May
   The Samsung Electronics labor union has announced that it will hold a general strike in May and that its members will vote for or against the strike. The labor-management conflict is deepening at a critical time when the memory market is recovering and the company must operate at full capacity to meet AI demand. If the strike becomes a reality, it could have a direct impact on the global semiconductor supply chain and the supply of products such as smartphones, and the situation is being closely watched.
10. Iranian Warfare Accelerates Militarization of AI; Developers’ Labor Rights at Issue
    As the situation in the Middle East becomes increasingly tense and the Iranian war takes on the appearance of an AI battle, the military use of AI is expanding with a delay in the development of norms. With this, the conflict with the labor rights and ethics of AI developers, who insist that they do not build weapons, has emerged as a major point of contention. The friction between the use of technology for national security and the belief in peaceful use held by engineers poses a heavy challenge to the future development of AI technology and the state of both military and civilian technology.

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