Semiconductor News 20260203

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1. TSMC Revises 5-Year Growth Plan to Transition to Higher-Profit Structure
   TSMC is revising its growth plan for the next five years, moving away from simply maintaining technology leadership to a higher-profit structure. 2nm process demand for 2026 is tight for mobile and HPC applications, and NVIDIA may be the first to adopt 1.6nm technology in 2028. The company has entered a strategic phase to maximize profitability while continuing to invest in leading-edge technologies.
2. Three Chinese Semiconductor Equipment Makers Enter World’s Top 20, NAURA Ranks 5th
   Chinese semiconductor equipment makers have made great strides, with three companies entering the world’s top 20. In particular, NAURA (Beifang Huasheng) has reportedly risen to fifth place in the world in terms of sales. Even under U.S. regulations, China’s domestic AI demand and self-sufficiency policy are providing a strong tailwind, and 13 Chinese semiconductor companies, including those in the memory sector, are forecasting triple-digit profit growth in 2025, indicating that the supply chain is rapidly becoming more domestically produced and improving its capabilities.
3. NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang Signals AI Competition at Computex
   NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang recognized at Computex that the competition for AI development is entering a more challenging phase, although demand for training AI models remains strong, Hardware supply constraints and cost pressures are surfacing. Related to this, Microsoft has begun to move toward greater efficiency in the face of GPU shortages and high demand, taking steps to reduce the cost of its Maia 200 chips by 30%.
4. Apple Pl ans to Launch Folding iPhone and Demands Lower Prices from Suppliers
   Apple is reportedly planning a clamshell (vertically folded) iPhone to compete with the Galaxy Z Flip, following the company’s first folding smartphone. At the same time, the company is stepping up price reduction demands on suppliers to protect profit margins in the face of rising component costs. The company’s strategy is to stabilize its revenue base by simultaneously revitalizing the market with new form factors and strictly controlling costs.
5. YMTC Moves Up Mass Production at Wuhan Phase 3 NAND Plant to Late 2026
   YMTC (長江存儲), a Chinese memory giant under US sanctions, plans to move up the start of mass production at its phase 3 NAND flash plant in Wuhan to early in the second half of 2026. Armed with its proprietary technology, the company is rapidly expanding its production capacity. In contrast, Japan’s Kioxia has adopted a strategy of focusing on the NAND flash market for data centers, while its competitors are devoting resources to HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), in an attempt to segregate the two markets.
6. Taiwan’s ASE and China’s SMIC Strengthen Advanced Packaging Systems
   Competition for advanced packaging technology is intensifying in Asia. Taiwan’s ASE and China’s SMIC have reportedly established an advanced packaging laboratory in Shanghai. Foundries and OSATs are accelerating R&D and capital investment in anticipation of increased demand in 2026.
7. India and Vietnam Accelerate Semiconductor Supply Chain Hubs
   In its Union Budget for fiscal year 2026-27, the Indian government has announced plans to strengthen its supply chain by increasing support for semiconductors, data centers, and rare earths (REEs). In addition, the Southeast and South Asian region is emerging as a new hub in the global semiconductor manufacturing network, with FPT establishing an advanced semiconductor test and packaging plant in Vietnam, and manufacturing sites are becoming more diversified.
8. TSMC Licenses GaN Technology to VIS and GF for a New Phase
   TSMC has licensed its gallium nitride (GaN) technology to Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) and GlobalFoundries (GF). This marks a new phase in the power semiconductor industry, where TSMC is focusing its resources on leading-edge logic while pursuing an ecosystem strategy to expand the GaN market through its partners, which is expected to accelerate the adoption of next-generation power devices.
9. Global Shift to “Sovereign AI ,” Breaking Away from Dependence on U.S. Products
   The global trend is toward “sovereign AI,” with 35% of the world’s population reportedly moving away from dependence on U.S.-produced artificial intelligence. Governments and companies are pushing to develop AI based on their own infrastructure and language models for data sovereignty and security reasons. This has led to an increase in demand for data centers in different regions and a growing market for AI semiconductor solutions specialized for specific countries and regions.
10. Silicon Photonics and Expanding Demand for AI Back-end Equipment
    Technology innovations are underway to solve thermal and communication speed issues for AI servers Msscorps expects growth from the expansion of silicon photonics, and Japan’s DISCO maintains over 90% share in AI-related back-end equipment. In addition, Waseda University has developed aluminum nitride technology with thermal conductivity as low as that of glass, and significant growth is expected in the semiconductor industry in 2026 in the areas of peripheral technologies and materials that support AI infrastructure.

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