AI-driven demand for advanced packaging services have pushed up ASE Technology’s July sales to record high, the first time to exceed NT$70 billion; Morgan Stanley’s analysis projects 2027 global cloud capital expenditure at $1.5 trillion, with memory chips now accounting for 53%; MediaTek’s (2454.TW) first major ASIC client is confirmed as Google’s 8th-generation TPU project, and other tech news:
I. Semiconductors
1. ASE’s July Revenue Tops NT$70B for the First Time on AI Advanced Packaging Demand
The story: ASE Technology (3711.TW) reported July consolidated revenue of NT$73.784B, up 43.15% year-on-year and its first month ever above NT$70B, as AI-driven advanced packaging demand combines with a recovery in traditional wire-bonding packaging.
Key numbers: Packaging, testing, and materials revenue hit NT$47.524B, up 49.5% year-on-year, also a monthly record. ASE guided Q3 revenue up 21-22% quarter-on-quarter, with its LEAP advanced packaging revenue now tracking to exceed its original $3.5B target.
Why it matters: ASE says growth is no longer just AI packaging; traditional demand in industrial and memory packaging is recovering in parallel, and it expects LEAP revenue to double again in 2027.
2. 2027 Cloud Capex Projected at $1.5 Trillion, With Memory Now Outweighing Compute Chips
The story: Morgan Stanley’s Greater China semiconductor analysis projects 2027 global cloud capital expenditure at $1.5 trillion, with memory chips now accounting for 53% of that spend versus 20% for compute chips including GPUs, ASICs, and CPUs.
Key numbers: CoWoS packaging capacity is projected to support roughly 19 million chip shipments in 2027. At an estimated 2kW average power per GPU or ASIC, that volume would require approximately 38GW of new electricity supply.
Why it matters: Memory overtaking compute chips as the largest line item in cloud capex marks a structural shift in AI infrastructure spending, while the 38GW power requirement sets a hard physical limit on how fast this buildout can scale.
3. TSMC’s July Revenue Hits Record NT$467.58B as Advanced Node Shortage Persists
The story: TSMC reported July consolidated revenue of NT$467.58B, up 44.7% year-on-year and its third straight monthly record, reflecting continued undersupply of sub-5nm capacity. The company separately confirmed a new $100B investment in Arizona for additional 2nm and beyond fabs, bringing total US investment to $265B.
Key numbers: January-July cumulative revenue hit NT$2.87T, up 37% year-on-year, a record for the period. TSMC has raised 2026 capex guidance to $60-64B, up 7-14.3% from its original range.
Why it matters: The Arizona expansion confirms TSMC is treating US capacity as core investment, not just a customer-driven concession, while raised capex guidance mid-year suggests demand visibility used to plan this year’s spending is proving conservative rather than optimistic.
4. Alchip’s July Revenue Jumps 181% as AI ASIC Shipments Ramp, MediaTek’s First Major Cloud Client Is Google’s TPU v8
The story: Alchip (3661.TW) posted July revenue of NT$7.433B, up 181.78% year-on-year, a record driven by North American cloud customers’ 3nm AI accelerator chips entering volume production. MediaTek’s (2454.TW) first major ASIC client is confirmed as Google’s 8th-generation TPU project.
Key numbers: MediaTek expects data center revenue to exceed $2B this year, targeting a 15-20% share of an $80B AI accelerator market by 2027. Alchip’s cumulative Jan-July revenue still fell 13.78% year-on-year, showing a sharp Q3 ramp rather than a steady climb.
Why it matters: Both companies are shifting from design contracts to actual volume shipment revenue, marking Taiwan’s ASIC sector moving from pipeline promises to realized output.
II. Artificial Intelligence
1. Delta Electronics Raises AI Revenue Target to 25% as July Revenue Hits Record NT$67.07B
The story: Delta Electronics reported July consolidated revenue of NT$67.073B, up 47.8% year-on-year and a monthly record, prompting the company to raise its full-year AI-related revenue target from 20% to 25%.
Key numbers: Delta has raised 2026 capex guidance from NT$65B to NT$70B, over 40% higher than last year, expanding manufacturing simultaneously across China, Taiwan, Thailand, and the US, with three new factories completing next year.
Why it matters: Chairman Ping Cheng says cloud providers keep pushing Delta to build faster, meaning the company is now planning capacity ahead of confirmed orders, a bet that AI infrastructure demand keeps outpacing supply.
2. Sony and TSMC Commit $6.32B Joint Venture for Next-Gen Image Sensor Chips, Targeting Physical AI
The story: Sony and TSMC plan to jointly invest roughly CNY1 trillion ($6.32B) to produce next-generation microchips for image sensors in Kumamoto, Japan, with commercial mass production targeted as early as 2029.
Key numbers: The joint venture will be 60% owned by Sony and 40% by TSMC, combining Sony’s image sensor design expertise with TSMC’s advanced process manufacturing.
Why it matters: Both companies frame this around physical AI applications in automotive and robotics, since image sensors are becoming core components as AI moves from cloud data centers into devices that need to perceive their surroundings.
3. Lite-On’s July Revenue Hits 94-Month High as Cloud Server Power Systems Drive Growth
The story: Lite-On (2301.TW) posted July revenue of NT$19.006B, up 37.61% year-on-year, its highest in 94 months, driven by AI data center power and liquid cooling demand, with its cloud and networking division now accounting for 59% of revenue, up nearly 80% year-on-year.
Key numbers: New 8.5kW power supplies and battery backup units have entered mass production, with 110kW rack power systems set to ramp in H2. Full-year AI-related revenue is targeted at nearly 30% of total sales, with 800VDC and 1.5MW rack power projects expected to complete validation in Q3.
Why it matters: Lite-On’s shift toward high-voltage DC power architecture tracks the same next-generation AI platform requirements Delta is building for, showing Taiwan’s power supply makers are converging on the same technical roadmap ahead of 2027’s larger deployment wave.
III. Drones & Defense
1. Musk Says Starlink Could Hit $1 Trillion in Annual Revenue, Carrying Half of Global Internet Traffic
The story: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Starlink could eventually carry 50% of global internet traffic and generate over $1 trillion in annual revenue, roughly 50 times its current scale, citing AI and robotics-driven data demand as the key growth driver, and said he sees “no clear obstacle” to hitting that target.
Key numbers: Analysts currently estimate Starlink’s 2026 revenue at $18-20B. Musk projects Starlink could eventually capture 25% share outside China, worth over $500B annually on its own. Taiwan suppliers GigaStorm, Compeq, Multibase, and Wistron NeWeb all supply SpaceX components spanning satellites, ground stations, and user terminals.
Why it matters: A 50x revenue target is an extreme claim even by Musk’s standards, but it reframes Starlink as an AI-data infrastructure play rather than a satellite internet service, which is the lens Taiwan’s supply chain should now be watching this order flow through.
2. NYT: Taiwan Building a Drone “Hellscape” to Deter Invasion, but Experts Warn Doctrine Reform Lags Hardware
The story: The New York Times reports Taiwan is building a large fleet of aerial and surface attack drones inspired by Ukraine, which US commanders call a “hellscape” strategy, using layered drone, missile, and artillery waves to make an amphibious invasion prohibitively costly for China.
Key numbers: Taiwan’s government wants monthly drone production to reach 100,000 units by 2030, with roughly half for export, alongside military procurement of over 210,000 aerial and maritime unmanned vehicles. CNAS researcher Stacie Pettyjohn’s recent report emphasizes that Taiwan needs stockpiles of low-cost, short-range one-way attack drones in case China cuts off external resupply.
Why it matters: Experts warn Taiwan risks over-focusing on acquiring hardware while under-investing in the organizational and doctrinal reform needed to actually coordinate drone swarms in combat, the harder problem Ukraine had to solve alongside its own drone production scale-up.
3. Chunghwa Telecom Completes Taiwan’s First Non-Rural Commercial Drone Delivery Trial in Chiayi
The story: Chunghwa Telecom and industry partners completed nearly 1,200 delivery missions over nearly 120 flight hours and 1,100km in Chiayi, Taiwan’s first drone logistics demonstration run as regular commercial service in a non-remote area, integrating 5G communications, an air corridor management system, and agentic AI for dispatch.
Key numbers: The project, backed by MOEA’s sandbox and field-testing subsidy programs, built Taiwan’s first dedicated 5G aerial corridor for real-time flight video, control, and remote monitoring, letting a single operator supervise multiple delivery drones simultaneously.
Why it matters: Unlike past drone logistics efforts limited to remote-area supply drops or one-off demos, daily fixed-route delivery over months validates whether drone logistics can actually run as sustained commercial service, the operational data Chunghwa says is the real foundation for scaling low-altitude logistics beyond pilot projects.
IV. Robotics & Industrial Automation
1. Chinese Makers Ship 97% of Global Humanoid Robots in H1, With AgiBot Overtaking Unitree
The story: Chinese humanoid robot manufacturers shipped over 97% of global volume in H1 2026, with Shanghai-based AgiBot shipping 8,400 units for 44% market share, overtaking Unitree’s 5,900 units to become the world’s top shipper.
Key numbers: Global humanoid robot shipments hit roughly 19,100 units in H1, more than double last year. Smart Analytics Global projects full-year 2026 shipments reaching 60,000 units, growing to 500,000 by 2030.
Why it matters: A 97% share concentrated in two Chinese companies shows humanoid robotics has become a China-dominated manufacturing category faster than most other AI hardware segments.
2. South Korea’s LG Innotek and Samsung Electro-Mechanics Position to Fill the Gap as US Restricts Chinese Robots
The story: Following the FCC’s July 28 restrictions on foreign advanced robots, Korean suppliers LG Innotek and Samsung Electro-Mechanics are accelerating their push into humanoid robot components, positioning as alternatives to Chinese vision sensor suppliers.
Key numbers: LG Innotek is now the exclusive vision sensor supplier for Figure AI’s 03 humanoid and co-developing Boston Dynamics’ Atlas vision system. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is leveraging its MLCC and camera module expertise, with each humanoid robot requiring over 10,000 MLCCs and at least five camera modules.
Why it matters: Korean suppliers are moving fast to capture the same non-China sourcing shift Taiwan’s component makers have been chasing, meaning Taiwan and Korea are now competing directly for the same displaced demand.
3. Hyundai Motor Group Pilots Robot Valet Parking, Claims Up to 50% More Capacity
The story: Hyundai Motor Group announced a robot valet parking pilot using thin, 11cm robots developed by Hyundai WIA that slide under vehicles, lift the wheels, and transport cars to designated spots, aiming to ease chronic underground parking congestion in South Korea.
Key numbers: The robots use LiDAR to precisely identify wheel position and size, moving freely in tight spaces to boost parking density. Hyundai expects the system to increase parking capacity 20-50% in the same footprint and separate vehicle and pedestrian traffic to reduce accidents.
Why it matters: The pilot, approved under Korea’s Smart City Regulatory Sandbox with government funding, is running in an actual residential complex in Siheung rather than a controlled test site, making it a real test of whether automated parking robotics can scale into everyday infrastructure, not just demo environments.
V. AI Policy & Geopolitics
1. Taiwan Runs First Nationwide Mobile Network Slowdown Drill, Editorial Warns Satellite Backup Isn’t Enough
The story: Taiwan held its first large-scale mobile network slowdown drill on August 10 and 13, simulating wartime communication disruption. An editorial warns Taiwan’s near-total reliance on undersea cables, some passing through waters China claims jurisdiction over, remains a serious vulnerability despite growing LEO satellite backup efforts.
Key numbers: Research estimates a full communication outage could cost Taiwan over $55M daily. Taiwan’s current LEO satellite backup, via Chunghwa Telecom’s OneWeb and Astranis partnerships, delivers only 90-100Mbps, far below Starlink, which still isn’t legally operating in Taiwan.
Why it matters: The editorial argues satellite backup alone can’t replace a genuinely multi-layered, decentralized communication architecture, since real disruptions won’t announce themselves like a scheduled drill.
2. Chinese Lithography Startup’s 0.35-Micron Machine Wins Orders From Compound Semiconductor Makers, Not Advanced Nodes
The story: Chinese lithography maker XinShang Weizhuang, spun off from SMEE in 2025, says its self-developed 0.35-micron AST6200 stepper has passed validation with a leading domestic compound semiconductor customer and secured meaningful orders, targeting SiC, GaN, and GaAs chips for EVs and 5G.
Key numbers: The AST6200 covers power devices, RF front-ends, and Micro LED processes. XinShang Weizhuang is separately pursuing an independent IPO.
Why it matters: This fills a gap in mature compound semiconductor equipment, not China’s real lithography bottleneck at advanced 3nm/5nm nodes, though repeat purchases show domestic gear can now meet third-generation semiconductor needs.
3. Taiwan’s Listed Companies Post Record July Revenue Near NT$6 Trillion, Third Straight Monthly High
The story: Taiwan’s listed companies posted July revenue of NT$5.98T, up 46.39% year-on-year and a fresh monthly record, driven by IC design, advanced manufacturing, memory, and PCB demand tied to the AI cycle.
Key numbers: A record 206 companies hit all-time-high July revenue, up from 189 in June and just 71 a year earlier. The top five contributors, Foxconn, TSMC, Quanta, Wistron, and WT Microelectronics, generated NT$2.27T, nearly 40% of total revenue.
Why it matters: The jump in high-revenue companies from 71 to 206 year-on-year shows AI-driven growth has broadened well beyond a handful of headline chip names.
Global Market Watch is a daily market intelligence report produced in collaboration between TechSoda and FCC Partners, a Taiwan-based investment bank. We curate and analyze the latest developments across AI, semiconductors, drones & defense, robotics & industrial automation, and policy & geopolitics to keep you informed of the trends shaping global markets.
Disclaimer: Any discussion of stock prices, market performance, or specific companies in this article is provided solely for informational and educational purposes. It should not be construed as investment, financial, or trading advice, nor as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any securities. Readers should conduct their own research and consult a qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions.