TSMC said CoWoS has entered 5.5x reticle-size mass production with AI customer yields above 98%, targeting 14x reticle size by 2029; Good news for Taiwan’s supply chain partners — Nvidia signed an MOU with six financial giants (including Goldman Sachs and BlackRock) to build a $500B financing platform for customers buying its chips; China’s Long March 7A rocket exploded roughly 85 seconds after liftoff on August 10; US packaging giant Amkor is reportedly considering divesting its China operations, and more tech news:
I. Semiconductors
1. TSMC’s CoWoS Packaging Set to Reach 14x Reticle Size by 2029, Cutting Development Cycles in Half
The story: TSMC VP Ho Jun said CoWoS has entered 5.5x reticle-size mass production with AI customer yields above 98%, targeting 14x reticle size by 2029, compressing its packaging development cycle from roughly two years per generation to about one.
Key numbers: Analysts project TSMC’s CoWoS monthly capacity reaching 140,000 wafers by end-2026 and 220,000 by end-2027. TSMC is also advancing SoIC 3D stacking, offering over 50x interconnect density at 6-micron pitch, moving toward 4.5-micron by 2029.
Why it matters: Faster development cycles mean Taiwan’s equipment, materials, and substrate suppliers get pulled into the design process earlier, shortening how long new packaging capacity takes to generate revenue.
2. TSMC Board Approves Q2 Capex, Bringing 2026 Total to $60.7B, and Becomes First Taiwan Firm to Offer USD Dividends
The story: TSMC’s board approved this year’s Q2 capital budget of $29.44B, bringing total 2026 board-approved capex to $60.7B, while also becoming the first Taiwan-listed company to let foreign shareholders receive dividends directly in USD.
Key numbers: TSMC’s investment cap in its Sony image sensor joint venture is set at ¥282B, targeting 2029 mass production. Foreign ownership of TSMC shares stands at 69.16%, and 49 other Taiwan-listed companies could follow the same USD dividend model.
Why it matters: TSMC going first on USD dividends removes a currency-conversion friction point for foreign shareholders and sets a template other Taiwan exporters are now expected to consider.
3. 800V DC Power Architecture for AI Data Centers Lifts Taiwan’s Power Discrete Component Makers
The story: Nvidia, Microsoft, and Arm all flagged power delivery and cooling as the key AI infrastructure bottleneck at this year’s OCP APAC Summit, driving Taiwan power semiconductor makers Chiang Mao Electronics (2481.TW) and TechCode (3675.TW) to expand rectifier diode, MOSFET, and silicon carbide product lines.
Key numbers: Chiang Mao’s July revenue hit NT$1.448B, up 30.98% year-on-year. TechCode’s July revenue reached NT$291M, up 29.78%, a fresh monthly record.
Why it matters: The shift to 800V DC architecture raises average selling prices and technical barriers, pushing demand toward higher-margin SiC and high-voltage components rather than commodity diodes.
II. Artificial Intelligence
1. Nvidia’s $500B AI Financing Platform Secures Massive Demand for Taiwan’s Supply Chain
The Story: Nvidia signed an MOU with six financial giants (including Goldman Sachs and BlackRock) to build a $500B financing platform for customers buying its chips.
Key numbers: Nvidia also invested $3B in power developer Lancium, is negotiating up to $600B with OpenAI, and formed a $500B+ partnership with SK Group.
Why It Matters: CEO Jensen Huang likens this to real estate financing against future revenue, though it revives market concerns about circular-financing risks. This capital removes downstream CapEx bottlenecks, translating directly into guaranteed long-term orders for TSMC (advanced nodes/CoWoS) and Taiwanese server ODMs.
2. Compal Opens New Taoyuan AI Server Plant, Targets 40% AI Revenue Share by 2027
The story: Compal (2324.TW) opened its new Daxi, Taoyuan AI server manufacturing center, with chairman Ray Chen saying the company has moved from AI server “outsider” to “mid-tier player” in two years, now targeting enterprise, NeoCloud, and hyperscaler clients.
Key numbers: AI server revenue has grown from about 2% of total revenue at year-end to high single digits in Q2, with a year-end target of 10% and a 2027 target of 40%.
Why it matters: Compal framing manufacturing capability as the deciding factor in who can actually deploy AI, not just design it, reflects how competitive positioning has shifted from chip access to system-integration capacity.
3. Siliconware Precision (SPIL) Breaks Ground on NT$100B Douliu Plant, Largest Single Tech Investment in Recent Years
The story: Advanced packaging maker Siliconware Precision Industries (2325.TW) broke ground on a new NT$100B Douliu facility, its largest single investment to date, positioning the site as its key hub for next-generation AI advanced packaging.
Key numbers: The plant will bring 1,300 jobs in its first phase, rising to 2,200 at full capacity, targeted to begin operations in 2028. AMD’s global VP has already discussed a potential 10-year cooperation plan with SPIL.
Why it matters: Local officials framing this as a race to attract semiconductor investment before it goes elsewhere shows Taiwan’s chip supply chain expansion is now also a competition between counties for land and infrastructure.
4. Foxconn Industrial Internet’s H1 Net Profit Jumps 96% as AI Server Business Doubles Down
The story: FII, Foxconn’s China-listed AI server unit, posted H1 2026 revenue of RMB557.86B, up 54.6%, and net profit of RMB23.74B, up 96%, both records, driven by GPU and ASIC AI server shipments to cloud service providers.
Key numbers: CSP AI server revenue grew 2.3x and GPU AI cabinet shipments grew 3.2x year-on-year. Goldman Sachs projects FII’s global AI server market share rising from 55% in 2026 to 69% by 2028.
Why it matters: Net profit growing faster than revenue shows FII’s high-margin AI products are increasingly displacing its lower-margin traditional contract manufacturing business.
III. Drones & Defense
1. China’s Long March 7A Rocket Explodes After Launch, LandSpace’s Reusable Rocket Test Also Delayed
The story: China’s Long March 7A rocket exploded roughly 85 seconds after liftoff on August 10 while carrying a communications satellite. Separately, private rocket company LandSpace’s Zhuque-3, using SpaceX Falcon-style booster recovery technology, had its planned reusability test delayed due to a malfunction.
Key numbers: The Long March 7A has flown 18 times since 2020, with 16 successes before this failure. LandSpace’s cumulative losses over three years topped RMB3.7B, with its 2029 profitability target depending on Zhuque-3’s reusability succeeding.
Why it matters: Musk noted rockets “rarely go perfectly,” pointing out Starship had three mid-air breakups last year, framing these failures as a normal part of reusable rocket development.
2. FCC Moves to Retroactively Ban Already-Certified Chinese Drones, Not Just New Models
The story: The FCC is reportedly expanding its Chinese drone restrictions from blocking new model certifications to retroactively revoking approval for already-certified drones with “military-grade” features like LiDAR, thermal imaging, or swarm flight, a shift that would push DJI’s popular consumer models off US shelves entirely.
Key numbers: Taiwan’s Thunder Tiger and AIDC are positioned to lead a Taiwan drone alliance push into the US market, with component makers Aurora Optical, Formosa Sci-Tech, and Sheng Tian also flagged as beneficiaries.
Why it matters: Retroactive decertification would eliminate DJI’s existing US revenue base rather than just its future one, accelerating the replacement demand Taiwan’s drone supply chain has been positioning to capture.
3. Kaohsiung Trains Local Manufacturers on AS9100 Aerospace Certification to Enter Drone Supply Chains
The story: Kaohsiung’s Economic Development Bureau and the Metal Industries Research & Development Centre ran an AS9100 aerospace quality certification training for local manufacturers, including fastener and precision machining firms, aiming to help them break into global aerospace and drone supply chains.
Key numbers: Kaohsiung-area manufacturers already handle 75% of globally outsourced aircraft engine component production commissioned to Taiwan, built on the city’s fastener, metal processing, and precision machinery clusters.
Why it matters: AS9100 certification functions as the common technical language required to sell into aerospace and drone supply chains, not just an internal quality process, and city officials are treating it as the next step for traditional manufacturers to move up the value chain as Taiwan’s drone industry scales.
IV. Robotics & Industrial Automation
1. Aurotek’s Functional Robots Enter Wafer Fabs as Automation Subsystems Drive Record July Revenue
The story: Aurotek (6215.TW) said its functional robot products have entered semiconductor wafer fabs, with automation subsystems becoming a key growth driver alongside humanoid robot development and deepening alliances with Pudu Robotics and UBTECH.
Key numbers: Aurotek’s July revenue hit a record NT$378M, up 35.54% month-on-month, with automation equipment and subsystems now 54% of H1 revenue. Semiconductor customers account for 58% of H1 revenue.
Why it matters: Aurotek is repositioning from a component supplier to running robotics solutions and subsystems as parallel growth engines, with wafer fab deployment marking a concrete commercial foothold beyond the humanoid pilots most rivals are still stuck at.
2. GAC’s Humanoid Robot Unit Huilun Technology Closes Over RMB100M Funding Round
The story: GAC Group’s humanoid robot spinoff Huilun Technology completed a funding round exceeding RMB100M, backed by CRRC Guochuang Fund, CMB International, and Sichuan Kechuang, to fund vertical model optimization, auto production line deployment, and hardware iteration.
Why it matters: Another major Chinese automaker following BYD and Hyundai into dedicated humanoid robot spinoffs shows the auto-to-robotics pipeline extending beyond the handful of names already covered.
3. South Korea Launches Sovereign Wealth Fund Targeting AI, Robotics, and Energy
The story: South Korea plans to deploy roughly 600 billion to over 1 trillion won ($460M-$770M+) next year through a new sovereign wealth fund targeting AI and other strategic industries, joining a growing list of governments directly investing to secure a foothold in high-tech sectors.
Key numbers: The fund sits separate from Korea Investment Corporation’s existing 20 trillion won ($13.9B) allocation toward AI, data centers, and infrastructure announced last month, and will also target robotics, energy, batteries, and grid infrastructure, with nuclear, space, and quantum technology under consideration. Deputy Finance Minister Min Kyung-seol said there are no current plans to directly invest in Samsung Electronics or SK Hynix.
Why it matters: Sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East, Europe, and North America are already in talks with Seoul about co-investing alongside this new fund, signaling Korea is positioning itself as a coordination hub for international AI capital, not just a domestic spender.
V. AI Policy & Geopolitics
1. Amkor Weighs Selling China Business as Global OSAT Firms Retreat From Advanced Packaging There
The story: US packaging giant Amkor is reportedly considering divesting its China operations, valued at $1-1.5B, as US export controls on AI chips push it to concentrate capital on higher-margin AI packaging instead, following a $1.5B Nvidia deal and a 10-year TSMC partnership signed earlier this year.
Key numbers: Amkor’s Shanghai plant can no longer take on advanced packaging orders and faces higher costs than Southeast Asia. SK Hynix is separately evaluating options for its Chongqing plant, valued around $3B, following ASE’s 2021 sale of four China plants to JCET.
Why it matters: Global OSAT leaders retreating from China’s advanced packaging market confirms Taiwan’s own earlier moves, ASE’s 2021 exit chief among them, as the leading edge of a broader industry-wide shift.
2. King Slide’s Server Rail Technology, Once a Furniture Slide Business, Becomes an Nvidia Supply Chain Chokepoint
The story: Kaohsiung-based King Slide, which started in 1977 making furniture drawer slides, became a critical AI server rail supplier after winning a decisive Compaq contract in 2001 by redesigning its product within a week rather than cutting prices, building a patent-protected moat with 3,600 patents.
Key numbers: King Slide’s server rail business reportedly carries gross margins around 87.4%. The company now supplies IBM, HP, and Nvidia server partners, already engaged on rail design for Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin platform.
Why it matters: A component as seemingly mundane as a server rail has become a genuine supply chain chokepoint, and King Slide’s patent accumulation makes it hard for competitors to replicate quickly.
3. Radar Gap Let Chinese Men Cross Illegally by Rubber Boat, Coast Guard Fast-Tracks AI Detection Upgrade
The story: Taiwan’s Coast Guard confirmed a radar operator misjudged wave interference as the reason two Chinese men crossed undetected by rubber boat from Fujian to New Taipei, prompting the agency to accelerate AI-assisted radar and drone deployment to close coastal surveillance gaps.
Key numbers: Since 2025, the Coast Guard has recorded 71 illegal landing cases with 22 arrests, but its radar system, still lacking full AI target recognition, achieves only 85.9% detection accuracy for small targets.
Why it matters: This is a concrete case where the absence of AI-assisted detection directly created a security failure, adding urgency to the Coast Guard’s push for drones and AI recognition beyond routine budget planning.
Global Market Watch is a daily market intelligence report produced in collaboration between TechSoda and FCC Partners Asia, 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.