March 9, 2026

Apple's First Made-in-U.S. Chips Fall Short of Claim Apple's claim of producing over 100 million U.S.-made chips in 2026 is partly misleading, as wafers from TSMC's Arizona plant must be shipped to Taiwan for advanced packaging. U.S. facilities won't scale until 2028, keeping reliance on Asia. EE Times

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VIEWPOINT 2026: Rich DePoto, Business Development Manager, Uyemura Uyemura has invested ambitiously in advanced chemical technologies. As such, we can find ourselves with extraordinary solutions . . . in search of problems. When adaptation advances slowly, this approach can appear inefficient – at least temporarily. Today's electrical design needs are clearly outpacing what's ... Uyemura

Peer viewpoint: AI data centers are driving a semiconductor revolution AI adoption is tripling data center demand by 2030. Henkel surveyed 120 semiconductor leaders to uncover how innovation in materials and packaging is powering future-ready, high-performance infrastructure. Technical Paper

Sponsor In situ hydrogen plasmas — A New Paradigm for Advanced Packaging Hydrogen plasmas drive breakthroughs in 3D chip technology, enabling ultra-dense interconnects and faster signal speeds above 5 GHz. Surfx Technologies

TSMC to hire 8,000 workers in 2026 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) plans to hire 8,000 employees this year, offering master's engineers an average NT$2.2 million salary. Recruitment targets multiple Taiwanese cities, emphasizes AI, digital transformation skills & includes university job fairs and internships. Taipei Times

Chip Industry Week In Review A new IAPS report warns that as AI use surges—now reaching over 60% of the federal workforce—advanced systems face growing risks from hidden tampering, backdoors, and unauthorized changes that could compromise their behavior and outputs. Semiconductor Engineering

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Technical Papers Alpha Particle Emissions: An Overlooked Risk for Soft Errors in Advanced Packaging Revolutionizing IC Packaging with High-Density RDL Technology EOTPR Fine pitch probing for die-to-die interconnect failure analysis in chiplet devices Die-on-Tab for Compound Semiconductors: Enabling Advanced RF Power Systems Package Assembly Design Kits: The Future of Advanced Package Design Novel Molded FCBGA Package Platform For Highly Reliable Automotive Applications Eliminating Interfacial Delamination in High-Power Automotive Devices MORE TECHNICAL PAPERS

Sponsor RDL Interposers – USA Fabrication Organic Substrates/High Density Interposers - 20µm Dielectrics - 12µm Traces - 50µm "Stay Flat" Cores - Quick Turns. Learn more. Advanced Component Labs, Inc.

"China's ASML" by 2030? SMIC, Naura and Other Chip Leaders Call for National Effort Chinese chip leaders outlined a national roadmap to build a domestic alternative to Dutch equipment giant ASML, urging coordinated funding and resources to advance EUV and DUV lithography as China pursues semiconductor self-reliance. TrendForce

Notes from Central Taiwan: The myth of TSMC's 'hollowing out' Pro-China parties KMT and TPP claim TSMC's U.S. fabs strip Taiwan of assets, proposing limits on technology transfers. Experts counter that Taiwan retains chip dominance, with massive domestic investments, while labor, power, and water shortages pose real long-term industry risks. Taipei Times

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Semiconductor shortage possible, Beijing says China's Ministry of Commerce warns that a deepening dispute between Nexperia's Dutch headquarters and its Chinese subsidiary could trigger another global chip crunch. Clashes over control and operations are disrupting global chip output. Taipei Times

China warns of fresh chip crisis as Nexperia dispute flares up China's commerce ministry warned that the Dutch headquarters of Nexperia will bear responsibility if its dispute with a Chinese subsidiary over account access and operational control disrupts production and triggers another global automotive chip shortage. South China Morning Post

Sponsor Copper vs silver: a turning point for WBG die attach Copper sintering is challenging silver's dominance in power semiconductors. Read how new materials are enabling high performance at lower cost. Henkel AG & Co.

The long game of Rick Tsai: from TSMC's darkest hour to the AI era In November 2008, TSMC CEO Dr. Rick Tsai faced a dire crisis as the global financial meltdown slashed fab utilization below 40%, causing orders to vanish and threatening the world's most critical semiconductor manufacturer. Digitimes

10-Year Roadmap for AI + Hardware (UIUC, UCLA, Stanford et al.) Researchers from major universities and tech firms released AI+HW 2035, a 10-year roadmap to co-design AI and hardware. The initiative targets 1000× efficiency gains with energy-aware systems and cross-layer integration for sustainable AI. Semiconductor Engineering

Sponsor IR Layer Release Technology for 3D Packaging and Logic Scaling Ultra-thin layer transfer from silicon carriers with nanometer precision using an IR laser and inorganic release layers revolutionizes 3D packaging & logic scaling. EV Group

Lai outlines quantum industry plans Taiwan plans to leverage its semiconductor expertise to advance high-speed quantum computing. Phase 2 of its national strategy targets fault-tolerant hardware, software development, and global partnerships to build supply chains and commercialize the technology. Taipei Times

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