01. Tech Inflation Persists Despite Price Downturn
On July 1, Economic Daily reported that China's NOR flash leader GigaDevice warned of potential price declines, but industry analysts note that NOR chips account for a minimal share of end-product costs, making price cuts ineffective against tech inflation. The real pressure points remain DRAM, SSDs, CPUs, and upstream materials.
Per Gartner's Q1 report, memory costs have surged from 16% to 23% of total PC BOM. ASUS cited cumulative price hikes of nearly 30% on select products due to critical component inflation, with further adjustments expected in Q3. Beyond memory, SSDs, CPUs, foundry services, and peripheral materials are driving the broader semiconductor cost spiral.
02. ASE Hikes Advanced Packaging Prices by Over 20%
On July 1, ASE Technology, the world's top OSAT, formally announced price increases exceeding 20% for advanced packaging services, covering CoWoS and FoCoS processes, with U.S. clients included.
CEO Tien Wu cited rising raw material costs and capital expenditure investments. As AI applications expand from data centers to automotive and humanoid robotics, AI demand has become the primary driver of capacity expansion — marking the inflationary wave's migration from foundry, memory, and passives into advanced packaging.
03. Microchip MCU Price Hike: Nuvoton Emerges as Big Winner
On July 3, Economic Daily reported that Microchip issued customer notifications of price increases effective mid-August. Severe MCU supply shortages and panic buying are triggering a new pricing cycle.
Among Taiwanese vendors, Nuvoton has the highest product overlap with Microchip and stands to benefit most; Holtek, Sonix, Elan, and Holy Stone are also positioned favorably. Known as the "canary in the coal mine" for semiconductor cycles, Microchip's entry into the price-hike camp signals further entrenchment of industry-wide inflation.
04. Infineon Opens €5B Dresden Fab, Betting on AI Power
On July 3, Economic Daily reported that Infineon inaugurated its smart power wafer fab in Dresden, Germany, months ahead of schedule. The €5 billion investment — Infineon's largest ever — will create 1,000 jobs and double local capacity, establishing the world's largest production site for power semiconductors and analog/mixed-signal technologies.
The fab targets AI data center power, renewables, grid infrastructure, software-defined vehicles, and industrial applications. CEO Jochet Hanebeck emphasized that AI data centers, automotive electronics, and the energy transition all demand higher-efficiency power management, strengthening global AI infrastructure and supply chain security.
05. Lenovo Warns Memory, Storage Shortages to Persist
On June 30, semiconductor industry media SemiMedia reported that at ISC 2026, Lenovo cautioned that memory and storage shortages are unlikely to ease soon, with prices not returning to the artificially low levels seen in early 2025.
Lenovo stated the memory industry's economics have fundamentally shifted. Even with new capacity coming online by 2028, AI infrastructure demand will absorb most supply, preventing a return to past lows. SK Hynix's plan to triple capacity by 2034 indicates manufacturers do not expect a reversal to low-margin conditions.
06. Samsung, SK Hynix Demand Substrate Price Cuts; Taiwan Supply Chain on Alert
On July 3, Economic Daily reported that the Korea Printed Circuit Association (KPCA) revealed Samsung and SK Hynix are pressing upstream substrate suppliers to roll back H1 price increases, putting Taiwan's "Big Three" — Unimicron, Nan Ya PCB, and Kinsus — on high alert.
Per ETNews, despite still-tight substrate supply, the two memory giants are demanding reversal of the roughly 3–4% Q1 hike in latest negotiations. The KPCA secretary-general confirmed multiple substrate vendors have received renegotiation requests, with the Q1 gains potentially fully erased by August.
Samsung and SK Hynix had approved the 3–4% increase earlier this year due to gold and copper price spikes, but with recent commodity volatility easing, they argue the pricing rationale no longer holds.