Samsung speeds 8-inch cuts, plans 2027 hikes; AI demand lifts mature nodes as SMIC, Nexchip, HuaHong raise prices, expand.
AI and advanced nodes are driving a paradigm shift in process control. Although GAA, HBM, and advanced packaging follow different paths, all share one logic: testing costs far less than failure. This extends metrology and inspection demand from front-end to back-end. Process control has become a yield gatekeeper. The shift is structural, but equipment vendors are still early in scaling.
Inference demand drives CSP ASIC growth past GPUs; Google's next TPU adopts EMIB-T, with substrate yield key to cost.
Tight 8-inch supply fuels foundry price hikes, as TSMC and peers pivot mature capacity to advanced packaging and SiPh.
Non-TSMC foundries head into 2027 with higher utilization, price hikes, and sustained strong revenue growth.
CSPs scale ASICs alongside GPUs, lifting packaging demand as CoWoS-L leads while EMIB-T and FOPLP emerge as new options.
Taiwan foundries see a strong 2027 as utilization rises, capacity expands, and prices climb across the board.
AI peripheral demand drove advanced nodes and spilled into mature nodes, while consumer restocking continued, lifting 2Q26 revenue to a new high. Top five stayed stable; VIS rose on stronger demand, reshuffling sixth-to-tenth. Growth should continue.
A Vanguard Fab3 rooftop fire spared the cleanroom; output resumed, CMP is recovering, revenue impact stays limited.
2Q26 foundry revenue rose broadly; overseas, China fab expansion should keep capacity tight, lifting full-year momentum.
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