Below are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories from the week of June 15-21, 2026:
Micron CEO turns visa rejection into US$1 trillion milestone
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's recent visit to South Korea highlighted the intensifying competition among memory leaders Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron, while Micron's rise past a US$1 trillion market valuation has drawn renewed attention to CEO Sanjay Mehrotra.
In a recent podcast interview, Mehrotra reflected on how his career was shaped by his father's persistence in securing a US student visa after multiple rejections, a turning point that enabled him to study at the University of California, Berkeley, before co-founding SanDisk and later leading Micron. He argued that the AI boom is fundamentally a storage and memory boom, as larger AI models, longer context windows, and growing inference workloads dramatically increase demand for advanced memory.
Taiwan LED makers look beyond lighting to AI optical communication
Taiwan's LED industry is undergoing a major transformation from traditional lighting and display components toward higher-value applications such as AI optical communication, Micro LED displays, sensing technologies, and advanced optoelectronic semiconductors.
After years of oversupply and intense price competition driven by China's capacity expansion, Taiwanese manufacturers have shifted away from commoditized production. They are focusing on differentiated, high-margin markets where quality, reliability, and geopolitical advantages matter more than cost. Companies such as Ennostar are leveraging decades of LED expertise to enter AI-driven optical networking, including Micro LED, VCSEL, and laser technologies for next-generation co-packaged optics (CPO) and data-center interconnects.
Taiwan memory chip designers set for 245% revenue jump on AI storage demand
Taiwan's memory IC design sector is poised for a strong 2026 as rising memory prices, constrained supply, and expanding AI-driven demand fuel a shift from consumer electronics toward higher-value enterprise, data center, and AI storage applications. According to DIGITIMES Research, revenue for Taiwan's memory-related chip companies is expected to surge more than 240% year-over-year in the second quarter, led by standout performers such as Phison Electronics, Silicon Motion, and Elite Semiconductor Microelectronics Technology.
Chip supply chains shift: TSMC's capacity crunch reportedly pushes Google, Tesla, BYD toward Samsung
As demand for AI chips and advanced semiconductors continues to outstrip supply, a growing number of global technology companies are turning to Samsung as an alternative to TSMC, whose leading-edge production capacity remains heavily booked.
According to reports, companies including BYD, Google, AMD, and Tesla are exploring or expanding manufacturing relationships with Samsung, driven by a combination of capacity constraints at TSMC and a desire to diversify supply chains amid geopolitical uncertainty. While TSMC remains the dominant producer of advanced-node chips, many customers are adopting multi-foundry strategies despite the added costs of redesign and coordination.
China eases InP substrate exports, lifting compound semiconductor supply
China's approval of a new batch of controlled indium phosphide (InP) substrate exports is expected to ease a critical supply bottleneck in the global optical communications industry, providing relief to Taiwanese compound semiconductor suppliers as AI-driven demand for high-speed data-center connectivity accelerates. After export restrictions introduced in 2025 constrained the availability of InP substrates, China authorized the shipment of an additional 4,000 substrates in May 2026, following an earlier release in 2025.
SK Hynix reportedly held US talks on HBM supply and local investment plans
A reported private meeting between SK Hynix and US Deputy Secretary of State Allison Hooker has fueled speculation about deeper cooperation on AI memory supply chains and expanded semiconductor investment in the US. According to South Korean media reports, discussions likely focused on SK Hynix's role as a leading supplier of HBM for major US technology companies, including support for the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and potential increases in HBM shipments.
Apple's Siri AI push drives 12GB DRAM demand for Samsung and SK Hynix
Apple's push to transform Siri into a more capable AI agent is expected to become a significant growth driver for the memory industry, increasing demand for higher-capacity mobile DRAM and benefiting suppliers such as Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. The enhanced Siri and Apple Intelligence features unveiled at WWDC require substantially more memory, with some advanced functions needing at least 12GB of DRAM, prompting expectations that Apple will equip its entire iPhone 18 lineup with 12GB memory beginning in 2026.
Article edited by Jerry Chen