Samsung Electronics is in talks to acquire US data center cooling equipment maker Modine Manufacturing, Bloomberg reported on November 12, as the South Korean company expands its heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) business following last year's acquisition of Germany's FläktGroup.

TECO Electric & Machinery is expanding into global AI computing infrastructure, announcing on the November 11 that it will partner with AI cloud service provider GMI Cloud and KSDI to build an modular AI data center in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. TECO will serve as the modular data center contractor, handling design, electromechanical systems integration, and technical guidance, with the first 6.4MW phase scheduled for delivery within nine months.

Thermal module manufacturer Asia Vital reported record revenue and profit for the third quarter of 2026, driven by rising demand for high-end cooling products used in AI servers. Its gross margin increased 7.29pp from the previous quarter as revenue expanded, improving overall profitability.

Taiwan's AI server component suppliers are surpassing last year's revenue well before December. Eleven of the 13 companies tracked across chassis, power supplies, rail kits and thermal management had already exceeded their full-year 2025 sales in the January–October 2026 period, although October's results show differing shipment momentum.

Asia Vital Components (AVC) expects all GPU- and ASIC-based AI servers to adopt liquid cooling by the end of 2027, with customers increasingly turning to double-sided cold plates to accommodate vertical power delivery (VPD) designs.

Y.S. Tech will open a high-performance computing liquid-cooling laboratory at its new Renwu plant in Kaohsiung by the end of 2026, strengthening its ability to develop high-efficiency, low-noise cooling solutions, while its automotive orders extend through 2028.

Space-based data centers could open a new market for low-power AI chips, but moving computing workloads into orbit presents challenges involving radiation, cooling, and hardware reliability. South Korean AI chip developer Rebellions is calling for government support to help companies establish a track record in space, while researchers recommend adapting existing processors rather than developing new chips from scratch.

South Korea plans to develop small, medium, and large data centers in orbit under its K-Moonshot initiative, aiming to conduct its first in-orbit demonstration in 2028 and lay the groundwork for commercial space-based AI services before 2035.

Higher memory prices caused by tight supply weakened demand for consumer electronics, while investment in Wah Hong Industrial's thermal management division weighed on overall third-quarter performance. The company is accelerating development in AI cooling, semiconductor materials, and other high-value applications to reduce its exposure to market cycles.

Samsung SDS has begun construction of a 60MW AI data center in Gumi, South Korea, to support industrial robots and other AI applications. The project marks the first concrete step under Samsung Group's KRW60 trillion (approx. US$44.7 billion) investment plan for the country's southeastern Yeongnam region.

As switch chips move toward 400G per channel, the gold-finger connectors used in current pluggable modules are approaching their high-frequency limits. The pluggable optics camp introduced two incompatible new form factors in 2026.