Minor progresses are seen in India's semiconductor manufacturing landscape. China's tightened export control on rare earths begins to disrupt India's EV dream.

Amid escalating geopolitical tensions, global defense spending is surging, transforming the sector into a strategic growth pillar alongside semiconductors. For Taiwan's ChenFull Precision Co., these two industries form the backbone of its operations. While the company's defense segment remains modest in scale, its gross margin approaches 70%—a remarkable figure that outpaces all other business units and now serves as a critical driver of ChenFull's broader corporate growth.

On June 10, 2025, Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) invited Premier Jung-Tai Cho to attend the joint award ceremony for the National Industry Innovation Award and National Invention Creation Award. Cho stated that besides continuously promoting the "Five Trusted Industry Sectors," relevant ministries are drafting a new AI infrastructure plan aimed at driving the next wave of AI development in Taiwan. The goal is to industrialize AI, integrate AI into various industries and public sectors, and establish the most comprehensive supply chain.

The number of senior technical executives at Samsung Electronics' foundry division has declined sharply over the past two years, raising concerns about the company's long-term competitiveness in the global semiconductor market.

On the eve of high-level trade talks between the United States and China in London, an unusually candid interview with Zhengfei Ren, founder of Huawei, appeared in the Chinese state-run People's Daily—drawing significant attention at home and abroad. The interview, headlined "The more open a country is, the more it progresses was widely interpreted as both a diplomatic signal and a strategic statement on China's ambitions in semiconductors and technology.

Taiwan-based power management IC (PMIC) maker Global Mixed-mode Technology (GMT) held its annual shareholders meeting on June 11, 2025, passing proposals on executive compensation and charter amendments. Following the meeting, Chairman JC Wu provided an unexpectedly upbeat assessment of market conditions, noting that customer orders in May remained unusually steady rather than declining, as is typical for the season.

Taiwanese power management IC (PMIC) designers face an uphill battle in the DDR5 memory market as foreign competitors maintain dominance in the lucrative cloud computing segment, forcing local companies to focus on lower-margin consumer applications.

Fujitsu General Ltd. announced that it agreed to sell its power modules business, operated by subsidiary Fujitsu General Electronics Ltd. (FGEL), to India's L&T Semiconductor Technologies (LTSCT) for approximately JPY2 billion (approx. US$12.8 million). The move is part of Fujitsu's broader strategy to streamline its portfolio and focus on its core tech solutions business, reports CNBC-TV18 and the Economic Times.

Aoi Electronics, Japan's top-ranked player in the outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) sector, is intensifying its push into advanced packaging with the ambition of cracking the global top 10 OSAT rankings. While the company leads the domestic market, it currently ranks only within the top 20 globally.

China's Wuxi Photonic Chip Joint Research Center—formally known as the Chip Hub for Integrated Photonics Xplore (CHIPX) and affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University—has commenced production of 6-inch lithium niobate (LiNbO₃) thin-film photonic chips. This marks a significant advance in China's efforts to overcome US-imposed tech restrictions and strengthen its semiconductor and quantum computing capabilities.

TSMC announced on June 11, 2025, that its second semiconductor fabrication plant in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, is now scheduled to begin construction in the second half of 2025, with groundbreaking expected sometime after July.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and the University of Tokyo have inaugurated a new research center in Japan, marking a strategic expansion of their long-running partnership and signaling a deepening commitment to semiconductor innovation and workforce development in the country.

In mid-June, high-level China-US economic and trade talks held in London concluded with both sides reaching a preliminary agreement on a trade framework, according to Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Chenggang Li. He confirmed that the outcome would be reported to national leaders for further review, suggesting a tentative step toward renewed economic engagement.

Cyclic Materials, a startup backed by Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp., announced plans to build a rare-earths recycling plant and research center in Canada.

While waves of layoffs continue to ripple through Google's global operations, the company is quietly embarking on an ambitious hiring drive in Taiwan. According to industry sources, Google's Taiwan office is rolling out employee referral incentives, offering staff points and cash bonuses for successfully recommending candidates for interviews or job offers, with rewards increasing for more senior-level hires.

Leading transmission system manufacturer TsangYow is optimistic about growth momentum in 2025, benefitting from soaring used car prices in the US and gains from its expansion into the semiconductor sector.

Since returning to the office, President Donald Trump has once again made unpredictability a cornerstone of US trade policy. His shifting stance on tariffs, particularly toward China, has sent tremors through global supply chains. And yet, amid the turbulence, Taiwan has managed not only to hold its ground but also to benefit unexpectedly from the chaos.

Honda Motor is preparing to invest in Japanese semiconductor startup Rapidus during the second half of fiscal year 2025 (October 2025 to March 2026), with a commitment expected to reach several billion Japanese yen—equivalent to tens of millions of US dollars. The move underscores Honda's strategic focus on securing next-generation semiconductor supply for future automotive technologies, particularly autonomous driving systems.

Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL), Japan's top semiconductor equipment manufacturer, held a groundbreaking ceremony on June 2, 2025, for its state-of-the-art production site in Taiwa, Miyagi Prefecture. Initially referred to as an expansion of its main plant, the facility has now been officially named the Miyagi Production Innovation Center. Scheduled for completion in the summer of 2027, the site is a cornerstone of TEL's strategy to address surging global demand for advanced chipmaking equipment.

Academia Sinica announced on June 10, 2025, the successful development of several advanced fabrication processes for superconducting qubits on an automated 8-inch platform, positioning Taiwan to expand its leadership from semiconductors into quantum chipmaking. While Taiwan dominates global semiconductor manufacturing, the institute underscored that quantum chips demand fundamentally different process technologies, with process stability and uniformity still posing major hurdles to scalable quantum computing.

Hota Industrial Manufacturing chairman David Shen is navigating a series of market variables, from tariffs to exchange rates. While Hota has been largely unaffected by tariffs, the sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan Dollar has presented challenges. Shen is seeking a resolution by late June 2025 to bring stability.

Taiwan's Executive Yuan announced a NT$300 billion (approx. US$9.3 billion) semiconductor subsidy program running through 2033, the island's largest-ever government investment in its chip industry. The American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan expressed interest in participating in the initiative for the first time.

PCB wet process equipment and semiconductor materials agent Ampoc recently announced a strategic technical partnership with South Korean semiconductor materials leader DCT Material. The collaboration aims to expand their presence in the Asian market and capture opportunities in the global advanced semiconductor process high-end materials sector, potentially breaking the long-standing monopoly held by certain major players.

India-based RIR Power Electronics has begun shipping 1200V silicon carbide (SiC) diodes from Taiwan, marking a key step in its global expansion strategy. The milestone follows a partnership with Pro Asia Semiconductor Corporation (PASC) and builds on IP acquired from US-based Sicamore Semi to support future production in Odisha.