April 30, 2026

US halts orders to Chinese chip firm Hua Hong US Commerce Department ordered chip equipment makers to halt shipments to China’s Hua Hong Semiconductor and Huali Microelectronics, targeting tools for advanced chip production. The move aims to curb China’s progress in cutting-edge semiconductors and AI chip development. Taipei Times

Sponsor Motivation for pressure-assisted metallic sintering in Power Electronics Paper provides an understanding of motivations and practical implications of pressure-assisted metallic sintering for power electronics. Tresky Automation

ASE to raise budget 20 percent this year ASE Technology raised capital spending 20% to US$1.5 billion, citing stronger-than-expected demand for advanced AI chip packaging. The firm expects higher LEAP revenue growth, expanding capacity and forecasting even greater investment and growth momentum next year. Taipei Times

Novel Molded FCBGA Package Platform For Highly Reliable Automotive Applications This study demonstrates that molded flip chip BGA packages with optimized EMC materials and process parameters achieve superior warpage control and reliability performance compared to conventional FCBGA designs. Technical Paper

Sponsor Contamination Control Balazs™ provides technical expertise in identifying and controlling Airborne Molecular Contamination (AMC) and Surface Molecular Contamination (SMC) for improving process and product yields. Balazs Nanoanalysis

NXP Semiconductors soars 26%, best day ever after earnings beat NXP Semiconductors shares surged 26%, their best day since 2010, after the company beat first-quarter earnings and revenue estimates. Strong industrial and automotive demand plus rising data center AI applications boosted growth, prompting analysts to raise price targets. CNBC

Microsoft calls for $190 billion in 2026 capital spending on soaring memory prices Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with revenue rising 18% and net income increasing sharply, while forecasting $190 billion in capital spending driven by soaring memory costs as Azure and AI services fuel cloud growth above expectations. CNBC

Sponsor Die-on-Tab for Compound Semiconductors This white paper explains why die-on-tab is critical for GaN and GaAs RF power devices, improving heat dissipation, reliability, and system life. Download now. StratEdge Corporation

Technical Papers Alpha Particle Emissions: An Overlooked Risk for Soft Errors in Advanced Packaging Revolutionizing IC Packaging with High-Density RDL Technology EOTPR Fine pitch probing for die-to-die interconnect failure analysis in chiplet devices Die-on-Tab for Compound Semiconductors: Enabling Advanced RF Power Systems Package Assembly Design Kits: The Future of Advanced Package Design Novel Molded FCBGA Package Platform For Highly Reliable Automotive Applications Eliminating Interfacial Delamination in High-Power Automotive Devices MORE TECHNICAL PAPERS

Sponsor FSO Seam Seal Hermetic Packages with AI. Particle free, purified environment inside the hermetic package with low temperature exposures to all feedthroughs and devices. Precision processing with assembly design assistance and prototyping all provided by MicroCircuit Laboratories. MicroCircuit Laboratories, LLC

Alphabet ups 2026 capex to as much as $190 billion, expects to ‘significantly increase’ in 2027 Alphabet reported strong Q1 earnings, topping revenue estimates as cloud surged 20% and AI demand drove growth. Net income jumped 81%. The company raised capital spending guidance to expand AI infrastructure amid compute constraints, boosting shares and investor optimism. CNBC

AI in Design Verification: Where It Works and Where It Doesn’t AI now assists IC design verification by improving coverage analysis, regression triage, and bug grouping, reducing engineering effort. However, it cannot replace signoff decisions due to confidence, explainability, and generalization limits, so teams apply it selectively in structured workflows. EE Times

Sponsor Convenient Desktop Plasma System The PE-100 utilizes a capacitive parallel plate design for the most effective plasma generation available. Our systems offer uniform plasma with a low environmental impact at a great value. Plasma Etch

TSMC exits Arm investment with US$231 million sale TSMC sold its entire Arm Holdings stake, about 1.11 million shares at $207.65 each, raising $231 million. The divestment generated roughly $174 million in retained earnings, the company disclosed on April 29, 2026, according to its filing. Digitimes

TSMC CoWoS Wafer ASP Nears 7nm; Advanced Packaging to Become a Key Driver AI demand is elevating advanced packaging into a critical battleground, with TSMC's CoWoS scarce and priced near $10,000 per wafer. Strong margins, rapid capacity growth, and roadmap advances position packaging as a rising profit driver in the AI chip race. TrendForce

Sponsor Interested in a demonstration? We want to prove to you that surface preparation with Surfx argon plasmas results in a superior bond. Submit a request and our staff will respond within the next business day. Surfx Technologies

Semiconductor Packaging Services Market Set to Record US$ 107.5 billion by 2033 DataM Intelligence releases its 2026 Semiconductor Packaging Services Market report, outlining regional growth, segmentation, and CAGR forecasts. It tracks top players' revenues, sizes the market by value and volume, and highlights key drivers, emerging opportunities, and outlook. Open PR

India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 India's ISM 2.0 shifts semiconductor strategy toward mature 28–65nm nodes, backed by over $13 billion, expanding into a full-stack ecosystem. It leverages global partnerships, especially Taiwan, while improving execution, building fabs, talent pipelines, and supply chain resilience. Taipei Times

Sponsor Buy Ceramic Dispensing Needles Online Ceramic needles with Luer Lok for conductive epoxies and encapsulation. The ceramic molding process allows for smaller more precise inner diameters with a glass like finish. Buy Online. DL Technology

Better Hardware Could Turn Zeros into AI Heroes Researchers spotlight sparsity in large AI models, where most parameters are zero, enabling skipped computations and compact storage. Stanford's Onyx accelerator leverages this to cut energy use up to 70x versus CPUs while delivering roughly 8x faster performance. IEEE Spectrum

Sponsor SEMIEXPO Heartland — April 29–30, 2026, Detroit, Michigan Explore Smart Manufacturing & Mobility in the Midwest, a growing semiconductor hub with $44B+ in investments. Connect, innovate, & lead the future! Click here to register. SEMI