Ennostar Holdings is targeting a return to full-year profitability after stronger seasonal demand, asset-disposal gains, and a sharp rise in memory prices boosted second-quarter 2026 earnings and unexpectedly revived demand for RGB direct-view LCD TVs. The company said high memory costs are prompting some TV brands to favor RGB backlight solutions over OLED models because they offer lower system costs while delivering improved picture quality.

South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace posted a second-quarter 2026 operating profit of more than KRW1 trillion (approx. US$704.9 million), highlighting its ability to expand military exports and aerospace operations simultaneously. With earnings momentum strengthening, the company is now positioning unmanned warfare and AI-enabled combat systems as its next major growth drivers.

Drones, robots and self-driving vehicles are becoming the new proving ground for artificial intelligence. Machines are taking on more decision-making themselves, rather than relying on the cloud. The reason is speed. When a system has to react in milliseconds, waiting on a round trip to external servers is not an option, whether it's avoiding a collision or detecting an unauthorized drone. Elan Microelectronics chairman I-hau Yeh says this shift, moving AI processing from edge computing directly onto the device itself, is becoming essential for unmanned systems. Few applications demand more speed and accuracy than counter-unmanned aircraft systems, or C-UAS: technology built to detect and respond to unauthorized drones.

As generative AI moves from personal productivity tools into enterprise operations, most companies are discovering that scaling AI agents is less about ambition than reliability. Chunghwa Telecom Laboratories estimates that only about 5% of enterprises are using AI agents at scale, while roughly 80% remain stuck at the stage of making AI systems accurate, dependable, and controllable enough for production deployment.

Agentic AI is reshaping how work is delegated among intelligent systems, yet legal frameworks have failed to keep pace with the growing autonomy of AI agents. Legal loopholes involving responsibility and authority must be addressed urgently, South Korean legal scholar Hyesun Yoon warned at an academic forum hosted by Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) on July 30.

The Central Taiwan Science Park's (CTSP) Erlin Park is set to reach a long-awaited milestone when its first standard factory building begins operations in the second half of 2026, signaling a potential turning point for a development that has struggled for nearly two decades to establish an industrial foothold.

As automotive electronics, electrification, software-defined vehicles (SDVs) and AI-defined vehicles (AIDVs) reshape the global auto industry, Taiwan's Ken Sean Industries is accelerating efforts to build a non-China automotive supply chain in partnership with leading Taiwanese electronics companies and Japanese automakers.

Idaho-based Titan Batteries has emerged as a key supplier in the US Drone Dominance Program (DDP), providing customized battery solutions for military drones as the Pentagon accelerates efforts to build a secure and resilient domestic supply chain. The company's focus on localized manufacturing, cybersecurity, and end-to-end traceability aligns with the US Department of Defense's (DoD) drive to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers for critical defense technologies.

Taiwan-based PlayNitride aims to reduce MicroLED production costs by 75% by 2030 through smaller chip designs and its proprietary high-efficiency Tantium chip architecture, positioning the technology for broader adoption across consumer electronics, automotive displays, AR devices, and optical interconnects, founder and chairman Charles Li said at South Korea's Display Business Forum 2026.

The Executive Yuan's proposed special bill to fund Taiwan's indigenous defense unmanned systems program has triggered debate over whether the initiative should focus primarily on military procurement or broader industrial development. The plan would allocate NT$210 billion (about US$6.5 billion) from 2026 to 2031 to acquire coastal surveillance drones, coastal attack drones and small suicide unmanned boats, aiming to enhance the armed forces' asymmetric warfare capabilities.

As AI computing drives surging electricity demand and heat generation, Taiwan's government-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) brought together government officials and industry executives on July 21 for its "Semiconductor and AI Computing Sustainable Competitiveness Forum" to explore energy-saving solutions for AI infrastructure and semiconductor manufacturing.

Taiwan's heavy-electrical and electromechanical industry is entering a new growth phase as demand expands beyond its long-standing reliance on Taiwan Power (Taipower). While Taipower's grid modernization remains the sector's foundation, semiconductor investments, AI data center construction, and overseas infrastructure projects are creating multiple growth drivers. At the same time, project-based business models are making revenue recognition increasingly uneven despite record order backlogs.

Taiwan plans to increase its technology budget by 6.2% in 2027 to accelerate investment in artificial intelligence (AI), space technology and net-zero innovation. The move is also meant to strengthen long-term industrial competitiveness through closer collaboration with the private sector.

Japanese industrial drone maker ACSL is open to expanding procurement from Taiwan as it strengthens its international supply chain strategy, with the company accepting an invitation to participate in the 2027 Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition (TADTE) during a visit by Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) Chairman James C.F. Huang to ACSL's R&D headquarters on July 15.

Taiwan's three major telecom operators delivered stronger June 2026 results than a year earlier, supported by robust demand for ICT services, continued 5G migration and expanding digital-service ecosystems. Chunghwa Telecom posted record June revenue and EBITDA, Taiwan Mobile led the industry in monthly earnings per share (EPS) for a second consecutive month, and Far EasTone Telecommunications achieved its strongest June on record across revenue, EBITDA, net profit, and EPS.

Global automakers are accelerating their expansion into defense manufacturing as geopolitical tensions fuel record military spending and persistent challenges in the automotive sector leave production capacity underutilized. Industry leaders, including General Motors (GM), Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, and Ford, are leveraging their large-scale manufacturing expertise to tap growing demand for military vehicles, logistics platforms, and defense systems.

As the global low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite industry enters a new phase of rapid expansion, Taiwan faces a pivotal opportunity to move beyond its traditional role as a component supplier. By developing satellite terminals, strengthening systems integration and expanding service capabilities, the country could secure a larger share of one of the world's fastest-growing communications markets, according to Yi-Cheng Lin, associate vice president of the Network Technology Group at Chunghwa Telecom.

ASML, Imec and TSMC are collaborating in southern Taiwan to develop manufacturing equipment for two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor materials, marking a significant step toward commercializing technologies widely viewed as essential for extending Moore's Law beyond the limits of conventional silicon scaling.

At a late-June industry forum, experts from Taiwan's TPIsoftware, the Institute for Information Industry (III), and Phison Electronics agreed that although AI is now indispensable for manufacturing, scaling it up depends less on raw model capability than on whether companies can actually trust it in operation. Fragmented data, weak governance, and cybersecurity concerns remain the primary hurdles keeping companies from moving past pilot projects into full adoption.