TrendForce’s latest research indicates that the global foundry industry continued to profit in 3Q25, fueled by strong demand for AI in HPC and new consumer-electronics chips and IC peripherals. Revenue was primarily driven by advanced processes at 7 nm and below, with support from high-value wafers. Chinese foundries also expanded their business through supply-chain diversification. As a result, total revenue for the top 10 foundries increased by 8.1% QoQ to nearly US$45.1 billion.
TrendForce’s latest investigations reveal that memory prices are projected to rise sharply again in the first quarter of 2026, exerting significant cost pressure on global end-device manufacturers. Consequently, smartphone and notebook brands are compelled to increase their product prices and reduce specifications. A further downward revision of shipment forecasts now seems unavoidable, with market resources becoming more concentrated among a few leading brands.
H200’s performance significantly surpasses H20, making it an attractive option for China’s CSPs and OEMs if exports proceed as planned. The U.S. is expected to adopt an “N-1” or “N-2” export strategy for AI chips shipped to China, to ensure that global-market products retain a performance lead. China’s domestic AI chip market share is projected to reach 50% in 2026, supported by government policies and enterprise-level projects.
Major economies globally are advancing humanoid robot development. Japan is focusing on improving essential components like actuators, sensors, and control systems to increase the entry barrier. In contrast, the U.S. and China are rapidly rolling out end-to-end humanoid products. Since these regions focus on different application scenarios, their humanoid robot industries are likely to reach key turning points in 2026.
TrendForce’s recent research indicates that high-speed optical interconnects are now central to performance and scalability, especially as AI data centers grow into large clusters. The report predicts that worldwide shipments of optical transceivers of 800G and higher will hit 24 million units in 2025, then jump by 2.6 times to nearly 63 million units in 2026.