Tech Asia

    From our award-winning team of reporters, Tech Asia highlights the industry's biggest stories, from global supply chains to the future of chip production.

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    14 October 2026
    SoftBank Group chief Masayoshi Son, left, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, center, take part in the groundbreaking ceremony in March for SB Energy's new data center in Piketon, Ohio.
    The AI infrastructure industry is bullish on its prospects as unprecedented levels of investment have left order books bursting at the seams. (Nikkei montage/AI Infra Summit)
    Tech Asia

    Tech supply chain shrugs off AI slowdown calls as demand booms

    Infrastructure providers say soaring investment is pushing production to the max

    30 September 2026
    Key chip material supplier IV Technologies is expanding in central Taiwan and eager to expand its hiring. (Photo courtesy of IV Technologies)
    Tech Asia

    Talent shortage emerges as tech's biggest bottleneck in AI expansion boom

    'Sorry, bro! Any engineer who can breathe has already been hired'

    16 September 2026
    From Australia to India, residents and community groups are voicing concerns about the impacts of hosting massive AI data centers. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty Images) 
    Tech Asia

    'Red-hot' data center boom fuels public backlash across Asia

    Operators face greater scrutiny over pressure on electricity and communities

    2 September 2026
    The Trump administration is considering imposing restrictions on Chinese open-weight AI models. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by AP and Reuters) 
    Tech Asia

    Why open-weight AI is the new frontier in the US-China tech race

    Nvidia, Meta release open models to challenge Chinese offerings

    19 August 2026
    Space-based data centers and telecommunications services have become a key focus for Elon Musk and SpaceX, which could open up opportunities for rival launch providers. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters and Getty Images) 
    Tech Asia

    Elon Musk's space data center vision reshapes Asia's launch industry

    Japanese launch providers see chance to compete with SpaceX's Starship on weak yen

    5 August 2026
    Taiwan's Formosat-8A delivers high-resolution images of the Earth's surface. (Nikkei Asia montage; images courtesy of Taiwan Space Agency)
    Tech Asia

    Inside Taiwan's most ambitious space mission yet

    Big spending increase propels aim of homegrown satellite constellation, launch site and first rocket by 2034

    22 July 2026
    Nvidia's  Vera CPU compute tray is displayed during  Nvidia GTC in Taipei on June 3. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
    Tech Asia

    Why CPUs are now at the center of the AI race

    US chipmakers lead, but China players aim to increase local market share

    8 July 2026
    Australia's SkyKelpie is bringing drones to the traditional work of herding sheep and cattle. (Photo courtesy of SkyKelpie)
    Tech Asia

    Dogs, drones and AI: Australian agriculture is going high-tech

    New generation of farmers looking to boost productivity drives innovation

    24 June 2026
    A diver inserts a guide rope into a conduit during a subsea cable landing operation. (Photo by NTT World Engineering Marine)
    Tech Asia

    Japan seeks bigger role in Asia's subsea cables as AI rewires demand

    Traders including Sumitomo, leasing firms and telecom newcomers enter critical sector

    10 June 2026
    Global appetite for building AI data centers is pushing up demand and prices for many critical components from lasers and substrates to optical fibers and connectors. (Photo by Chungi Chen)
    Tech Asia

    AI demand strains supplies of lasers, fiber and other optical tech

    China's supply chain gets a boost as data center buildout sparks shortages and price hikes

    27 May 2026
    The U.S. and China are both looking to space as the next frontier in data center construction. 
    Tech Asia

    The AI space race: US and China bet big on orbital data centers

    Asia supply chain gears up as Google, Nvidia and startups shoot for the stars

    13 May 2026
    An Apple store in Beijing. China has recently become a major bright spot for iPhone sales.
    Tech Asia

    What China holds in store for Apple's new CEO

    John Ternus set to take reins as India shift struggles, iPhone pressure mounts

    28 April 2026
    (Nikkei montage/Source photos by AP) 
    Tech Asia

    China snaps up US chip tools via Southeast Asia amid supply chain shift

    Imports from Singapore and Malaysia hit record as Chinese players' earnings surge

    15 April 2026
    The Iran war is pressuring the global supply chain and leading to further price increases for shipping and a wide range of electronics components and materials, including circuit boards. (Source photo by Reuters) 
    Tech Asia

    'No escape': Iran war and AI boom push up costs across the tech industry

    Shortages are emerging in lasers, PCB, components, materials and more

    1 April 2026
    From left to right: Tiago Ramalho, co-founder and CEO of Recursive; Puran Rajput, co-founder and chief operating officer of EF Polymer; Michele Guarnieri, co-founder and CEO of hibot; Tomohiro Fujita, founder and CEO of Chitose Bio Evolution  (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Kotaro Igarashi, AP and companies)
    Tech Asia

    Japan's next-generation startups go global in a tougher world

    Number of foreign founders grows while some look overseas for markets and capital

    18 March 2026
    The AI infrastructure boom is now benefiting not only chip titans making cutting-edge processors but also suppliers of peripheral and supporting chips. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by AP and Reuters)
    Tech Asia

    Chip price hikes spread as Asia's chipmakers plan record $136bn spending

    Smaller suppliers aim to lift rates for first time in years on supply crunch

    4 March 2026
    China is looking to feed its AI appetite with domestically developed and domestically produced chips. (Nikkei montage/Source photo by AP) 
    Tech Asia

    China aims for 5-fold increase in advanced chip output to meet AI demand

    Backed by Beijing, Huawei and SMIC lead efforts on 7-nm and 5-nm-like production tech

    25 February 2026
    An MP Materials open-pit mine for rare-earth minerals in Mountain Pass, California. The U.S. is taking a multipronged approach to offset its dependence on China for critical minerals, through such steps as establishing a commercial stockpile and taking stakes in private mining projects. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty and Reuters)
    Tech Asia

    US faces 'decadelong' road to loosening China's grip on rare earths

    Washington deploys billions and builds Asian partnerships, but refining remains key hurdle

    18 February 2026
    Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang raises a toast to suppliers at a dinner in Taipei on Jan. 31. (Photo by Lai Yung-Hsiang)
    Tech Asia

    Why are Taiwan's Nvidia suppliers investing billions in the US?

    Jensen Huang lauds island's supply chain, but AI boom and geopolitics spur American expansions

    11 February 2026
    Humanoids, along with edge computing and industrial applications, are emerging alongside the cloud as key areas of interest for AI companies. (Source photos by AP and Reuters)
    Tech Asia

    What bubble? Big Tech's AI spending spree gathers pace in 2026

    Chipmakers still big winners as revenue growth moves beyond the cloud

    4 February 2026
    The Japanese research vessel Chikyu departs from Shimizu Port, in Shizuoka prefecture, on Jan. 12 to conduct test recovery of rare-earth–rich mud from the seabed about 6 kilometers down.
    Tech Asia

    Inside Japan's long battle to 'de-Chinafy' its rare earth supply chain

    Stung by Beijing's 2010 ban, government and companies are pursuing other solutions

    28 January 2026
    Taiwanese suppliers from other industries are pushing into semiconductors as AI demand and supply chain security concerns open up new domestic opportunities. (Source photo by Cheng Ting-Fang)
    Tech Asia

    Taiwan's push for supply chain security produces unexpected winners

    Smaller local suppliers seize rare chance to serve chipmakers like TSMC and UMC

    21 January 2026
    Nittobo's glass cloth is an essential but little-known material in just about every type of electronic device. (Source photos by Reuters and Yuji Murakami) 
    Tech Asia

    Apple and Qualcomm fret over strained supplies of Japan's glass cloth

    Surge in demand from AI giants like Nvidia send companies in search of new sources

    14 January 2026
    Artificial intelligence and the global race to build data centers to power it have enchanted investors, but questions are being asked regarding how long the boom can last.  (Source photos by Reuters) 
    Tech Asia

    From SoftBank's strategy to the AI boom: Tech trends to watch in 2026

    Artificial intelligence remains the key focus for industry, investors and analysts in the new year

    7 January 2026
    The construction and operation of data centers has become ubiquitous in the Malaysian state of Johor. (Source photos by Ken Kobayashi) 
    Tech Asia

    Asia's AI data center financing gets complicated

    Soaring costs send builders and operators to new, potentially riskier funding strategies

    31 December 2025
    Spending on artificial intelligence is proving a boon for Chinese exports including power equipment and cooling systems. (Nikkei Montage)
    Tech Asia

    Chinese suppliers set to gain from global AI boom despite trade tensions

    Data center rush is fueling massive demand for power equipment and cooling systems

    24 December 2025
    Sedenak Tech Park is the largest in Johor, covering 745 acres in the Kulai district. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
    Tech Asia

    Malaysia's data center boom: An inside look at Asia's battle for AI supremacy

    Issues over resources, demand and geopolitics complicate the race to build computing hubs

    17 December 2025
    Objectways employees sift and sort data that will be used to in machine learning and generative AI applications. (Photo by Selvaprakash Lakshmanan) 
    Tech Asia

    As AI threatens jobs in the US, India enjoys a hiring boost

    Outsourcing tasks to train and deploy AI is a boon for Asia, but how long will it last?

    10 December 2025
    Japan's AI ambitions could be throttled by analog-era processes and a stretched construction industry. (Source illustration by SoftBank) 
    Tech Asia

    Bottlenecks in data center construction threaten Japan's AI ambitions

    Labor shortages, rising costs and outdated building processes delay construction

    3 December 2025