Sep 8, 2026 Hon Hai reports strongest August sales on record Hon Hai reported record August sales of NT$921.77 billion, up 51.98% year-on-year, driven by strong AI server and cloud demand. The company expects momentum to continue through the third-quarter peak season, supported by new product launches and inventory rebuilding. Taipei Times

Sponsor Reflow Solderable TIM1 Thermal Grease AIT's CGR7016 & CGR7019-LB series are proven reliable for thermal interface usage at extreme temperatures. 100% chip to heat-spreader lid seal after multiple reflow soldering. AI Technology, Inc.

China's Xiaomi unveils folding phone with home-grown chip as it takes on Apple, Huawei Xiaomi launched the 18 Fold with its Xring O3 chip, alongside new Skynomad SUVs, intensifying competition with Apple, Huawei and Tesla. The company plans major chip investments as foldables gain momentum despite a weakening smartphone market. South China Morning Post

How pH Cleaning Agents Affect Production Performance Establishing a reliable cleaning process requires a good understanding of all influencing factors, including pH, and defining the correct balance to meet final product reliability. Technical Paper

Google planning layoffs in Taiwan, report says Google Taiwan is cutting jobs as it streamlines operations, though it gave no figure or affected departments. Rumors of deep hardware R&D cuts contrast with plans to expand Taipei AI infrastructure R&D space by 60% and boost Taiwan investment. Taipei Times

Sponsor Large Component SMT Rework & Repair A Rework System developed to address the increasing size, complexity, and thermal demands of Advanced Electronic Assemblies. Air-Vac Engineering

AI Is Moving Faster Than Higher Education. Here's Who Can Close the Gap. AI is exposing universities' slow innovation cycles, creating a need for intrapreneurs who can build solutions before formal approval. Faculty and staff innovators can bridge institutional gaps, as UTeach and the GI Bill demonstrate the power of grassroots educational change. Entrepreneur

Mixed Cleaning - No Clean and Water Soluble What problems might we encounter if we clean no clean boards using a water wash systems set up to clean water soluble fluxes. The Assembly Brothers, Jim Hall and Phil Zarrow, discuss the problems that can occur. Board Talk

Technical Papers ■ UHDI Fabrication for IC Substrates: SAP and mSAP Processes ■ Flux-Free, Reliable, Efficient: Soldering with Formic Acid ■ Redesigning Material Logistics for High-Mix EMS Production ■ Unlocking Academic-Industry Synergy: A Collaborative Model for Hands-On Electronics Manufacturing Education ■ Viscosity Does Not Equal Rheology: What Solder Paste Measurements Really Tell You ■ Salvaging Electronic Components: A Reliable Method for Reducing Electronic Waste and Ensuring Economic Reuse ■ Digital Warehouse Automation in High-Mix PCB Assembly ■ Evaluation of Techniques for Intentional Contamination of PWB Substrates for Quantitative Cleanliness Analyses MORE TECHNICAL PAPERS

Sponsor Image Sensor Packaging: 5 Key Challenges Solved Filter glass sealing, CTE mismatch, fine-pitch processing, warpage control, and outgassing – learn about AEC-Q100-compliant adhesives for automotive image sensor packaging. DELO Industrial Adhesives

Why Microcooling Will Be a Critical Enabler of Agentic AI Agentic AI's shift toward edge devices is making thermal management a critical constraint. Continuous workloads require sustained performance, forcing smartphones, wearables and robots to manage heat effectively to prevent throttling and maintain real-time AI responsiveness. EE Times

Why Holistic Digital Twins are Needed to Accelerate SDV Development Automakers are turning to digital twins and virtualization to accelerate software-defined vehicle development. However, fragmented tools, complex modeling, synchronization challenges & late-stage integration problems make building effective virtual platforms costly & time-consuming. EE Times

Improved SMT and BLR of 0.35 mm Pitch Wafer Level Packages This study shows optimized print process can be achieved using standard materials, while also considering board level reliability. Technical Paper

Sponsor SMTA Mexico – vAI ProVision vAI ProVision: Smarter Inspection Programming Discover vAI ProVision by Viscom at SMTA Mexico, Booth: 343. Using proven inspection strategy and AI, it creates optimized inspection programs faster, reducing workload and enhancing reliability. Viscom SE

Humanoid robots are being prepared for combat as China moves them from labs to military training grounds China is accelerating research into military uses for humanoid robots as the machines become faster and more agile. Despite progress, high energy demands, instability and limited endurance still make battlefield deployment challenging. TechSpot

A Microsoft engineer says "typing code is absolutely over," here's what he means GitHub Copilot is expanding beyond code generation, handling environments, testing and pull requests. Microsoft is also advancing AI-driven development, security scanning and local models, shifting developers toward system design, oversight, reliability and secure software delivery. TechSpot

21st Century PCB FAB Factory Design Paper illustrates a new dynamic, and provide case study examples from an installation at the company captive facility in New Hampshire. Technical Paper

Sponsor Plasma as a Key Technology Plasma technology improves electronics manufacturing, reduces oxide layers, prevents delamination & enables environmentally friendly products by using Openair-Plasma® & PlasmaPlus®. Plasmatreat GmbH

Behind Every Circuit Board: India’s Growing Need for PCB & SMT Skills India's electronics manufacturing boom is creating strong demand for PCB and SMT professionals. As production expands across smartphones, EVs, telecom & industrial systems, skilled engineers & technicians are increasingly needed for assembly, inspection, testing & quality control. TimesTech

GPU shipments surged 12% despite weaker PC demand and higher memory costs Discrete GPU shipments rose 12.2% sequentially and 14.1% annually in Q2 2026 despite seasonal PC weakness and memory-driven cost pressures. Laptop demand drove growth, while Nvidia held 23% market share and AMD reached 21% overall. TechSpot

Sponsor AIT ORMET® TLPS for Proven Reliability AIT ORMET® TLPS is proven for outstanding reliability for High and Ultra High-Density Interconnection and high temperature build-up Layer Interconnection beyond 175°C. Ormet® TLPS

Can AI Now Design PCBs That Just Work? OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra scored 69.3% on the EEBench hardware engineering benchmark, demonstrating progress in automated PCB design. However, engineers still need to validate AI-generated boards, handle edge cases, and conduct rigorous testing before production. Hackday

Warpage of Flexible-Board Assemblies with BGAs During Reflow Failure in solder interconnects is a leading cause of reliability failure. Complexity of electronic assembly requires these lead-free interconnects to be reliable. Technical Paper

US-China meeting likely to focus on each country's domestic needs Domestic political pressures are expected to shape Donald Trump and Xi Jinping's next meeting, with Trump seeking Chinese purchases ahead of US midterms and Xi demonstrating diplomatic strength. Talks may also cover trade, tariffs, technology, supply chains and global conflicts. Taipei Times

OpenAI welcomes the "AGI era" with GPT-6 Astra OpenAI has unveiled GPT-6 Astra, calling it a generational leap toward AGI with stronger reasoning, coding, cybersecurity and workflow abilities. Despite improved safeguards, concerns remain over autonomous agents evading oversight. Astra is now available to paid customers. TechSpot

Sponsor High power atmospheric plasma system Our 1000 Atmospheric Plasma System is available with PC or PLC control for lab or high speed production use with the same high powered systems. Remove contaminants and increase bond strength! Plasma Etch

When the Package Becomes an Electrical Design Variable Advanced AI processors are making package-level power delivery critical as shrinking voltage margins and faster current transients expose parasitic inductance. Integrating decoupling capacitors closer to processors reduces impedance & requires unified board-package PDN design. EE Times