Electronics Supply Chain Weekly Digest 3-6-26.
DATAPOINT OF THE WEEK: S&P reported Feb Eurozone mfg PMI increased to 50.8, from 49.5 in Jan, reaching near 4 year high and moving into expansion for the first time since Aug-25 driven by a rise in new orders sharply expanding factory production.
New exports declined, but at its weakest rate in the past three months. Similarly, Germany’s mfg PMI increased significantly to 50.9, from 49.1 in Jan, climbing back into expansion for the first time in 3.5 years. Production levels and new orders grew at their fastest pace since Sept-25 and 2022 respectively.
RatingDog China mfg PMI rose to 52.1 in Feb, from 50.3 in Jan, supported by stronger new order growth, particularly in exports. In turn, production rose at its strongest rate since June-24. China’s Government mfg PMI diverged from RatingDog with Feb PMI falling to 49.0, from 49.3 in Jan. The government report notes that the Spring Festival Holiday disruptions weighed on factory activity. In the US, S&P mfg PMI declined to 51.6 in Feb, from 52.4 in Jan, marking the seventh straight month of being in expansion territory.
The M/M decline was driven by the pace of growth in production and new orders moderating, with production rising at its softest rate since Sept-25. Higher prices, tariffs, and adverse weather were notes as impacting output and demand growth. ISM reported February US manufacturing PMI of 52.4, down from 52.6 in January.
Headlines:
Auto/Transportation
- BYD February global sales plunge 41% Y/Y, marking steepest decline since 2020
- China calls EU Industrial Accelerator Act protectionist, warns of impact on Chinese investment in four key sectors
- EU draft act would require EVs to source 70% of non-battery parts within the bloc to qualify for subsidies
- Honda to import US and China-built cars to Japan, marking the first Japanese automaker to import Chinese EVs, according to Bloomberg
- Tesla regains EV market share across several European markets in February, signaling sales stabilization
- Volvo Cars sales volumes fall 10% Y/Y through February amid US tariffs, but EV sales jump 18%, Reuters reported
Datacenter
- CoreWeave 4Q margins compress to 6% as capex set to double to $30B–$35B in 2026, backlog surges to $66.8B, according to Reuters
- Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and AI firms sign White House “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” to fund their own data center power
- Navitas and EPFL to demonstrate 250kW solid-state transformer at APEC 2026, targeting 800V DC AI data center adoption
- NextEra expects to build up to 30GW of new generation capacity for US datacenters over nine years, according to Reuters
- Oracle plans thousands of job cuts amid cash crunch from AI datacenter expansion, according to Bloomberg
Industrial
- BMW and Xiaomi both announced they have expanded humanoid robot deployments in Auto manufacturing
- China’s humanoid robot sector hits 140+ manufacturers and 330+ products in 2025, with first domestic standards framework released
- China’s five-year plan sets no solar targets, prioritizing grid integration and zero-carbon industrial parks
IP&E
- FIT unveils 102.4T CPO external laser solution for AI datacenters, enters validation stage at OFC 2026
- MediaTek’s holding company, Digimoc, to acquire ~2.4% stake in Ayar Labs for $90M, targeting CPO interconnect technology, according to DigiTimes
- Micro LED CPO technology could cut datacenter optical interconnect power consumption by up to 20x vs copper, according to TrendForce
- Nvidia announces plans to invest $2B each in Lumentum and Coherent with multi-$B purchase commitments for laser and optical products
- Yageo’s Kemet issues third double-digit tantalum capacitor price hike in 12 months, effective April 2026, says DigiTimes
Semiconductors
- ASML aiming beyond EUV to advanced packaging tools, larger scanner systems, and AI-driven inspection, CTO tells Reuters
- Broadcom 1Q AI revenue surges 106% Y/Y to $8.4B; CEO cites ~10 GW ASIC demand visibility in 2027, implying $100B+ in chip sales
- Denso bids up to $8.2B to acquire chipmaker Rohm in potential Japan power semiconductor consolidation, according to Nikkei Asia
- Global edge computing spending forecast to reach $450B by 2029, nearly doubling from $265B in 2025, says IDC
- Foxconn projects double-digit revenue growth in 2026 from $253B base, driven by AI servers and smartphones
- Intel CEO Tan reconsidering 18A manufacturing node as potential external foundry offering, CFO says
- Marvell raises FY27 revenue forecast to ~$11B and guides FY28 to ~$15B on strong hyperscaler demand
- Meta scraps Olympus AI training chip, commits to multi-year Nvidia deal and 6GW AMD purchase, according to The Information
- Micron announced it has opened semiconductor assembly and test facility in India with $2.75B combined investment, targeting hundreds of millions of chips by 2027
- Nvidia halts H200 production for China, shifts TSMC capacity to next-gen Vera Rubin as US government weighs 75K-unit firm cap, says Reuters
- Tesla mulls doubling AI6 chip output to 40K wafers/month, may expand Samsung foundry deal to $17B+, according to The Elec
- US mulls new AI chip export rules requiring foreign firms to invest in US data centers or provide security guarantees, according to Reuters
- US proposes ban on Chinese chips in federal procurement from Dec. 2027, according to Lexology
Consumer/Other
- Apple unveils $599 MacBook Neo powered by A18 Pro chip to target Chromebook and Windows PC buyers, comes with just 8GB of unified memory
- Apple launches iPhone 17e at $599 with 256GB base storage, unchanged in price vs previous generation, but double the storage, representing effective price cut
- US Treasury Secretary Bessent says US global tariff rate set to rise to 15% this week as Trump rebuilds trade program under new legal authority