Electronics Supply Chain Weekly Digest 2-6-26.
DATAPOINT OF THE WEEK: S&P reported December Eurozone mfg PMI increased to 49.5, from 48.8 in December, reaching a two-month high, with production slightly ticking up. New orders declined for the third consecutive month as inventories continue to be run down.
Germany’s mfg PMI increased significantly to 49.1, from 47.0 in December, with both production and new orders rising, though new export orders remained in contraction, declining at its weakest rate in three months. RatingDog China mfg PMI rose modestly to 50.3 in January, from 50.1 in December, supported by stronger growth in production and new business inflows. Additionally, growth in sales was supported by new export orders rising with anecdotes of increased demand from customers in Southeast Asia.
China’s Government mfg PMI diverged from RatingDog with January PMI falling to 49.3, from 50.1 in December. In the U.S., S&P mfg PMI rose to 52.4 in January, from 51.8 in December, marking the sixth straight month of being in expansion territory. The M/M increase was supported by production growing at its fastest rate since August and new orders returning to growth after declining in December. ISM reported January U.S. manufacturing PMI of 52.6, up from 47.9 in December.
Headlines:
Auto/Transportation
- BYD January deliveries fall 30% y/y as China EV subsidy rollbacks weigh on demand; BYD targeting 5M units in CY26 driven by exports
- BYD targeting 50% local component content at Brazil plant by end-2026, scaling output to 300K vehicles under $1.1B investment, says Reuters
- China’s auto industry profit margins plummet to record low 4.1% in 2025 amid soaring raw material costs, says DigiTimes
- China to ban hidden car door handles starting in 2027, mandating mechanical releases following fatal rescue incidents, per Reuters
- Ford pursuing partnerships with both Geely and Xiaomi, targeting European production and potential US JV amid Chinese EV expansion, per Reuters and Bloomberg
- Nio expects first adjusted operating profit of $101-173M in Q4 2025, says Reuters
- Stellantis books $26.5B writedowns as EV pullback triggers 30% share plunge and dividend cancellation
- Tesla launches $42K all-wheel drive Model Y variant in US while facing China’s 2027 ban on hidden door handles pioneered by the company
- U.S. light-vehicle SAAR slips to ~14.9M in January, BEV sales fall ~33% y/y as incentives decline and weather weighs, Ward’s Auto reports
- Waymo raises $16B at $126B valuation to expand robotaxi operations while defending safety record amid federal investigations and China competition concerns, according to Reuters
Datacenter
- Amazon faces up to 7-year power grid connection delays hampering European data center expansion plans, per Reuters
- Hyperscaler capex inflects sharply higher into 2026 as AI workloads scale, with Google targeting $175–185B and AWS planning ~$200B in spend, well above prior expectations
- SpaceX formally merges with xAI in deal valuing xAI at $200B and SpaceX at ~$800B, as Musk consolidates capital amid xAI’s ~$1B per month cash burn
- Texas grid operator ERCOT considers reviewing 8.2 GW of previously approved AI data center projects, according to Bloomberg
Industrial
- China’s solar power capacity set to surpass coal for first time, reaching half of renewables mix, as reported by Bloomberg
- Hyundai Motor to deploy 30K AI robots at US plants by 2028 as Trump tariffs cut profits 22%, according to Nikkei Asia
IP&E
- Nvidia’s 2026 Rubin Ultra platform drives silicon photonics boom as optical suppliers see 60%+ revenue growth
Semiconductors
- AMD reports record 4Q revenue and 34% increase Y/Y, with datacenter revenue reaching $5.4B; MI450 AI accelerator remains on track for 2H26 launch
- Cerebras Systems raises $1B in late-stage funding, valuing AI chipmaker at $23.1B, per Reuters
- DRAM prices projected to surge 90–95% Q/Q in 1Q according to TrendForce
- CXMT to expand Shanghai capacity to 2–3x Hefei base with DRAM production starting 2027; YMTC builds third Wuhan plant with partial DRAM focus despite export controls, Nikkei reports
- Foxconn forecasts strong Q1 performance after January revenue surges 35.5% Y/Y
- Global semiconductor sales hit $792B in 2025, up 25.6%, with $1T expected this year, says industry group
- Intel and AMD warn Chinese customers of server CPU shortages with delivery delays up to six months and prices up over 10%, Reuters reports
- Intel hires former Qualcomm executive Eric Demmers to lead datacenter GPU development targeting Nvidia, says Reuters
- Microchip reports $1.19B 3Q revenue with gross margin above 65% on strong MCU and analog demand; guides 4Q to $1.24–1.28B while flagging memory supply tightness impacting consumer electronics
- MLCC AI demand drives >80% utilization at Murata and SEMCO while consumer-focused suppliers remain at 60–70%, TrendForce reports
- Monolithic Power reports $751M 4Q revenue and guides 1Q above seasonality, raising 2026 enterprise data growth outlook to at least 50%
- Nittobo plans 30% improvement to AI chip glass cloth by 2028, investing $96M to triple capacity, as reported by Nikkei
- Trump administration approves ByteDance licensing for Nvidia H200 chips, but Nvidia negotiates KYC conditions over China restrictions, says Reuters
- NXP Semiconductors forecasts Q1 revenue of $3.05-3.25B, above estimates, signaling industrial market recovery, per Reuters
- Qualcomm reports $12.25B 4Q revenue; guides 1Q below expectations on China handset weakness while reiterating Samsung S26 share and auto growth
- Renesas Electronics to sell timing solution segment to US-based SiTime for $3B to focus on core microcontroller business, Nikkei reported
- Samsung begins EUV testing at Taylor, Texas fab targeting 2nm production in 2H26 for Tesla AI5 chips; expands glass substrate pilot line with Sumitomo JV
- South Korea pivots to X-ray lithography technology to break ASML’s monopoly on extreme ultraviolet semiconductor equipment, according to DigiTimes
- Texas Instruments to acquire Silicon Laboratories for $7.5B to expand wireless connectivity chip portfolio
- TSMC to mass produce 3nm chips at second Kumamoto fab under $17B investment, upgrading prior 6–12nm plan to meet AI demand
- Vishay reports $801M 4Q revenue with B2B rising to 1.2x on MOSFET and AI demand; guides 1Q to $815M with mid- to high-single-digit 2026 growth outlook