Zero One Daily Intelligence Brief — April 03, 2026

ABF Substrate Joins DRAM in Supply Crunch as Hardware Bottlenecks Multiply

Top Market Signals

DRAM shortage powers Nanya to record quarter

Nanya Technology (2408 TT) posted March revenue of NT$18.17bn, a new monthly record, surging 560% YoY and 16.4% MoM, as the global DRAM shortage intensified. Q1 cumulative revenue reached NT$49.09bn, up 63.1% QoQ and 583% YoY, also a quarterly record. February after-tax profit of NT$7.58bn exceeded the company's entire prior-year net income of NT$6.6bn in a single month.

Nanya expects DRAM supply constraints to persist through mid-2027, driven by AI server and HPC demand alongside limited new capacity additions. Contract pricing with major clients remains on an upward trajectory, with Q2 operations anticipated to outpace Q1. Taiwan memory peers echo this view: industry executives at Winbond, ADATA, and Innodisk maintain the "price cycle has not yet turned" and that the industry remains in a sustained upcycle. Q2 PC DRAM contract prices are projected to increase more than 40% QoQ.

On the NAND Flash side, the pricing recovery is described as being in early stages, with enterprise-grade storage needs driven by AI infrastructure continuing to support price strength. Despite recent spot price declines in the US and mainland China, industry consensus treats this as a temporary channel correction rather than a fundamental reversal.

Linked stocks: 2408 TT, 2344 TT, 005930 KS, 000660 KS Sources: DRAM缺貨漲價 南亞科3月營收續創新高, 記憶體雜音多 業者：免驚, 南亞科第1季合併營收創新高

Unimicron breaks out as ABF substrate supply tightens

IC substrate maker Unimicron (3037 TT) surged on its first day back from trading restrictions, with a US broker upgrading its target price from NT$618 to NT$734. The stock closed at NT$519 with volume exceeding 47,000 lots, as investment trusts bought 3,016 lots in a single session.

The bull case centers on tightening ABF substrate supply. The US broker noted that clients are actively signing long-term contracts to secure capacity, and that Q1 price increases for ABF substrates "will not be a one-time event" with further hikes likely. Unimicron projects AI-related products will exceed 60% of total output this year, up from lower levels, and the broker sees gross margins returning to or exceeding prior peaks.

Linked stocks: 3037 TT, 8150 TT Sources: 熱門股》禁閉出關投信大買 欣興帶量攻

Chipbond hits second limit-up on packaging price hikes

Driver IC packaging and testing firm Chipbond (6147 TT) posted its second consecutive limit-up at NT$84, reaching a 4.5-year high on volume of 72,500 lots. The three major institutional investors bought a combined 3,361 lots while major traders added 6,430 lots.

The rally reflects market expectations for Q2 price increases on driver IC testing services, driven by rising wafer production costs and surging gold prices. Beyond its core business, Chipbond is diversifying into linear-drive pluggable optical modules (LPO), which are expected to enter mass production this year, opening a new revenue stream tied to AI data center interconnect demand. Cumulative revenue for the first two months reached NT$3.72bn, up 12.2% YoY.

Linked stocks: 6147 TT Sources: 熱門股》三大法人齊買 頎邦拉第二根漲停

E Ink takes control of TaiFlex for semiconductor materials push

E Ink (8069 TT) is acquiring board control of flexible circuit board materials maker TaiFlex (8039 TT), securing four director seats ahead of a May 27 shareholder meeting. E Ink executive Chen Yongheng will assume the TaiFlex chairmanship.

E Ink and its subsidiary Yuanhan Materials have accumulated approximately 9% of TaiFlex's equity over four years. The strategic rationale is expansion into semiconductor materials, leveraging TaiFlex's deep expertise in FCCL (flexible copper-clad laminates) and electronic materials. The combined entity aims to capture materials demand driven by AI and high-performance computing growth.

Linked stocks: 8069 TT, 8039 TT Sources: 元太將入主台虹 搶攻半導體材料商機

Broadcom recruits Alphabet CFO for finance leadership

Broadcom (AVGO US) appointed Alphabet executive Amie Thuener as its next Chief Financial Officer, drawing senior financial talent from the cloud and AI giant. The hire signals Broadcom's intent to strengthen financial leadership as the company navigates its expanding AI and semiconductor portfolio following the VMware integration.

Linked stocks: AVGO US, GOOGL US Sources: Bloomberg

Microsoft launches in-house AI models to reduce OpenAI dependence

Microsoft AI (MAI), led by CEO Mustafa Suleyman, released three new foundational models covering speech-to-text transcription, audio generation, and image generation. The release marks Microsoft's competitive response to rivals developing multimodal capabilities and signals a strategic shift toward building proprietary AI infrastructure alongside its OpenAI partnership.

The MAI division formed approximately six months ago and is now delivering production-ready models, positioning Microsoft to offer a broader stack of in-house AI capabilities to enterprise customers.

Linked stocks: MSFT US Sources: TechCrunch

US lawmakers propose chip tool export crackdown on China

US lawmakers unveiled legislation seeking to crack down on exports of chipmaking tools to China, especially from allied nations. The proposed bill targets equipment sales that could enable China's domestic semiconductor manufacturing ambitions, tightening controls beyond existing restrictions on advanced chip exports.

The legislation comes amid ongoing tensions over technology transfer and follows previous rounds of chip export controls. Nexperia's China unit separately reported it is nearing "fully local production" of chips, highlighting the accelerating push toward semiconductor self-sufficiency in mainland China.

Linked stocks: ASML NA, LRCX US, AMAT US, KLAC US Sources: Bloomberg, Asiafinancial

先聲 First Word — Exclusives from Chinese-Language Sources

Daxin Materials posts record March revenue on semiconductor growth

Specialty chemical maker Daxin Materials (5234 TT) reported March revenue of NT$424M, up 15.7% MoM and 5.5% YoY, a new all-time high. The company's semiconductor materials segment grew 108% last year and now accounts for 16.7% of total revenue. (3 Apr 2026)

Source: 達興材3月合併營收創高

Memory sector dismisses spot price weakness as temporary

Taiwan's DRAM and NAND Flash makers including Nanya, Winbond, ADATA, and Innodisk pushed back against bearish sentiment, maintaining that the current price cycle remains intact with Q2 PC DRAM contracts set to rise over 40% QoQ. (3 Apr 2026)

Source: 記憶體雜音多 業者：免驚

GaAs foundry WIN Semi posts 22-month revenue high

GaAs foundry WIN Semiconductors (8086 TT) reported March revenue of NT$432M, up 16% MoM and 48% YoY, a 22-month high. Growth was driven by rising PA market share in China, with Q2 expected to outpace Q1. Gross margins are expected to hold above 30%. (3 Apr 2026)

Source: 營收獲利速報》宏捷科3月營收創22月新高 Q2將比Q1好