On-Site｜2026 Taiwan-Japan Advanced Semiconductor Technology Seminar
Sept. 4, 2026 —
"Customer qualification takes 12 to 18 months — the design-in window is now."
That's what our Co-Founder and CTO, Chih-Hsiang Ho, told the room at the 2026 Taiwan-Japan Advanced Semiconductor Technology Seminar on September 4.
The seminar was co-hosted by the Chinese Economic Association in East Asia (CEAEA) and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University's International College of Semiconductor Technology (ICST), with SEMI, the 3D-IC and Silicon Photonics Heterogeneous Integration Consortium, Mizuho Bank, and the Taiwan-Japan Semiconductor Technology Promotion Association as co-organizers, held alongside SEMICON Taiwan. We were honored to be invited as one of the two Taiwan speakers, sharing the stage with Japanese experts to discuss what's next for Taiwan-Japan semiconductor collaboration.
In his talk, Ho went further: the bill of materials for a co-packaged optical engine naturally spans Taiwan and Japan — Taiwan's speed meets Japan's precision, and what comes out of that? Taiwan holds the edge in epitaxy, advanced packaging, and mass-production test speed. Japan leads in precision materials, optical components, and long-cycle reliability.
Our Micro-VCSEL optical engines, combined with AI-based die-level inspection and sorting, target short-reach optical interconnect for AI clusters and are currently technical engagement and design-in discussions with tier-one global customers.
"The Kumamoto model has already proven Taiwan-Japan trust. The next step is engineering that trust into a single product."
He called on both industries to move from component trading to joint product development — through shared specifications, paid pilot production, and mutual second-sourcing. It's a direction we're committed to as well.
From wafer to finished product, Taiwan and Japan each hold a piece of the puzzle. Where do you think the next jointly-defined product will emerge? Share your thoughts in the comments.
