On March 16, reports surfaced indicating that the semiconductor industry chain is currently undergoing another round of price hikes, following previous increases in the memory and packaging sectors. Mature process wafer foundries, including Taiwan-based UMC, Vanguard, and Powerchip, are set to elevate their quotes as early as April, with anticipated increases reaching up to 10% or even higher.

Driven by escalating costs, IC design companies, particularly those specializing in driver ICs, are also preparing to implement price adjustments. While UMC refrained from commenting on the rumors of price hikes, it did acknowledge that the current pricing landscape is "more favorable than before." Meanwhile, Vanguard issued a notice stating its intention to modify foundry prices starting from April 2026, though it refrained from revealing the specific increase amount. On the other hand, Powerchip confirmed that it has been incrementally raising prices for product lines with lower gross margins since the beginning of this quarter.