To align with global space industry development trends and establish comprehensive solutions for Taiwan's space industry, Taiwan Accelerator Plus (TAcc+), a Taiwanese government-sponsored startup accelerator has formed cooperation with international accelerators and organizations to invite overseas SpaceTech startups to visit Taiwan for a whole month, starting August 15.
With tensions between Washington and Beijing taking center stage, concerns emerged regarding the status of supply chains and the competitive landscape among various Asian countries. To gain a more profound understanding of this situation, DIGITIMES conducted the "Asia Supply Chain: ASC 250 Rankings," with a specific focus on the Asian ICT industry chain and an analysis of the operational performance of nearly 5,000 companies.
At the ongoing Intel Innovation 2023 conference, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced a number of the company's important AI progress initiatives, including the upcoming launch of its 14th Gen Meteor Lake CPUs, which will power tens of millions of PCs due to ship next year.
The 2023 global smartphone market has very much been lackluster, with major brands all uncertain about their sales growth. Apple's iPhone 15 series is seen as the only stable contender in the market. Under these circumstances, Huawei's return to the 5G smartphone market, after being relegated to the sidelines for years, created a major buzz immediately upon its reveal.
IC design company Weltrend Semiconductor has seen operations recover quarter by quarter as it moves inventory at a healthy pace. The company sees promising futures for both its main product lines: USB-PD chips are expected to benefit from a steady increase in notebook shipments, while fan motor driver chips are aimed at the rising demand for AI servers.
HTC is taking a highly diversified strategy in its operations, strengthening and enriching its VR/AR ecosystem, while at the same time expanding its smartphone lineup to face market challengers head on. The company has set its targets on 5G, AI, blockchain, and AR/VR technologies, with its vision of the Viverse vision at the core of its operations. With tangible results in recent metaverse and private 5G networking applications, the company expects a boost to its operations as applications in these areas continue to expand.
At the Apple Event 2023, the new Apple Watch product line was unveiled as the first-ever carbon-neutral product of the US consumer electronics giant and became one of the spotlights of the day. Originally, Apple was planning to reach the goal of 100% carbon-neutrality of its supply chain by 2030. Now with Apple Watch hitting the goal first, the supply chain partners of Apple's MacBooks, iPhones, etc., will have to get ready for the rigorous alignment.
The new S9 system-in-package (SiP) that powers the just-unveiled Apple Watch is manufactured by Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Universal Scientific Industrial (USI), both of which are under ASE Technology Holding, according to industry sources.
Following the release of Huawei's Mate60 Pro series of smartphones, it has been reported that its Harmony operating system (OS) will enter the PC sector in 2024.
Apple has introduced Apple Watch Ultra 2, bringing new features to Apple's most capable and rugged smartwatch, Apple Watch Series 9, bringing new features to the wearable series, and AirPods Pro (2nd generation) with MagSafe Charging (USB‑C).
Suppliers have seen utilization rates for Apple MacBooks cut in half in the second half of the year compared with the same period in 2022, indicating a sluggish second half of 2023 for the notebook industry, according to industry sources.
The Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) is a prominent player in Taiwan's aerospace sector, extending its influence from sky to space. AIDC is deeply involved in various airborne vehicles, ranging from supporting the testing and mass production of drones for national defense to its origins in manufacturing aircraft components. AIDC's expertise in designing and producing composite material structures is highly esteemed, including its past contributions to creating heat dissipation systems for instruments on the International Space Station. In recent years, AIDC is also positioning itself to play a crucial role in international low-earth orbit(LEO) satellite competitions.
Foxconn applied for India's incentive schemes for computer and semiconductor manufacutring. Nvidia is optimistic about India's AI demands and is looking to expand the market.
Apple will hold its fall announcement event, tag-lined "Wonderlust," on September 12 where it is expected to announce the iPhone 15 series. In addition to the entire series switching to the USB-Type C charging port and the Dynamic Island design, high-end models will feature more upgrades.
Inventec has five certified production bases dedicated to automotive product manufacturing, enabling the company to establish a presence within the supply chains of automobile vendors based in Europe, the US, and China, according to Lino Li, VP of the company's automotive business unit.
Touch panel module specialists have seen customers delay shipments of their new products until the fourth quarter, signifying a particularly weak third quarter, according to industry sources.
Delta Electronics has announced plans to invest approximately CNY1.45 billion (US$199.2 million) in the expansion of its industrial site in Chongqing, China by adding a new facility.
With PC vendors such as Dell issuing optimistic forecasts, IC design firms anticipate an improvement in order visibility from the PC industry, which means performance in the second half may be slightly better than expected.
Young Liu, chairman of Foxconn (Hon Hai Technology Group), has expressed optimism in business in the fourth quarter of 2023, saying it will be definitely better than that in the third quarter.
Samsung Electronics is planning to launch the Galaxy S23 FE version in the fourth quarter. Recently, market rumors suggest that Samsung will apply a similar strategy to the Z series foldable phones, launching an FE (fan edition) version in 2024. However, mobile phone channel sources believe that considering factors like the foldable phone market, product, and user structure, the probability of an FE version for the Z series in the short term is extremely low and wouldn't mean much.
Foxconn (Hon Hai Technology Group) is expanding its presence in Mexico by signing a strategic partnership with the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The partnership signals an expansion of Foxconn's deployments in Mexico from the city level to the state level, according to industry observers.
Currently, Huawei's global smartphone shipment sits at less than 30 million units annually. Can it return to its previous peak of 200 million units? The answer to this question is likely something Huawei's smartphone supply chain is speculating as well. The recent marketing approach of the Mate 60 Pro, which began sales before any official announcement was made, is likely just the starting point for Huawei's "long-term comeback" over the next few years.
Notebook shipments in the second half of 2023 are expected to be weak, with only gaming notebooks likely to witness growth, according to notebook ODM sources.
Apple is reportedly developing a low-cost MacBook series to compete with Chromebook models in the education sector that could be released as early as the second half of 2024, according to industry sources.
