Thanks to the server supply chain shift out of China due to the US-China trade conflicts, Taiwan's computer production value has grown significantly over the past 5 years. Although China remains the biggest production site of Notebook PCs (NB), manufacturers of high-end servers have returned to Taiwan.
Qualcomm reported slightly stronger-than-expected results over the past quarter, and its upbeat outlook suggests an improvement in the mobile phone industry. Qualcomm also expects the automotive business to play a larger role.
In the first quarter of 2024, Samsung Electronics successfully turned a profit in its semiconductor business due to increased demand for AI-related memory. Coupled with the sales growth of the Galaxy S24 series, the outstanding performances from these two sectors led to a revenue return to the KRW70 trillion level (approx. US$50.85 billion) after 5 quarters.
Many Chinese semiconductor firms have told customers they are raising prices due to rising costs of precious metals, such as gold and copper, according to industry sources.
Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia view software as a crucial element of their future development. The pair targets China's fast-growing connected vehicle market and will collaborate with local tech giant Baidu.
Amid sluggish iPhone sales, Samsung Electronics and Chinese smartphone brands have begun to take advantage of this gap and expand their inventory of smartphones and OLEDs to seize market shares. This drove the utilization rates of OLED production lines for mid-to-low-end smartphones at Samsung Display (SDC), BOE, TCL CSOT, and other manufacturers.
Notebook production in Vietnam has increased dramatically, making the country the second largest source of imports to the US behind China, according to government sources.
Government sources indicate that the proportion of servers imported from China to the US declined from 18.8% in 2017 to 1.7% in 2023, based on trade dynamics over the past five years.
Hyundai Motor and Kia achieved outstanding financial performance in the first quarter of 2024 while facing challenges such as soft battery EV growth, high interest rates, and geopolitics. Hyundai plans to expand hybrid EV production, which contributed significantly to its sales.