Since early 2025, rising costs of precious metals such as gold and silver have triggered price increase signals in the supply chain for key materials like substrates and leadframes used in the IC packaging industry. Market watchers expect these cost pressures to shift downstream to packaging companies, potentially impacting customer pricing.

Japan will expand export controls to cover general-purpose machine tools, integrated circuits, drones, radar, navigation, and testing equipment, requiring companies to verify potential military use. The new rules, effective October 9, 2025, broaden oversight beyond UN arms embargo countries to most global destinations, including China and Southeast Asia.

A US proposal to evenly split advanced semiconductor production between Taiwan and the United States has sparked deep concern in the industry and triggered a political debate in Taipei, as questions arise over cost, national security, and the future of global supply chains.

The year 2025 has brought many changes to the mobile industry. Apple launched its self-developed modem chip in the iPhone 16e, followed by Xiaomi's Xuanjie O1, its high-profile self-developed system-on-chip (SoC). Although Qualcomm has repeatedly emphasized it is not competing with customers, warning signs from downstream clients can no longer be ignored.

On October 2, Meta announced the acquisition of US-based IC design company Rivos, which develops high-performance computing chips and solutions based on the RISC-V architecture. Interestingly, at the beginning of 2025, Meta also set its sights on South Korean chip startup FuriosaAI, a company gaining attention for its unique Tensor Contraction Processor (TCP) chip architecture and dedicated to enhancing AI performance through the efficiency of TCP design.

Taiwan's used phone market is showing signs of warming up. The growth is driven in part by a wave of device upgrades following the launch of Apple's iPhone 17 lineup. It has been further fueled by "phone recycling month" programs in October, during which telecom operators and retail channels actively promote trade-in and recycling programs.

Largan Precision reported consolidated revenue of NT$6.235 billion (approx. US$204 million) for September 2025, marking a 4% month-over-month increase, but a 4% decline year-over-year. Consolidated revenue for the third quarter of 2025 reached NT$17.677 billion (approx. US$579 million), up 51% from the previous quarter, but down 7% compared to the same period last year. For the first nine months of 2025, consolidated revenue stood at NT$43.929 billion (US$1.44 billion), reflecting a 7% growth year-on-year.

The launch for the next-generation optical communication infrastructure, IOWN (Innovative Optical and Wireless Network), led by Japanese telecom group NTT, is scheduled for 2026. The production system for core equipment will involve US semiconductor company Broadcom, Japanese IC substrate manufacturer Shinko Electric Industries, and Taiwan-based Accton.

Recent US-EU tariff negotiations promised to dismantle trade barriers and establish mutual recognition of automotive standards. The US has already cut EU car import tariffs from 27.5% to 15%, signaling the EU's initial move to ease some trade restrictions on American goods.

China Motor Corporation (CMC) delved into the development origins and future plans for the ET35, Taiwan's first domestically produced electric commercial vehicle, at the annual Taiwan Automotive International Forum and Exhibition (TAIFE) on October 1, with CMC senior manager Leo Liu outlining the company's ongoing roadmap and product blueprint.

German automaker Mercedes-Benz has recently overhauled its electric vehicle (EV) product strategy, highlighting the introduction of the entry-level CLA. This all-new model aims to fill a critical price segment gap and directly compete against key rivals like BMW and Tesla.

Taiwan's annual energy efficiency improvement rate has hit 5.1%, surpassing the international benchmark of 4%. This achievement supports the island country's goal of reaching a 20% renewable energy share by 2026, according to the Executive Yuan.

Billion Electric is partnering with major shareholder Sino-American Silicon Products (SAS) to capture a significant slice of the growing energy storage market in the semiconductor sector, as AI drives the demand for power and behind-the-meter (BTM) renewable energy. According to Billion Electric general manager Elsa Chang, 2025 marks the company's first foray into the BTM energy storage market, with further applications and business prospects going forward.

Chih-Wei Wu, deputy director general of the Energy Administration (EA) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), showed journalists around the Maritime Technology Innovation Center (MTIC) in Kaohsiung on October 2. Current tenants include Thunder Tiger, the Taiwan Ocean Research Institute (TORI) under the National Institute of Applied Research (NIAR), Fugro IOVTEC, Maca Tech, Lung Hwa Electronics, and GOAT Engineering.

To accelerate its expansion in the drone market, Qisda has recently incorporated two drone companies, one of which is Dragonfly UAS. Apart from being a distributor in Taiwan for American firm Skydio's drones that are in active use by the US military, Dragonfly UAS has also launched its self-developed vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drones.

The Russia-Ukraine war has fundamentally reshaped modern warfare, and recent Pentagon concerns about missile stockpiles have underscored a strategic shift. Future conflicts are expected to favor low-cost, mass-produced weapons built from mature commercial technology and scalable private-sector manufacturing.

Alongside official collaborations between Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) and leading Western defense contractors, private companies such as AbonMax are accelerating their efforts in developing attack drones.

As demand slows in consumer electronics, Samsung Electronics is accelerating its expansion into the B2B digital signage market. The company has secured a large-scale order from Toyota Motor to supply about 23,000 smart displays to its global exhibition centers in the first half of 2025.

Taiwan's first outdoor color electronic paper (e-paper) billboards have demonstrated remarkable resilience, operating reliably under harsh coastal conditions at the Siangshan Wetland in northern Taiwan since their trial launch at the end of 2024. The five solar-powered displays were installed through a May 2024 partnership between Taiwan-based e-paper leader E Ink Holdings and the Hsinchu City Government, marking a milestone in the integration of green technology and ecological conservation.

PlayNitride is positioning its mass transfer process equipment as a key "microLED 3D printer" to accelerate mass production and expand applications beyond current panel customers. Chairman Charles Li revealed plans to extend sales toward automotive OEMs and end users, tapping the growing microLED market following smartwatches.