As memory and storage prices enter a rapid growth cycle, Chinese memory supply chains are expanding their influence by targeting domestic smartphone brands. Leveraging upstream manufacturers' resources and localized partnerships, these Chinese firms are gradually capturing market share traditionally dominated by major global memory companies. Suppliers for smartphone giants like Transsion and Xiaomi are seeing significant increases in their footprint.
Largan Precision CEO Adam Lin provided a wealth of insights regarding robotics and smartphone lenses at Largan's third-quarter online investor conference.
At the geopolitics forum of SEMICON West 2025, corporate government affairs executives from Arm Holdings, ASML, Entegris, Intel, and Lam Research all presented policy recommendations in relation to US strategies to compete with China. All attendees unanimously agreed that policy consistency and continuity are the most urgent areas for improvement.
In recent years, China's traditional industries and those with lower technical barriers have faced intensifying competition, with bad money driving out good. This trend threatens long-term industrial development and competitiveness. Taiwan's industry value chains face similar challenges amid tariffs, exchange rates, and geopolitical risks, compounded by worsening competition among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It is imperative to take action now to tackle the problem.
Samsung Electronics is set to release a new high-end foldable smartphone designed specifically for the Chinese market, aiming to break into China's price-competitive smartphone landscape by focusing instead on flagship devices.
Networking firm Planet Technology has reported consolidated revenue of NT$132.23 million (approx. US$4.36 million) for September 2025, down 18.8% year-over-year. The company's cumulative revenue for the first nine months of 2025 reached NT$1.386 billion.
Apple is set to launch a 7.6-inch folding iPhone in 2026, with Samsung Display (SDC) expected to be the exclusive supplier of its OLED panels, capturing about 40% of Samsung's total foldable panel shipments.
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.
Huawei smartwatches have recently seen a steady rise in sales in the Japanese market, particularly favored by middle-aged and elderly consumers. Retail channels indicate that since April 2025, when Takuya Kimura became the brand ambassador, the number of customers aged 40 to 70 has noticeably increased. Many have chosen Huawei smartwatches as their first smart wearable device, mainly focusing on health monitoring features that meet their needs.
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.
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.
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