As the second quarter of 2026 unfolds, many smartphone and component makers entered the year bracing for pressure on the mobile market. Sunny Optical internally forecasts a 9% decline in the global smartphone market for 2026, with mid- to low-end phones pausing camera upgrades and high-end components undergoing a clear replacement trend.
India's smartphone shipments fell 3% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, signaling strain across global supply chains and consumer markets as rising component costs and sluggish demand squeezed volumes and margins. The downturn — and the further price pressures expected ahead — could affect device availability, pricing strategies, and earnings across manufacturers and retailers.
Taiwan's leading cable TV operator, Homeplus Digital, has entered the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST TV) market through its subsidiary Global Digital Media with the launch of the "Waqu TV" platform, aiming to capture growing demand for no-subscription viewing as the island's paid over-the-top (OTT) sector nears saturation.
Below are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories from the week of April 13-19, 2026:
Optical lens giant Largan held its first quarter of 2026 earnings call on April 16, hosted by chairman En-Ping Lin. The company posted 7% year-on-year revenue growth — but headwinds are building as smartphone makers look to downgrade specifications.
Taiwan's networking equipment makers reported stronger-than-seasonal performance in the first quarter of 2026, supported by demand from AI data centers and upgrades to Wi-Fi 7. Accton Technology, Sercomm and WNC each posted record revenue for the period. However, rising memory prices are beginning to pressure cost structures across the sector.
Rising memory prices are reshaping the global smartphone market. The shift is triggering a broad slowdown and accelerating structural shifts across China's handset industry. Data from Omdia and IDC point to weakening shipments in the first quarter of 2026, with cost pressure and product strategy adjustments weighing heavily on Chinese brands, particularly Xiaomi.
The 2026 International Symposium on VLSI Technology, Systems and Applications (VLSI TSA) kicked off on April 14, gathering over 800 semiconductor professionals worldwide. The conference focused on next-generation core areas including GenAI inference acceleration, wafer-level computing, and terahertz wireless communication, while also delving into quantum computer system architectures and extending the reach of semiconductors to AI-driven cardiac analysis and other smart healthcare applications.
India's Tata Group has injected fresh capital into its electronics manufacturing arm, Tata Electronics, as it accelerates efforts to scale up iPhone production and strengthen its role in Apple's global supply chain.
Taiwan's optical lens makers opened 2026 with a sharp rebound, driven by a recovery in the global smartphone market and rising demand for high-end camera modules. At the same time, a new narrative is taking hold: silicon photonics (SiPh) and co-packaged optics (CPO) are pulling traditional lens suppliers into the core of AI infrastructure.
To strengthen communications resilience, Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) is promoting a high-altitude platform station (HAPS) project. The initiative uses domestically produced drones as carriers integrated with communication systems to create an aerial communications platform featuring long endurance and high payload capacity. The program aims to begin testing with telecommunications operators in the third quarter of 2026, with plans to publicly showcase its achievements in October.
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