During MediaTek's earnings call on February 3, CEO Rick Tsai cautioned that smartphone demand is expected to encounter difficulties in 2026. Contrasting this outlook, Pegatron chairman Tzu Hsien Tung expressed a more optimistic view, highlighting the dominance of smartphones over the past 16 years and the potential for future growth driven by emerging markets.

Texas Instruments (TI) has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire chip designer Silicon Laboratories for approximately US$7.5 billion, marking the largest deal for TI since its US$6.5 billion purchase of National Semiconductor in 2011. The acquisition underscores TI's strategy to strengthen its presence in wireless connectivity chips for industrial, consumer, and smart-device applications.

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) announced the results of its consolidated business operations for the fourth quarter of 2025 on February 3: consolidated revenue reached NT$65.65 billion (US$2.08 billion), up 0.5% year-on-year; operating profit dropped by 2.2% to NT$11.38 billion (US$360 million); EBITDA decreased slightly by 0.2% to NT$21.55 billion (US$681 million); net income attributable to parent company shareholders rose 3.2% to NT$9.29 billion (US$294 million); and earnings per share (EPS) stood at NT$1.20.

The ZTE Corporation has scored a major win in its global patent dispute with Samsung Electronics after a US federal judge dismissed Samsung's FRAND contract and antitrust lawsuit, shifting legal leverage toward the Chinese telecom equipment maker.

Last week, Apple released its latest financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, with the iPhone 17 series continuing to post strong sales. Overall, iPhone shipments grew 23% year over year, with particularly standout performance in the Chinese market. Apple CEO Tim Cook said the number of users switching from Android to Apple far exceeded expectations. Considering that China's overall smartphone market did not actually grow in the previous quarter, this implies a relative decline in market share for other Chinese smartphone brands. This undoubtedly adds revenue pressure for other SoC vendors such as MediaTek and Qualcomm.

India's smartphone market experienced a mixed trajectory in 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The year began on a softer note, weighed down by elevated inventory and a slow product launch calendar. Momentum picked up in the second quarter, driven by fresh device launches, aggressive promotions, and festive-season channel stocking, pushing third-quarter shipments to a record quarterly value. Shipments slowed again in the fourth quarter as brands focused on inventory correction and managed rising component costs. Overall, the market grew 1% year-on-year in volume but posted a stronger 8% year-on-year growth in value, reflecting sustained premiumization.

China has for the first time formally designated "future industries," with the framework for policy support now taking shape. The move signals a shift away from conceptual discussion, placing these sectors at the core of the country's upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan.

Apple reported strong results for its fiscal first quarter of 2026, but the company's supply chain did not share in the enthusiasm. The key reason is that Apple is feeling the impact of rising prices for critical components while striving to maintain a certain gross margin range. This means increased pricing pressure on suppliers.

Amid a cautious recovery in the consumer electronics market, Apple highlighted the critical role of its iPhone series in driving overall operations in its fiscal first-quarter 2026 earnings report. The company reported record-high iPhone-related revenue this quarter, with year-over-year growth significantly outpacing the overall average and serving as the core driver of holiday-season sales expansion.

With Nvidia's next-generation Rubin Ultra platform approaching launch, the shift to 800G and 1.6T high-speed interconnects and the adoption of silicon photonics (SiPh) are set to open major growth opportunities. AI data centers are becoming the main growth driver in 2025, while 2026 is widely seen as the first year of large-scale commercial rollout for silicon photonics.