Sales of smartphones in the China market remained lackluster in May, with related shipments declining 31% from a year earlier to 22.6 million units in the month, according to data from the China Academy of Information and Technology (CAICT).

Taiwan-based PCB maker Apex International, with main manufacturing operations in Thailand, plans to invest NT$3.74 billion (US$135.1 million) to build new production lines at its factory site in the Southeast Asian country this year, according to industry sources.

China brand vendors such as Xiaomi and Anker have rolled out their GaN-based fast charging devices for consumer technology products, which will be stimulating demand for GaN-on-Si chips, according to industry sources.

Countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia stand a chance of becoming rising stars in the midst of supply chain shifts and the move toward shorter supply chains and localization. Four Indian firms and one Indonesian firm entered Digitimes' Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC100). By region, Tata Motors at No. 22 in ASC100 is the champion in Southeast Asia and South Asia, followed by Indonesia's Astra International (No. 68) and India's Mahindra & Mahindra (No. 69), Maruti Suzuki (No. 74) and Motherson Sumi (No. 89). ASC 100 is a study based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap that will be renewed annually.

Companies in the "tech products and equipment" and "automotive manufacturing" sectors account for half of the Digitimes' Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC 100) list, but semiconductor firms well lead the list in both average profit and average market value. ASC 100 is a newly released reseach on Asia's top 100 tech firms. ASC 100 is a study based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap that will be renewed annually.

Benefiting from the US-China tech war and sharp chip shortages following the pandemic outbreak, and with automotive clients competing for foundry capacity support, the entire semiconductor industry is poised to enjoy robust order momentum through 2022, allowing semiconductor stocks to gain traction in the market. TSMC and Samsung Electronics, now the world's only two companies able to commercialize sub-7 nm foundry nodes, have been in a two-horse race for grabbing the crown in the Digitimes' Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC 100) research, ranking first and second, respectively, by market capitalization in 2020. ASC 100 is a study based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap that will be renewed annually.

Of the companies in Digitimes' Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC 100), Samsung Electronics had the highest net income US$22.1 billion in 2020. But TSMC - in third place in overall net income - had the highest net profit margin of 38.7%, way higher than Samsung's 11%. ASC 100 is a new released research on Asia's top 100 tech firms - a study based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap that will be renewed annually.

Digitimes, an Asia-based premium source of tech supply chain information, undertook a six-month study on the financial reports of 4,725 publicly listed corporations across 11 countries in Asia and compiled its first annual report on the top 100 Asian suppliers - Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC100) in 2021. Released on June 15, the report contains the rankings among Asia's top 100 suppliers along with a look into supply chain trends and an analysis on the competitiveness of Asian countries. Digitimes plans to release updated statistics on an annual basis going forward and keep track of the changes in the rankings among Asia's high-tech suppliers in the long run.

In the first five months of 2021, 25 new industrial parks were established in Vietnam, a significant increase from the first-half 2020's six, according to research by US-based CBRE.

The Apple supply chain's shift of operation to India, in line with the incentives provided by the Indian government, has reportedly created around 20,000 job opportunities so far in the South Asian country.

With Asia Pacific countries such as Taiwan and Malaysia witnessing COVID-19 infections surging, sources from the upstream supply chain believe shortages of notebook components could worsen.

Taiwan's tech firms have intensified coronavirus-prevention measures after COVID-19 hit some local semiconductors plants, with KYEC bearing the brunt of the impacts, raising concerns about the stability of IC supply that has already been troubled by capacity shortage for months. In the IT market, despite speculation that demand for notebooks may weaken in second-half 2021 as a result of easing of the pandemic, ODMs are still confident about notebook orders throughout the year. In India, Lava International reportedly is preparing for IPO, as it seeks to reclaim lost ground in the local handset market.

Lava International, an India-based smartphone manufacturer, is preparing for initial public offering (IPO), in line with a trend that sees ndian companies showing keeness to seize the opportunities available to expand their market share and capitalization, according to local media reports.

Samsung Electronics is expected to see sales of its non-memory business particularly the system LSI segment boom this year, buoyed by strong demand for handset application processors, CMOS image sensors, power management chips and display driver ICs.

Shipments of TWS (true wireless stereo) devices in the Indian market remained strong in first-quarter 2021 with local brands having a major share, according to Counterpoint Research.