A Reuters report quoted three people familiar with the fact that more and more Chinese IC design houses are having their chips packaged in Malaysia, worrying that the US would increase sanction measures in the future. Industry experts pointed out that several aspects call for attention.
Amid a growing electronics ecosystem emerging in Southeast Asia, Vietnam's potential was recognized by chipmakers as Nvidia initiated its expansion, eyeing an IC design center in the country.
According to the IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Thailand's smartphone market saw initial signs of a recovery in the third quarter of 2023 after six consecutive quarters of annual decline as the market grew 1.6% year-on-year and 8.3% quarter-on-quarter.
Amid rising demand for advanced chips and heightened US export bans against China, Chinese semiconductor firms are looking to assembly and packaging suppliers in Malaysia, highlighting the role Southeast Asian countries play in the US-China geopolitical unease.
Amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions that hit the global chip supply chain, Taiwan-based semiconductor equipment and material suppliers are accelerating their investments in Malaysia.
The Indonesian government took another measure to foster a local EV supply chain. Carmakers that plan to make EV investments in the country will be exempted from import duties and some other tax for their built-up vehicles. The government also delayed deadlines requiring companies to increase local content in their EVs.
Sales data from Japan's vehicle associations showed EV sales volume is decreasing in the country and continues to account for a low market share in new car sales. The situation in Japan is dramatically different from those in China, Europe, and Thailand, where EV markets are booming.
Weak demand in the market is not preventing Taiwan-based passive component makers from expanding overseas capacity, with Southeast Asia being a major destination for their new plants.
Nvidia made headlines again with CEO Jensen Huang's Asia tour to Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam over the past week. Yet it takes a grander perspective to see the strategy behind Huang's recent efforts in forging ties and securing supply chains.
In a forum recently hosted by the Cloud Computing and IoT Association in Taiwan (CIAT), Peter Wu, ASUS Cloud and Taiwan Web Service Corporation (TWSC) President, who is a supervisory committee member of CIAT, pointed out that the demand of Generative AI is here to stay and open-source models are helpful for applications to develop AI for edge devices such as PCs and smartphones. He emphasized that industry players in Taiwan should also help neighboring countries to develop related applications.
Over the past few years, numerous PCB manufacturers have embarked on their investment spree in Thailand, marking a substantial shift in the global supply chain, with a scale rarely witnessed in decades. DIGITIMES Research noted that PCB manufacturers strategically align themselves with their customers to bolster supply chain resilience and respond to rising demands for automotive electronics.
Auden Techno Corp., an RF and testing specialist, announced that its Vietnam facility has commenced mass production. Currently, with three production lines, the site is gradually increasing its capacity to meet the demands of its customers, primarily major American notebook brands requiring multi-antenna modules.
Apple is reportedly looking to allocate product development resources for the iPad to Vietnam and is rumored to target 25% of iPhone production share in India as the tech giant ramps up efforts to build a more resilient global supply base.
PCB maker Allied Circuit (ACCL) held its earnings call on December 6, during which spokesman Tony Chan predicted a better fourth quarter in 2023 compared to the third quarter and four to six weeks of order visibility in an optimistic forecast for the first half of 2024.
