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.

AR glasses are no longer newcomers to the tech industry, but their development remains constrained by high costs. On January 30, 2026, Kinko Optical held the opening ceremony for its AR/VR/MR R&D center at the Tai Yuen Hi-Tech Industrial Park in Zhubei City. Chairman Ching-Chi Chen stated that the center's equipment investment totals roughly NT$400–500 million (US$12.7–15.8 million), with an initial NT$300 million focusing on AR waveguide and optical engine technologies. The company secured R&D projects with US clients in 2025 and plans to start mass production in 2027, then shifting** large-scale manufacturing to its Taichung facility.

ByteDance has formally laid out its internal strategic focus for the next phase. At an internal meeting at the start of 2026, ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo stated that AI is hitting a new peak. The most critical short-term objective is the AI assistant ecosystem centered on Doubao and its overseas version, Dola.

AI startup Anthropic has introduced a new AI tool called Cowork that can automatically perform tasks across multiple applications, sparking significant attention within Microsoft. CEO Satya Nadella personally tested the related agent tools and urged internal teams to accelerate their AI agent strategies.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently hosted a banquet for key supply chain partners, where Advantech Co., Ltd. was the sole industrial PC (IPC) vendor invited. Miller Chang, president of Advantech's Embedded IT Group, represented the company at the event.

AI computing demand is increasing the need for thermal management. To optimize space efficiency in data centers, server cooling is shifting from traditional air cooling to liquid cooling, bringing a new wave of high-growth revenue opportunities for thermal solution companies. Leading Taiwanese thermal module makers Asia Vital Components (AVC) and Auras Technology's revenues jumped as they expanded from PCs and smartphones into server cooling. AVC also benefits from server components like enclosures and quick connectors, with year-over-year growth approaching triple digits.

German industrial giant Merck KGaA announced the appointment of Benjamin Hein as a member of the executive board and CEO of its electronics business unit, effective May 1, 2026. Following extensive global experience within the group, Hein will return to the electronics division from the company's headquarters in Germany.

Demand for smart glasses is climbing. Alongside established players such as Meta, Rokid, RayNeo, and Xreal, heavyweight brands including Samsung Electronics and Apple are preparing to enter the market, raising the stakes across the supply chain. In Taiwan's optical industry, several suppliers have emerged as focal points.

Taiwan-based National Aerospace Fasteners Corporation (Nafco) held a groundbreaking ceremony on January 30, 2025, for its second-phase expansion at its production base in Malaysia. Nafco stated that launching this expansion marks a significant milestone in the company's capacity growth and global manufacturing footprint.

Taiwan-based CviLux Corp announced on January 30, 2026, that, following a board resolution, it will publicly acquire up to 5,191,000 shares of Cystek Electronics, representing approximately 15% of its total issued shares. The public tender offer period runs from February 3, 2026, to March 10, 2026, and will proceed in accordance with relevant legal procedures.

Below are the most-read DIGITIMES stories from the week of January 16 – February 1, 2026.