Going into the second half of 2023, most markets are still struggling with soaring inflation and weakening consumption with emerging markets having taken a serious hit. Based on DIGITIMES Research's statistics, second-quarter 2023 global smartphone shipments amounted to 250 million units, down 8.7% from a year ago

South Korea's manufacturing sector has sustained an impact from the US-China tech war, with the COVID-19 pandemic also seriously disrupting its supply chain operations. In response, Korean manufacturers have built production bases abroad in recent years. In particular, those making electronics components, computers, imaging devices and base station equipment are stepping up their investments in Vietnam and India, according to DIGITIMES Research's latest single report covering movements of Korean IT companies, especially Samsung Electronics, in the past several years and in the next few years

The global top-5 notebook brands, not including Apple, together witnessed their first on-year shipment growth for nearly 20 months in August 2023 at 4%. Compared to July, their shipments were up 8%, driven mainly by vendors' inventory preparation for peak season, according to DIGITIMES Research's latest notebook shipment update for August

Global tablet shipments reached only 28.09 million units in the second quarter of 2023, down nearly 5% from a quarter ago, due to the quarter being the traditional slow season and sales in key markets such as North America and China showing no major improvement, according to DIGITIMES Research's figures from the latest tablet report. Although the shipments will pick up in the second half, the growth will not be robust

Second-quarter 2023 smartphone application processor (AP) shipments to China-based brand vendors amounted to 132 million units, growing 10% from the prior quarter but plunging 33.4% from the prior year, and will rise further in the third quarter, according to DIGITIMES Research's latest China smartphone AP report

DIGITIMES Research believes tight CoWoS capacity, which is needed for packaging HBM, will result in the supply of high-end AI servers falling short of demand by more than 35% in 2023, but high-end AI server shipments worldwide are still expected to grow fivefold from a year ago, according to the latest server report covering the AI server market

Huawei's secret launch of the Mate 60 Pro 5G smartphone has put many in the US chip industry on high alert. The fact that Huawei chose to schedule the launch during US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo's visit to China is seen as Huawei making a statement on its self-sufficiency. In response, the US could be issuing even stricter export sanctions, according to DIGITIMES Research senior analyst Luke Li

The global foundry industry is expected to see its combined revenues return to growth in 2024, but chip demand is still estimated to be influenced by uncertainties in the consumer electronics industry, according to DIGITIMES Research's latest 20-plus page report, covering the foundry industry's latest deployment, next-generation node and technology roadmaps and capacity expansion and revenue data

If Huawei can revive its handset business by rolling out more 5G and other handset-related chips with support from SMIC's 14nm and 7nm manufacturing capability, Qualcomm and MediaTek will be negatively impacted, particularly the US chip vendor, DIGITIMES Research believes

Amid US sanctions and the visit of US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to China, Huawei's Mate 60 Pro, featuring the homegrown Kirin 9000s chip based on SMIC's N+2 process, has sparked much discussion. DIGITIMES Research believes the US may mount new policies to contain China's semiconductor development

With global smartphone demand likely to remain in a weak state in the second half of 2023, Apple, like all other smartphone brands, also turned conservative with its iPhone shipment outlook. Apple is therefore placing fewer orders with the supply chain for the upcoming iPhone 15 series for the second half of 2023 than the iPhone 14 for the second half of 2022, according to DIGITIMES Research senior analyst Luke Lin

As Japan's ban on semiconductor equipment exports to China officially went into effect on July 23, many are left wondering about its implications to Chinese semiconductor industry. A total of 23 types of semiconductor equipment were included by the export controls regime, covering lithography, etching, thin film deposition, heat treatment, cleaning, and inspection. According to DIGITIMES Research analyst Eric Chen, however, the restrictions on lithography and thin film deposition equipment are morely likely to be enforced and thus impacting China's advanced semiconductor manufacturing