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Apr 21
Exclusive: US battery push faces EV headwinds, but energy storage boom offers relief
Despite a slowdown in demand for electric vehicles (EV) that has complicated efforts to localize lithium battery production in the US — and even cast doubt on the viability of some joint ventures between automakers and battery makers — another opportunity is rapidly coming into view.
LED packaging maker Brightek reported consolidated revenue of NT$161 million (US$5.1 million) in the first quarter of 2026, down 9.7% year on year, impacted by the transition period at its new Nantong plant in Jiangsu, China, which began operations at the end of 2025. The company posted a net loss after tax of NT$3.95 million for March alone, widening its losses from the same month last year, with a loss per share of NT$0.06.
Benefiting from strong AI high-frequency, high-speed transmission and communications infrastructure demand, TXC reported robust AI optical communication orders in the first quarter of 2026, driving its highest-ever quarterly revenue. The company's March 2026 revenue reached NT$1.1 billion (approx. US$35.3 million), up 2.7% year-over-year; cumulative revenue for the first three months of 2026 hit NT$3.3 billion, a 5.5% annual increase and a record for this period.
Apple has officially confirmed long-rumored news that Tim Cook will step down as CEO in September 2026, handing over leadership of the US$4 trillion tech giant to senior vice president of hardware engineering John Ternus. Unlike Cook, known for his supply chain mastery, Ternus is well-known as a pure "product person" and engineer.

China's dominant battery manufacturer, CATL, is accelerating its push to reshape the global electric vehicle (EV) landscape with a sweeping technology rollout that spans ultra-fast charging, high-energy-density systems, sodium-ion chemistry, and a unified charging-and-swapping infrastructure.

China has moved faster than any other country in rolling out smart, connected vehicles. But as its automakers push aggressively into overseas markets, they are running up against an increasingly stringent web of global cybersecurity regulations.

As advances in artificial intelligence (AI) accelerate, the global auto industry is transforming any in its history. Jheng-Jian Wang, chairman of Taiwan's Automotive Research & Testing Center (ARTC), said the car of the future will no longer be merely a means of transportation, but a "mobile living space" capable of reasoning and decision-making. At the center of this shift, he said, are two technologies: the smart cockpit and end-to-end AI driving systems.

On April 20, BYD formally applied to join the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) and has begun discussions with the group, according to foreign media reports. If approved, it would become the first Chinese automaker admitted to the association — a milestone that could amplify its voice in Europe's policy and regulatory debates.
A green energy startup from Taiwan is heading to Silicon Valley with an unconventional argument: the most valuable layer in the energy transition may not be more solar panels, but the AI dispatch layer that sits between generation and consumption.

While much of the world's attention remains fixed on robotaxis navigating open roads, David Shen, chief executive of Turing Drive, argues that the true commercial breakthrough for autonomous driving may lie elsewhere, in what he calls "specialized environments," such as factories, ports, and rural regions.

Transportation is moving beyond the era of the automobile toward a more fragmented ecosystem of mobility devices, a shift that represents not only a technological upgrade but also a broader transformation in urban life.

Samsung SDI has signed a multi-year agreement to supply electric vehicle (EV) batteries to Mercedes-Benz, marking its first confirmed entry into the German luxury carmaker's EV lineup and concluding months of advanced negotiations over one of the industry's most closely watched battery deals.