DIGITIMES ICT: PC, CE news

Home Tech ICT PC, CE

Friday 22 May 2026

Analysis: Samsung deal prevents walkout but deepens internal rifts over compensation

Samsung Electronics and its union signed a provisional agreement late at night, about an hour before a scheduled May 21 strike, averting an industry estimate of more than KRW100 trillion (approx. US$66.8 billion) in supply chain disruption. The deal eases an immediate labor crisis but leaves unresolved structural conflicts and rising personnel costs.

Friday 22 May 2026

Tech Forum 2026: As notebook and smartphone sales slow, AI devices take a larger share

Global notebook and smartphone shipments are expected to weaken in 2026, but AI-enabled devices are set to take a larger share of both markets as component shortages and rising chip prices reshape the outlook.

Thursday 21 May 2026

DFI flags supply crunch, not orders, as 2026's real growth ceiling

DFI Inc. said healthy order visibility and strong demand from medical and defense projects will sustain growth into the second half of 2026, but widening component lead times driven by AI and data center demand have become the primary constraint on revenue acceleration.

Thursday 21 May 2026

Samsung averts strike with last-minute labor deal, but deeper divisions remain

With less than an hour remaining before a planned strike was set to begin, Samsung Electronics and its labor union reached a tentative agreement late on May 20, narrowly avoiding what industry observers estimated could have triggered supply-chain disruptions worth more than KRW100 trillion (approx. US$66.8 billion).

Wednesday 20 May 2026

Apple unifies hardware Silos to accelerate post-Cook device development

Apple's new Chief Hardware Officer, Johny Srouji, has launched a reorganization of the company's device development division. The move shifts executive responsibilities over core product design to accelerate future hardware cycles. According to Bloomberg, the changes integrate the previously independent domains of hardware engineering and hardware technologies under a single leadership structure. The realignment is part of a broader succession plan, following Apple's announcement that John Ternus — longtime senior vice president of hardware engineering — will become Chief Executive Officer on September 1, 2026.

Wednesday 20 May 2026

From boardrooms to bedside: AI cameras climb the value chain

AI camera demand is being propelled by enterprise digital transformation, smart healthcare, and cross-border collaboration, turning cameras from simple video recorders into intelligent sensing endpoints with far-reaching implications for suppliers across the optics and semiconductor ecosystem.

Wednesday 20 May 2026

Xiaomi halts ultra-thin smartphone production as memory costs squeeze prices

Xiaomi warns memory costs could push flagship phone prices past CNY10,000 (approx. US$1,468) in 2026, a development that would affect global consumers as higher-capacity models become more expensive and manufacturers adjust portfolios. The company also withheld an ultra-thin, Apple Air-style device after concluding trade-offs would harm battery life and camera performance.

Wednesday 20 May 2026

Google I/O 2026: Agents, multimodal models, and a sweeping search overhaul

At its I/O 2026 conference on May 19, Google unveiled an expansive suite of AI-powered products, models, and hardware aimed at advancing autonomous agents across consumer and enterprise applications. The announcements span frontier AI models, a search engine redesign, productivity tools, a real-time design platform, and wearable hardware — positioning Google to embed autonomous agents throughout users' digital ecosystems. Taken together, these launches signal a strategic shift: from AI tools that assist users to AI agents capable of independent action and decision-making.

Wednesday 20 May 2026

Google I/O 2026: Consumer hardware competition and smart glasses market entry

Google's announcement of Android XR smart glasses marks its direct entry into a fast-growing wearable AI market, signaling confidence in rapid consumer adoption and the category's substantial growth potential.

Wednesday 20 May 2026

Apple's memory bargaining power weakens amid AI-driven supply squeeze, Korean media says

South Korean media commentary has highlighted a structural shift in Apple's influence over memory chip pricing, arguing that its long-standing bargaining power over suppliers is weakening as demand for artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes global semiconductor priorities.

Tuesday 19 May 2026

Lens Technology's Ju Teng bid puts China's notebook supply chain in focus

Lens Technology is seeking control of Ju Teng International Holdings in a deal that could cost as much as US$337 million, expanding the Chinese precision manufacturing supplier's reach in notebook casings and hardware components as electronics suppliers position for a new wave of AI-enabled devices.

Tuesday 19 May 2026

Chipmakers rejoice as Googlebook entry heats up AI PC race

Google's announcement for the upcoming Googlebook, which tightly integrates Gemini features, signals that it is no longer limiting its PC strategy to the Chromebook line and is pushing into a higher-end product tier in the AI PC era. Chipmakers, including Intel on the x86 side and Qualcomm and MediaTek on the Arm side, are also joining the race, further intensifying competition in the AI PC market.

Tuesday 19 May 2026

Samsung turns to health features as Galaxy Watch loses ground to Chinese rivals

Samsung Electronics is putting health care at the center of its smartwatch strategy as Chinese rivals Huawei and Xiaomi gain ground in the global wearables market.

Tuesday 19 May 2026

Digital camera comeback exposes optical supply-chain talent and capacity gap

Digital cameras staged a notable market comeback as demand for retro aesthetics and high-resolution imaging rose, reviving production lines and lifting secondhand prices, industry sources said. The resurgence has surfaced a critical problem across the optical supply chain in recent years: a loss of veteran optical expertise and the disintegration of specialist manufacturing clusters that once enabled high-yield, high-quality lens production.

Tuesday 19 May 2026

Acer's India PC push reaches a turning point as share climbs to 21.3%

Acer is gaining ground in India's PC market, with the Taiwanese PC vendor citing the latest market data showing it ranked second in the country in the first quarter of 2026.

Monday 18 May 2026

Apple's chip recycling strategy deepens reliance on TSMC and pressures PC rivals

Apple has increasingly relied on "binned" chips — processors with disabled or defective cores — to expand into lower-priced devices, according to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal. The strategy allows the company to reuse chips that would otherwise be discarded, lowering costs while broadening its product lineup.

Monday 18 May 2026

Getac gains from drone and defense demand as rugged PC supply chain struggles

Rising global geopolitical tensions are driving up defense budgets worldwide and boosting demand for rugged computers. Getac expects rugged computer shipments to grow by a double-digit percentage in 2026, driven mainly by defense demand. Additionally, demand related to drones has increased significantly and is expected to account for 5-10% of rugged computer revenue over the next 12 months.

Friday 15 May 2026

OpenAI and Apple partnership frays as legal threat looms

Tensions are escalating between OpenAI and Apple, threatening what was once seen as one of the most important alliances in the generative AI industry.

Friday 15 May 2026

Foxconn's operating profit jumps 63% as AI server scale offsets seasonal dip

Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn) reported first-quarter 2026 consolidated revenue of NT$2.11 trillion (approximately US$66.95 billion), up 29.68% year over year but down 19% from the fourth quarter of 2025 due to seasonal factors. Core profitability improved despite the slowdown.

Thursday 14 May 2026

Pegatron 1Q26 earnings fall more than 60% amid off-season, eyes stronger 2Q26 on AI PC demand

Pegatron announced its first-quarter 2026 financial results on May 13, with profit down more than 60% compared with the same period a year earlier, while earnings per share (EPS) hit its lowest level for the same period in nearly seven years.

Thursday 14 May 2026

Google pivots to Gemini Intelligence, linking AI with premium hardware

Google's The Android Show 2026 reframed its Android and AI strategy around Gemini Intelligence, signaling a shift toward premium hardware as the primary battleground for AI. The move integrates Gemini across devices and partners, aligning Google with an Apple-like model that places the hardware layer at the center of AI rollout.

Thursday 14 May 2026

Asus's record revenue signals greater exposure to AI server demand and higher component costs

Asus Computer Inc. reported first-quarter 2026 brand revenue of NT$194.051 billion (US$6.19 billion), a record high and a 44% increase year on year, driven by surging AI server demand and stable notebook shipments. The company's co-CEOs, S.Y. Hsu and Samson Hu, raised the full-year server revenue growth target to "at least double," up from a prior 50% to 100% range.

Thursday 14 May 2026

ASMedia reports record profit as it expands beyond PC chips into AI and automotive

Despite weakness in the personal computer market, surging DDR5 memory prices, and tight CPU supply, ASMedia Technology posted record results in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring early gains from its shift beyond PC connectivity chips into custom silicon, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and automotive electronics.

Thursday 14 May 2026

Memory prices disrupt NB seasonality, hit 2H26 shipments and margins

Rising memory prices are reshaping the global PC market: stronger first-half notebook shipments are propping up revenue, but surging component costs threaten gross margins and are prompting cautious second-half planning by ODMs and brands, which are increasingly pivoting toward AI servers for relatively better profitability despite similar inflationary pressures and uncertainty.

Wednesday 13 May 2026

PixArt targets 2Q26 growth as gaming mouse and console demand offset weak PC sales

IC design firm PixArt Imaging said on May 12 that its three core business areas will post strong growth in the second quarter of 2026, with revenue expected to rise by the double digits quarter over quarter. The company said better-than-expected game console shipments lifted first-quarter 2026 results above its earlier forecast, helping offset a weak PC market.

More PC, CE coverage