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Sep 17
China optical suppliers power smart glasses supply chain
China's optical suppliers are playing a growing role in the global smart glasses, VR, and AR supply chain as AI glasses demand accelerates worldwide. Industry sources say more than 80% of smart glasses suppliers are from China, with Chinese vendors covering key areas from camera modules and light waveguides to microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and batteries.
Mobile SoC battle for 2026 centers on NPUs
Sep 18, 10:31

More technical details on 2026 mobile systems on a chip (SoCs) from major vendors are emerging, and the biggest changes in chips such as Apple's A20 Pro and MediaTek's Dimensity 9600 Pro are clearly concentrated in the neural processing unit (NPU). Qualcomm also published a technical article on NPU development on September 10, saying its next-generation NPU will expand shared memory capacity to improve access efficiency and speed for model data, helping mobile AI maintain fast response times.

Global foldable smartphone panel shipments declined 13% year-over-year in the first half of 2026, with the contraction concentrated in clamshell products, according to Counterpoint Research's Quarterly Foldable Display Shipment and Technology Report.

Apple's first foldable phone has sharpened global attention on smartphone design trade-offs, with weight, thickness, and component miniaturization becoming key benchmarks for consumers and competitors alike. For buyers worldwide, the latest competition suggests future handsets may be lighter, slimmer, and more expensive.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has again been photographed using Samsung Electronics' latest foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold8, after being seen with a Galaxy Z Fold7 earlier in 2026. The latest sighting has drawn fresh attention to the close partnership between Samsung Electronics and Nvidia.

Samsung Electronics' in-house Exynos application processors (APs) are steadily regaining lost ground in the global smartphone market. Samsung's share of the global smartphone AP market rose to 9% in the second quarter of 2026, up 2 percentage points from the previous quarter and 3 percentage points from a year earlier, marking a second straight quarterly increase.

Apple's first foldable phone is drawing worldwide attention because its design choices could shape how future bendable devices are built and priced. But suppliers say one of the industry's oldest durability issues remains unresolved: whether the protective film over the inner display can lift over time, especially at the center crease.

The recent AI antitrust case between two of the high-tech landscape's most powerful camps appears to have quietly ended following Elon Musk's legal retreat from Apple. But the battle over AI distribution control is far from settled, as pointed accusations from SpaceXAI and X regarding Apple's behind-the-scenes role in constraining generative-AI competition have left the broader industry unsettled over questions of AI access and app visibility amid Apple's increasingly open, multi-model ecosystem.

Suppliers in China's AR glasses supply chain see the approximately 2 billion people worldwide with myopia as a potential market and said shipments are set to double year after year, even as the industry continues to sift winners from losers. At this year's China International Optoelectronic Exposition (CIOE), smart glasses remained a standout theme alongside optical communications.

Apple's first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, is drawing close attention as analysts forecast shipments of 5 million to 6 million units by year-end. The device could make Apple the world's second-largest foldable phone supplier, behind Samsung Electronics, and shape how global consumers and rivals view future foldable screens.

Samsung Display is deepening its technology partnership with Vivo's iQOO brand, with the two companies jointly developing display technology and establishing a dedicated production line for the upcoming iQOO 16 as Chinese smartphone makers step up investment in premium hardware.

Last week, from September 9 to 11, thousands of vendors gathered for an enormous trade show in the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen. At the China International Optoelectronic Expo (CIOE), DIGITIMES reporters got a peek into the trends going on within this booming industry.