Rising memory prices have pushed up smartphone bill of materials (BOM) costs, potentially affecting shipments for 2026. As the smartphone panel market enters its seasonal off-peak period, the effects of higher memory prices are beginning to surface. Pull-in momentum from end-device makers has slowed, leading to across-the-board declines in smartphone panel prices across different technology types.

The National Communications Commission (NCC) recently released its Communications Market Report, revealing that Taiwan's over-the-top (OTT) streaming service market has shown signs of decline after years of steady growth. The report highlights a sharp fall in the proportion of Taiwanese consumers paying for OTT subscriptions, dropping from 58.6% in 2024 to 45.4% in 2025, falling below the 50% threshold for the first time.

Taiwan's telecom market continued gradual growth in 2025 despite high penetration rates, with the top three operators—Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), Taiwan Mobile (TWM), and Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET)—all delivering better-than-expected financial results.

Market sources say Xiaomi is expanding its in-house XRing chip lineup. Beyond developing the next-generation XRing O2 on TSMC's N3P process, the company also plans to extend these processors into "non-smartphone" products to further raise its level of self-reliance.

Memory price surges are reshaping the global smartphone market outlook for 2026, according to insiders at Sunny Optical. Significant order reductions from Chinese manufacturers amid soaring memory costs signal challenges ahead for the industry.

Despite ongoing US restrictions on Huawei's access to 5G smartphone chips and Google Mobile Services (GMS), the company has re-established a strong position in China by advancing its HarmonyOS ecosystem and pushing for semiconductor component breakthroughs. In 2025, Huawei briefly returned to the top of China's quarterly smartphone sales rankings and currently remains among the market's top three vendors by share.

Lenovo is aiming to double its business in India over the next three years, leveraging strong growth in its Motorola smartphone segment and its infrastructure and services verticals, according to company executives. Lenovo's Asia Pacific leadership highlighted domestic consumption and the "India for the world" strategy as central to the company's future expansion, with India emerging as one of Lenovo's fastest-growing markets worldwide, according to the Economic Times.

Although CES 2026 is not traditionally a smartphone-focused event, TCL drew attention with its new NxtPaper 70 Pro smartphone. The device features NxtPaper 4.0 display technology, with its most notable difference from conventional smartphones being a dedicated shortcut key that allows users to switch display modes.

Notebook hinge maker Jarllytec said that its confirmed orders for the 2026 3C product lines include one new China-branded foldable smartphone model, which is scheduled to enter mass production and shipment in the first half of the year. The company is also pursuing orders for new models in the second half. New laptop models from US-based laptop brands are expected to ramp up shipments in the first half, along with continued contributions from high-priced China-branded foldable notebooks. The LCD-related business is expected to remain relatively moderate.

India is weighing a sweeping set of new security requirements that could force smartphone makers to share sensitive source code with government-appointed laboratories, according to Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter and a review of confidential documents, reigniting a long-running tug of war between New Delhi and global technology companies over privacy, surveillance, and control of digital infrastructure.