Lai Ching-te has officially assumed office as the 16th President of Taiwan, signaling a firm stance towards Beijing. His inaugural speech made clear that the new administration will not compromise on its position, suggesting that the current economic and industrial ties across the Taiwan Strait will remain largely unchanged. This hardline approach implies limited room for further deterioration and scant chances for improvement in relations.
China-based CCL maker Kingboard Laminates has notified customers of immediate price hikes to reflect growing raw materials costs, according to industry sources.
Taiwanese foundries have seen customers switch orders for Power Management ICs (PMIC) from Chinese chipmakers in the wake of the US decision to raise tariffs for semiconductor imports from China, according to industry sources.
NewLink Group, a Bain Capital-backed firm that provides software to sectors including the electric vehicle-related industry, is seeking as much as $100 million in private debt, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Cheap electric vehicles from China are already pushing into Europe, undercutting one of the region's biggest industries. BYD Co., which overtook Tesla Inc. last year to become the biggest global EV maker, is about to raise the stakes. The Chinese manufacturer last month announced plans to introduce its Seagull hatchback in Europe next year, which offers premium features like cruise control and wireless phone charging but sells for less than $10,000 in China. Even after tariffs and modifications to meet European standards, BYD executives have pledged to sell the Seagull for less than €20,000 ($21,500) on the continent.
Five years after commencing its automotive ambition, Huawei said the unit has come out of the red. Richard Yu, Huawei's chairman of the smart car solutions business unit, recently said the company's automotive business unit and the smart selection car segment have turned profitable in the first quarter of 2024.
LG Electronics has established an "AI Robot Alliance" with Google, gearing up to introduce in June a service robot incorporating Google's latest generative AI, Gemini, as revealed by South Korean industry sources.
Japanese semiconductor foundry Rapidus, aiming to mass-produce 2nm chips, has announced a collaboration with US-based AI chip startup Esperanto Technologies to jointly develop designs.
ASML Holding NV and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. have ways to disable the world's most sophisticated chipmaking machines in the event that China invades Taiwan, according to people familiar with the matter.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. slashed prices for a clutch of artificial intelligence services by as much as 97%, spurring an immediate response from Baidu Inc. in potentially the start of a price war in China's nascent AI market.
Sony's semiconductor business, namely the Imaging & Sensing Solutions Segment primarily driven by CMOS Image Sensors (CIS), is expected to experience significant growth in the fiscal year 2024 despite a decline in operating profits in the fiscal year 2023 (April 2023 to March 2024).
The rivalry among China, Europe, and the US – the world's three largest EV markets – heats up as America and Europe are poised to raise tariffs on Chinese EVs. China has vowed to retaliate. The situation will likely impact Germany-based Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz the most.
Just over two months after announcing that they are jointly developing an extended reality (XR) headset device, it has been reported that the partnership between Meta and LG has fallen through.
