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Jul 31, 10:32
Arm's China surge and steady royalties offset smartphone and export curbs slump
Arm Holdings saw steady royalty revenue growth in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 despite a slow smartphone market recovery. CFO Jason Child reported a 25% year-over-year increase in royalties, at the lower end of forecasts. Although Arm's smartphone segment grew nearly ten times faster than the broader market, overall smartphone demand stayed in the low single digits, capping potential gains.
As the US deadline for reciprocal tariffs, set under the Trump administration, approaches on August 1, 2025, Taiwan's final tax rate remains unresolved. While Vietnam and the Philippines—now major production hubs for Taiwanese networking equipment manufacturers—face tariffs of 20% and 19% respectively, speculation has emerged over whether a more favorable rate for Taiwan could trigger a shift in production back home.

Samsung Electronics announced its official financial results for the second quarter of 2025, reporting revenue of KRW74.6 trillion (US$53.5 billion) and an operating profit of KRW4.7 trillion, consistent with preliminary figures. Compared to the same period in 2024, revenue remained roughly flat, but operating profit was halved, with Samsung attributing the decline primarily to weak performance in its semiconductor business.

Qualcomm is doubling down on its expansion into next-generation computing, with CEO Cristiano Amon during the latest earnings call on July 30 highlighting significant progress in AI PCs, extended reality (XR), and data center markets during the company's fiscal third-quarter 2025 earnings call. Central to Qualcomm's evolving strategy is its upcoming acquisition of Alphawave IP Group PLC, a move aimed at accelerating its push into AI-powered data infrastructure.
On July 30, Qualcomm reported a 10% year-on-year increase in revenue for its fiscal third quarter, driven by strong growth in IoT and automotive segments. However, its mixed outlook and concerns over handset demand left investors less than enthusiastic.
Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) announced on July 29, 2025, that it had successfully completed the renewal and reissuance of Google certificates for government and commercial websites on July 25. All customer websites that agreed to update their certificates have now completed the reissuance process, with validity periods lasting up to one year, ensuring normal website operation and secure user connections.
The latest smartphone sales data has revealed that despite facing multiple sanctions, Huawei delivered an impressive performance in China during the second quarter of 2025, reclaiming the top spot in smartphone sales.
Apple will announce its second-quarter financial results on July 31. The market currently holds a relatively optimistic view of its performance this year. Factors such as positive exchange rates, increased Mac and iPad shipments, and strong growth momentum in Apple's services revenue have led to upward revisions of its third-quarter performance forecasts.
Rising Qualcomm chip prices and improving Exynos yield rates have prompted Samsung to consider using its in-house Exynos 2600 in the 2026 Galaxy S26 base model. South Korean industry sources say the move depends on whether yield stability can be achieved.

Chief Telecom posted a record-high first-half 2025 revenue of NT$2.08 billion (approx. US$70 million), an 18.7% increase from NT$1.75 billion a year earlier, fueled by growing demand for AI-optimized data centers. The figure nearly equals the company's full-year revenue in both 2019 and 2020, underscoring a sharp growth trajectory.

Apple's official China website shows that the last operating day for its Parkland Mall store in Dalian is August 9, 2025. This marks the closure of Apple's first directly managed store in China.
Taiwan Mobile president and CEO Jamie Lin shared insights on his sixth year as CEO on Facebook on July 25, 2024. In it, he noted that since taking on the role of CEO in 2019, company revenue has grown by NT$81 billion (US$2.75 billion) to NT$199.3 billion, almost equivalent to the annual revenue of competitor Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET). Today, Taiwan Mobile's overall scale is approaching the NT$200 billion mark, closing in on leader Chunghwa Telecom's NT$229.97 billion annual revenue in 2024. Under Lin's leadership, Taiwan Mobile has successfully moved from the minor league to the majors.