DIGITIMES Communications news

Sep 23

Qualcomm launches dual Snapdragon flagship platforms for Xiaomi, Honor

Qualcomm unveiled two flagship mobile platforms, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, at Snapdragon Summit 2026 in Maui, Hawaii this week, marking the company's first split of its premium Snapdragon lineup into two Elite tiers. Xiaomi, Honor, and Motorola appeared on stage as early partners, with the Xiaomi 18 Pro series and Honor Magic9 series expected to be the first devices and to launch in September.

Vivo launches camera monitor accessory, stoking panel demand

Sep 23

Vivo unveils X500 strategy to bolster premium phone push

Sep 22

Tmytek lists on Taiwan Innovation Board, pushes 5G/6G, satellite, defense

Sep 22

US iPhone 18 Pro Max teardown reveals Qualcomm modem, suggesting prior supply-chain commitments

Sep 22

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MOBILE COMPONENTSQualcomm adopts 'offset PoP' packaging to cool new flagship phone SoC

Sep 24, 10:42

Qualcomm unveiled two flagship mobile platforms at the Snapdragon Summit 2026, including the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, which changes its packaging approach to improve heat dissipation. During a media Q&A, Qualcomm Senior Vice President and General Manager of Mobile Handsets Chris Patrick said the new package still falls under existing Package on Package (PoP) technology, but the memory is no longer stacked directly above the die and is shifted to the side to create a thermal path.

MOBILE DEVICESHuaqin challenges Quanta for Steam Deck ODM order

Sep 22

Industry sources say Valve is expected to launch a new Steam Deck in 2027, setting up a tougher contest for Taiwanese original design manufacturer (ODM) Quanta as China's Huaqin moves to win the manufacturing order. The winner has not yet been confirmed.

MOBILE DEVICESiPhone Duo takes the baton from 18 Pro to extend Apple's upgrade wave

Sep 21

Apple has changed its iPhone launch cadence this year, splitting its high-end releases into two waves. The iPhone 18 Pro series went on sale on September 18, with Apple's first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, set to follow on October 23.

MOBILE DEVICESPodcast highlights: Apple could take the lead in foldable share

Sep 21

DIGITIMES analyst Luke Lin said on his podcast that the foldable's pricing is more consumer-friendly than expected, but Apple's across-the-board price hikes on older models will weigh on iPhone shipments in the second half of the year. He added that the packaging changes for the A20 Pro are the signal that supply chain players should watch most closely.

TELECOM SERVICE, INFRASTRUCTURECHT completes 4th Taiwan-Matsu subsea cable, boosting offshore resilience

Sep 21

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) announced on September 18 that the nearly 300km-long Taiwan-Matsu submarine cable has been completed, landed, tested, and has officially been added to the Taiwan-Matsu external communications network. The project strengthens communications resilience for the outlying Matsu Islands by adding a third route with redundant backup and improving service stability for residents and public services.

WIRELESS NETWORKINGCompal takes Compal Broadband Networks private to fold networking into its edge AI stack

Sep 19

Compal Electronics is buying out the shares of its listed networking arm, Compal Broadband Networks (CBN), in a cash deal that will end CBN's public listing and give Compal full control of a router and gateway business it wants to pair with its edge AI hardware.

MOBILE DEVICESiPhone 18 Pro sellouts across Taiwan as foldable Duo looms

Sep 18

Apple's iPhone 18 Pro series will go on sale on September 18, and Taiwan's major e-commerce platforms and telecom carriers have released preorder results ahead of launch. Data show that demand for premium iPhone models remains strong, with most channels selling out quickly and reservation volumes rising one to two times from the same period in 2025.

MOBILE COMPONENTSMobile SoC battle for 2026 centers on NPUs

Sep 18

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.

MOBILE COMPONENTSFoldable smartphone panel shipments fall 13% in 1H26 as market shifts to in-fold designs

Sep 18

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.

MOBILE DEVICESSamsung Galaxy S27 series rumored to feature 4 models, reshaping flagship lineup with display and camera upgrades

Sep 17

Samsung Electronics is expected to launch its Galaxy S27 series in early 2027, marking what could be its most significant product lineup restructuring in years. Market reports indicate that the newly added Galaxy S27 Pro will substantially narrow the specification gap with the Ultra model. Both high-end smartphones are expected to share top-tier features, including 60W wired fast charging, a 200-megapixel main camera, and the latest M16 OLED display. Samsung will continue to use telephoto cameras, screen sizes, battery capacities, and S Pen support to differentiate the models, establishing a new "dual high-end flagship" hierarchy.

MOBILE DEVICESChina optical suppliers power smart glasses supply chain

Sep 17

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.

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