DIGITIMES ICT: IT components, peripherals news

Home Tech ICT IT components, peripherals

Monday 18 August 2025

Chipmakers bet on agentic AI to spark consumer demand for smart glasses after Ray-Ban success

Meta's success with its smart Ray-Ban glasses has ignited a wave of development in smart and AI-powered eyewear, offering fresh optimism for chipmakers who once banked on the metaverse vision. The field has drawn more semiconductor players than many expected, with nearly every IC design house active in consumer electronics investing in related technologies.

Monday 18 August 2025

YS Tech cautiously optimistic for 2H25; bets on auto, HPC growth

Yen Sun Technology (YS Tech), a manufacturer of automotive electronics and technology systems, is optimistic that customer orders will return to normal once the US tariff situation becomes clearer. Looking ahead, the company is cautiously optimistic about operations, thanks to clear demand for cooling solutions driven by high-performance computing (HPC) needs of AI servers and stable visibility of automotive-related orders through the end of 2025.

Monday 18 August 2025

Giga Solar Materials enters AI server market with Parker liquid cooling fittings distribution rights

Solar conductive paste manufacturer Giga Solar Materials (GSMC) announced on August 14 that it has obtained the rights to distribute US vendor Parker's AI server liquid cooling fittings and couplings to designated customers.

Monday 18 August 2025

Section 232 investigations loom over Taiwan's key industries

Despite TSMC's US$165 billion investment in the US, Taiwan does not appear to have any special favor from the United States. Taiwan faces a higher reciprocal tariff compared to Japan and South Korea, and US President Donald Trump has even threatened to impose a 300% tariff on semiconductors. However, companies that already have factories or plan to build them in the US are exempted.

Saturday 16 August 2025

Repon expects AI server demand to drive growth in 2H25 despite currency and tax challenges

Nan Juen International (Repon), a Taiwanese server rail manufacturer, expects shipments to keep rising in the second half of 2025, with AI servers, particularly Nvidia's GB series and ASIC-based models, driving growth on two fronts. Server rails made up 52% of Repon's second quarter 2025 revenue, and the company believes that share will increase in the coming months.

Saturday 16 August 2025

Trans-Sun reroutes production to Southeast Asia, poised for record year

Trans-Sun Materials Technology posted second-quarter 2025 revenue of NT$344 million (approx. US$11.5 million), up 16.7% from the prior quarter but 5.2% lower year-over-year. Operating profit surged 68% to NT$32 million on a stronger product mix, process improvements, and higher demand for premium applications, while currency appreciation trimmed net profit to NT$20 million.

Saturday 16 August 2025

Traditional industries struggling under tariff crossfire, says Shinkong Synthetic Fibers chairman

Shinkong Synthetic Fibers (SSFC) has been actively diversifying its investments in recent years, positioning itself as a leading example of traditional industries transitioning into high tech. Company chairman Tong-sheng Wu stresses the necessity of developing the low-altitude economy, while also calling on the government to leverage interest rates to mitigate the impact of tariffs, as traditional industries are finding it hard to survive.

Friday 15 August 2025

Can Tesla's chip shift uplift Samsung foundry services?

Over the past two weeks, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has promoted his company's new partnership with Samsung Foundry for manufacturing its AI chips. At one point, South Korean media speculated that Samsung might even take over exclusive foundry orders for Tesla's Dojo chips originally handled by TSMC, only to discover later that Musk had decided to shut down the supercomputer project.

Friday 15 August 2025

Taiwan's motor driver IC makers capture AI server market share

Taiwan's IC design houses are seeing steady returns from years of investment in motor driver ICs, with demand rising across a wider set of applications and competition intensifying.

Friday 15 August 2025

U-Best optimistic about operational growth in 2H25

Taiwan-based polymer materials supplier U-Best Innovative Technology reported a consolidated revenue of NT$356 million (approx. US$11.9 million) in the second quarter of 2025, a 102% increase compared to the same period in 2024. Benefiting from the synergies of group integration, the company continued to optimize its product portfolio and strictly control costs and expenses, driving second-quarter gross profit to NT$80 million.

Friday 15 August 2025

Smart glasses market heats up as optics players vie for early leadership

The smart glasses market is set to enter a critical year in 2025, with competition escalating among European, American, Chinese, and now Taiwanese companies. Taiwan's HTC Corporation officially announced its entry into this sector on August 14, joining a growing number of players aiming to capitalize on the emerging optical wearables industry.

Friday 15 August 2025

HTC AI smart glasses target Taiwan market gap; Taiwan Mobile aims for over 10,000 sales

Taiwan Mobile (TWM) announced on August 14 a strategic partnership with HTC Corp. to exclusively sell the HTC VIVE Eagle AI smart glasses. The company aims for five-digit sales figures and projects Taiwan's smart glasses user base could reach nearly one million within ten years.

Friday 15 August 2025

Syntec leads cross-strait controller market share, launches next five-year plan focusing on robots and AI

Tariff barriers are accelerating regionalized production, which in turn is driving a surge in automation demand. Taiwan-based controller giant Syntec announced that its 2024 revenue surpassed NT$10 billion (US$334 million), with cumulative sales of 100,000 controllers across both Taiwan and China, securing the top brand market share for controllers.

Friday 15 August 2025

Trump's corporate crackdown: When national security overrides boardroom independence

Since the US first announced reciprocal tariffs in early April 2025, President Donald Trump has frequently delivered "surprises" to the global market over nearly four months. Recently, he took to social media to publicly criticize Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, demanding his immediate resignation. He also called on companies like Nvidia and AMD to hand over to the US government 15% of their revenue from sales of specific AI chips to China, sparking a new round of market turmoil.

Friday 15 August 2025

Taiwan gains competitive edge as China faces steep US tariffs

On July 31, 2025, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to adjust reciprocal tariff rates, setting the provisional tariff for Taiwan at 20%, effective from August 7, 2025. According to senior government officials in Taiwan, relief measures have been initiated, and affected businesses are urged to apply within the stipulated timeframe. For traditional industries, China faces tariffs exceeding 50% on related goods, which provides Taiwan with a competitive opportunity to gain market recognition.

Thursday 14 August 2025

Foxconn targets NT$1 trillion in AI server sales for 2025, triple-digit 3Q growth ahead

Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn, expects its AI server revenue to grow more than 170% year-on-year in the third quarter, with rack shipments tripling from the previous quarter. The company projects full-year AI server sales will surpass NT$1 trillion (US$31 billion) and maintain momentum well into 2026.

Thursday 14 August 2025

Tatung secures orders through 2027, steps up US heavy electrical plant acquisitions

Taiwan's renowned conglomerate Tatung Company has secured clear order visibility for its core power equipment and solutions through 2027 and is accelerating acquisitions of heavy electrical equipment plants in the US to support global expansion.

Thursday 14 August 2025

Nvidia’s 800V push powers GaN boom; Micro Silicon leads in testing

Following Nvidia's announcement to initiate a revolution in AI server power technology, with plans to fully implement 800V high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power architecture designs by 2027, semiconductor testing, packaging, and wafer thinning company Micro Silicon Electronics highlighted that this trend will become a new highlight for gallium nitride (GaN) end applications. Once mass production officially ramps up, the third category semiconductor testing business is expected to experience robust growth.

Thursday 14 August 2025

E-paper makers post record 2Q as color upgrade wave powers E Ink, Netronix

Global e-paper demand surged in the second quarter of 2025, delivering the strongest Q2 on record for the industry. Early inventory replenishment, rising adoption of color displays, and peak-season momentum pushed Taiwan's E Ink and Netronix to new highs, with both companies expecting capacity to remain fully utilized through year-end.

Thursday 14 August 2025

CAMM poised to replace SO-DIMM in high-end notebooks by 2026

Despite the impact of New Taiwan dollar appreciation, connector manufacturer Argosy announced at its earnings call on August 11, 2025, that due to the continued market penetration of DDR5 and ongoing optimization of product shipment mix, revenue for the second quarter of 2025 is expected to grow 33% year-over-year, falling within the previously forecasted range of 30-40%.

Thursday 14 August 2025

Ennostar targets AI optical communication and microLED as future growth drivers

Facing a stronger New Taiwan dollar and intensified competition in the LED industry, Ennostar reported an expanded loss in the second quarter of 2025. However, its microLED technology is set to enter trial production for end-market applications, with expectations to contribute significantly to revenue over the next two years.

Thursday 14 August 2025

Robotics and reshoring boom drives robust precision gearbox demand for Apex Dynamics

Apex Dynamics, Taiwan's leading manufacturer of planetary gearboxes, sees robust market potential for high-precision components such as planetary gear reducers and gearboxes. The company expects two major forces to sustain demand: the manufacturing capacity expansion boom driven by robotics adoption and the global trend toward regionalized production.

Thursday 14 August 2025

Apple Watch shipments exceed expectations; major redesign rumored for 2026 with three key upgrades

The Apple Watch product line has officially entered its tenth year. Despite challenges from tariffs and macroeconomic factors dampening consumer electronics demand, the supply chain confirms that Apple's early procurement in the first half of 2025 is outperforming initial forecasts by approximately 10%. The third quarter peak season looks promising, and rumors are circulating about a significant redesign of the high-end Apple Watch slated for 2026.

Thursday 14 August 2025

Commentary: Trump's trillion-dollar shakedown and how tariff threats turned into investment windfalls

Following South Korea's shocking announcement to invest US$350 billion in the US, with 90% of the profits staying in the US, Nvidia and AMD reportedly have agreed to pay 15% of their chip sales revenue from China to the US government. This equally astonishing arrangement secures export licenses from the US government for Nvidia's H20 and AMD's MI308 chips shipping to China.

Thursday 14 August 2025

Smart glasses sales soar; Meta stays on top as Xiaomi surges

Global shipments of smart glasses jumped 110% in the first half of 2025 compared with a year earlier, with Meta holding more than 70% of the market, according to Counterpoint Research. New players such as Xiaomi and TCL-RayNeo are helping drive demand, while changes in US tariffs, which have rattled the broader electronics industry, have had only a limited effect on the sector.

More IT components, peripherals coverage

BIZ FOCUS

Aug 5, 11:49

Cultivating OCP, embracing open source

MOST-READ
7 DAYS NEWS

Full list

MULTIMEDIA

Co-packaged Optics (CPO) explained by ASE

INDUSTRY GUIDEBOOKS

The rise of top 10 IC design houses in China

RESEARCH INSIGHTS

Intel signals overhaul of IDM 2.0 and foundry strategy with Lip-Bu Tan's appointment, says DIGITIMES