MediaTek held its earnings call on April 30, expressing a cautious outlook for the 2026 smartphone market. Despite this, growth in other applications is expected to effectively offset the decline.

OpenAI is advancing the development of an AI agent smartphone, collaborating with MediaTek and Qualcomm on a customized processor, while China's Luxshare Precision Industry exclusively handles system integration and manufacturing. The device is expected to enter mass production by 2028, signaling OpenAI's strategic push toward the most mature and intimate personal terminal: the smartphone.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te has pledged to transform Taiwan into an "AI island," with a key focus on developing an all-photonic network (APN). The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is acquiring APN technology from Japan's NTT and collaborating with Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) and Accton Technology to advance this initiative. Industry experts say the APN is designed to support applications through low latency and enhanced computing resilience, in line with government goals for digital robustness and computing backup.

Chinese components maker BYD Electronics saw a drop in profits for the first quarter of 2026. The subsidiary of EV maker BYD reported its first-quarter results on April 28, including a 95.5% annual drop in profit attributable to its parent company, hitting CNY27.83 million (US$4.1 million).

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has further clarified restrictions on non-US network equipment by officially including mobile hotspots, portable Wi-Fi devices, and home customer-premises equipment (CPE) using LTE/5G connections in its sales ban. This move signals that the US is extending its national security-driven tech controls from fixed broadband gear to mobile network terminals.

Memory distributor Supreme Electronics (Supreme) saw its revenue double in the first quarter of 2026, driven by a sharp rise in memory prices. DRAM and Flash accounted for nearly 90% of total sales, with server revenue share reaching about 40%—surpassing mobile for the first time. Strong demand from cloud service providers (CSPs) is driving server memory prices higher, a trend expected to extend into the second quarter of 2026.

OpenAI's agentic AI phone could reshape mobile markets and supply chains by forcing incumbents to respond. Still, success depends on delivering both interface breakthroughs and competitive cost-performance for mainstream buyers and attracting users.

The Taiwan smartphone market showed resilience after the Lunar New Year peak as manufacturers introduced multiple new flagship models, and industry sources said the launches should help narrow a forecasted decline in the second quarter. Mobile channel operators reported that Taiwan's phone shipments reached nearly 418,000 units in March 2026, down about 1% from February's 420,000 units, while revenue rose nearly 1% as premium device sales increased.

Chinese smartphone manufacturers accelerated product cycles in response to rising upstream component costs and weak sales, as memory price increases in 2026 squeezed margins and prompted firms to shift focus to higher-margin models. According to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, March 2026 shipments in China totaled 21.15 million units, down 7.1% year-over-year, while 5G phone shipments reached 19.67 million units, a 1.3% increase and 93% of total shipments.

India's smartphone manufacturing expanded 8% year on year in 2025, driven by a 28% surge in exports and modest domestic sell-in growth of 1%, according to Counterpoint Research. Exports accounted for about one-third of all phones made in India, underscoring the sector's deepening export orientation.