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May 6
iPhone 17 topples charts as memory costs threaten midrange Android momentum
Apple and Samsung led the global smartphone market in the first quarter of 2026 as premium demand helped them buck broader shipment declines, industry data showed. According to Counterpoint, the iPhone 17 was the world's best-selling smartphone in the first quarter, while Samsung's Galaxy A series placed five models in the top 10, leaving the two vendors with nine of the top 10 spots.
As AI expands, broadband upgrades fuel growth at Sercomm
May 7, 08:16

Broadband equipment maker Sercomm reported a sharp surge in revenue for April, underscoring how demand for faster networks, fueled in part by artificial intelligence, is rippling through telecommunications infrastructure.

Network infrastructure demand in 2026 remains broadly positive as telecom operators in Europe and the US prepare for future AI use cases. Chipmakers say the growth is not just about spec upgrades, but a full-scale overhaul of network infrastructure.
EU joins telecom coalition as 6G rivalry with China intensifies
May 7, 07:00

The European Union has become the first strategic partner of the Global Coalition on Telecommunications, or GCOT, expanding a Western-led telecom policy framework as governments seek to shape next-generation network infrastructure and the race toward 6G.

The global broadband customer premises equipment market entered a bottoming-and-rebound phase in 2026 after a prolonged inventory correction. Still, Taiwan networking vendors are losing ground as their shipments move out of step with broader market trends, according to a DIGITIMES Research report. The divergence carries implications for market share, pricing power, and supply-chain exposure.
Rising memory prices have squeezed handset demand and are expected to widen the gap between smartphone and notebook shipment declines in 2026, according to industry reports. Global smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2026 totaled about 290 million units, down 2% to 4% year on year, while notebook shipments showed a smaller sequential decline as vendors and channels adjusted to higher component costs.
Apple's product strategy is moving toward an AI-centered architecture, prioritizing on-device intelligence, tighter chip integration, and system-level design, a shift that could change how Taiwan's suppliers compete and collaborate. The company has signaled the direction through recent executive comments and its continued in-house chip work.
DIGITIMES' latest report says the global 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) customer premises equipment (CPE) market posted its first year-on-year shipment decline in the first quarter of 2026, with shipments of 2.835 million units, down 8.7%. The impact has likely passed its peak, however, as shipments are forecast to rebound to 3.24 million units in the second quarter of 2026, with the annual decline narrowing to 4%.
Supply-chain participants said Apple's fiscal second-quarter 2026 performance should be read less as a demand story and more as a reflection of persistent constraints in advanced semiconductor capacity, particularly at leading-edge process nodes.

India's technology ecosystem is seeing rapid expansion across AI infrastructure, semiconductors, and electronics manufacturing. From startup bets on AI inference to multi-billion-dollar data center plans and OSAT capacity buildouts, global and domestic players are deepening commitments. The momentum underscores India's rising role in supply chains and compute-driven industries.

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.

Global smartphone system-on-chip (SoC) shipments fell 8% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2026, as a prolonged memory shortage weighed on handset makers and chipset vendors, according to Counterpoint Research.