Those familiar with the medical industry have undoubtedly heard the term "precision medicine" with great frequency. As a matter of fact, the development of genome sequencing technology in recent years has advanced the treatment of infections from unknown pathogens into the realm of precision medicine. The concept behind precision pathogen detection is to identify the pathogen through bioinformatics and data science, and then using drugs or treatments that can accurately target the pathogen. Back in 2015, the Obama administration proposed to invest US$215 million to develop precision medicine in the US More recently, the UK and China have also followed suit, demonstrating that the technology has become the focus of medical R&D in most countries, and genomic sequencing is a key technology in the application of precision medicine. As a leading player in the global medical industry, Taiwan has also made considerable achievements in the field of genomic sequencing. In particular, Asia Pathogenomics' metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) can accurately identify the pathogens from different types of patient samples to help doctors administer targeted treatment in an incredibly short amount of time.

TSMC has narrowed its revenue growth outlook this year to 24%, based on its forecast of 4.5% sales rise at the midpoint of the foundry house's latest guidance for fourth-quarter 2021. Despite a media report's claims that Apple is cutting its production goals for iPhone 13 seies for 2021, components suppliers have disclosed hey have not seen any reductions in orders from the client for the new smartphones. In China, manufacturers are making contingency plans to cope with power restrictions, which they expect will become a long-term policy of the country.

Supply chains are moving to cope with China's power reductions in one way or another, with the prospect the restrictions may become a long-term policy and will inevitably drive up production costs, according to industry sources.

Established in Bangkok in 1988, Fine Metal Technologies was formerly known as Furukawa Metal (Thailand) and went public in Thailand in 1996. Fine Metal Technologies produces and sells copper tubes used in refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioners.

Kingray Technology, a company engaged in cutting and coating processing of optical filters, will extend application of NBG (new blue glass) filters from notebook-use lens modules to smartphone-use ones, ToF (time of flight) 3D-sensing modules and ADAS cameras, according to the company.

Component suppliers for Apple's new iPhones have seen no cutback in orders thus far this year, in contrast to a media report indicating Apple may slash its projected iPhone 13 production targets for 2021 by as many as 10 million units due to chip shortage, according to industry sources.

Power supply maker and energy management solution provider Delta Electronics has reported consolidated revenues of NT$27.345 billion (US$980 million) for September, the highest-ever monthly level with growth of 5.48% sequentially and 2.02% year-on-year.

Cooling fan maker Power Logic has completed product validation for its 5G server cooling solutions, which will soon be ready for volume production, according to the company.

Taiwan-based metal chassis maker Catcher Technology is reportedly in talks with Malaysia-based medical equipment suppliers for cooperation, and may choose Malaysia as its regional factory site for healthcare applications.

As cloud and 5G applications continue to grow, the demand for data centers remains high, opening up opportunities for related supply chains such as connectors.

After locking down for nearly three months, Ho Chih Min City is finally seeing some of the restrictions slack up this month. But what comes with the reopening is a severe labor shortage in the city.

Notebook ODMs may experience a weak fourth quarter of 2021 with their feeble sales in China during the National Day holiday and possible low sales momentum during the year-end holidays in Europe and North America. Largan Precision also saw its gross margin hit the lowest in 25 quarters, but the percentage was still well above 59%. PCB maker Zhen Ding is also prepared to start making BT and ABF substrates in China in 2022.

Motherboard and graphics card maker Gigabyte Technology is on track to see its revenues top NT$120 billion (US$4.3 billion) in 2021, thanks to robust demand for cryptomining and gaming applications, according to company chairman Dandy Yeh.

China regulators have moved to crack down on virtual currency trading, dampening cryptomining operations in the country and affecting shipments of related solutions toChinese clients. But the US has issued signals that it will not prohibit transactions of cryptocurrencies, driving up the value of Bitcoin to a five-month high of US$55,000 recently, which will bolster shipments of cryptomining motherboards and graphic cards, industry sources said.

Keyboard and CCM (compact camera module) maker Chicony Electronics has reported consolidated revenues of NT$9.854 billion (US$353 million) for September, the highest monthly level ever, rising 14.58% on month and 2.03% on year.

Smartphone-use lens module maker Largan Precision released a financial report for the third quarter of 2021 at an October 7 investor conference, with a gross margin of 59.33% being the lowest quarterly level since the third quarter of 2015.

EMS provider Lite-On Technology has reported consolidated revenues of NT$14.613 billion (US$524 million) for September, increasing 7.90% on month and but inching down 1.02% on year.

Taiwan-based networking device manufacturers including Accton Technology, Arcadyan Technology and Sercomm all expect their revenues in the fourth quarter to outperform the prior quarter's levels, but are still aware of challenges arising from the ongoing chip and component shortage.

Taiwan-based MEMS microphone maker Zilltek Technology has announced consolidated revenues of NT$245 million for September, down 1.06% on month, but up 34.81% on year.

TDDI (touch and display driver integration) IC design house Elan Microelectronics aims to become the globally largest supplier of fingerprint sensors in three years, according to industry sources.

Taiwan-based makers with factory operations in Kunshan of China's Jiangsu provinces were notified on October 5 by the local government about immediate power cuts, and have expressed concerns that such restrictions could repeat randomly in the future, according to industry sources.

End-market demand in China has been sluggish, with sales during China's National Day holiday being a disappointment, according to sources at memory module houses.

Power supply maker and energy management solution provider Delta Electronics has helped Aerospace Industrial Development (AIDC), an aircraft component maker and aviation engineering service provider, set up a 5MW energy storage system at the latter's factory in central Taiwan, enabling AIDC to take part in Energy Trading Platform established by state-run Taiwan Power Company (Taipower).

Smartphone-use lens module maker Largan Precision has reported consolidated revenues of NT$4.172 billion (US$150 million) for September, the highest monthly figure since February 2021.

The IC industry sees uneven inventory in different segments, with short supply of power management ICs and other mature chips worsening. China's eletricity restrictions policy is creating uncertainty for many manufacturers, but some see it as an opportunity to release inventory pressure. Inventec is stepping up its deployments in the automotive sector, with five plants set to obtain certification for car components produciton.

Server and storage device chassis maker Chenbro Micom will undertake trial run at a new factory in Chiayi, Taiwan in October 2021 and start production in the following month, according to company chairperson Maggi Chen.