Chinese iPhone shipments jumped about 12% in March after Apple Inc. and its retailers slashed prices, official data showed, suggesting efforts to arrest an accelerating decline in sales are yielding early results.
Latest reports indicated that Apple is developing a new iteration of its mixed reality (MR) headset Vision Pro but it may not be available until the end of 2026 at the earliest.
As expected, Apple's late product announcement on May 7 included new iPad Pros powered by the M4 processor and a new Apple Pencil Pro. With these new gadgets now official, industry watchers are monitoring the share of production and projected sales numbers for each iPad model and supply chain coordination. In addition, attention is also on Apple's efforts in foldable smartphones and tablets.
Apple unveiled its newest iPads, including its slimmest offering yet, and introduced the groundbreaking M4 chip, a technological marvel capable of tackling AI tasks on the device. However, Apple provided limited details about the AI capabilities, with plans to reveal more at its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10.
The first year of the AI PC era saw major Chinese manufacturers like Lenovo and Huawei aggressively positioning themselves in the AI PC market to capture higher market shares. Looking at the Chinese market, the second half of 2024 is expected to see a replacement wave for PCs, driven not only by the advent of AI PCs but also because domestic PC purchases made 2-3 years ago are approaching their replacement cycle.
Taiwan-based IC design houses are generally bullish about their market prospects for the second half of 2024, notwithstanding the persistently unfavorable macroeconomic climate, according to industry sources.
US Intelligence Communities have successively pointed out that the geopolitical risks in the Taiwan Strait seem to be increasing with incidents such as Xiamen coast guard vessels frequently appearing in sea areas near Kinmen.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.'s shares jumped to a record high after posting its strongest monthly sales growth since the start of 2023, potentially raising expectations for iPhone and AI server sales.
At its recent earnings conference for the second quarter of fiscal year 2024, Apple finally strayed away from its past tight-lipped approach regarding AI and Generative AI, openly discussing them during questioning. Naturally, AI became one of the most discussed topics during the earnings conference, second only to the Chinese market.
AI PCs are estimated to be a focal point of the industry in the second half of 2024. However, there has yet to be a clear definition of what constitutes an AI PC. Analysis by the notebook supply chain pointed out that, from an Industrial Design (ID) perspective, two design aspects of AI PCs are most likely to subvert the industry's imagination: keyboards and screens.
Apple Inc. surprised investors with a decent beat on quarterly revenue from China, countering months of data that showed a quickening decline in iPhone sales.
Qualcomm's first-quarter fiscal report has signaled an ongoing recovery in smartphone demand, with robust demand in the high-end Chinese smartphone market.
Meta regained market focus with the widespread popularity of its open Llama. Nevertheless, as its AI investments are still in the early stages, it will take years to see returns.
Bolstered by strong sales of its first AI smartphone, the Galaxy S24 series, which debuted earlier this year, Samsung Electronics Mobile eXperience (MX) division achieved remarkable results in the first quarter of 2024 despite the contraction of the smartphone market.
Touch controller chip and fingerprint sensor specialist Elan Microelectronics believes that demand for AI PCs will rise and ferment as early as the fourth quarter of 2024.
Taiwan's GDP increased by 6.51% from the previous year in the first quarter of 2024, outpacing South Korea's 3.4% and Singapore's 2.7%, thanks to exports of AI chips and AI servers.
Apple is expected to rebound from a lackluster first half of 2024, with shipments of both iPhones and Mac computers picking up in the latter part of the year, say supply chain sources. As mere hardware refreshes can no longer stimulate consumer purchases, market attention has focused almost exclusively on AI and foldable screens; in Apple's case, however, implementing AI into their products may be the quicker option.
Chunghwa Precision Test Tech (CHPT), an IC test interface solutions provider, is optimistic about demand spurred by AI servers and smartphones and projects a surge in probe card orders in the second half of 2024.
The announcement for Apple's iPad Pro 2024 has been repeatedly delayed, reportedly due to issues related to OLED panels. Despite this, it was recently revealed that the two major South Korean manufacturers, LG Display (LGD) and Samsung Display (SDC), are responsible for supplying OLED panels for the new iPad and will incorporate many new panel technologies not previously used in iPhones.
Thanks to the server supply chain shift out of China due to the US-China trade conflicts, Taiwan's computer production value has grown significantly over the past 5 years. Although China remains the biggest production site of Notebook PCs (NB), manufacturers of high-end servers have returned to Taiwan.
Amid sluggish iPhone sales, Samsung Electronics and Chinese smartphone brands have begun to take advantage of this gap and expand their inventory of smartphones and OLEDs to seize market shares. This drove the utilization rates of OLED production lines for mid-to-low-end smartphones at Samsung Display (SDC), BOE, TCL CSOT, and other manufacturers.
Samsung Electronics, in collaboration with Intel, recently launched a new generation of desktop PCs called the "All-in-One Pro" in South Korea. By using AI, it aims to compete with Apple's iMac and expand its AI end-user ecosystem.
Notebook production in Vietnam has increased dramatically, making the country the second largest source of imports to the US behind China, according to government sources.
