Samsung Electronics is expected to see sales of its non-memory business particularly the system LSI segment boom this year, buoyed by strong demand for handset application processors, CMOS image sensors, power management chips and display driver ICs.

Shipments of TWS (true wireless stereo) devices in the Indian market remained strong in first-quarter 2021 with local brands having a major share, according to Counterpoint Research.

The value of global LCD panel output is expected to grow 25% on year to hit a record high of US$150 billion in 2021, driven by high capacity utilization rates at makers and rising panel prices, according to data from CINNO Research.

Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology (JCET), the largest China-based provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT), has announced its takeover of Analog Devices' test facility in Singapore. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has undersocred the world's over-reliance on China's manufacturing capacity, and accelerated the diversification of the global supply chain, with many firms seeking to building or already building more manufacturing plants in South East Asia. Such a "China+" production diversification strategy presents the nultinational corporations (MNC) with plenty of new opportunities and challenges - in terms of operation, compliance and environment.

Globalization has changed the ways how supply chains are managed but has also increased risks. Southeast Asia is promising to be a major alternative for supply chains seeking to diversify their risks. But it will take time and a lot of investments for supply chains to reduce their reliance on production in China.

Taiwanese PCB makers saw their combined first-quarter 2021 output value at their plants in Taiwan and China surge 26.7% on year to NT$173.4 billion (US$6.11 billion), a record high for the same quarter, according to statistics released by Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA).

Samsung Electronics and Chinese handset brands, including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, all plan to launch foldable smartphones in the third quarter, heating competition in the segment, according to industry sources.

The US and China have been clearly in a standoff, sparring over tariffs and technologies. This has resulted in supply chain reshuffle for some industries. US president Joe Biden signed an executive order on February 24, 2021 mandating a review of critical product supply chains in the US with the aim of bringing manufacturing back the US and rebuilding localized supply chains. Taiwan-based manufacturers caught between the two giants may not afford to choose sides, but they can still find room for survival.

China-based LCD panel makers have continued to ramp up capacity at their existing 8.6G and 10.5G fabs although most of them have said they would not establish new LCD panel fabs.

Taiwan's III-V semiconductor players including foundry Win Semiconductors and epi-wafer supplier Visual Photonics Epitaxy (VPEC) have cut into the supply chains of major carmakers and China's EV vendors by providing ToF-based LiDAR components, and are poised to enjoy strong demand for automotive LiDAR applications, according to industry sources.

China-based handset brands, including Xiaomi, Oppo, Realme and Honor, reportedly have slashed their shipment goals further for 2021, having already lowered their targets earlier in May, according to industry sources.

Apple is expected to unseat Samsung Electronics as the largest buyer of AMOLED displays for smartphones in 2021, as new iPhones for the year reportedly will all adopt flexible AMOLED screens, pushing up the penetration of such displays in iPhone devices to around 80%, according to industry sources.

Memory module houses have seen their sales driven by the mounting mining fever for new cryptocurrency Chia in the second quarter of 2021, but are unsure whether it is sustainable, according to industry sources.

Global supply chain restructuring that is being accelerated by the US-China trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic gears toward two directions in view of geopolitical factors: "China+1" - the business strategy to still tap the China market but diversify production to other countries to avoid punitive US tariffs on Chinese goods; and "China-free" - the initiative to drive self-sufficiency to counter China's dominance and protect national security.