DIGITIMES Research observes that the business operation of the DRAM and NAND Flash sector of the world's top three memory manufacturers – Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron – has improved since the beginning of the second half of 2023 and demand will enjoy a bigger recovery in the fourth quarter, boosting the three makers' revenues and profits, according to DIGITIMES Research's latest memory industry report.

Although India demonstrates ambition and has pivoted to invite Taiwanese semiconductor partners to accelerate its chip dreams, analysts are taking a cautious view but said the success of Micron in India is key to the South Asian country's semiconductor future.

Japan's delivery robot market is still at its initial stage of development. The costs for producing the machines and their operation afterward were still high. On the hardware side, the machines are made in small volumes and components prices are high, according to DIGITIMES Research's latest report under the brand new AIoT channel, set to launch in 2024

Global server shipments increased 1.5% quarter-over-quarter in third-quarter 2023 as previously expected, mainly driven by brand vendors launching new platforms, while overall server purchases by large US cloud service providers (CSP) continued to show a slight decline amid a shift in focus to high-priced AI servers, according to the latest figures from DIGITIMES Research's server report.

The Taipei International Logistics and IoT Exhibition 2023 and Taipei International Cold Chain Technology Exhibition 2023 were jointly held from August 23 to 26, with more than one hundred cold chain and logistics operators participating in the events. According to DIGITIMES Research's latest report under the brand new AIoT channel, set to launch in 2024, influenced by the call for net-zero carbon emissions and increasing labor shortages, the cold chain/logistics industry is moving towards smart, highly efficient, and low-carbon solutions.

Smartphone shipments to the Chinese market amounted to a little more than 60 million units in the third quarter of 2023, showing a 2.4% decline sequentially but a 5% increase compared to the same period a year earlier, according to data compiled by DIGITIMES Research; however, the volume will rise to above 70 million units in the fourth quarter.

Vietnam has emerged as a prime contender as the US seeks a more diversified semiconductor supply chain, reducing dependence on China. DIGITIMES Research notes that relatively well-established semiconductor manufacturing supply chains are established in northern Vietnam, while IC designers have formed clusters in the south. The geographical distance between these regions may challenge the chip ecosystem to achieve optimal synergy in Vietnam.

Chinese smartphone vendors experienced a shipment growth of 4.3% sequentially and 5.8% annually in the third quarter of 2023, buoyed by a seasonal rebound in overseas markets and a resurgence in demand in some emerging markets, according to DIGITIMES Research's latest figures from the report covering China's smartphone industry.

Third-quarter 2023 shipments of smartphone application processors (AP) to Chinese handset vendors increased by 47.5% quarter-on-quarter, as inventory had dropped to healthy levels. The increase was driven by handset brand vendors' early preparation for the arrival of the second-half 2023 peak, demand from overseas markets (beyond China), and efforts by Hisilicon – Huawei's IC design arm – to push into the 5G AP market according to DIGITIMES Research's latest figures from China smartphone AP report.

In light of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) decision to suspend its plans for a new fabrication facility in the Longtan section of Hsinchu Science Park (HSP) due to local protests against land appropriation, DIGITIMES Research analyst and project manager Eric Chen speculates that the chipmaker's next plant may find its home in Taiwan with Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung all being possible locations.

Despite the semiconductor industry's current downturn, competition in the HPC chip sector remains fierce. According to findings from DIGITIMES Research, the first half of 2023 saw all major HPC chip manufacturers, namely Intel, AMD, and Nvidia, grappling with lackluster revenue due to weak demand for high-performance computing (HPC) applications. However, there is a glimmer of hope as the NB/PC and server markets are gradually stabilizing, with expectations of a revenue upswing for these major companies in the latter half of 2023.

The three primary high-performance computing (HPC) chip suppliers, Intel, AMD, and Nvidia, will likely see their sales strengthen quarter by quarter in the second half of 2023, buoyed by a gradual rebound in the notebook, desktop, and server market sectors, despite lackluster sales in the first half of 2023 amid weak demand for HPC applications, according to the estimation from DIGITIMES Research's latest report.