South Korean memory company SK Hynix reorganized its material, components, and equipment research and development. They combined them under a new foundational technology center directly reporting to its CEO, Kwek Noh-Jung.

2023 spelled tough times for Taiwan's IC design industry as it grapples with a projected 21% dip in revenue. Global economic sluggishness, coupled with geopolitical tensions, war, interest rate hikes, and inflation, is taking a toll on companies in the smartphone and NB/PC chip sectors. Among Taiwan's top 10 IC design firms, only Global Unichip Corp stands out with an anticipated record-breaking revenue of nearly US$9 billion in 2023, marking an 8% growth. Others are witnessing a downturn. However, the outlook for 2024 is promising, with global smartphone and NB/PC shipments set to soar by 14%, pushing industry revenue back to the US$36 billion mark.

Amid rising demand for advanced chips and heightened US export bans against China, Chinese semiconductor firms are looking to assembly and packaging suppliers in Malaysia, highlighting the role Southeast Asian countries play in the US-China geopolitical unease.

From the onset of Russia's invasion of Ukraine to the eruption of the Israel–Hamas war, the continuous expansion of defense business opportunities is reshaping the landscape for optical manufacturers. Companies deeply rooted in glass and simulated glass lens production, such as Calin and time-lapse camera giant Brinno, are venturing into UAV research and development. Brinno aims to ship to Thunder Tiger in 2024, setting its sights on the global defense market.

Observing the recent plans and activities of smartphone brands, as a response to the market becoming more mature, smartphones are developing toward the extremes of high-end and low-end. Brands are adopting strategies such as moving down the specifications of high-end flagship phones, forming cross-industry alliances, and declaring net-zero carbon emissions as crucial methods to enhance brand value, image, and competitiveness.

After a successful technological collaboration with Foxconn in 2022, the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has decided to further extend its outreach to other industries in 2023. This time, the MOEA joins forces with the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (TEEMA) with over 3,000 corporate members. Together, they have initiated a call for 40 innovative technologies from corporations and their affiliated startups to address the association's diverse needs.

According to the IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Thailand's smartphone market saw initial signs of a recovery in the third quarter of 2023 after six consecutive quarters of annual decline as the market grew 1.6% year-on-year and 8.3% quarter-on-quarter.

The space industry buzz in Taiwan is reaching new heights, with recent investments showcasing a shift from smaller players to conglomerates like Foxconn, Acer, Wistron, Kinpo, and Qisda. While Taiwan initially focused on hidden champions and smaller component companies in the space sector, multinationals are now systematically diving into the space business.

On December 6, Google unveiled its large language model (LLM) Gemini, intending to integrate it into various Google products and services. DIGITIMES Research believes that integrating Gemini Nano into Android will expand the range of products offering on-device generative AI, from flagship models to mid-to-high-end devices, within 2-3 years, and help address the fragmented on-device AI within the Android ecosystem.

Europe's largest car-producing country has unexpectedly terminated its EV subsidy program. Germany has paid about EUR10 billion (US$10.9 billion) to encourage EV adoption. The move is expected to take a toll on the country's automotive industry.

Japan-based Nissan Motor plans to use China-made EVs to help it gain traction in the global EV market. The automaker has also deepened its collaboration with China's Tsinghua University. New joint research on the EV value chain is scheduled to start in 2024.

As the demand for electric vehicles surges, LG Chem, a subsidiary of the South Korean-based tech giant, is set to construct a new cathode material plant in the United States to mark a significant expansion into the North American market.

In a strategic response to the competitive optical film market, Taiwan-based Efun Technology has diversified its product portfolio by developing novel optical film materials. Simultaneously, the company has been actively venturing into the green energy industry, foreseeing higher revenue contributions from this sector in 2024 than its core optical film business.

Tsung-Wei Huang, chairman of notebook battery module manufacturer C-Tech, pointed out that with the notebook battery module market becoming too mature and the trend of customers relocating their supply chains outside of China, C-Tech is actively transitioning towards electric two-wheelers and energy storage systems. The assessment is that results will gradually start to surface in 2024.

China-based EV company Zeekr unveiled a self-developed battery on December 14. Zeekr said the LFP battery can provide a driving range of 500 kilometers with a 15-minute charge.

Taiwan-based panel makers have been keen on establishing plants in emerging markets, concerned that the intensifying geopolitical tensions could lead to the decoupling of the supply chain, and panel makers' existing capacities in China remain an important supply source to Chinese automakers, according to DIGITMES Research analyst Jason Yang.

With the debut of 18 foldable phones and one more planned by the end of this year, 2023 was the year of the foldable phone explosion. According to Omdia, 16 of the phones were manufactured by Chinese smartphone makers, with 13 utilizing foldable phone displays manufactured by Chinese OLED manufacturers.

To respond to the full-screen demand of Apple's iPhone, LG Innotek is reportedly investing in R&D for Under Panel Camera (UPC). The company has already applied for several related patents, and UPCs are expected to be officially installed on smartphone products after 2026.