Taiwan's pure-play foundry Vanguard International Manufacturing (VIS) continues to benefit from geopolitical effects, winning more shifted orders from clients in China and the US as well as Europe amid lingering trade conflicts between the world's two major economies, allowing the company to maintain stable business momentum in 2023 and beyond, according to industry sources.

The Japanese government has set its semiconductor development policy based on two major principles - security and revitalization, shifting from relying entirely on domestic companies for chip development to introducing foreign technology and strengthening cross-country cooperation.

The semiconductor industry can learn from its past development history for making changes needed to cope with the trends and phenomena of the automotive industry.

Display panel makers' production utilization rates are expected to remain at low levels while panel prices will stay stable in the first quarter of 2023, according to industry sources.

TFT-LCD panel maker Innolux has undertaken zero-waste and zero-pollution automation of its liquid crystal extraction process, according to the company.

Prices for LCD panels for TVs stand a chance of slowly rising in the second quarter of 2023, according to president James Yang for Innolux.

Apple recently announced that Quanta Computer kicked off shipments of the latest MacBook Pro series in December, according to industry sources.

ODMs should see the market improve in the second half of 2023, according to Quanta Computer vice chairman CC Leung, adding that companies should still stay cautious over the year.

iPhone production is picking up in India, with Apple eyeing 25% of iPhones made in the country. Apple is reportedly looking to bring more China-based suppliers to invest in India despite India's barring of inward Chinese investments amid souring China-India relationships.

Most network device makers in Taiwan, including Sercomm, Arcadyan, Accton Technology, Alpha Networks and Hitron Technologies, experienced a fruitful year in 2022 with annual revenues hitting new highs, and they are optimistic that growth momentum will persist in 2023 with order visibility clear for 2-3 quarters ahead, according to industry sources.

The new 14-and 16-inch MacBook Pro models just unveiled by Apple both support the newest Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) wireless communication standard, which is expected to notably drive up the penetration of the upgraded spec in notebooks, according to industry sources.

Market research firms and related supply chain makers have mixed views over the prospects for global handset sales in 2023.