Taiwan-based network device makers including Zyxel Group and Sercomm continue to see telecom customers engaged in inventory adjustments and remain cautious about their operations in the second half of this year, according to company sources.

According to Huawei's latest earnings report for the first half of 2023, the US-sanctioned telecom equipment giant reported sales of CNY310.9 billion, up 3.1% from a year ago, with net income reaching CNY46.63, a 209% growth year-on-year.

According to reports from ZDNet Korea and official statements from Samsung, Samsung plans to launch the latest version of its 5G vRAN software technology, vRAN 3.0, within 2023. As part of Samsung's vRAN collaboration with Intel, This software will provide optimization processing for the Intel vRAN Boost in the 4th generation Intel Xeon processors.

With the progress in intelligence and stricter vehicle safety regulations, carmakers are facing a surging demand for sensors. In Level 2 self-driving and beyond, the market for automotive mmWave (millimeter-wave) radar is witnessing intense competition. Recently, Chinese contenders have entered the mmWave market, focusing on advancing the 77GHz mmWave radar. However, they are also grappling with price competition, resulting in a reshaping of the market landscape.

Taiwan-based magnetic component company LinkCom Manufacturing held an earnings call on August 11. General manager Wilson Tan said the company is expanding its magnetic component and wireless charging units. The company will launch new products, increase product applications and scale up its global business simultaneously.

The US government announced in mid-July 2023 that it will introduce a cybersecurity seal, dubbed the "US Cyber Trust Mark," for Internet of things (IoT) devices. The seal is intended to help consumers purchase trusted devices that are less vulnerable to hacking by labeling them as compliant with security standards. It is reported that the initiative will initially focus on home IoT devices and is expected to be launched in 2024.

China's Saiwei Electronics has announced sucessful mass production and "domestic substitution" of Bulk Acoustic Wave (BAW) filters. While the industry remains conservative about the immediate integration of these filters into 5G smartphones, this breakthrough resolves China's long-standing "chokepoint" when it comes to RF (Radio Frequency) module supply, and further fuels speculation about the return of Huawei 5G smartphones.

The outlook for demand from new telecommunication tenders and bids in the second half of 2023 remains uncertain, prompting related chip suppliers to exercise caution and anticipate a demand uptick in 2024, according to sources at Taiwan-based IC design houses.

Renesas Electronics and Sequans Communications, a provider of 5G/4G cellular IoT chips and modules, have signed a memorandum of understanding whereby Renesas will acquire Sequans through a tender offer.

IC design house Realtek Semiconductor is cautious about its sales prospects for the second half of this year, despite experiencing a substantial increase in revenue during the second quarter.

Taiwan-based network equipment assemblers have voiced cautious optimism regarding the second half of this year, due to ongoing inventory adjustments by telecom channel and data center customers, according to industry players.

As wireless technology evolves and grows ever more seamlessly into the fabric of our daily lives, there remain significant problems to solve. Discrepancies in connection speed, known as latency, may only seem like a nuisance when on a video call, but can have major ramifications for emerging applications. Industrial IoT solutions require a near-instant and uninterrupted flow of data for optimal efficiency; autonomous vehicles will need to communicate with each other with minimal delay in order to guarantee safe operation; telemedical surgery absolutely calls for low-latency communication as human life hangs in the balance. LatenceTech, a Canada-based startup, aims to serve this growing market through novel analytics software.

Typhoon Doksuri has brought heavy rainfall to northern China over the past two weeks, causing at least 20 deaths and affecting millions stuck in the resultant floods in the suburban areas south of Beijing. But the same typhoon only caused relatively minor damage of NTD230 million (US$7.41 million) to Taiwan, thanks to the Taiwan government's decisive preparedness measures based on the monitoring information provided by the Civil IoT Taiwan platform.

Electronics company Lite-on has transitioned its business focus successfully to automobile and cloud-based servers as the consumer electronics market stays sluggish. President Anson Chiu is optimistic about Tesla's charging connector becoming the standard in North America. He said the situation will facilitate the charger industry's growth in the long term.

Many smartphone manufacturers are eager to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to gain a competitive edge over their rivals. This includes companies like Apple, Samsung Electronics, Huawei, Honor, Vivo, and others. In recent months, they have all emphasized the importance of AI applications and have acknowledged that integrating large language models (LLM) into smartphones will become a trend.

Wi-Fi 6/6E is already mainstream in 2023, so when will the Wi-Fi 7 boom occur? Wireless broadband equipment manufacturers pointed out that after testing the waters in 2023, 2024 will certainly be the main growth period of Wi-Fi 7. The only variable is the global economic development in 2024. Whether it will be a force that promotes technological upgrades or hinders growth remains to be seen.

Telecom operators in Europe and the US have been actively planning the industry's transition to Wi-Fi 7, providing impetus to the development of new products supporting the this standard, according to sources at IC design houses.

Gallium arsenide (GaAs) power amplifier (PA) suppliers are gearing up for the industry's anticipated 2024 transition to Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) wireless connectivity.

Samsung Electronics has just announced new products at the Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event in Seoul. Although sales have yet to recover, Samsung expects that in the second half of the year, overall demand for smartphones is expected to improve over the same period in 2022, with the release of new products and high-end mobile phone shipments growth being the propelling force.

Airoha Technology, a subsidiary of MediaTek specializing in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chips, will soon kick off mass production for 50G-PON device applications, according to company EVP Bomin Wang.

Taiwan-based RF IC developer RichWave expects the European and American demands, especially for FWAs, to have performed as expected, with the Chinese market's weakness more severe than anticipated. RichWave holds a positive view of India's infrastructure market.

In a strategic move to expand its presence in the low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite segment, China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center recently commissioned the Shiyan satellite. Developed specifically for satellite IoT applications, the launch utilized the Chang Zheng 2C (CZ-2C) shuttle. Billed as the "Chinese Starlink", Shiyan is designed to bolster China's progress towards 6G technology implementation. While technologically significant, this launch highlights China's broader challenge of establishing robust satellite infrastructure amidst evolving global broadband standards.

Despite the US' decision to allocate massive funds for upgrading the country's network infrastructure, related IC design houses will still have to wait before business opportunities really arrive, according to industry sources. At present, the procurement markets in the US and Europe are still rather opaque as far as inventory correction and demand are concerned.

Linkcom Manufacturing, a Taiwan-based supplier of magnetic components and power supply modules, expects to see sales growth in the second half of 2023, spurred by US broadband infrastructure demand and an increase in wireless charging orders.

The K-Network 2030 strategy allotted a KRW625.3 billion (about US$500 million) budget for 6G mobile communication technology research and development from 2024 through 2028, eyeing to enhance the country's competitiveness in telecommunication technologies, according to DIGITIMES Research's latest study on South Korea's telecommunication industry.