Panel demand softened in the second quarter of 2025, dragging down LCD TV panel prices and showing early signs of weakness in the IT segment. A stronger New Taiwan dollar added to the pressure. AUO saw a 4% quarter-over-quarter revenue decline, while Innolux remained flat, both reflecting muted performance.

Despite foreign exchange fluctuations and seasonal factors decreasing June revenue, LED automotive lighting module manufacturer Laster Tech still achieved a record-high consolidated revenue for the first half of 2025.

Taiwan's Innolux has completed a senior management restructuring following the departure of key executives, with the company accelerating plans to close its fifth-generation display fabrication facility by mid-2026.

The free trade agreement (FTA) between the US and South Korea has now become irrelevant under Donald Trump's administration. Taiwan's tech products also face the possibility of losing the ITA and ITA 2 tariffs-free benefits granted under the WTO framework. Trump's tariff threat can be understood as a step to force Seoul to share the cost of stationing US troops in South Korea. But what does Trump want from Taiwan in the tariffs game? TSMC is already constructing wafer fabs and an R&D center in the US. Does Trump want AI server makers to set up assembly lines in the US, and for the Taiwan currency to sharply appreciate against the greenback?

Samsung Electronics and Vivo's recent foldable smartphone launches have rekindled interest in a segment that had lost momentum. Yet supply chain executives view these 2025 releases as mere warm-ups before Apple's anticipated 2026 debut in the foldable sector, which they expect will trigger genuine market competition.

Taiwanese display solution provider Coretronic reported an unaudited consolidated revenue of NT$4.09 billion (approx. US$140.06 million) for June 2025, up 34% sequentially from NT$3.06 billion the previous month and 17% year over year from NT$3.49 billion in June 2024.

As the 90-day suspension of reciprocal tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump draws to a close on August 1, 2025, the US has announced new tariff rates for 14 countries. These rates range from 25% to 40%, marking a significant development for international trade relations and industries connected to these countries.

Taiwan-based Kinko Optical has strategically avoided low-price competition by expanding its mid- to high-end lens and next-generation product offerings, resulting in nearly 25% revenue growth in the first half of 2025.

China's BOE Technology Group is poised to become Apple's largest MacBook panel supplier for the first time in 2025, capturing 51% market share as the iPhone maker shifts orders away from South Korean rival LG Display.

Small-to-medium-size panel maker Japan Display (JDI), despite having suffered 11 consecutive years of losses, global layoffs, and the recent resignation of its former CEO Scott Callon, the company is still eyeing to return to profitability in 2026 with the closing of its Mobara factory in Chiba to concentrate production at its Ishikawa plant.