The smart glasses market drew attention at the third Asia Photonics Expo (APE 2026), where Singapore-based Opto Precision showcased smart glasses module solutions that integrate artificial intelligence features while addressing myopia, a long-standing challenge for some potential users.

As Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics prepare for 2026, both South Korean technology leaders are sharpening their competitive edge by embedding artificial intelligence (AI) across displays and home appliances. Beyond hardware upgrades, their strategies increasingly rely on subscription and leasing models, platform ecosystems, and an expanded Micro RGB TV lineup, signaling a shift toward service-oriented growth and deeper customer engagement.

India's rise as an electronics manufacturing hub has been one of the fastest shifts in the global supply chain over the past decade. Geopolitical realignments, generous incentives, and growing interest from multinational companies have pushed the country into the spotlight as a serious alternative manufacturing base.

Taiwan has long measured academic success through publication volume, a metric that has driven intense competition with China in research output. But National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Cheng-wen Wu is now calling for a different approach—one focused on global impact and technological leadership rather than paper counts.

Server rail maker King Slide Works benefited in 2025 from strong demand for high-end GPU/ASIC platforms, putting its server business at the forefront of its growth. Server rails account for roughly 90% of King Slide's total revenue and are linked to applications such as high-performance computing (HPC) and large AI model servers.

Human information intake relies heavily on vision. With the accelerated development of AI, augmented reality (AR), and spatial computing technologies, smart glasses are evolving beyond wearable gadgets to become a core interface for the next generation of human-machine interaction. These interactions can naturally integrate information, AI assistant functions, sensing, and interaction into the user's field of view, eliminating reliance on handheld devices or touch controls.

Demand for smart glasses is climbing. Alongside established players such as Meta, Rokid, RayNeo, and Xreal, heavyweight brands including Samsung Electronics and Apple are preparing to enter the market, raising the stakes across the supply chain. In Taiwan's optical industry, several suppliers have emerged as focal points.

Physical AI has emerged as an important direction for AI applications in smart manufacturing and automated services, addressing labor shortages, with humanoid robots taking the spotlight as key embodiments of physical AI.

Taiwan is stepping up efforts to anchor global investment at home, offering equal incentives to US and foreign firms even as cross-border commitments under the Taiwan–US Investment Cooperation MOU remain asymmetric.

Notebook makers are under growing pressure as memory shortages and price increases persist, while a widening shortage of CPUs adds a second constraint. What began as a supply gap at Intel has now extended to AMD, leaving notebook brands that had planned to pull forward orders with limited components available. The dual shortages are clouding the outlook for the notebook market in 2026. Industry observers say Apple is likely to benefit in the near term as Wintel suppliers absorb most of the disruption.

Powertech Technology (PTI) and its subsidiary test and assembly firm Greatek jointly held an online investor conference to discuss future operations. Greatek president Yu-Chang Chi said that driven by sustained demand from AI and memory customers, flip chip and QFN packaging lines have reached full capacity. Bumping packaging capacity is also expected to be fully utilized in the coming quarters, leading to a positive outlook for first-half 2026 performance.

Meta is sharpening its AI device strategy, redirecting investment toward smart glasses and wearables as management signals urgency in shaping the next consumer computing platform, with implications for hardware ecosystems, AI deployment, and the long-term role of virtual and augmented reality.

China's optical industry is confronting significant challenges as several lens module manufacturers reportedly plan layoffs early in 2026, prompted by sluggish smartphone sales and intense price competition. Industry sources indicate that the sector's difficulties are unlikely to abate in the coming year due to persistent market and macroeconomic pressures.

The chip resistor supply chain is seeing another round of price hikes as major passive component manufacturers Yageo and Walsin Technology initiated the first wave. Taiwanese firm Ta-i Technology has officially notified customers of a price adjustment effective February 1, 2026, citing volatile upstream metal raw material costs that have pushed thick film resistor production expenses beyond manageable levels.

Outdoor enthusiasts are increasingly demanding real-time information beyond what traditional bike computers or smartwatches can provide. However, challenges such as poor visibility under strong sunlight, the burden of device weight, and safety risks from looking down at data remain major hurdles for outdoor tech applications.

Hyundai Motor is establishing a specialized parts procurement organization to build a scalable mass production system for its robotics business, focusing on securing the global supply chain of key components such as actuators. This strategic move aims to prepare Hyundai for future market demands in humanoid robots.

Chinese robot vacuum makers are accelerating product innovation at a pace that has forced weaker rivals out of the market, reshaping a category once dominated by US brands and raising expectations for what home robots can do.

Introducing OLED technology into IT applications has been on the rise over the last couple of years, and display driver IC (DDI) companies expect this segment to provide new incremental growth momentum for OLED DDIs. Major notebook companies have already rolled out high-end product lines equipped with OLED displays, indicating that related projects are already shipping. However, DDI brands say the impact has not been particularly noticeable so far, describing the current situation as having projects but limited shipment volumes.

As artificial intelligence, sensing, and motion-control technologies mature, humanoid robots are moving beyond concept demonstrations toward early-stage deployment. The shift was evident at CES 2026, where many systems moved from static displays to live demonstrations—such as competitive sparring and household tasks—underscoring gains in dynamic performance.

As 2026 begins, demand for fan motors remains strong. On top of continued cooling needs driven by cloud servers, new fan upgrade and increased usage requirements are emerging across the edge computing segment. AI PCs are driving more dual-fan designs, while automotive and industrial control sectors are also expanding their fan usage. The motor driver IC opportunities behind these trends are expected to become a major development focus for many Taiwanese analog chip makers in 2026. Weltrend Semiconductor, Global Mixed-mode Technology (GMT), and Anpec Electronics are all expected to see stable support for their operations this year.

Taiwan's government is moving its quantum technology development program into a second phase, centered on building a national-level heterogeneous hybrid computing platform that integrates high-performance computing (HPC) with quantum computing (QC). Based in southern Taiwan, the system is intended to accelerate real-world applications through international cooperation, leveraging the country's strong semiconductor manufacturing expertise.

Following the easing of US reciprocal tariffs to 15%, Taiwan's Fortune Electric is seeing meaningful relief in cost pressures while accelerating growth driven by robust demand from AI data centers and US infrastructure investment.

AI dominated the corridors and side events of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos this week, with executives, policymakers, and researchers converging on a shared view: AI is no longer a speculative technology, but a foundational economic force. From the cost of compute and energy to export controls, edge devices, and labor-market disruption, Davos 2026 revealed an industry moving from experimentation to structural impact.

The US urgently needs to upgrade its aging grid infrastructure amid surging demand from large-scale AI computing, yet its domestic production capacity for heavy electrical equipment has struggled to keep up with demand, and imports still account for the vast majority of the supply for transformers and switchgear. Under this backdrop, market sources suggest that US customers may award bonuses if Taiwanese heavy electrical equipment suppliers can deliver ahead of schedule.