The Taiwanese supply chain has relied on the stable demand from Apple. However, it has recently received news that delivery of the Mac series will be significantly reduced. In addition, Apple is also advocating for the diversification of its production sites. All of this has created increased pressure on the Taiwanese supply chain.

Largan Precision, a maker of optical lens modules, expects its revenue to continue declining in February after its sales fell 18.74% sequentially and 13% annually to NT$3.26 billion (US$107.58 million) in the previous month.

Chinese chip startup Biren Technology has selected AI to be its development focus, meaning the company's focus will be on general-purpose GPUs (GPGPUs) used in AI and its corresponding software stack. The presence of the US chip restrictions is also well-noted by China's GPU sector, with each company taking its own approach to circumvent the restrictions.

Mr. Wufu Chen, Chairman of Acorn Campus Taiwan pointed out that, facing a new wave of lifestyle paradigm shift, he and his company will assist Taiwan in forming an international team with globalized visions and help Taiwanese startups connect with international talents, markets, and capital. On top of technological skills, members of the international team should also possess international vision and perspective. They must be able to define their market and customers, and engage in dialogs with the international market, thereby establishing a footing for the new economy and industry developments in Taiwan.

All firms with considerable business scales in Taiwan's electronics industry are publicly traded. When they release their tentative annual financial indicators, we can already grasp the growth momentum of the industry, as well as the interactions between different industry sectors and the medium- and long-term outlook. DIGITIMES has again collected data on the ICT product manufacturing, semiconductors, optoelectronics, IC distribution and components sectors, providing readers with a comprehensive picture of the electronics industry and an outlook of the industry trends in 2023.

The growing penetration of electric vehicles (EV) has boosted demand for charging infrastructure, with China, the US, the EU, Japan, Korea, India and other countries making efforts installing charging piles and stations.

Through its recent acquisition of ABB's power conversion division, Taiwan-based AcBel Polytech is looking to grow its US client portfolio, according to the company's newly appointed COO Olivia Liao.

Universal Robots (UR) and Techman Robot, the world's top two collaborative robot (cobot) suppliers, are optimistic about the growth potential of the overall and Taiwan markets.

On January 31, Belgium-based semiconductor research hub Imec announced that it demonstrated co-integration of its high-quality silicon nitride waveguide technology with its silicon photonics platform—without performance degradation of the high-bandwidth active devices. An important upgrade for imec's silicon photonics platform, the result enables the synthesis of high-quality wavelength-selective devices and other optical passive functions that benefit from accurate optical phase control, meeting market demands for optical transceivers for datacom, LiDAR, and other applications.

Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, determined to transform its entire group, has been actively expanding to electric vehicle industry in recent years. Having made new changes to its business model, Foxconn has also recruited a large number of the industry's elites to shorten the time it needs to enter the industry as much as possible.

Lenovo has announced 6 key technology trends that will become mainstream in 2023. These include holographic projection, transformable devices, corporate metaverse, smart stores, multi-access edge computing, and new business models. Starting in 2023, these trends will help increase performance and efficiency in businesses while also promoting digital transformation.

Taiwan-based makers received export orders totaling US$52.17 billion in December 2022, down 23.2% on year, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Smartphone lens module makers Largan Precision and Genius Electronic Optical (GSEO), in view of weak global demand for smartphones, have actively stepped into development and production of lens modules used in automotive cameras and VR/AR devices, according to industry sources.

In its early days, Top Taiwan Venture Capital mostly focused on investing in enterprises in their expansion and mature stages, as well as in electronic technology industries. It has successfully completed a dozen venture capital (VC) fundraising based on its past investment performance. Its shareholders included major finance and insurance businesses in Taiwan, as well as corporate shareholders including Chunghwa Telecom, Inventec, ELAN Microelectronics, and SINBON Electronics. By building a well-rounded VC platform and ecosystem, Top Taiwan strives to realize its vision in developing and investing the Taiwan market, and leading Taiwan toward future transformations and challenges.

Intel is in talks with specific PC vendors to cut prices for previous generations of Alder Lake processors, including Core i9 processors, by as much as 20%, according to industry sources.

High-frequency microwave device maker Universal Microwave Technology (UMT) is optimistic about its prospects for 2023, buoyed by the continued growth of the global telecommunication industry driven by 5G infrastructure.

Power supply maker Phihong Technology has spun off its business group specialized in developing power charging solutions used for electric vehicles (EVs) as a wholly owned subsidiary, Zerova Technologies Taiwan, in a bid to speed up business development of EV charging solutions, according to company president Allan Lin.

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.

China's CPU developer Loongson Technology recently has successfully completed the tape-out of its new processor, LS2K1500, which will be mainly used to power industrial control systems such as electric power, railway transportation, smart manufacturing and industrial network security, according to industry sources.

Sonatus, a California-based software startup, is bringing its networking expertise to carmakers and helping them build software-defined vehicles (SDV) faster. The company has secured US$110 million in total funding since established in 2018.

Computex, Taiwan's largest IT exhibition show, after three years of shrinkage in scale from 2020-2022, will be resumed fully in 2023, going from May 30-June 2, according to Taipei Computer Association (TCA).

In contrast with the Indian government's welcoming Apple suppliers' investments, Samsung Electronics, the largest exporter of mobile phones in India, encounters a series of financial issues.

Genius Electronic Optical (GSEO) will supply lens modules for VR head-mounted devices, to be launched by Apple in 2023, with shipments to begin in February-March 2023, according to GSEO's supply chain makers.

Apple has announced the new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max, Apple's next-generation pro silicon that brings even more power-efficient performance and battery life to pro users.

Thailand-based electronic device maker Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand), a member of the Taiwan-based New Kinpo Group, will set up four additional factories in Thailand, while power supply maker AcBel Polytech, also a member of the group, will develop PV power generation business to become a provider of green energy solutions, according to the companies.