South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung's three-day trip to Washington began with a flurry of business deals, as companies from both countries signed 11 agreements and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) to expand cooperation across strategic industries.

A wave of AI-powered products—particularly smart glasses—is sweeping across the tech landscape, and Taiwan's optical component makers are rushing to stake their claim. Yet whether this surge of interest will translate into sustainable profits remains an open question.

Taiwan Chelic, a pneumatic components maker, is positioning itself as a new entrant in Taiwan's humanoid robot supply chain with its in-house development of a bionic hand, which has already been sampled to domestic clients. The company plans to move further into subsystems by developing dexterous robotic hands with integrated joint modules.

Nikon Corporation has announced the closure of its Yokohama Manufacturing Plant on September 30, 2025. The company's personnel and operations from the site will be relocated to other facilities, with minimal impact expected on Nikon's 2025 financial results.

Apple's long-rumored foldable iPhone is taking shape as Samsung Display, DS Neolux, and BH reportedly secure roles in its supply chain. Backed by Samsung Display's exclusive panel development and mass production experience, the project is advancing through prototyping, with a market launch expected as early as the second half of 2026.

As the Apple iPhone 17 series launch approaches, the spotlight on supply chain dynamics intensifies, particularly regarding Foxconn, the principal backend assembler. Recent reports indicate Foxconn is replacing some Chinese engineers with Taiwanese ones in India, sparking market interest.

Sun Yad Industry has recently expanded its operational scale and diversified business portfolio through active acquisitions and strategic partnerships. The Sun Yad Industry group currently encompasses five publicly listed companies, including Sun Yad Construction, Feei Cherng Develop Technology, U-Best Innovative Technology, Hsin Li Chemical Industrial, and Myson Century. Its business scope now spans real estate, the chemical industry, AI technology, smart health, robotics, and digital finance.

Long seen as a traditional industry, Taiwan's textile sector is finding new relevance in the AI era. As demand grows for lightweight electric vehicles, heat-dissipating components, and sustainable materials, companies like Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corporation (SSFC) are moving aggressively into advanced polymers and recycled plastics. The shift reflects a broader transformation in which materials once relegated to apparel now play a key role in powering data centers, GPUs, and next-generation mobility.

Sunny Optical Technology (Group) Co. said on August 22, 2024, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Goertek Inc. and its subsidiary Goertek Optical Technology, a move that could reshape competition in China's precision optics market amid surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) hardware.

Taiwan's Legislative Yuan has published a written report from the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) reviewing the situation of doctoral-level researchers not entering industry, academia, or research institutions. According to the report, NSTC tracked about 500 doctoral-level researchers who had left their positions in the past three years, of which roughly 20% did not disclose their followup plans, 30% joined universities as faculty members, 10% took up industry positions, 10% left to pursue opportunities abroad, and 25% transferred to other academic or research institutions.

The US tariff policies have disrupted global supply chains, hitting South Korea not only by imposing a 15% reciprocal tariff but also by impacting the ASEAN countries where South Korea has actively invested. Moving forward, South Korea must proactively develop an ASEAN strategy and seize opportunities in the artificial intelligence (AI) market.

Below are the key DIGITIMES Asia stories from August 11 to 17, 2025. Firstly, a recent teardown confirms that Huawei's Kunpeng 930 chip still relies on TSMC's outdated 5nm process due to US sanctions that restrict its data center growth. Meanwhile, Google has made a significant move by launching the Gemma 3 AI model with 270 million parameters, explicitly designed to lower power consumption on mobile devices. Concurrently, China has successfully unveiled its first homegrown electron-beam lithography machine, although it faces substantial challenges in achieving mass production.

China has introduced fresh regulatory measures to reinforce state control over its rare earth sector, further cementing its position as the world's dominant supplier of the strategic materials used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and advanced electronics.

The United States' implementation of trade protectionism has introduced significant uncertainty and risks for export-oriented economies. Chin-Ching Liu, minister of the National Development Council (NDC), recently announced that to enable Taiwan's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to scale up their investments in the US and avoid high tariffs, the government will amend laws to offer tax incentives encouraging businesses to form industrial holding companies as a strategic step toward entering the US market.

South Korean academics are calling for further reforms of the country's New Southern Policy, stressing the need to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN, already home to many South Korean enterprises, as US-China rivalry intensifies. This approach, they argue, not only helps reduce economic dependence on China and the US but also positions ASEAN as a natural strategic partner due to its geographic proximity, abundant resources, cultural affinity, and the soft power of the Korean Wave.

Apple is rumored to begin iPhone 17 production in India; meanwhile, Dixon and Tata are stepping up their display and semiconductor ventures.

The Coretronic group's subsidiary, Coretronic Intelligent Logistics Solutions (CILS), unveiled its new AI-powered smart handling solutions tailored for third-party logistics at the 2025 Automation Taipei tradeshow.

The US Department of Commerce is reportedly weighing whether to convert part of the subsidies granted to Intel and TSMC under the CHIPS and Science Act into equity stakes. Chung-Shu Wu, chairman of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER), cautioned that such market intervention policies will inevitably undermine corporate investment confidence, weaken US innovation, and damage America's long-term interests.

JPP Holding Company, a precision components manufacturer, said on Wednesday that it expects continued strong order visibility for the second half of 2025, supported by the gradual ramp-up of its new facilities and automated production lines. These investments will enable the company to expand its portfolio of higher-margin, value-added products.

Taiwan's leading rugged industrial PC (IPC) manufacturer, Getac Holdings, has recently overtaken longtime leader Panasonic in the European market. Getac chairman James Hwang highlighted that in June, Getac launched the world's first rugged PC supporting both Intel's Lunar Lake and Microsoft's Copilot+ technologies simultaneously. With multiple new products planned for release in the second half of 2025, the company expects a significant boost to its competitiveness in the rugged IPC procurement market.

AI servers are in high demand. Getac Holdings' subsidiary, Atemitech, began setting up production capacity for AI server chassis and racks at the end of 2024 and has started shipments this year. Getac chairman James Hwang noted that the company had not previously produced server chassis due to limited demand. But it now expects significantly higher demand by 2026. Originally forecasting a year-on-year revenue growth of 8–12% for its mechanical parts business, Getac has now raised this outlook to 12–20%.

On August 21, 2025, the US and the European Union announced a Framework Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade, pledging to reduce tariffs, enhance industrial and electronics cooperation, and boost transatlantic investment. The agreement aims to strengthen supply chains, re-industrialize economies, and expand trade in strategic sectors.

Under Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's promotion, the robotics and humanoid robot market has attracted widespread attention. The emergence of various humanoid robots in China has further affirmed the market's potential for future growth.

Materials manufacturer Covestro announced that Annie Chen will assume the role of managing director of Covestro Taiwan, effective September 1, 2025. Chen is currently the head of supply chain and logistics for Taiwan, South Korea, New Zealand, and Australia. She will succeed current managing director Carsten Wildebrand.