CyberTAN Technology's sale of its Hsinchu Science Park factory and auxiliary facilities signals a broader shift toward higher-growth networking and AI infrastructure. The move may reshape how the Taiwanese company deploys capital, and it underscores continued global demand for data center, enterprise, and telecommunications equipment.
Days before preorders open for Apple's first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, Apple Chief Operating Officer Sabih Khan visited China to inspect its supply chain. On October 11, Khan and Foxconn rotating CEO Michael Chiang toured Foxconn's Zhengzhou technology park in Henan, focusing on iPhone Duo production, iPhone 18 Pro rear-camera modules, anodizing for exterior midframes, and chip-level surface-sputtering manufacturing.
From constellation-scale satellite deployment to terrestrial network expansion, SpaceX is deepening Starlink's reach across the connectivity stack. The latest moves suggest the company is no longer positioning direct-to-device (D2D) merely as a way to fill cellular dead zones, but as a foundation for a broader hybrid mobile network capable of competing more directly with US carriers.
While the rapid advancement of AI has driven steadily growing investment in large-scale infrastructure, one of its downstream effects is becoming increasingly visible in the memory sector, where supply has tightened as vendors prioritize higher-margin AI workloads.
Memory prices have surged 4–5x in recent years, and smartphone brands' efforts to pass those costs on to consumers have already hurt sales of new devices in 2026. With large-scale AI deployments continuing to drive strong demand, the memory shortage is expected to persist, putting further pressure on smartphone prices in 2027.
Fubon Multimedia, which operates the Momo e-commerce platform, reported consolidated revenue of approximately NT$8.59 billion (US$269.4 million) in September 2026, up 8.2% from a year earlier. Revenue for the first nine months reached nearly NT$80 billion, an increase of about 3.9%, setting records for the period on both a monthly and cumulative basis.
Taiwanese e-commerce operations provider HHGalaxy reported consolidated revenue of NT$621 million (US$19.5 million) for September 2026, up 31.74% from a year earlier, as brands prepared for the Single's Day shopping event. Revenue for the first nine months reached NT$4.925 billion, a 26.76% annual increase, while third-quarter revenue rose 34.43% to NT$1.774 billion, setting a third-quarter record.
Largan chairman and CEO Adam Lin said October 2026 orders are tracking at roughly the same level as September's, but will begin declining in November as customers cut their forecasts after new phones went on sale. The comments signal that demand across the smartphone supply chain will weaken in the fourth quarter of 2026, creating challenges for handset chipmakers and other suppliers that performed strongly during the third quarter.
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro lineup is showing mixed demand signals weeks after launch. Reports of component order cuts suggest weaker-than-expected sales, while Chinese supply-chain sources point to stronger demand for the pricier Pro Max and foldable iPhone Duo. The divergence highlights growing pressure on Apple's premium strategy as rising memory costs drive smartphone prices higher.
Taiwan-based Universal Microwave Technology (UMT) reported September 2026 revenue of NT$292 million (US$9.15 million), up 52.49% year-over-year, extending its streak of monthly year-over-year revenue growth exceeding 50% to six consecutive months. The performance underscores sustained demand for millimeter-wave communications components as global low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite operators accelerate constellation deployments and capacity expansion.
Largan chairman Adam Lin spoke about the company's cautious smartphone outlook while taking a more aggressive stance on co-packaged optics (CPO) during a recent online earnings briefing. His comments on order trends, gross margins, and 2026 visibility highlight three simultaneous pressures facing the smartphone camera-lens industry.
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