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.
Mobile SoC specialist MediaTek will still see headwinds from the handset market challenge its operations in the first half of 2023, according to market sources.
Taiwan-based LandMark Optoelectronics, which specializes in GaAs and InP epi-wafers for optical communications, expects to post another on-year revenue increase in 2023, when the company will start shipping 800G silicon photonics components.
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.
Realtek Semiconductor will remain focused on its high-end offerings to avoid price competition from peers focusing on mass-market device applications, according to the Taiwan-based network IC specialist.
Most network device makers in Taiwan, including Sercomm, Arcadyan, Accton Technology, Alpha Networks and Hitron Technologies, experienced a fruitful year in 2022 with annual revenues hitting new highs, and they are optimistic that growth momentum will persist in 2023 with order visibility clear for 2-3 quarters ahead, according to industry sources.
The new 14-and 16-inch MacBook Pro models just unveiled by Apple both support the newest Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) wireless communication standard, which is expected to notably drive up the penetration of the upgraded spec in notebooks, according to industry sources.
More Taiwan-based network device manufacturers, including Senao Networks, are looking to relocate production to Vietnam for manpower and cost reasons, according to Tommy Tsai, chairman of Senao.
As the industry upgrades to faster connectivity technologies, such as 5G NR and Wi-Fi 6/6E, IC inspection labs remain optimistic about wireless communication device demand in 2023.
VividQ, a Cambridge-based holographic display technology company, announced on January 17 that it is partnering with Dispelix, a Finnish waveguide supplier, to produce a breakthrough augmented reality (AR) technology that will bring AR experience to the next level.
Cisco Systems will continue participation in 5G ORAN (open radio access network) testing in Taiwan in 2023 through selecting 1-2 local enterprises as additional partners, according to Greater China vice president and Taiwan general manager Steven Lin for the company.
In the 5G era, Open RAN is expected to form an emerging market. However, according to a survey conducted by DIGITIMES Research, the industry is still cautious about when the market will take off.
Pegatron expects sales generated from automotive and communication devices will drive overall revenue growth in 2023, according to president and co-CEO Johnson Deng.
Networking solution provider Planet saw record revenue growth in 2022 and has remained optimistic about its outlook toward 2023. In response to the strong wireless communication demand of smart IoT, PLANET also released a new router to take full advantage of this business opportunity.
Networking/communication device makers Arcadyan Technology and Alpha Networks have reported consolidated revenues of NT$47.168 billion (US$1.58 billion) and NT$33.634 billion respectively for 2022, with each being the historically highest annual level, according to the companies.
Qualcomm Technologies Inc. announced on January 13 the launch of its 5th Qualcomm Innovate in Taiwan Challenge (QITC) to support Taiwan startups in developing innovative solutions using Qualcomm's mobile platforms in the areas of 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), Edge AI, Machine Learning, Smart Cities, Robotics and Multimedia.
The so-called "Taiwan version of Chips Act" was passed in the Legislative Yuan on January 7, but the amended statutes are not all about chips, nor was it only for "protecting TSMC's processing technologies", and will only be effective until December 31, 2029.
At CES 2023, Qualcomm announced its Snapdragon Satellite solution. This further escalated the already heated competition in the mobile phone satellite communication sector.
Anti-virus software developer Trend Micro has established CTOne, a subsidiary developer of cybersecurity solutions mainly used in enterprise 5G private networks, O-RAN (open radio access network) and IoT devices, with smart manufacturing, smart medical care, transportation and energy management being targeted scenarios of application, according to CTOne CEO Jason Huang.
Qisda saw its consolidated revenues hit a new annual record in 2022, reaching NT$239.8 billion (US$7.75 billion), up 6% or NT$13.9 billion from a year ago, according to company chairman Peter Chen.
Human body produces various physiological signals. Analyzing the information can help people better deal with stress or enable athletes to reach peak performance, besides many other applications. Canada-based Thought Technology has been manufacturing instruments monitoring vital signs for over 45 years. Its products have been distributed to over 100 countries.
MediaTek, announced that it has successfully completed interoperability testing for Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) on MediaTek Filogic Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6E chips, in collaboration with Federated Wireless, the leading innovator of private wireless and shared spectrum services. Federated Wireless is conditionally approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate an AFC system, which manages access to spectrum by standard-power indoor and outdoor unlicensed devices in the 6 GHz band.
Qualcomm has laid out its future development roadmaps with focuses on AI technology and solutions, in-house developed Oryon CPU and AR glasses discrete architecture, all among forward-looking technologies and applications shared at the vendor's Snapdragon Summit 2022, according to industry observers.
Taiwan-based fabless chipmakers have enhanced their efforts to develop high-end chips such as mobile application processors (AP), OLED display driver ICs (DDI), ASICs, wireless communication chips, and high-speed transmission chips, according to industry sources.