Following the lead of China, the European Union (EU), and South Korea, Japan has unveiled plans to build its own long-distance quantum communication network. The first phase will link the country's three major cities—Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka—covering a distance of 600 kilometers. Construction is expected to be completed by early 2027, with field testing planned later that year. The initial rollout will focus on sectors where confidentiality is critical, such as healthcare and finance, to establish a Japan-specific quantum communication standard by 2030.
Following disappointing sales of Apple's iPhone Air and tightening supply chains, major Chinese smartphone manufacturers have reportedly frozen or canceled their own "Air" ultra-thin phone projects. Industry sources cited by Sina Finance and Jiemian.com reveal that Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and others have either scrapped or adjusted development plans for Air models, reallocating eSIM solutions originally intended for these devices to other standard product lines.
Chinese smartphone manufacturers are leading the race to increase battery capacity. Recent reports indicate that several Chinese smartphone makers are aiming to launch devices with ultra-large 10,000 milliampere-hour (mAh) batteries, which is roughly double the capacity found in flagship models from Samsung Electronics and Apple.
Taiwan's national quantum program is entering the final year of its first phase, with Academia Sinica and other research groups achieving significant breakthroughs. These include optical Schrödinger cat state generators using heralded photon pairs and high-integration polarization-entangled Bell-state quantum light source chips.
Networking equipment maker D-Link posted consolidated revenue of NT$3.44 billion (US$109.58 million) for the third quarter of 2025, up 9.3% from the previous quarter. However, cumulative revenue for the first three quarters declined 9.4% year-over-year to NT$9.93 billion.
National Development Council (NDC) minister Chun-Hsien Yeh has pointed out that shifting global geopolitical risks are disrupting supply chains. To adapt, Taiwan aims to seize the AI trend by advancing its "five trusted industries" that are closely linked with AI development. The government's strategy includes promoting 10 major AI infrastructure projects to generate over NT$15 trillion (US$462 billion) in output value, driving nationwide industrial upgrades through AI commercialization and integration toward becoming a smart nation.
Apple's iPhone 17 series has seen strong sales momentum, lifting expectations for fourth-quarter smartphone demand in 2025. But market attention is shifting to whether Chinese brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo can collectively counter the iPhone 17's dominance in the mid-to-high-end smartphone segment by year-end.
Samsung Electronics has announced its 2026 senior executive promotions, marking a sharp departure from its five-year pattern of steadily reducing the number of high-level advancements. The company increased its total senior promotions to 161, up from 137 in the previous year, drawing widespread industry attention and signaling a strategic shift toward bolstering leadership in future growth sectors, according to ET News and Chosun Biz.
Huawei introduced its latest flagship lineup on the 25th, launching the Mate 80 series together with the Mate X7 foldable.
Samsung Electronics has reportedly launched mass production of its latest mobile application processor, the Exynos 2600, sparking increased activity across South Korea's semiconductor ecosystem. Local test and assembly firms, including Doosan Tesna and Hana Micron, have begun increasing utilization rates in response to the new production phase.
Taiwan's smartphone shipments surged to nearly 560,000 units in October 2025, driven primarily by strong sales of Apple's iPhone 17 series, according to local channel operators. The figure represents a 17% increase from the previous month, marking a recent high for the market.
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