With the trade tensions between the US and China escalating, IT companies in the US and China have started taking measures to minimize the impact with Apple and Google both accelerating their paces on moving their products' manufacturing out of China. Meanwhile, China's semiconductor industry also began a de-Americanization trend and is turning to seek supply domestically. In additional news, Austria-based AMS has expressed optimism about demand from three major upgrades in smartphones in 2019, while China-based panel makers have been cutting their production due to dropping prices.
AirPods, Google Home production in China may be moved to Southeast Asia: Apple is moving to have its AirPods contract makers shift production from China to Vietnam and Google is also mulling asking its smart speaker manufacturing partners to move production to Thailand, to blunt impacts of additional tariffs soon to be enforced by the US on China-sourced consumer electronics devices, according to supply chain sources.
China IC industry revving up to sharpen in-house supply capability: China semiconductor industry has been aggressively revving up its "de-Americanization" drive since the start of 2019 seeking to sharply wean itself off US suppliers of crucial IC components and technologies and significantly boost its in-house chip supply capability, according to industry sources.
AMS positive about demand from 3 major upgrades in smartphones in 2019: Upgrades in smartphone specs and features such as facial recognition, all-screen design and enhanced camera capabilities continue to drive related chip and component demand this year, according to AMS, an Austria-based supplier of high performance sensor solutions.
China panel makers keep slashing output: China-based panel makers including BOE Technology and China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) and Chongqing HKC have reportedly continued to cut back their production in response to steep falls in panel prices, according to industry watchers.