Despite coming at a steep price, pre-orders for Huawei's new Mate XT triple-fold smartphone on the official online store have already surpassed 5 million as of September 11.

Apple has, for the first time, included South Korea in the initial wave of countries for the iPhone 16 series launch. In response, Samsung Electronics has raised its alert level and decided to offer unprecedented discounts on its foldable smartphones in Apple's "home turf," the United States. The smartphone war for the second half of 2024 has officially begun.

At Apple's product launch event on September 10, the company dedicated a segment of the presentation to announce that Tencent's latest game, "Honor of Kings: World" is scheduled to launch on iOS in 2025. This move has been interpreted as a potential sign of easing tensions between Apple and Tencent, which have previously engaged in several disputes over commission rates.

Apple unveiled its AI feature, Apple Intelligence, at its product launch event on September 10, announcing a US rollout in October. However, support for languages such as Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish won't be available until 2025. With no major hardware or appearance changes, the impact of Apple Intelligence on market demand remains uncertain. Supply chain sources indicate that the situation will become clearer in October after the first wave of sales.

Sunrex, a major notebook (NB) keyboard manufacturer and one of Apple's main Magic Keyboard suppliers, has been actively developing products such as touch modules and backlight modules. As brands vigorously promote AI PCs, Sunrex President Ming-Tse Li stated that AI PC keyboards are not significantly different from traditional NB keyboards.

Apple recently unveiled the iPhone 16 at its latest event. The most notable hardware update is the introduction of a dedicated camera button, while other changes involve standard updates to the SoC, display, and camera system. Overall, these upgrades are seen as modest, resulting in some consumer disappointment.

Padget Electronics, a subsidiary of India-based Dixon Technologies, has signed an MoU with HP to manufacture notebooks, PCs, and all-in-one PCs as part of India's initiative to encourage global PC vendors to produce electronics locally.

As the traditional year-end peak season approaches, the usual surge in chip demand will clearly not materialize this year, aligning with earlier predictions in the industry. With projected orders remaining low in the fourth quarter of 2024, suppliers can only wait for a recovery in 2025.

Despite the launch of AI PCs, their impact on the peak season effect for the second half of 2024 is limited. The notebook (NB) supply chain estimates that shipments in the second half of 2024 are likely to be on par with the first half, a significant deviation from the typical 4:6 or even 3:7 shipment ratio seen in previous years.

In the gaming graphics processing unit (GPU) market, Nvidia currently holds an 88% market share, while AMD accounts for only 12%. An AMD senior executive stated during an interview that the most urgent matter at hand is attracting more software developers to form partnerships, not to compete for the "top". This statement suggests that AMD's new consumer GPU may not be a product that could rival Nvidia's flagship GPU.

Taiwan's trade surplus with the US reached an all-time high of US$42.26 billion in the first eight months of 2024, surpassing the US$35.6 billion total for all of 2023. This significant rise is largely attributed to a surge in AI server exports to the US, according to customs import and export data from the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

Elna Printed Circuits, a subsidiary of PCB manufacturer Global Brands Manufacture (GBM) under Walsin Technology Group, has inaugurated a new PCB facility in Penang, Malaysia.

Benefiting from the sales of hardware products like the iPhone, along with record-setting performances from its services business, Apple is expected to surpass US$400 billion in total revenue for the fiscal year 2024 (closes at the end of September). A major part of this growth will be from the Apple Intelligence platform, which will gradually be integrated across various hardware product categories, potentially driving device upgrades.

On September 10, 2024, Huawei held a new product announcement event for its Ultimate Design and Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA) brands. Headlining the event is Ultimate Design's new triple-fold smartphone, the Mate XT. During the event, the prices of the three Mate XT versions were directly announced.

At Apple's September keynote event, on top of the announcement of the new iPhone 16 series and new additions to the Apple Watch and AirPods product lineups, all the attention is on Apple Intelligence. While Apple confirmed that the iPhone 16 series is "built from the ground up" for Apple Intelligence, the AI features will be available in beta next month and likely won't fully arrive until the first quarter of 2025.

Although inflation and geopolitical uncertainties still linger in the PC market in Europe, the final months of 2024 will see these impacts fade away, leading to a rebound in 2025, says the president of Acer's EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Asia) operations Emmanuel Fromont.

HiSilicon will hold its Connect Conference, inviting its suppliers, downstream customers, and distributors to facilitate communication and interaction with existing partners, according to industry sources in China.

At its September 9 event, Apple announced the new Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Ultra 2, AirPods series, and iPhone 16 series, all with carbon neutrality in mind. Despite the latest iPhones powered by Apple Intelligence, the AI features will not fully arrive until the first quarter of 2025.

The president of Acer's Pan-Asia Pacific operations, Andrew Hou, pointed out that irresistible momentum in India and Indonesia, coupled with a rebound in business PC sales, has offset the sluggish consumer PC market. Notably, India has achieved Acer’s best sales performance to date.

Acer chairman and CEO Jason Chen expects the popularity of AI PCs to explode, driving demand for hardware and software, with AI PCs expected to make up about 90% of Acer's product portfolio in 2025.

Qualcomm recently announced the expansion of the Snapdragon X series at the International Radio Exhibition Berlin (IFA Berlin 2024). Company CEO Cristiano Amon expressed confidence that the company is heading in the right direction as its PC platform is being compared with Intel.

Acer has announced a range of new products on the eve of IFA 2024, with its Project DualPlay gaming laptop concept taking the spotlight. This innovative device features a built-in gaming controller that allows users to seamlessly switch between laptop and gaming console user modes. Acer will continue to identify micro-trends in the broader market, according to chairman and CEO Jason Chen.

The global tech industry is in the midst of a horror show, says Acer chairman and CEO Jason Chen. Although the specifics vary by company, the same three reasons lie behind the calamities: elections—especially the US presidential election, geopolitics, and an AI reality check.

Despite Samsung Electronics' high expectations for the sales performance of its newly launched foldable smartphones, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6, intense competition from rivals such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor, and Motorola is rapidly intensifying. This competition has forced Samsung to reconsider its strategy regarding the positioning and pricing of its foldable smartphones.

AUO believes that power-saving technology for panels will play a key role in advancing AI PCs. The company is optimistic that LTPS technology is more power-efficient than dual-layer OLED and will be more competitive as AI PCs become more prevalent.