Canon has launched a wafer inspection machine that detects deviations and deformations on wafers with high accuracy, improving semiconductor production efficiency and reducing production costs, as part of their expansion into the semiconductor lithography equipment market.

The global semiconductor market is expected to decline by 5% this year, with the Asia-Pacific region being most affected and only after complete inventory depletion can the market have a chance to rebound, while Chinese consumers may help drive faster recovery, the demand is still not strong enough for significant growth.

Electronic component distributors can expect potential discounts on IC chip orders from manufacturers such as UMC, TSMC, and GlobalFoundries in exchange for higher order volumes, despite the absence of direct price reductions, according to recent reports.

South Korea's chip inventory ratio hit a 26-year high of 265.7% in January, indicating a surplus supply, leading to a decline in total exports including chips for five consecutive months.

Taiwanese semiconductor foundries, including TSMC and UMC, are reportedly offering discounts of up to 20% to clients for mature chip production orders in an effort to improve capacity utilization rates amid weaker demand and a surplus of inventory.

Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai, is considering expanding its operations in India by increasing iPhone assembly and opening new factories, with plans to raise annual production to 20 million units by 2024, in an effort to further diversify production outside of mainland China.

Apple's self-developed 5G baseband chip, Ibiza, using TSMC's advanced 3nm process, is expected to be featured in the upcoming iPhone 16 series, potentially marking a shift away from Qualcomm's 5G modems, as per reports from Taiwan's China Times News citing supply chain sources.

SEMI has announced the establishment of an Industry Advisory Committee for its supply chain management initiative, with TSMC as one of the founding members, aiming to promote a more agile and resilient global electronics supply chain by providing solutions needed to address supply chain disruptions and ensuring the stability and security of operations and supplier networks.

Cloud Tower Technology (Annoqi) has successfully launched the world's most comprehensive Sub-7GHz filter product portfolio, including the "AnyBand" series based on their proprietary hybrid filter technology, which has entered the international leading level and allows domestic intelligent terminal manufacturers to achieve the highest spectrum efficiency wireless communication hardware architecture.

Infineon has announced the acquisition of GaN Systems for $830 million in cash, a move that will enhance their portfolio of high-power semiconductors and enable them to meet the demands of various industries including consumer electronics, data centers, renewable energy systems, industrial motors, and automotive electronics.