Geopolitical tensions have been rising as the US-China trade dispute escalates, and the global server supply chain has undergone notable changes as a result. With regard to L6 server motherboard production, the first notable wave of relocation since the start of the trade dispute in 2018 involved server ODMs moving their production lines from Mainland China to Taiwan. Then, due to the construction of data centers across the Asia-Pacific region and ODMs’ need to increase their STM lines, Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Thailand also came under consideration for capacity expansion. More recently, the trade dispute has taken another significant turn with the US Commerce Department further broadening the semiconductor technology export rules. In view of this development, some US-based cloud service providers (CSPs) have been conducting more internal discussions about adding server production lines outside Taiwan as a precautionary measure. Hence, from a longer-term perspective, TrendForce believes the core parts of the server supply chain will eventually shift to Southeast Asia and the Americas.
According to TrendForce’s research, the total revenue of the global top 10 foundries rose by 6% QoQ to US$35.21 billion for 3Q22 as the release of the new iPhone series during the second half of the year generated significant stock-up activities across Apple’s supply chain.
According to TrendForce’s latest research, global smartphone production totaled around 289 million units for 3Q22, showing a slight QoQ drop of 0.9% and a YoY drop of 11%.
According to TrendForce’s research, the scale of the global market for military unmanned aerial vehicles (military UAVs, also known as military drones)will expand at a CAGR of 27.6% during the 2022~2025 period, from US$16.5 billion to US$34.3 billion.
TrendForce believes, regardless of the outcome of this probe, the tariff exemption that the US government has recently granted for PV module imports from Southeast Asia will remain in force. The exemption applies to modules that are to be imported before June 6, 2024 and installed at project sites before December 2024. Therefore, the initial ruling has no tangible impact during the interim period.
