The 4th quarter 2022 round-up of key technology, startup and VC news from Taiwan, gathered in October, November and December of 2022.
Taiwan’s tech news in Q4 of 2022 covered items including the country’s many semiconductor-related developments, TSMC’s moves towards US and Japan-based manufacturing, drones and UAV developments in Taiwan, and more. Hit the headline links featured below to read each article online and in full.
December 2022 | November 2022 | October 2022
December 2022: Taiwan
Taiwan Startup Survey 2022: Startups, Investors, ESG
- Taiwan: A brief look at the recent DevDays Asia 2022 event, Microsoft’s largest developer conference in Asia, held in Taipei this year
- Startup Island Taiwan podcast discusses TSMC and Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, started 40 years ago at a soy milk restaurant
- Taiwan and Slovakia ink 3 MoUs, aiming to boost trade, startup exchanges, and collaborations on nurturing talent for the semiconductor sector
“Taiwan and Slovakia have seen a warming of relations in recent years, and both sides hope to expand their collaborations on semiconductors, electric vehicles and the space industry, Tsai said.”
- Taiwan’s EchoX takes 2 awards at major innovation fairs in Japan, showcasing services including web3 membership CRM platform and NFT minting
- NFT-Taipei event, the largest NFT festival in Asia, is set to run December 9-18, with speakers including Vitalik Buterin
- Taiwan’s TSMC confirms it will build two chip manufacturing plants in Arizona, more than tripling TSMC’s original investment to $40BN
- Taiwan bans TikTok, Douyin and Xiaohongshu from public sector devices as it has been listed as ‘a product that endangers national information and communication security’
- Can Taiwan’s engineers help solve Silicon Valley’s talent shortage? Startup Island Taiwan podcast discusses the possibilities.
- Taiwan: 700 private surveillance cameras containing chips made by a subsidiary of Huawei found to be transmitting online due to security vulnerabilities
- Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry, subsidiary of Foxconn, to sell off minority stake in Tsinghua Unigroup, China’s semiconductor giant
- Taiwan: Foxconn may face fine over ‘unauthorised’ investment in China-based chipmaking firm, Tsinghua Unigroup
“The stake was not greenlighted by Taiwan’s government, which has to greenlight all outbound investments. Taiwanese law allows the government to restrict investment “based on the consideration of national security”. Semiconductors are crucial due to their geopolitical importance.”
- Taiwan: Gov’t launches investigation into TikTok over allegations that the platform is operating illegally on the island via an affiliate company
- Taiwan’s TSMC reportedly in advanced talks about setting up its first European plant in the German city of Dresden
- Taiwan Semiconductor begins production of its most advanced chips in-country, chips with 3-nanometre technology, at the same time as tripling investment in Arizona plant
- Taiwan’s Gogoro to pilot battery swapping and smart scooters in the Philippines in 2023, with gov’t also announcing removal of import duties on EVs and parts for the next 5 years
Lowy Institute: Asia Power Index, 2023 edition
November 2022: Taiwan
A Semiconductor Strategy for the United States
- Taiwan to invest near $10M towards chip production in Lithuania, seeking “resilience of our democratic supply chain in the face of coercion by autocracies”
- Taiwan: “…increasingly likely that some future Apple chips will be made in the US, following a new report about A-series and M-series chipmaker TSMC.”
- Taiwan: Gov’t to allocate $1.6BN over 3 years to bring private drone makers into ‘national team’ to develop unmanned aerial vehicle systems in preparation for possibility of cross-strait war scenario
“In September, Taipei reached a US$555mn agreement with Washington to buy four MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, the maritime variant of the Reaper drone American forces used for missile strikes in Afghanistan.”
- Taiwan: An overview of the recently-concluded X-PITCH 2022 event, with 15 finalists selected from more than 4000 startups across 51 countries
- Startup Island TAIWAN Podcast: XREX CEO talks about blockchain, Web3 and the move towards ‘neo fintech’
- Taiwan’s Foxconn to boost southern India workforce to 70K, adding 53K more workers over 2 years in part to address disruptions in China-based production
- Taiwan ‘s coffee startup, Femobook, launches single-serve grinder, targeting home use for those seeking full control over their coffee grind
- Taiwan-US firm, GoFreight, looks to become the ‘Shopify of freight forwarding’, providing backend software to streamline freight operations alongside front-end storefront provision
“GoFreight, which currently has about 1,000 customers, helps manage transportation of goods through ocean, air and land routes. It also lets them set up online storefronts with a few clicks. Potential customers can connect to freight forwarders by sending them an inquiry through storefront and getting a quotation within a few minutes, instead of the 24 to 48 hours usually necessary.”
- An overview of the goals and agreements arising from the recent ESG Opportunity Matchmaking and Exchange Forum for Taiwan-Japan Innovation Community
- Taiwan Semiconductor 5-nanometre Arizona plant expected to hold official next month, with founder stating an expansion to more advanced 3-nm process is planned for the site
- Startup Island Taiwan podcast hosts discussion of digital cryptography tools and the approaching quantum computing era
- Startup Island Taiwan Podcast: ‘Taiwan Stablecoin will Move Everyone a Step Further into the Web3 World’
- India: Pegatron, Taiwanese contract manufacturer for Apple, likely to join Foxconn in manufacturing iPhone 14 models in India, aiming to move 5% of global manufacturing demand to India by the end of 2022
Deloitte: Trustworthy Use of Artificial Intelligence in Finance – Asia Pacific
October 2022: Taiwan
Taiwan, the US and Semiconductors: Critical supply chain partnership (pdf)
- ICYMI: A look at the moonshot startups from the recent 500 Global Fall 2022 Demo Day, including Taiwan’s RosettaAI e-commerce startup
- Taiwan: 500 Global and Taiwan Tech Arena unveil 500 Global Accelerator Taiwan’s 2nd cohort of startups for Demo Day – here’s a brief intro to the 20 startups selected
- Taiwan to begin accepting proposals for backup satellite internet network in the event of ‘intense military aggression’, natural disasters or problems with undersea cables
- Taiwan’s Foxconn announces deal with US electric vehicle startup, INDIEV, to manufacture prototypes for its first production vehicle at recently-acquired Ohio plant
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co suspends advanced silicon production for China’s Biren Technology, a graphics competitor to Nvidia and AMD, in order to ensure compliance with US regulations
- Taking cues from Ukraine, Taiwan to spend $17M to bolster mobile infrastructure – including undersea cables – and accelerate deployment of fifth-gen mobile network base stations
- Taiwan’s Gogoro electric vehicles startup to pilot 6-second battery swapping stations in India, building on Singapore and Indonesia pilots
Credit Suisse Research: The global effects of Asia’s aging population
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