MediaTek Warns of Smartphone Slowdown; Pegatron’s T.H. Tung Says AI Can Reignite the Market | Sean Wei

As the global smartphone industry faces a period of cooling demand and market saturation, Pegatron Chairman Tzu Hsien Tung (童子賢) offered a visionary outlook on Wednesday, suggesting that Artificial Intelligence (AI) could serve as the "new shoots" needed to revive the aging sector.

Speaking at the Monte Jade Science and Technology Association's year-end gala on February 4, Tung addressed recent warnings from chip designer MediaTek regarding a slowdown in the smartphone market. While acknowledging that the industry has reached a "mature phase" after 16 years of dominance since the iPhone's 2007 debut, Tung argued that technological evolution is not yet at a dead end.

Tung noted that smartphones have already defied the typical lifecycle of consumer electronics. In developed regions like the U.S., Europe, and Japan, consumer demand has reached a plateau, contrasting with the trajectory of products like digital still cameras (DSC) that typically fade after five to six years. He explained that the smartphone's high level of integration has allowed it to endure far longer than its predecessors, but maintained that future volume growth will now be driven primarily by middle-income and developing nations.

For advanced economies to see a resurgence, Tung believes "new technology" is required to trigger meaningful replacement cycles. Drawing a parallel to the laptop industry—which saw a resurgence through gaming and crypto-mining after being threatened by tablets—Tung expressed optimism that AI will be the next major catalyst. "Old branches will grow new shoots," Tung remarked, suggesting that if smartphones can find the right "foothold" for AI applications, the industry will enter a transformative new era.

As the head of the Monte Jade Science and Technology Association, Tung also highlighted that AI is currently transitioning from its "sprouting" stage to full maturity. He pointed to the rapid evolution of computing power, specifically mentioning NVIDIA's progression from the Blackwell architecture to the next-generation Vera Rubin (VR) platform, which offers even greater performance. Tung emphasized that as more companies begin to profit from AI, a "virtuous cycle" is being formed, and he asserted that Taiwan remains an "indispensable" partner in this global shift, positioned at the heart of the world's technological progress.

Original Article in Chinese

You've read it. Now let's talk. Follow us on X. Editor: Penny Wang