This week’s Asia tech industry summary will focus on Globalwafers’ plan to establish a 12-inch silicon wafer factory in the US’ Texas to mend the shortage of large-size silicon wafers in the US, while Globalwafers’ Japan-, Germany-, and Korea-based competitors have also been expanding their capacities in Asia; Sharp has purchased back Sakai Display Product (SDP) to make it a wholly-owned subsidiary in a bid to improve the brand business and stabilize its panel supply; Alibaba has acquired the license for a road test of its L4-level autonomous driving trucks. Other companies that crossed from Internet services businesses to the logistics fields include Meituan and JD.com
The penetration of 5G is rising faster than 4G, and the number of global 5G users will top one billion by the end of 2022, two years faster than the corresponding pace for 4G, according to an estimate from Ericsson.