AR glasses are no longer newcomers to the tech industry, but their development remains constrained by high costs. On January 30, 2026, Kinko Optical held the opening ceremony for its AR/VR/MR R&D center at the Tai Yuen Hi-Tech Industrial Park in Zhubei City. Chairman Ching-Chi Chen stated that the center’s equipment investment totals roughly NT$400–500 million (US$12.7–15.8 million), with an initial NT$300 million focusing on AR waveguide and optical engine technologies. The company secured R&D projects with US clients in 2025 and plans to start mass production in 2027, then shifting** large-scale manufacturing to its Taichung facility.

China’s drive to localize its semiconductor supply chain is reshaping the global chipmaking equipment industry, with three domestic suppliers now ranking among the world’s top 20 for the first time — a shift fueled by heavy investment and tighter US export controls.

The smartphone industry is bearing the brunt of rising memory prices, and the impact is most evident in mid- to low-end models. Transsion, the Chinese smartphone maker regarded as a leading brand in emerging markets, has become one of the first handset vendors to be clearly hit by this wave of memory price increases. On the evening of January 29, 2025, Transsion announced its earnings forecast for full-year 2025, estimating annual revenue of CNY65.568 billion (US$9.4 billion), down about 4.6% year over year. Net profit is estimated at about CNY2.546 billion, plunging 54.11% year over year, nearly half of the previous year. This marks the first significant profit decline since Transsion went public.