Omdia says ongoing component cost inflation is increasing financial pressure on smartphone makers, prompting cuts to entry-level SKUs and a portfolio shift toward higher‑margin mid‑ and high‑end models. To meet rising performance expectations and support higher retail prices, high‑end and flagship phones are raising storage configurations while entry‑level models are being downgraded. Omdia senior research manager Jusy Hong said this product differentiation will further deepen storage‑configurat

UK maritime authority warns the security threat in the Strait of Hormuz is extremely serious.

TSMC will report Q2 results and hold an earnings briefing on Thursday. Analysts see the company likely to post strong results but view Q3 as uncertain. Liao Wanting, general manager at Uni‑President Investment Advisory, said global compute sales growth has recently shown signs of slowing; if management calms investor concerns over AI supply‑chain lead times and shipment disruptions at the briefing, the stock should rebound, but any signal to curb capex would validate market worries. She added AI growth remains positive but not yet strong enough to justify upward revisions, and supply‑chain bottlenecks are making firms cautious ahead of July earnings. Huang Yiting, chairman of First Securities Investment Advisory, called the briefing pivotal: better‑than‑expected results and positive guidance could push Taiwan stocks back toward or above prior highs. He warned that Samsung’s post‑earnings collapse reflected high leverage in Korean markets and is unlikely to be broadly replicated.