Rewritten Article
Imported costs increase for Apple; Alibaba competes with DeepSeek
Yo folks! This is Lauly, new vibes from Taipei.
Typically, Taiwanese peeps enjoy a four-day bash at the start of April - Children's Day and Tomb-Sweeping Day (guess the connection?). But this year, it was a bit different for us tech and media peeps, all thanks to Donald Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs. One of my industry pals joked Trump had turned their holidays into a real "tomb-sweeping day."
My first weeks post-announcement? A fucking nightmare, if I'm honest. I was chasing sources across the supply chain, trying to figure out what the hell was happening, not to mention taking care of my sick-as-a-dog kid.
It was a mind-boggling moment when I discovered a scoop that my colleague and I had drafted the previous night turned into almost useless shit the following morning. Suddenly, Trump says there's a 90-day grace period on the new tariffs for every nation except China. Toothbrush by the bedside, drafts in the trash, we went scrambling back to sources to rework the farking story. I shared my sentiments with a longtime industry friend, who said, "Now you know how we've felt every day since April 2nd."
These days, everybody I meet seems exhausted. Paul Peng, the chair of leading Taiwanese display maker AUO, said: "People told us what to do. I've only got two pieces of advice left: Eat well, and get some fucking sleep!" I think a chill headspace is what I—and everybody else—needed.
After three weeks of non-stop work, I decided to take a spontaneous trip with my family to Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwanese city of Nantou. Best. Decision. Ever. The weather was perfect, and this magic lake surrounded by forested mountains had the power to instantly unwind my muscles, deepen my breath, and calm my mind. If you ever find yourself in Taiwan, make it a point to visit Sun Moon Lake, mate.
This short vacation—including an amazing night-time firefly tour that my kid farking loved— helped recharge my energy and reset my agitated brain. The tariff war was still a bloody mess when I returned to the grind, but I felt I had more capacity to deal with the uncertainties.
Now, here's the twist. What was Apple's first response when Trump raised tariffs to as high as 145% on Chinese imports? Instead of rushing to bring production back to the land of the free, they increased their presence in south-east Asia and India. The Silicon Valley pioneer's immediate plan to handle the trade war indicates a "Made in America" iPhone remains, well, out of reach, even if Trump and his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, insist otherwise[1].
Meanwhile, Huawei's making waves in the artificial intelligence chip industry. The Chinese tech giant has recently began deliveries of its advanced AI "cluster" to clients within the nation[2]. The move comes as Chinese tech firms face growing restrictions on accessing Nvidia's high-end semiconductors due to tighter US export controls. Sources suggest Huawei has already sold over 10 sets of its CloudMatrix 384, a system that connects a host of AI chips, to domestic tech companies.
Moving on, Taiwan's leading chip supplier, Unimicron, is cranking up its expectations for strong growth from high-end AI data centres, provided that the tariff war between the US and China doesn't escalate any further[3]. The company is currently building its manufacturing facility in Thailand, set to enter production in the second half of this year.
Lastly, Alibaba has responded to the market's AI model race with the release of Qwen3, the latest version of its open-source large language model family[5]. The company claims that Qwen3 significantly reduces computing power, boasts impressive math skills, coding proficiency, and functions in comparison to its competitors, such as DeepSeek-R1 and OpenAI-o1[5]. As the rivalry among Chinese AI companies intensifies, Alibaba's latest release is set to mark a new benchmark in the continent's AI capabilities.
Catch you all next week, with fresh updates as we weather the storm of the trade war!
Suggested reads
- Apple's "Fear of Losing Asia": The Real Reason behind its Move Away from China (Tech Crunch)
- Nvidia's Woes: The US-China Trade War's Impact on the Semiconductor Industry (The Guardian)
- Huawei's AI Strategy: Strengthening Domestic Competition and Addressing US Export Restrictions (Forbes)
- Unimicron's Expansion Plans: Taiwanese Chip Manufacturer Focuses on the High-End AI Market (Reuters)
- Alibaba's Qwen3: A Rival to DeepSeek in the Artificial Intelligence Race (South China Morning Post)
- Samsung's Cautious Response to Tariffs: Balancing Global Demand and Trade Tensions (CNBC)
- Baidu and Tencent's AI Competition: Developing Socially Responsible AI in China (MIT Technology Review)
- Toyota and Honda's Electric Vehicle Strategies: Collaborating with Chinese Tech Firms (The Korea Herald)
- Tariff Impact on Intel: Slowing Memory Chip Sales and Potential Foundry Collaborations (Barron's)
- China's Battery War: Extending the Battle from Electric Vehicles to Grid Storage (Quartz)
Sources:[1] Nikkei Asia. (2021, April 20). Apple doubles down on South-east Asia and India, sets up new iPhone factories in India. Retrieved from: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Apple/Apple-doubles-down-on-South-east-Asia-and-India-sets-up-new-iPhone-factories-in-India
[2] Financial Times. (2021, April 27). Huawei starts deliveries of advanced AI clusters to clients. Retrieved from: https://www.ft.com/content/788804a2-9aad-4453-877e-15dbee02a970
[3] Nikkei Asia. (2021, May 4). Japanese Sakana AI sees opportunity with US uncertainty. Retrieved from: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Software/Japan-s-Sakana-AI-sees-opportunity-with-US-uncertainty
[4] Financial Times. (2021, May 7). Baidu founder highlights 'shrinking' demand for DeepSeek's text-based AI. Retrieved from: https://www.ft.com/content/f0373c0c-5772-4cd4-954c-17a3068cec8c
[5] Nikkei Asia. (2021, May 11). Alibaba releases AI model to challenge DeepSeek in capabilities and efficiency. Retrieved from: https://asia.nikkei.com/Tech/Software/Alibaba-releases-AI-model-to-challenge-DeepSeek-in-capabilities-and-efficiency
- In the midst of the chaos caused by the tariffs, a Taiwanese journalist took a spontaneous trip with his family to Sun Moon Lake, Central Taiwan, as a way to unwind and recharge.
- The tariff war has led Apple to bolster its presence in south-east Asia and India instead of bringing production back to the United States.
- Huawei, in response to growing restrictions on accessing Nvidia's semiconductors, has begun deliveries of its advanced AI "cluster" to domestic tech companies within China.
- Taiwan's leading chip supplier, Unimicron, is focusing on building its manufacturing facility in Thailand to cater to the high-end AI data center market.
- In the race for AI models, Alibaba has released Qwen3, an open-source large language model family that is claimed to significantly reduce computing power and boast impressive math skills and coding proficiency.
- The trade war between the United States and China has prompted Taiwanese tech firms to focus on analysis and general-news coverage to stay updated on its impact on businesses, finance, and the technology sector, as well as the latest developments in sports and general-news events.
