IC Design Corporation has released the latest flagship processor Dimensity 9500, which is built with the third generation of NTF 3 nanometer process (N3P) and continues to adopt the previous generation of products with a full-core architecture. General Manager Chen Guanzhou also said on the spot that the Department of Technology will continue to cooperate with NTU in the next step, and the plan will be to invest in the Arizona Crystal Factory to meet customer needs. In the hope that the market share of Flagship mobile chips will also reach a 40% door.
Chen Guanzhou pointed out that the current market growth and dynamics of flagship mobile phones are the photography capabilities of flagship mobile phones that no longer have the single-eye camera photography effect, the pursuit of PC-level game experience, and the preview of AI mobile phones that will bring greater market thrust. At present, the global mobile phone sales remained at about 110 million units per year, of which the global market share of the entire mobile phone processor has reached nearly 40%. Since Joint Development Corporation entered the flagship field in 2022, the market share of flagship mobile chips has increased year by year. Currently, although the market share of flagship processors is still lower than this number, the next medium-term goal is to hope to exceed 40% of the market share. As the market enters a more challenging field, its growth rate will continue to grow year by year even if it is not as strong as in the previous two years.
As for the process technology that everyone is concerned about, the Joint Development Department has launched an in-depth 2-nanometer cooperation with NTEC. Expected 2-nano products will be mass-produced and launched into the market in the third or fourth quarter of 2026. Chen Guanzhou also reiterated that NT$100 million is currently the only technologically advanced crystal manufacturing technology partner. In addition, Joint Development Corporation is also preparing related matters to the investment of Taiwan's Arizona crystalline plant. This mainly considers the needs of American customers, such as the need for local production of vehicles or products with higher sensitivity, as well as potential chip tax issues in the future.
Chen Guanzhou also emphasized that the technical competition of the joint technology is a manifestation of Taiwan's overall semiconductor industry. The company has participated in the "Crystal Creation Plan" promoted by the Executive Yuan. In this long-term project, its important items include AI-related budgets and communication-related technologies such as 6G. Joint Development Corporation estimates that 6G network may start trial operation in 2028 and implement technical products around 2030. In addition, in AI chip technology, Chen Guanzhou specifically mentioned C-in-M (storage unit) technology. This technology is designed to complete the calculations easily during the calculation process, which can significantly reduce data or memory access requirements, thereby improving energy efficiency. C-in-M is currently best combined with energy-efficient NPUs and is seen as the best scene to experience future Generative AI (GenAI) on handheld devices. Although the computing that C-in-M can handle is relatively pure and limited, the CTD will still focus on NPUs, making it an important key to the development of GenAI.
Chen Guanzhou further stated that the core of AI application is actually to be proactive, timely, and know you and understand your abilities. Future AI phones will have the ability to provide active reminders based on user dynamic information (such as location) and static information (such as personal preferences or past records). For example, when chatting with friends, actively pop up the relevant message reminder based on email or calendar content. These AIs must effectively store, memorize information, and safely store memory results in a safe operating area within the mobile phone. According to the Department, these features will become standard features that AI phones must provide for up to one year to two years.
In addition, in addition to personal reminders, AI will also provide assistance functions, such as actively teaching better angles or lights when taking photos, helping users become photographers. In the future, AI phones may even actively remind them to get clothes when driving through the laundry by analyzing the laundry photos and combining user locations. In addition, due to the superior computing performance of the Tianwan series' high-level processors, it is possible to apply to the wide vertical market.
Overall, Chen Guanzhou estimates the global mobile phone market to recover from 1% to 2% in 2025. Although the Chinese market performed better in the first half of the year due to supplementary policies, this is regarded as an early occurrence of future demand. Therefore, the current global economic situation is not in a strong upward phase. Coupled with the impact of tax factors, the growth rate in 2026 is estimated to be around 1% to 2%, and the market performance may be the same as in 2025.