Tech & Internet

IDC expects rising energy costs to force telecom operators to raise prices, lifting global telecom services revenue to about $1.585 trillion in 2026. The forecast shows cost pressures feeding through into communications tariffs. Developments in the tech sector move quickly, so it is worth checking later coverage to confirm how this actually plays out in practice.

Chinese title: IDC：能源成本将迫使电信运营商涨价，2026年全球服务收入达1.585万亿美元

CB Insights has published the Emerging AI 50, a ranking of New York City's most promising AI startups, adapted from a report it produced with Accenture and Tech:NYC. As New York tries to establish itself as the East Coast's hub for artificial intelligence, the list provides the latest snapshot of the composition of the local AI startup ecosystem.

Chinese title: 纽约市新兴AI 50强

SemiAnalysis expects more than 50GW of new data center capacity to come online worldwide in 2027, making it a year of acceleration for AI infrastructure construction. Although the market is full of worries and doubts about the data center buildout, SemiAnalysis uses its capacity model to address them one by one, arguing that the pace of construction has not been overstated.

Chinese title: 数据中心2027：单年新增超50GW的加速之年

J.D. Power's 2026 U.S. Business Wireless Satisfaction Study shows that, as operators continue to improve value for money, overall satisfaction with business wireless services has risen across business customers of every size. Business customers' assessments of network quality and pricing have improved, indicating that telecom providers' investments are beginning to deliver results.

Chinese title: 企业无线服务满意度攀升，运营商性价比改善见效

Drake Star's global gaming market report for the third quarter of 2026 says the quarter belonged to the super-deal: the $55 billion all-cash privatization of Electronic Arts by PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners has now completed, making it the largest all-cash financial-sponsor take-private transaction ever recorded.

Chinese title: Drake Star：2026年三季度全球游戏市场报告

Preliminary data from IDC's latest quarterly mobile phone tracker shows that smartphone shipments in China reached about 57.9 million units in the third quarter of 2026, down 15.4% year on year, with rising costs pushing up selling prices across the market. Among the leading vendors, Huawei was the only brand to record double-digit year-on-year growth.

Chinese title: 成本推高售价：三季度中国手机出货量下降15.4%，华为逆势增长

A new report from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), 'Understanding Dependencies in the U.S. Semiconductor Supply Chain,' sets out strategies for strengthening the supply chains that support the U.S. chip ecosystem. As the semiconductor industry makes historic investments across the entire value chain in the United States, supply chain resilience has become a shared focus of policy and industry.

Chinese title: SIA报告：强化美国芯片生态供应链的策略

CB Insights reports that global AI funding fell sharply in the third quarter to $103.3 billion, down 33% quarter on quarter; the second quarter's $153.1 billion peak was driven mainly by Anthropic's three mega-rounds totalling $65 billion. The cooldown has not stopped dealmaking, but capital is concentrating more visibly among a small number of leading companies.

Chinese title: CB Insights：2026年三季度AI行业全景

IDC data shows global PC shipments fell 20.1% year on year in the third quarter of 2026, as supply constraints, high prices and logistics disruptions eroded the traditional seasonal peak, while the overhang from earlier 'pull-in' buying also became visible. The PC market's downturn is deeper than expected, and vendors need to reassess channel inventory.

Chinese title: IDC：三季度PC出货量下跌20.1%，市场困境持续

CB Insights reports that venture capital funding is reaching new highs while the number of deals continues to shrink: on the pace set through the third quarter, total funding for 2026 is on track to break the record set in 2021. Mega-rounds are holding up the total, while the scarcity of early-stage deals lies hidden behind the record-breaking headline figures.

Chinese title: CB Insights：2026年三季度风险投资全景

Semiconductor Industry Association data shows global semiconductor sales have already topped $1 trillion so far this year through the end of August; sales in August alone surged 144.3% year on year and rose 8% month on month. Driven by demand for AI computing power, this supercycle has pushed the scale of the chip trade to a new level.

Chinese title: 全球半导体销售额年内累计突破1万亿美元

SemiAnalysis has launched its China datacenter model, mapping the expansion of China's AI infrastructure. China stands at the forefront of the global model race, and ByteDance's Doubao already has 345 million monthly active users. Understanding the scale and pace of China's computing-power buildout is a key piece of the puzzle for judging the global AI supply picture.

Chinese title: 中国AI基础设施热潮：SemiAnalysis中国数据中心模型

IDC data shows that, boosted by summer promotions and strong sales of gimbal cameras, global handheld smart camera shipments grew 57% year on year in the second quarter of 2026, setting a record high. IDC expects global shipments to approach 41 million units by 2030, a five-year compound growth rate of nearly 20%, as imaging devices grow into a new consumer category.

Chinese title: 二季度全球手持智能相机出货量同比增57%，创历史新高

IDC forecasts that European AI spending will reach $470 billion by 2030, driven mainly by the adoption of agentic AI, with banking, healthcare and software leading the way. The report also notes that agentic AI is widening the gap between Western and Central & Eastern Europe, making regional divergence a new variable in Europe's AI landscape.

Chinese title: IDC：欧洲AI支出2030年将达4,700亿美元

IDC forecasts that AI and generative AI spending in Asia/Pacific will reach $555.2 billion by 2030, as agentic AI and orchestration platforms push enterprises to move AI from pilot projects to company-wide deployment. For vendors, Asia/Pacific is one of the fastest-growing regions for global AI spending, and scaling up deployment has become the main theme.

Chinese title: IDC：亚太AI与生成式AI支出2030年将达5,550亿美元

SemiAnalysis rebuts the popular claim that datacenter moratoriums are killing the U.S. construction boom: within less than two months, four states have taken action, and New York has stopped issuing environmental permits for data centers, yet its data shows the overall pace of construction has not reversed. There is a clear gap between the political debate and actual construction volumes.

Chinese title: 都说数据中心暂停令在扼杀美国建设潮，我们不同意

An EY survey shows that senior telecom executives around the world generally expect AI to deliver significant productivity gains, but shortfalls in talent and operating models could derail delivery. Operators see huge opportunities in AI, automation and new digital services, yet many companies are not yet prepared to turn those opportunities into business results.

Chinese title: 安永：电信商预期AI大幅提升生产率，但人才与模式短板拖后腿

NIQ data shows Australia's smartphone market is shifting: new handset sales fell 12% year on year in the first half of 2026, and refurbished phones are becoming the telecom market's next growth engine. As new phones get more expensive and replacement cycles lengthen, second-hand and refurbished channels are turning 'good enough' demand into a business.

Chinese title: 翻新智能手机：澳大利亚电信市场的下一个增长引擎

IDC data shows the worldwide external enterprise storage systems market grew 33.6% year on year in the second quarter of 2026, with vendor revenue reaching $10.3 billion, extending its strongest growth run in years. AI infrastructure investment is spilling over from servers into storage, giving enterprise storage a rare period of rapid growth.

Chinese title: IDC：二季度全球企业存储市场增长33.6%

IDC data shows that worldwide server market revenue reached a record $166.3 billion in the second quarter of 2026, as AI infrastructure investment continued to broaden its coverage. From accelerator cards to complete machines, capital spending on computing power is pushing servers, a long-established category, to a scale it has never reached before.

Chinese title: IDC：二季度全球服务器市场收入创纪录达1,663亿美元

IDC data shows worldwide hardcopy peripherals (printer) shipments fell 7.0% year on year to 17.2 million units in the second quarter of 2026, as the market continued to shrink overall; ink tank products were a rare bright spot, sustaining growth. With total volumes falling and segments diverging, vendors' focus is now limited to share in specific niches.

Chinese title: IDC：二季度全球打印机出货量下降7%，墨仓式逆势增长