A bump on the road

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (centre) at the launch of SEMICON Southeast Asia 2023. Industry experts say the global semiconductor industry is expected to see a mild contraction of about 4% to 5% this year, before rebounding by about 4% in 2024 to almost revert to the 2022 global sales level of US$580bil (RM2.66 trillion).

THE annual SEMICON Southeast Asia 2023 (Semi SEA), which was held in Penang last week, was very much the same in terms of enthusiasm and interest among global industry players, despite the recent tech slump that has seen most companies announcing a severe dent in their quarterly profits.

In this context, the Malaysian tech companies too were no exception, as we saw most local tech giants reporting either a slump in profits or in some cases, losses.