Shares of Apple's Asian suppliers surged on Thursday, following a strong rally in Apple's stock this week. This came after Apple introduced a series of artificial intelligence features for its flagship devices.
This week, Apple's stock has gained nearly 10%, momentarily surpassing Microsoft to become the world's most valuable company, driven by positive investor reactions to its developers' conference.
Analysts believe that the AI features will help Apple, especially its rapidly growing iPhone segment, to bounce back in sales after sluggish performance in recent quarters.
Increased iPhone sales are good news for Apple's Asian suppliers, whose shares have also risen this week.
South Korean memory chip makers Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and SK Hynix, Inc. rose by 2.4% and 3.7% respectively. Samsung SDI, which supplies batteries to Apple, increased by 0.5%.
In Taiwan, the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major Apple supplier, TSMC, climbed 2%, while Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (Foxconn), which assembles iPhones and other devices for Apple, rose 0.4%. Both stocks have seen strong gains this week.
In China, AAC Technologies Holdings Inc., which produces acoustic components for Apple, rose 2%, while BYD Company Limited, which also supplies battery technology to Apple, surged nearly 8%.
Investors have welcomed Apple's AI plans, believing that new features such as enhanced voice commands and photo editing capabilities will help boost iPhone sales. Since most of the new AI features are available only on newer iPhone models, their introduction may trigger a new wave of upgrades among customers.
