Huawei vs. Apple and Musk Chinamaxxes

Hi everyone! This is Cheng Ting-Fang, your host for this week's #techAsia, saying hello from Taipei, where I am just recovering from several intensive days covering the annual SEMICON Taiwan industry show with my colleague Lauly Li. "Packed" is really the word to describe the event. The exhibition halls were completely full, with booths spilling onto walkways, outside conference rooms and even next to escalators -- basically wherever organizers could find space. Some exhibitors had to build two-story booths because there simply wasn't enough room on the ground. But what caught our attention this year wasn't just the size of the show. Chip equipment makers were out in force, showcasing their latest models for advanced manufacturing, packaging and testing. At the same time, we saw something else: material suppliers and some of the industry's lesser-known "hidden champions" were becoming much more visible and much more vocal. Trumpf, for example,…