On June 12, Trend Force's latest research on the wafer foundry industry revealed that, in addition to the sustained surge in AI HPC and related peripheral orders, wafer foundry companies successively received early production or increased orders from clients in the first quarter. This was due to supply chains for TVs, PCs/NBs, and other products advancing production and shipments while increasing peripheral IC inventories. Although smartphone production was in the off-season, this impact was largely offset by early stockpiling in the supply chain, resulting in a stronger-than-expected operational performance during the off-season. In the first quarter, the combined revenue of the global top 10 wafer foundries grew by 3.7% quarter-over-quarter to reach US$47.95 billion, a record high. Looking ahead to the second quarter, the trend of early stockpiling by TV, PC/NB ODMs, and brands is expected to continue for about a quarter. Coupled with the smartphone industry entering a new device stockpiling cycle, wafer foundries are seeing a rebound in capacity utilization rates. Many have expressed to clients their intention to raise wafer foundry prices in the second half of the year. This is expected to drive a rebound in pricing for certain process nodes, further incentivizing clients to stockpile in advance. Meanwhile, demand for AI-related advanced process nodes and Power products is growing faster than expected, leading to order spillover and capacity constraints in the industry. Trend Force forecasts that the combined revenue of the global top 10 wafer foundries will reach a new high in the second quarter, with a significantly faster quarter-over-quarter growth rate compared to the previous quarter.