Hi everyone! This is Lauly from Taipei. I hope 2025 has been kind to you so far.

I am writing this week’s newsletter having just finished attending my eighth year-end banquet hosted by Taiwanese tech suppliers since the middle of December — and I have three more still to go. The year-end banquet, or weiya in Mandarin, is a traditional ritual for tech suppliers in Taiwan, who host the events ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays to show their gratitude to their tens of thousands of employees. The banquets include performances by the most popular singers of the year, lucky draws and endless supplies of alcohol (the companies always prepare empty containers at the exits of the venue with a big label saying “puke barrel.”)

I have always attended these events with joy, as I could meet longtime industry friends, exchange the latest industry information (sometimes gossip), and scream with excitement just like all the employees did when watching the great performances. At Pegatron’s banquet this year, I found myself standing and dancing next to vice-chair Jason Cheng when famous Taiwanese band Accusefive were performing their hit songs on the stage, and I am pretty sure he was singing and dancing along, too. There was also an American company’s head of procurement in Taiwan standing on a chair and dancing happily at contract PC maker Compal’s year-end party.