8-29: MediaTek 4G chipset tight supply would continue till 2017; Apple might work with AMD on x86 chipset for its notebooks in 2017~2018; etc.

Chipset

MediaTek’s international corporate sales General Manager Finbarr Moynihan, where he claims that MediaTek had successfully claimed 30% of the market by the end of 2015, which should extend to 35~40% by the end of 2016. (GizChina, My Drivers)

mediatek-finbarr-moynihan

MediaTek’s 4G SoCs reportedly are tight-supply. This situation would previously expect to continue until year end of 2016.  However, because customers keep increasing their orders, MediaTek’s tight-supply could continue till 2017. For 3G, the tight-supply situation is getting expanded, and now it has reached 50% gap. (OfWeek, 163, ChinaZ)

chinatimes-mediatek-tight-suppply

By 2020, just 4 years from now, Intel expects to see 50 billion connected devices generating more than 2 zettabytes of data traffic annually. Intel Custom Foundry is helping customers around the world by providing access to Intel’s technology and manufacturing assets through turnkey services including design, wafer manufacturing, packaging and testing. (TechNews, QC Times, Barron’s, blog, Intel)
Apple is reportedly pondering about using custom x86 CPUs in its next iMacs and MacBooks, during 2017-2018.  Apple is planning to partner with AMD to make the custom x86 CPUs. (IT168, 163, Daring Fireball)

Touch Display

Sharp’s original road map called for a new production line for OLED panels at the company’s Kameyama plant in Mie Prefecture. Sharp is now considering building a line in a plant belonging to Sakai Display Products, a Sharp-Foxconn joint venture for large LCD panels in Osaka Prefecture. This move will delay production, and Sharp will not be able to start producing OLEDs even in 2018. (OLED-Info, Asia Nikkei, 163, China Times)
26 Aug. 2016 Tianma announced ceiling of G6 AMOLED production fab in Wuhan. In the future, in addition to Xiamen G6 LTPS, Wuhan G6 LTPS AMOLED entering production would increase the company’s production value, and its market share in high-end display industry. (Toutiao, East Money)

tianma-6g-ltps

AU Optronics (AUO) has demonstrated a new foldable touch-enabled AMOLED—5” 1280×720 (295ppi), only 0.1mm with in-cell touch layer, 100% NTSC color gamut. (OLED-Info, China Times)

auo-foldable-display

Innolux VP Jeffrey Yang says the company will be able to ship its first AMOLEDs in 2017, and will be small displays for wearable devices. The company aims to ship automotive OLEDs starting in 2020. (OLED-Info, Asia Nikkei, 51Touch, OLEDW)

innolux-jeffrey-yang

Based on report made by OfWeek, currently there 4 production lines operating in China—BOE’s G5.5 in Ordos, Everdisplay’s G4.5 in Shanghai, GVO’s G5.5 in Kunshan, and Tianma’s G5.5 in Shanghai. Additionally, 6 production lines are currently under construction. (OfWeek, article, OLEDw)

ofweek-china-oled-production-overview

Digitimes has shared mainstream touch display technology solutions, and their current status of application in the market. (Digitimes, article, China FPD, OfWeek)

digitimes-touch-display-applications

Memory

According to DRAMeXchange, SK Hynix has failed to meet Apple’s certifications. This, has forced Apple to consider other manufacturers the likes of Samsung and Micron in order to make up for this shortage in supply. Micron’s 20nm LPDDR4 is originally manufactured at Inotera, and has won about 20% of Apple’s orders.  To win more orders, Micron has accelerated their production; almost all 80,000pcs production has shifted to 20nm. (Sohu, ZOL, WCCF Tech, My Drivers)

Battery

Sharp is preparing to expand into the Chinese solar market with an eye on supplying megasolar plants being planned across the country. (Asia Nikkei, Energy Trend, PV Magazine, CN Beta)

Material

AAC Technologies, which manufactures metal casing and haptics for Apple, 2Q16 operating profit reached CNY825 million, a 23% increase from 2Q15. Metal casing was a key growth driver, with sales soaring 290% YoY, or 800% QoQ thanks to strong orders from Chinese clients from Xiaomi and LeEco. (Barron’s, blog, CNFOL, 10JQKA)

Connectivity

DigitalGlobe, a leader in earth imagery and information about our changing planet, announced SpaceNet, an online repository of satellite imagery and labeled training data that will advance the development of machine learning and deep learning algorithms that leverage remote sensing data. It is collaboration with CosmiQ Works, NVIDIA, and Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS). (CN Beta, Inside Big Data, Daily Mail, Technology Review)

digitalglobe-nvidia-cosmiq

Smartphones

According to Japan Tourism Agency’s 2Q16 data, nearly 80% of Chinese tourists would prefer cosmetic products, follows by medics, supplemental food, and only 30% indicates they would purchase consumer electronic products. Average spending on consumer electronic products is decreasing, with less than JPY40,000, nearly half of JPY60,000 in 2Q15. (TechNews, Bloomberg, Japan Tourism Agency, data)

japantourismagency-changing-tastes-of-chinese-tourists japantouristagency-chinese-love-japanese-cosmetics

China Fortune reveals 2016 Top 500 China Enterprises. The 500 companies invested 1.48% of their revenues in R&E on average, with Baidu and Huawei spending 15.9% and 15.1 percent on R&D respectively. Revenues of the top 500 totaled CNY59.46 trillion (USD8.9 trillion) in 2015. (Fortune China, article, Xinhuanet, Sohu, 163, Shenchuang, Financial Express, Money Control, 4-Traders)

chinafortune500-revenue

Internet of Things

Russia Internet search giant Yandex is partnering with Daimler, truck maker Kamaz, and government-backed researchers at NAMI on an autonomous shuttle bus that could carry up to 12 people and travel about 124 miles on a charge. (Engadget, TechCrunch, Fortune, Tencent)

yandex-autonomous-shuttle-bus

According IHS, LeEco has dominated the Chinese TV market with an 11.7% share in 2Q16 in terms of unit sales, following Skyworth (14.6%), Hisense (13.7%), TCL (12.3%), and Changhong (11.9%). LeEco, the 5th largest TV maker in China, saw its market share jump by a staggering 6.9% compared to 4.8% in 1Q16. (Business Korea, TechNews)

ihs-2q16-chinese-tv

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