12-26 Happy Boxing Day: It is rumored that Xiaomi Mi 6 will use OLED dual-edged display; Samsung may be planning a larger Galaxy S8 Plus model featuring a 6” display; etc.
Chipsets
Macworld’s specialist Jason Snell indicates that Apple has the capability to use ARM chips in its Macs, but they (probably) will not do it. The Mac is less than 15% of Apple’s total business, and its sales are relatively flat in an overall PC market that is contracting. (CN Beta, Mac World)
Memory
Samsung Galaxy S8 allegedly to feature 8GB RAM, and a UFS 2.1 flash storage chip. (Phone Arena, My Smart Price, Sina, iFeng, 163)
Micron Technology announced results of operations for its F1Q17, which ended Dec. 1, 2016. Revenues for the F1Q17 were USD3.97B and were 23% higher compared to the F4Q16 and 19% higher compared to the F1Q16. (TechNews, Seeking Alpha, Micron)
Touch / Display
It is rumored that Xiaomi Mi 6 will use OLED dual-edged display, supplied exclusively by LG Display. (Laoyaoba, iFeng, 163)
In addition to 5.1” version, Samsung may be planning a larger Galaxy S8 Plus model featuring a 6” display. Both will use 2K resolution display, and to be launched in Apr. 2017. (CN Beta, Forbes, Techno Buffalo, Trusted Reviews, Naver, Sam Mobile)
Samsung Display will outsource some part of its LCD TV panel production to China Star Optoelectronics (CSOT) in a trade-off deal to jointly invest in and share LCD panel production. Back in Sept. 2016, Samsung Display signed a deal to invest KRW35B for a 9.8% stake in the Chinese LCD panel maker’s G11 of LCD fabrication facilities. Samsung Display was entitled to get about 10% of the production at the 11th TFT-LCD fabrication facility and sell them under its brand name. (iTer News, ChinaFPD, Sohu)
Use of OLED panels in TVs is on the rise, and the proportion of OLED models will keep rising to 68% in 2020, especially dominating high-end TV segment, according to the Photonics Industry & Technology Development Association (PIDA). (Digitimes, press)
According to a report by IHS Markit, because Samsung cannot guarantee the supply of OLED panels, Chinese phone brands have already begun testing the local manufacturers of OLED screens. (Gizmo China, Anzhuo, 163)
Battery
Binghamton University, State University of New York have created a bacteria-powered battery on a single sheet of paper that can power disposable electronics. The manufacturing technique reduces fabrication time and cost, and the design could revolutionize the use of bio-batteries as a power source in remote, dangerous and resource-limited areas. (TechNews, New Atlas, Materials, Binghamton)
Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) is expanding its production in its hometown Ningde, a 3rd-tier city in China’s southeast, which will be answer to Japan’s Panasonic and South Korea’s LG Chem. After a second major funding round completed in Oct. 2016, the company’s value quadrupled to CNY80B (USD11.5B). (CN Beta, Tech Wire Asia)
People walk past the R&D centre of Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) in Ningde, Zhejiang province, China, December 16, 2016. Picture taken December 16, 2016. REUTERS/Jake Spring
Connectivity
KT is aiming to improve the gigabit-class Internet services coverage up to 95% for old apartments and houses in 2017 with the use of its exclusive GiGA Wire 2.0 technology. The GiGA Wire 2.0 technology allows high-speed Internet access through the current copper telephone wire. When the plan is accomplished, KT said that an estimated 9M households will be able to use the high-speed wired Internet service. (CN Beta, Net Manias, Korea Times, Korea Portal)
China Mobile has come up with a 2017 handset business development plan with a focus on maintaining its 4G+ competitiveness. expects to sell 375M handsets in 2017, slipping about 6% on year. (Digitimes, press, CNII, Beijing Business Today)
Smartphones
According to IDC, the leading 30 cities of India registered growth of 20.4% QoQ in 3Q16 over 2Q16. During the festive month of Oct. 2016, the Tier 2&3 cities led the charge with a growth of 23.3% over previous month majorly due to vendors focusing on new affordable launches, higher spending on marketing and innovative payment options. (IDC, press, 199IT)
According to Strategy Analytics, worldwide business smartphone shipments grew +19.4% YoY to reach 112.2M units in 3Q16, while the worldwide business tablet market dropped to 16.8M unit shipments in 3Q16, down 12.9% YoY from 19.3M units. (Strategy Analytics, press, 199IT)
The three-leading Taiwan-based smartphone vendors, ASUS, HTC and Acer, all will see their smartphone shipments fall short of their respective targets set for 2016, according to Digitimes. (Digitimes, press, 163)
The top-3 China-based smartphone vendors, Huawei, OPPO and vivo, are expected to ship a combined over 500M smartphones, or one-third of global smartphones shipments, in 2017, according to sources from Taiwan’s handset supply chain, cited by Digitimes. (Digitimes, press)
Even though it currently is in 3rd place after Apple and Alphabet, Microsoft will be the 1st company to have a valuation in excess of USD1T according to Equities.com analyst Michael Markowski. A software company like Microsoft is more scalable and can reach more people than a hardware company like Apple. (Equities, press, Phone Arena, MS Poweruser)
Wearables
According to Topology’s data, overall wearable market did not grow “explosively” in 2016-2017 as the market expected. In 2016 market only grows 19.1%, and overall market volume is only 95.31M units. In 2017, the number is expected to grow to 107M units with only 12.5% growth on year. This is not considered as an “explosive” growth, merely a stable one. (Laoyaoba, China Times, article, CEB2B)
Messaging app Snapchat is reportedly buying Israeli AR startup Cimagine Media for an estimated USD30-40M, marking Snapchat’s first acquisition in Israel. (Fortune, Reuters, CN Beta)
Internet of Things
LeEco will have to wait until 1Q17 to complete its USD2B deal to buy US TV maker Vizio. The deal, which was supposed to close in 2016, has won approval from U.S. regulators, but Chinese authorities have yet to give their approval. (CN Beta, Recode, The Verge)
Ericsson’s 10 hot consumer trends in 2017. (199IT, Vanguard NGR, Ericsson, report)
Volkswagen appears to be gearing up to launch a ride hailing service in Rwanda, Africa. Volkswagen wants to strengthen its presence in emerging markets. That is why Africa ranks high on their agenda. Earlier 2016 the company invested USD300M into a company called Gett. (CN Beta, Business Insider, Ubergizmo, Reuters)
