3-21: US plans to temporarily lift trade sanctions against ZTE; this year a lot of smaller phone vendors disappearing rapidly; Xiaomi to transform itself in 2016; etc.
The U.S. government plans to temporarily lift trade sanctions against ZTE; Smaller phone vendors are disappearing rapidly this year; Xiaomi to transform itself in 2016, and it will focus on the offline channels; Nomura believes that flexible OLED smartphone to achieve 500 million units shipment by 2020, and Apple would be the main driver; this year Korean panel makers to produce 270 million units, 95% of global shipment; etc.
|
Chipsets |
| At the 2013 investor meeting during which Intel CEO Brian Krzanich reassured investors that Atom would be treated like a first-class citizen, its next-generation, premium mobile processor, known as Broxton, would be :ready” by mid-2015. Yet, the part was quietly delayed into late 2016 or early 2017. (Motley Fool, CN Beta)
|
| An international research team has developed a way to fabricate flexible, water-loving logic circuits and sensors without the need of semiconductors. Instead, what the researchers have done is coat gold nanoparticles with charged organic molecules to create a system that they’ve dubbed a “chemoelectronic circuit”. (IEEE, Nature, CN Beta)
|
|
Display |
| Hon Hai Precision Industry is seeking to reduce the amount it pays for Sharp due to concerns about potential liabilities and future earnings. (CN Beta, TechNews, Sina, Bloomberg, Reuters) |
| Nomura believes that flexible OLED will increase from 30 million phones (less than 5% of total smartphones) to 500 million (25%) by 2020, and Apple is the single most important driver in flexible OLED adoption. Nomura expects Apple to introduce iPhone 8 in 2018 with flexible OLED and bring to market capacity that is needed for about 65 million smartphones on quarterly basis. (Nomura report)
|
| UBI research said that the amount of AMOLED panels to be produced by South Korean manufacturers in 2016 is likely to reach 270 million units taking up 95% of the global shipments. They would be able to maintain a global market share of at least 70% in 2020. Samsung Display or LG Display is likely to partner with Apple for the rumored iPhone 8 in 2018. (BGR, Reuters, Business Korea, Pocket Now, CN Beta) |
|
Material |
| Liquidmetal Technologies (LQMT), the world’s leading developer of amorphous alloys, announced that it closed on a financing transaction of up to USD63.4 million. The investment was made in conjunction with a cross-licensing agreement with DongGuan EONTEC Co., Ltd. (EONTEC). (CN Beta, Hot Stocked, Proactive Investors, Yahoo) |
|
Connectivity |
| The FCC released a list of about 104 applicants for the 600MHz spectrum auction, which is starting on 29 March. There are 69 complete applications and 35 incomplete applications. (Android Headlines, Nuzzel) |
| The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has submitted a plan for ending U.S. oversight of key technical Internet functions in favor of a global multi-stakeholder governance model. (CN Beta, Indian Express, PC World)
|
|
Smartphones |
| Motley Fool editor Ashraf Eassa says, in smartphone market, Apple seems to be getting complacent as Huawei introduces cutting-edge technologies. (Motley Fool, press, CN Beta) |
| According to AdDuplex, about 50% of Windows Phone devices in use will not be running Microsoft Windows 10 Mobile any time soon. (Win Beta, Softpedia, CN Beta) |
| Xiaomi founder Lin Bin says, 2016 would be the year Xiaomi transforms itself, and one of the main focuses would be at building the offline channels. He also indicates that prices are not only the main thing consumers are after now, they want more functions, which increase the cost of the smartphone. Therefore, increasing prices of the phone would be a major trend. (CN Beta, Sina) |
| The U.S. government plans to temporarily lift trade sanctions against ZTE, a senior Commerce Department official said, easing a source of tension between Washington and Beijing. (CN Beta, TechWeb, WSJ, 4-Traders) |
| Due to the rigorous competition in China Android smartphone market, and because of channel, chipset, and other supply chain resources leaning towards bigger vendors, smaller vendors are disappearing rapidly. Scenario 1: strong will be stronger, it becomes more polarizing; Scenario 2: channels of smaller vendor being squeezed; Scenario 3: “pricing race” for reducing inventories are becoming more furious. (Sohu, article, CN Beta) |
|
Tablets |
| Apple needs its new (to-be-launched) iPad to accomplish 2 goals: convince the world a tablet can be a productivity device, and it needs to be finally make existing iPad users to upgrade. (Wired, CN Beta) |
|
Wearables |
| Swatch has introduced the Tissot Smart-Touch, which costs USD1100-1200. There is a solar-powered weather station that delivers local conditions to the Smart-Touch’s display. (Engadget, Tissot, Reuters, Tencent)
|
| Enflux is smart clothing that gives a 3D picture of full-body movement, providing with personalized feedback. It consists of a set of shirt and pants that come complete with 10 tiny motion sensors located on the arms, legs, and torso. (Digital Trends, Enflux, 163, Sohu)
|
