05-25: Qualcomm is currently shipping more than 1M chips per day for the IoT; Micro LED expects to enter trial production in 2H17; etc.
Chipsets
Qualcomm announced at its Internet of Things (IoT) industry analyst workshop that the Company is currently shipping more than 1M chips per day for the IoT. Raj Talluri, Senior Vice President, Product Management, IoT indicates that hundreds of brands have shipped over 1.5B IoT products using their solutions. (Android Headlines, Qualcomm, Mobile Europe, C114, China Times)
Qualcomm has asked a court to force Apple’s suppliers to keep making royalty payments amid a legal dispute between Apple and Qualcomm. Qualcomm also updated one of its lawsuist to include what it says is more evidence that Apple is interfering with Qualcomm’s existing arrangements with the contract manufacturing firms. (Axios, Apple Insider, Sina, Sohu)
According to Samsung’s plan, Samsung semiconductor plans to start trial production of 8nm end of 2017, and 7nm to enter mass production in 2018; in 2019 the company will continue to R&D 6nm and 5nm process. By 2020, the company hopes to enter 4nm process. (Android Headlines, Laoyaoba, Extreme Tech, EE Times)
Globalfoundries and the Chengdu municipality have announced an investment to spur innovation in China’s semiconductor industry. The partners plan to build a FD-SOI ecosystem including multiple design centers in Chengdu and university programs across China. The investment of more than USD100M is expected to attract leading semiconductor companies to Chengdu. (Digitimes, press, SCOL, Laoyaoba, Sohu)
Touch Display
Samsung Display has reportedly signed a deal with Apple to supply OLED panels for Apple’s new iPhone in 2018, tentatively called the iPhone 9. The report said the iPhone 9 is expected to come in 2 OLED models—5.28” and 6.46” display sizes. Samsung’s OLED shipment is also likely to be more than double at 180M units. (The Investor, Phone Arena, Apple Insider, CN Beta)
Japan Display (JDI) announced that it has collaborated with E Ink Holding to develop a new electronic paper backplane that supports up to 600 pixels per inch (ppi). (Liliputing, The eBook Reader, JDI, Poppur, Expreview)
According to Digitimes, a few makers engaged in R&D for micro LED display products, despite many technological bottlenecks, are expected to take the initiative to begin trial production in 2H17 at the earliest. (Laoyaoba, CN Beta, Digitimes, press)
An estimated 150M all-screen smartphones equipped with 18:9 panels will be shipped globally in 2017 and about 100M units of which will be shipped by Samsung and Apple, according to Digitimes. Many panel makers will produce 5.99” and 5.7” 18:9 panels, respectively corresponding to 5.5” and 5.2” 16:9 panels. (Digitimes, press)
Smartphones
Global sales of smartphones to end users totaled 380M units in 1Q17, a 9.1% increase over the first quarter of 2016, according to Gartner. Mobile phone buyers are spending more to get a better phone, resulting in the rise in average selling prices of types of phone. (Android Authority, Android Headlines, Gartner, press, 199IT, Sina)
India is reportedly willing to waive taxes on Apple’s imported iPhone parts in exchange for the company helping to expand Wistron’s manufacturing operations in Bengaluru, where the iPhone SE is currently being made. (Reuters, Apple Insider, Sina, Sohu)
According to American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), Apple’s 4” smartphone received a customer satisfaction score of 87 out of 100 to finish just ahead of Samsung’s 5.7” Galaxy S6 edge+ and the 5.5” iPhone 7 Plus. ACSI said the results are based on interviews with 36,194 customers in the United States, chosen at random and contacted via email May~Apr 2017. (ACSI, report, CNET, Apple Insider, Sohu)
Development of Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ is reportedly already well underway, under the codenames “Star” and “Star 2” respectively. They will feature dual-rear cameras and front fingerprint reader. (Gizmo China, The Bell, Android Central, Sina, Admin5)
Sony has indicated that 2 new flagships would launch in FY 2H17, which began on April 1. These phones would be in the same category as the previously announced Xperia XZ Premium and XZs. (Android Headlines, Android Authority, Xperia Blog)
Hon Hai Precision Industry is reportedly planning to build a production site in Bengaluru in southern India. Hon Hai’s investment plan will coincide with the investment made by Wistron, which has started to assemble Apple iPhone SE models in Bengaluru, the capital of the state of Karnataka. (Laoyaoba, China Post, Focus Taiwan)
Huawei Y6 is official – 5” HD 2.5D curved display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor, 13MP + 5MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, Android 6.0 (EMUI 4.1), 3000mAh battery, EUR200. (Android Headlines, BGR, Gizbot)
Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is announced – 6.44” display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, 12MP + 5MP cameras, 4GB RAM, 64 / 128GB storage, Android 7.1 (MIUI 8.2), 5300mAh battery, from CNY1699. (Gizmo China, TechWeb, EE Focus, Qinabol, CN Beta, iFeng)
PCs / Tablets
Huawei MateBook E is announced – 12” 2160×1440 display, 7th-gen Intel Core m3 / i5 processor, 5MP front camera, 4 / 8GB RAM, 128 / 256 / 512GB SSD, USB Type-C, 4430mAh battery, accessories including MateDock 2 and MatePen, from EUR999. (Phone Arena, TechRadar, The Verge, My Drivers)
Wearables
Huawei Honor Band A2 is launched, featuring 0.96” OLED screen, heart rate sensor, IP67 rating, 95mAh battery, CNY199. (Android Authority, Honor, The Verge, My Drivers)
Garmin VIRB 360 action camera is announced, which is capable of shooting 360º video at 4K resolution and 30fps. It is priced at USD800. (CN Beta, Apple Insider, Garmin)
Internet of Things
According to Morgan Stanley analysts Brian Nowak and Adam Jonas, who wrote in a research note, that they believe Waymo is worth at least USD70B. (Android Headlines, TechNews, CNBC, Forbes, Business Insider)
