06-06: Qualcomm is reportedly developing Snapdragon 836 processor; Samsung is reportedly expanding its production of smartphone in India; etc.
Chipsets
To create 5nm chips, IBM is ditching the standard FinFET architecture in favor of a new structure built with a stack of four nanosheets, allowing some 30B transistors to be packed onto a chip the size of a fingernail and promising significant gains in power and efficiency. (CN Beta, New Atlas, IBM)
Qualcomm may be developing a revision of its Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip (SoC) called the Snapdragon 836. The Snapdragon 836, like the 835, will be made based on Samsung’s own 10-nanometer FinFET process. (Android Headlines, Android Soul, Elecfans, 91.com)
Memory
The Chairman Terry Gou of Hon Hai Precision Industry, or Foxconn Technology Group, indicates that his company has financial support from Apple and Amazon in its bid for the memory chip unit of embattled Japanese conglomerate Toshiba. Hon Hai is reportedly the highest bidder among 5 interested buyers, supposedly offering more than JPY2T (USD18.2B). (CN Beta, Reuters, ZDNet, Asia Nikkei)
The NAND Flash market remained in undersupply in 1Q17 as it had been in the preceding quarter, according to TrendForce. Despite seasonality, the average contract price of NAND Flash chips in the channel market actually surged by 20%~25% in 1Q17 compared with 4Q16. Also, prices of mobile storage products such as eMCP, eMMC and UFS are still climbing. NAND Flash suppliers therefore can expect positive revenue outlook for the entire 2017. (TrendForce, press, TrendForce[cn], press, Laoyaoba)
Battery
IHS analyst Vicky Yussuff forecasts wireless charging receiver shipments to rise to 325M units by the end of 2017, up from 140M in 2016, and as high as 2B in 2025. But pad-based chargers will account for the majority of shipments. (Laoyaoba, CECB2B, USA Today)
Smartphones
In hopes of keeping up with demand, Samsung plans on expanding its production plant in India with investment of INR40B (USD620.84M). Samsung will double the size of its factory located in Noida, Uttar Pradesh to 240,000m2. (Android Authority, Business Korea, CN Beta)
According to Strategy Analytics, Samsung has posted USD1.57B in earnings in 1Q17, a 21.9% decrease from a year ago. The earning accounted for 12.9% of the combined operating profit posted by global players, it said. Apple, meanwhile, has posted an operating profit of USD10.1B over the cited period, accounting for 83.4% of the global industry. (Android Authority, Yonhap News, Korea Herald, Korea Herald, Laoyaoba)
Amazon is reportedly planning to re-enter the smartphone segment with a new lineup of devices codenamed “Ice”. The Ice smartphones will be targeted at emerging markets like India. (Android Central, NDTV, Android Authority, Leikeji)
Apple has released the first beta versions of its next-generation operating systems — iOS 11, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, watchOS 4 and tvOS 11 — to developers for testing. (Apple Insider, Apple, CN Beta)
LG X500 is announced – 5.5” HD display, MediaTek MT6750 processor, 13MP + 5MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, 4500mAh battery, KRW319,000. (My Drivers, NDTV, GSM Arena)
OPPO R11 is official – 5.5” FHD AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor, rear dual 20MP-16MP + front 20MP cameras, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, Android 7.1, fingerprint sensor, 2900mAh battery. (Android Authority, OPPO, GSM Arena)
ZTE V870 is announced – 5.5” FHD IPS LCD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor, 16MP + 8MP cameras, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, 3000mAh battery, CNY2699. (GSM Arena)
Tablets
Apple unveils 10.5” iPad Pro featuring ProMotion and A10X CPU – 10.5” TrueTone display, A10X CPU, 12MP OIS + 7MP FaceTime HD camera, from USD649. (Apple Insider, CN Beta)
Wearables
The worldwide wearables market maintained its upward trajectory during 1Q17 with Xiaomi and Apple leading all companies and multiple products experiencing double- and triple-digit growth. According to IDC, companies shipped a total of 24.7M wearable devices during 1Q17, up 17.9% from the 20.9M units shipped in 1Q16. (CN Beta, VentureBeat, IDC, press)
Sony’s PlayStation VR headset has more than 1M units sold worldwide, according to Sony’s head of global game devleopment Shawn Layden. Yet Sony has sold 60M units of PS4. (CN Beta, Time, Develop Online, Gamasutra)
Xiaoyi officially released its dual-lens VR panorama camera. It uses Ambarella H2V95 Chipset VR panorama camera. Ambarella H2V95 chipset has added the battery life, and it uses Quad core processor, which can take 5.7K/30 FPS video fluently, 4K/30 FPS video quick connection, offering 2.5K/30 FPS low delay broadcasting safely. (CN Beta, My Drivers)
Apple announces ARKit, a developer toolset that it will make available to nearly istantaneously make the iPhone and iPad the largest AR platform in the world. (Apple Insider, CN Beta, Sohu, Sina)
Home
Apple announces new Siri home speaker HomePod. It works with HomeKit, allowing users to control their accessories without having an iPhone nearby. HomeKit scenes are also compatible with HomePod. It is powered by A8 chip featuring real-time acoustic modeling, audio beam-forming, and multi-channel echo cancelation. It is priced at USD349. (Apple Insider, My Drivers)
