07-12: Huawei comsumer business CEO Richard Yu indicates that the company is developing AI processor; Samsung wants to claim 2nd place in market shares by the end of 2017; etc.
Chipsets
Huawei comsumer business CEO Richard Yu indicates that the company is developing AI processor. He has also mentioned that the company is planning on creating a cloud services platform that will allow users store and recover their data in case of theft or damage of their device. (CN Beta, Sohu, iFeng, Android Headlines, Gizmo China)
Intel has unveiled its full lineup of “Purley” Xeon processors. Intel has revealed 50 different Xeon chips, and in doing so replaced the older E5 and E7 lines built on the Haswell architecture. While the new chips are aimed at the data center, the Xeon chips in the Mac Pro line were as well. (Apple Insider, Intel, Mac Rumors, WCCF Tech, Laoyaoba, CN Beta)
Navinfo’s first China-made Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) chipset has already entered mass production. (CN Stock, Laoyaoba)
Samsung Electronics has announced that the company will set up the foundry business division and claim 2nd place in market shares by the end of 2017 based on the division. Samsung’s foundry factories are located in Giheung (S1) of Gyeonggi Province, Korea and Austin (S2), Texas, and the S3 Line is expected to be completed and begin to roll out products by the end of 2017 in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Korea. (Android Headlines, Business Korea, Pulse News, Laoyaoba)
Memory
Micron has reiterated that DRAM chip production at its Taoyuan, Taiwan site, where there was a minor facility related event on 1 Jul 2017, has already resumed. The malfunctioning of nitrogen gas dispensing systems at Micron’s Taoyuan facility led to contamination of equipment and wafers. About 60K wafer starts were affected with 10K~20K units being already scrapped. (Digitimes, press, Laoyaoba, ESM China)
Battery
Apple is allegedly implementing Qi (at least a variation of the standard) in the next-generation iPhone. Hardware, like inductive charging and power management chips, is reportedly being supplied by Broadcom, but the components are not at issue. Instead, the problem lies in software. (Apple Insider, Fast Company, iFeng)
Biometrics
The new ultrasonic fingerprint scanners unveiled by Qualcomm work under displays, glass and metal. It also can detect heart beat and blood flow for improved mobile authentication — making it harder for thieves to lift a fingerprint and spoof the device into unlocking. It even works underwater. (Laoyaoba, Sohu, Sina, Sci-Tech Today, The Verge)
Smartphones
Samsung has allegedly sold 9.8M units of Galaxy S8 in the first 2 months of the launch, about 20% less than the S7’s 12M unit sales in 2016, largely due to the saturated smartphone market. However, on 16 May 2017, Samsung announced the global shipments exceeded 10M units in 3 weeks of the launch. (Android Authority, The Investor, The Bell, My Drivers)
The current world population of 7.6B is expected to reach 8.6B in 2030, 9.8B in 2050 and 11.2B in 2100, according to a new United Nations report being launched today. With roughly 83M people being added to the world’s population every year, the upward trend in population size is expected to continue, even assuming that fertility levels will continue to decline. (United Nation, key findings, total population data, My Drivers)
Samsung has agreed to acquire Innoetics, a small technology company based in Greece. The high-tech company is a small local firm which specializes in voice technologies. Samsung will use Innoetics’ technology to power its next generation of voice-powered devices and services. (CN Beta, Business Insider, TechCrunch, ZDNet)
The explosion in Apple’s iPhone-replacement demand dubbed “supercyle” for the iPhone 8 will not happen, according to analysts Sherri Scribner, Adrienne Colby, and Jeffrey Rand at Deutsche Bank. Given most smartphones are now refreshed on a roughly 2.7 year cycle, they think fiscal year 2018 should be measured against fiscal year 2015. This cycle and their installed base estimates suggest Apple could ship about 230M iPhones in fiscal year 2018. (Apple Insider, Business Insider, article, CN Beta)
Xiaomi founder and chairman Lei Jun indicates that the company has reached China’s top 1 in 2.5 years, top 3 in 2012. After 5 years the company is established, in 2014, Xiaomi’s revenue has reached USD10B. Until now, the company has opened 137 Mijia retail stores, with square meter effectiveness top 2 worldwide. (Sina, Sohu, Laoyaoba, Yicai, My Drivers)
Wearables
Luxury brand Louis Vutton launching its first Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch with 60 sets of easily-detachable straps, the Tambour Horizon, featuring 1.2” 390×390 AMOLED display, 512MB RAM, 4GB storage, 300mAh battery, from USD2,450. (NY Times, Kejixun, TechWeb)
Tencent launches kids smartwatch that can take picture and water resistant, QQ Watch. It features 350mAh battery that can be fully charged in 1 hour, and can standby for 3 days. (CN Beta, QQ Watch)
Mobvoi launching 2 Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch – Ticwatch E and the Ticwatch S, featuring 1.4” 287ppi OLED display, MediaTek MT2601 processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB storage, heart rate monitor, IP67 certified, 300mAh battery, priced from USD99. (CN Beta, Android Headlines)
Internet of Things
Israeli robotics startup Intuition Robotics has raised USD14M in a series A round of funding led by Toyota Research Institute (TRI), with participation from existing investors including OurCrowd, iRobot, Maniv Mobility, Terra Venture Partners, and Bloomberg Beta. (VentureBeat)
IDC forecasts worldwide purchases of robotics, including drones and robotics-related hardware, software and services, will total USD97.2B in 2017, an increase of 17.9% over 2016. IDC expects robotics spending to accelerate over the 5-year forecast period, reaching USD230.7B in 2021 with a CAGR of 22.8%. (Digitimes, press, IDC, report, Money DJ, Laoyaoba)
Global server shipments fell in 1Q17 due to the seasonal effect on demand, according to TrendForce. However, shipments rebounded in the second quarter and rose by about 10% compared with the first quarter. Looking ahead, TrendForce estimates that total shipments for 2H17 will also increase by 10% compared with the first half owing to demand from major technology companies including Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft. (TrendForce, TrendForce[cn], Laoyaoba)
Apple plans to invest USD1B to establish a data center in Guizhou Province for online synchronization service iCloud, its first local data center in the Chinese mainland. (CN Beta, Apple Insider, Reuters, Shanghai Daily)
