08-09: TSMC has reiterated that Taiwan remains its top choice for a plan to build a sophisticated 3nm process plant; O-Film is entering 3D glass business; etc.
Chipsets
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) has reiterated that Taiwan remains its top choice for a plan to build a sophisticated 3nm process plant. TSMC has denied that the company has no plan to invest in a 3nm process plant in the U.S., although it will continue to evaluate its options. (Laoyaoba, 52RD, EE World, UDN, CNYES, Focus Taiwan)
Touch Display
Japan Display Inc (JDI) plans to cut back LCD production and lay off more than 3,500 workers, primarily at parts assembly plants in China and Philippines. JDI aims to halt production of LCD smartphone panels at a plant in the central Japanese city of Nomi later 2017. The closed lines could then be repurposed to make OLED panels. (Phone Arena, Reuters, Asia Nikkei, Laoyaoba)
O-Film is forming an independent company with some investments from other parties, which is targeting 3D glass research and development, manufacture and sales. (Sohu, 51Touch)
Memory
Samsung Electronics has developed a 1 terabit (Tb) V-NAND chip that will be used for commercial products launching in 2018. Samsung will stack 16Tb dies for a single V-NAND package with memory capacity of 2 terabytes (TB). Samsung also announced Next Generation Small Form Factor (NGSFF) SSD to replace the current M.2 SSD standard. (Laoyaoba, The Register, ZD-Net, Yonhap News)
Biometrics
Biometric data, such as fingerprints and retinal scans, have been considered the highest form of identity authentication for about 15 years. Now video-based authentication grow in popularity, thanks to the ubiquitous smartphone and the love it has engendered for the art of the selfie. Video ID authentication has not taken the world by storm yet, but we can expect to see wider adoption in the next few years. (VentureBeat, American Banker)
Smartphones
Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities indicated has indicated that Apple “iPhone 8”, “iPhone 7s” and “iPhone 7s Plus” will launch on the same day in Sept 2017. The “iPhone 8” will be in extremely short supply at launch, with the supply chain expected to produce between 2M~4M units in 3Q17. (Phone Arena, Apple Insider, Sohu, CN Beta)
According to Trustdata, currently in China OPPO smartphone usage has the highest share, which is 19.5%. Apple follows with 19%. This indicates that OPPO is the most used brand in China. OPPO VP Wu Qiang announced that up to now, globally there are more than 200M young users using OPPO taking photographs. (Laoyaoba, TrustData, report, Sohu)
Sharp Aquos S2 is announced – 5.5” FHD+ 2.5D curved display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 / 630 processor, rear dual 12MP-8MP + 8MP cameras, 4 / 6GB RAM, 64 / 128GB storage, 3020mAh battery, from CNY2,499. (CN Beta, Gizmo China, Engadget, Sharp, My Drivers)
Lenovo K8 Note is unveiled in India – 5.5” FHD 2.5D curved display, MediaTek Helio X23 processor, rear dual 13MP-5MP + front 13MP cameras, 3 / 4GB RAM, 32 / 64GB storage, Android 7.1, 4000mAh battery, from INR12,999. (Android Central, Android Headlines)
Wearables
Current wearable technology falls far short of its potential because of a siloed approach to design, a lack of interdisciplinary R&D and a general inability of product designers to solve real human needs. (EE Times, article)
Fossil Q Venture and Q Explorist are launched, powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100 processor, support activity tracking, IP67 certified, running Android Wear 2.0, priced at USD255 and USD275, respectively. (GSM Arena, Fossil, Fossil, Android Authority, CN Beta)
Motorola has launched a pair of wireless earbuds Stream, which is priced at GBP79.99. The earbuds were actually made by company called Binatone, and Motorola is licensing its name. (CN Beta, The Verge, Pocket Lint)
One of Google’s ‘Glass for Work’ partners, now seemingly called ‘Glass Partners’, Streye has listed the company’s Glass hardware for sale on its website. The price to get the device and access to proprietary streaming software is EUR1,550 (roughly USD1,828). (Laoyaoba, TechWeb, Sina, 9to5Google, Engadget, Streye)
Internet of Things
Uber is reportedly planning to close out or sell its car-leasing businesses in the U.S. by the end of 2017. About 500 jobs out of Uber’s workforce of 15,000 could be affected. Uber drivers have complained about the high lease payments required by the companies they lease from. (CN Beta, WSJ, CNBC)