IF / News

Chipsets

Qualcomm president Derek Aberle is leaving the company on 31 Dec 2017, Qualcomm announced. His departure comes amid multiple legal battles involving Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL), Qualcomm’s licensing division, which Aberle led for about a decade. (Laoyaoba, ZDNet, Qualcomm, Sina, Sohu)

According to Qualcomm, Snapdragon 800 series shipment in China, Xiaomi has 66% share. According to IHS analyst Kevin Wang, the cost of Snapdragon 835 on Xiaomi Mi 6 is USD65 (about CNY432). (Sohu, C114, JRJ)

International Games Systems (IGS) is reportedly going to replace Rockchip solutions with MediaTek’s because its future generation gambling machines require Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity. It expects that MediaTek will start supply SoC to IGS from 2018, and yearly shipment would be 300K. (Laoyaoba, UDN, IEK)

Touch Display

LTPS panels makers have stepped up efforts to develop other applications than those for smartphones amid increasing competition caused by the shift of mainstream technology from LTPS to AMOLED panels by smartphone vendors, as well as by increased capacity in the sector, according to Digitimes. Global LTPS-panel production capacity will increase by 30% by the end 3Q17 as compared to a year earlier due to capacity ramps by AUO, Foxconn, BOE and Tianma. (Digitimes, press, Digitimes, iFuun)

Backend houses Chipbond Technology and ChipMOS Technologies have seen orders for TDDI (touch with display driver integration) chips for use in 18:9 smartphone panels ramp up, which will buoy their sales performance in 2H17, according to Digitimes. (Digitimes, press)

With continuous capacity ramps from its 8G fab in Fuqing and the commencement of the Hefei 10.5G fab in 2018, BOE will have a total production capacity of 54.8Mm² a year by 2019, surpassing LG Display (LGD) 53.8Mm². (Digitimes, press, SEMI, China Times)

Camera

Apple has reportedly started stocking up camera and other components for its 3 new iPhone models. Largan Precision and Genius Electronics Optical revenues have increased on monthly basis. Meanwhile, Largan ha already invested USD661M for building new fab in Taichung. (My Drivers, CNFOL, Sina)

LG Innotek and Sharp are reportedly entering the supply chain for Apple’s next-gen iPhone (“iPhone 8”) 3D facial recognition camera. In 2017, iPhone 8 rear dual camera supply share is 8:2, of which LG Innotek’s has 80% share, while Sharp has 20%. (91.com, 52RD, LED Inside)

Yole Dévelopment report reveals Apple’s 3D sensing main supply chain vendors, including TSMC, Largan, Hon Hai (Foxconn), Tong Hsing, Genius Electronics Optical (GSEO), Xintec, and VisEra. (91.com, Woodside Capital, report, ESM China, China Times)

While leading smartphone vendors, such as Apple, Samsung and many China brands, are rushing to launch smartphones with twin-lens or four-lens cameras, upstream optical lens players in the supply chains across the Taiwan Strait, including Largan Precision, Sunny Optical and Shenzhen O-Film Tech are busy with massive shipments in 2H17, according to Digitimes. (Digitimes, press)

KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Samsung Galaxy S9 to be launched in 2018 will receive a similar dual-lens configuration to the Note 8—dual 12MP with the secondary sensor acts as a telephoto lens for 2× optical zoom. (Laoyaoba, Forbes, 9to5Google)

Memory

Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner, said rising costs and reduced availability for NAND Flash and OLED displays will affect premium smartphone sales in the remainder of 2017. (Laoyaoba, Caijing, EE Times, IT Pro, Gartner)

The worldwide semiconductor market is forecast to grow by 17% to USD397B in 2017, according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS). The memory sector will enjoy higher-than-expected growth in 2017, driven by rising chip ASPs. WSTS forecast the memory sector will register more than 50% revenue growth in 2017, up from its previous estimate of a 30.4% increase. (Digitimes, WSTS, press, Laoyaoba)

Biometrics

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Samsung will probably ship 12M~14M Galaxy Note 8 units in 2017, while he also added that Samsung is probably working with Himax and EgisTec in order to develop the in-display fingerprint scanner for the Galaxy Note 9, which will be announced in 3Q17. (Laoyaoba, Tencent, Android Headlines, Tom’s Guide)

Battery

Apple iPhone 8 will allegedly use the Qi wireless standard, but it will not go for the full 15W charging that is part of the Qi 1.2 standard, which would be considered “quick charging”. Apple has reportedly opted to stick with the Standard Power Profile that has a maximum output of 7.5W (5V/1.5A).  (Phone Arena, Macotakara, Laoyaoba)

Smartphones

According to Dixingtong and Horizon Research, in Jul 2017 via Dixingtong channels top 3 sales are still Huawei, OPPO and vivo. Xiaomi sales have achieved 12.3%, ranked at top 4. In particular, OPPO R11, Gionee S10 and vivo Y66 are the top 3 models. (Laoyaoba, KK News, Sohu, 91.com, CC Time, iMobile)

Reliance Jio, a subsidy of Mukesh Ambani, is launching free 4G phone Jio Phone, which is manufactured in collaboration with Foxconn. The company plans to supply 100K Jio Phone on daily basis, and hoping to sell 4M~5M per week. (Laoyaoba, The Quint)

BlackBerry is in talks with various global smartphone makers to provide its version of secure Android operating system under a licensing deal as part of the second phase of its licensing strategy. The company is calling its operating system BlackBerry Secure, which will come with all security features that are available with a BlackBerry-branded smartphone. (Laoyaoba, Tencent, JRJ, Android Headlines, Value Walk, Android Authority, Economic Times)

vivo Y69 is launched in India – 5.5” HD IPS display, MediaTek MT6750 processor, rear 13MP + front 16MP cameras, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, Android 7.0 (Funtouch OS 3.2), 3000mAh battery, INR14,990. (Android Authority, Economic Times, NDTV)

Vernee M5 is announced – 5.2” HD display, MediaTek MT6750 processor, 13MP + 8MP cameras, 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, rear fingerprint scanner, 3300mAh battery, USD140. (GizChina, Ali Express)

PCs / Tablets

Dell is reportedly planning to release new Light Gaming series products under its Alienware gaming brand in 2018 to expand its market reach to the mid-range sector, according to Digitimes. Dell’s move is expected to directly affect the sector’s current players including Asustek Computer, Micro-Star International (MSI) and Acer. (Digitimes, press, PC Gamer, Apple Daily)

Huawei launching 4 new MediaPad in US: MediaPad T3 – 8” / 9.6” 1280×800 display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor, 5MP + 2MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, Android 7.0, 4800mAh battery, USD139 / USD159. MediaPad M3 Lite – 8” / 10.1” 1920×1200 display, octa-core processor, 8MP + 8MP cameras, 3GB RAM, 16GB storage, Android 7.0, 4800 / 6600mAh battery, USD199 / USD249. (Liliputing, Android Police, Android Central)

Wearables

Gartner forecasts that 310.4M wearable devices will be sold worldwide in 2017, an increase of 16.7% from 2016. Sales of wearable devices will generate revenue of USD30.5B in 2017. Of that, USD9.3B will be from smartwatches. In 2017, 41.5M smartwatches will be sold. By 2021, sales of smartwatches are estimated to total nearly 81M units. (Gartner, press, Sina, CN Beta)

Major players in the augmented reality (AR) industry have slowed down the development of consumer-end products, and instead have shifted their strategies to focus on developing AR platform products, according to Digitimes Research. (Digitimes, press, Digitimes, Digitimes)

Connect Watch, powered by AsteroidOS, is launched, featuring 1.39” 400×400 AMOLED display, MediaTek processor, 2MP camera, 512MB / 1GB RAM, 4 / 8GB storage, 3G (nano-SIM slot), Bluetooth, GPS. (Android Headlines, Phone Arena, Connect Watch, Wearable)

Internet of Things

Apple’s self-driving testbed has been seen driving on Silicon Valley roads, topped with a massive LiDAR array with integrated cameras, GPS and other equipment.  (Apple Insider, Mac Rumors, CN Beta)

Otto is a keyless lock, with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios packed inside the surprisingly compact design, it can be unlocked with a touch or it senses an authorized phone within range. It is priced at USD699. (CN Beta, Otto Lock, CNET, TechSpot)

VIA Technologies has joined Microsoft Azure Certified for Internet of Things (IoT), ensuring customers get IoT solutions up and running quickly with hardware and software that has been pre-tested and verified to work with Microsoft Azure IoT services. (Digitimes, VIA Tech, eNorth)