IF / News

Chipsets

MediaTek’s general manager for international sales indicates that the company is taking a break of sorts from flagship chips (e.g. Helio X30) to focus on “new premium” devices. He adds that many Chinese brands were releasing mid-range devices — not a great fit for the Helio X30. He reveals that the company is “taking a break” at the highest end of chipset segment. (CN Beta, Gear Burn, Neowin)

According to Markets and Markets, the overall artificial intelligence market is expected to be worth USD16.06B by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 62.9% from 2016 to 2022. The artificial intelligence market has a huge potential across various industry verticals such as retail, transportation and automation, manufacturing, BFSI, and agriculture, among others. (Laoyaoba, MEM, Markets and Markets)

Camera

Israeli company and maker of dual lens camera technology Corephotonics has filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the cameras featured in the iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 8 Plus infringe on four of its patents. (CN Beta, The Verge, Engadget, Daily Mail)

Connectivity

Samsung is working with the US military to develop and test a prototype 5G mobile network. The trials are making use of Samsung’s pre-commercial 28GHz mm wave system, with the 4G tests leveraging the LTE small cell technology and being conducted at 3.5 GHz. (Android Headlines, Daily Mail, Slash Gear, JRJ)

Smartphone

Apple’s primary iPhone assembler Wistron in India is scouting for about 100 acres of land in Bangalore to expand its facilities for the world’s most valuable company. Hon Hai Precision, the primary Apple assembler globally, has been talking to local governments in India about setting up plants there. It does not currently make iPhones for Apple in India. (Apple Insider, Bloomberg, Sina, Tencent)

Smartphone shipments, including exports, by China-based vendors are expected to reach 199.1M units in 4Q17, up 11.1% from the 179.2M units shipped a quarter earlier, according to an estimate of Digitimes Research. In 3Q17 Huawei was the top China-based vendor in the quarter with shipments totaling 40M units, followed by Xiaomi with 23M units. (Digitimes, press, China.com, IT Home, XCN News)

Smartisan Nut Pro 2 is announced – 5.99” 2160×1080 FHD+ display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, rear dual 12MP 1.25µm – 5MP + front 16MP cameras, 4 / 6GB RAM, 32 / 64 / 128GB storage, Smartisan OS 4.1, 3500mAh battery, from CNY1799. (CN Beta, GizChina, Gizmo China)

Tablets

Global shipments of tablets are estimated to grow 7.8% sequentially to 45.58M units in 4Q17 due mainly to brisk market demand for entry-level branded tablets, according to Digitimes Research. The global tablet shipments, including brand and white-box models, came to 42.29M units in 3Q17, higher than market expectations due to seasonal factors. (Digitimes, Digitimes, press)

Wearables

Fitbit has announced it has been selected as the first wearable for use in the national All of Us Research Program established by the White House in 2015. This project is funded by a supplement to a funding award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). (Engadget, Business Wire)

Catcher Technology that sells parts to Apple has started to manufacture parts for an augmented reality (AR) headset. The company did not name the product his company is currently working on but the market has been speculating that it is Apple. According to Jeff Pu, analyst of Yuanta Investment Consulting, Apple is developing AR glasses that will go on sale as soon as the end of 2019. (Laoyaoba, Asia Nikkei, Daily Mail, Business Insider)

Apple has seen an over 50% sequential increase in Apple Watch Series 3 sales, and Apple is likely to add more partners into its upstream supply chain to increase its profitability, and reduce production risk. Upstream players including Quanta, Career, Kinsus and E&R Engineering are expected to see increasing orders, Foxconn’s affiliate ShunSin Technology has also recently landed orders for providing SiP packaging services and will begin supply in Mar 2018. (Digitimes, press, Digitimes, Laoyaoba)

Internet of Things

The Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK) said that it expects the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) to bring tremendous business opportunities to Taiwan at a time when the country is eager to upgrade its industries. (Laoyaoba, UDN, Executive Yuan)

Waymo, the autonomous vehicle division of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has become the first company to deploy fully autonomous vehicles on public roads without a driver behind the wheel. About 100 of Waymo’s self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans are now driving around Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix, without a human test driver. (TechCrunch, Fortune, The Verge, Sina)

Competition in China’s smart speaker market is heating up: Alibaba is pushing sales of its Tmall Genie to the business sector; JD.com is promoting its next-generation smart speaker, the DingDong 2; and Xiaomi has forayed into the entry-level segment with its Mi AI speaker, according to Digitimes Research. Other vendors including Lenovo, Haier and Mobvoi all have launched their own smart speakers, while Tencent and Baidu have also stepped into the segment through the introduction of related smart voice platforms. (Digitimes, press, Money DJ)