IF / News

Chipsets

One of the first major actions taken by Globalfoundries’ new CEO Thomas Caulfield is about to be a large cut to the number of employees on the payroll. Around 900 employees are to be laid off, making up around 5% of its global workforce. Despite the reduction in staff, there will be no delay in the production of 7nm chips.  (CN Beta, EE Times, Techspot)

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich revealed that the company is planning on launching its own discrete graphics chips by 2020, in which it would lead the company towards creating a portfolio of products for different market segments, such as gaming, data centers, and for AI. (Ubergizmo, Market Watch, CNII, OfWeek)

Sony allegedly is working with AMD to develop a new GPU based on Navi architecture. This SoC design target is to fully achieve 4K 60FPS. The product is believed to be used on next generation Playstation, dubbed “PS5”. (Laoyaoba, Sina, My Drivers, Forbes, NDTV, Tweak Town)

ARM has acquired Stream Technologies, which provides tools for managing the connectivity of Internet of Things devices. Stream’s technologies will be integrated into ARM’s Mbed IoT Device Management Platform, giving customers the ability to manage the connectivity of devices regardless of their location or network.  (Sina, Laoyaoba, Sohu, VentureBeat, ZDNet, EE Times, ARM)

The Shanghai-based Montage Technology Group, dedicated to providing analog and mixed-signal IC solutions for datacenter and smart home entertainment applications, has spun off its smart home IC business to a new subsidiary operating in the Shuangliu District of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, in a bid to better tap immense business potentials in the sector in China, according to the group’s vice president Bogu Liang. (Elecfans, Digitimes, press)

Touch Display

OPPO has allegedly ordered Samsung Display’s curved OLED panels that will be delivered by the end of Jun 2018. The OPPO’s device will be launched in Jul~Aug 2018, which will be OPPO R series featuring under-display fingerprint sensor and powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 710. (Laoyaoba, The Bell,  GSM Arena, Sam Mobile)

Analyst of Shinhan Financial Park Hyung-woo indicates Samsung plans to release a Galaxy-branded “foldable” device in 2019. Parts affiliates and first-tier subcontractors will begin supplying parts to Samsung’s handset division beginning in Nov 2018, at the earliest, with the company assembling the phone aiming for a launch in 2019. (Android Headlines, BGR, CNET, Korea Times, Laoyaoba, Sina)

Kim Jang-yeol, head of research at Golden Bridge Investment, said the suggested retail price tag of the Samsung foldable phone, which the brokerage firm expects to be released in 1H19, could about KRW2M (about USD1,850) without subsidies from carriers. Golden Bridge also says it will have a 7.3” OLED screen when open and 4.5” when folded. (Android Headlines, BGR, CNET, Korea Times)

To fully achieve “full display” user experience, vivo has adopted sound emitting display technology. vivo NEX is using Awinic’s Smart K to achieve the sound-emitting display. (Laoyaoba, East Day)

Camera

Smartphone-use lens module maker Largan Precision is developing 7P (seven plastic lens pieces) lens modules and is likely to begin large-volume shipments in 2019, according to company CEO Lin En-ping. Largan may also begin to ship 5P periscope lens modules in 2019, Lin added. More smartphone models will be equipped with three or more lens modules in 2019, Lin indicated. (Digitimes, press, Laoyaoba, CNYES)

Phone

Transsion Holdings’s plans to backdoor list on the Chinese mainland have fallen through after the bestselling phonemaker in Africa was unable to agree on terms with the vessel company. Shimge Pump Industry Group has abandoned plans to buy Transsion, it said in a statement yesterday. It had announced plans for the reverse takeover in Mar 2018, when it said it would take a 51% stake in Transsion. (CN Beta, JRJ, East Money, Yicai Global)

Huawei consumer business group chairman He Gang has announced that Huawei P20 series shipment has reached more than 6M units after launched since 2.5 months ago. The global growth of the series has reached 81%, with PRC’s growth reaching 63% and overseas market reaching 150%. (Android Headlines, Pocket-Lint, CNET, Sohu, My Drivers)

According to Zenith, in 2019, people are expected to spend an average of 170.6 minutes each day on online activities like watching videos on YouTube, sharing photos on Facebook and shopping on Amazon. They will spend slightly less time — 170.3 minutes —watching TV. (CN Beta, Recode)

ZTE Corp will hold the 2018 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on 29 Jun 2018. ZTE plans to apply for a comprehensive credit line of CNY30B (USD4.6B) to Bank of China Co., Ltd. and a similar credit line of CNY38B (USD6B) to the Shenzhen Branch of the China Development Bank. (CN Beta, GizChina)

Wearables

Garmin has announced vívoactive 3 Music GPS smartwatch, which is equipped with an onboard storage for 500 songs, and could access to some online streaming service such as iHeartRadio. (CN Beta, The Verge, CNET)

Augmented / Virtual Reality

Microsoft is tentatively planning to unveil some details on the next version of HoloLens in 2H18. The HoloLens 2 headset, codenamed Sydney, will include an improved field of view, and will be a lot lighter and more comfortable to wear.  (The Verge, Thurrott, Engadget CN, Sina)

According to Canalys, the worldwide VR headset market grew 16% in 1Q18 as shipments reached a total of 650,000 units. This increase was largely driven by the fast-growing standalone VR headset segment, which helped China grew 200% while other major countries, such as the US and Japan, declined. Thanks to active participation from local vendors, China now dominates the standalone VR headset market, accounting for 82% of global shipments. (GizChina, Canalys, press, Canalys CN)

Automotive

Magna, one of the largest tier-one automotive industry suppliers in the world, has teamed up with Michigan-based startup May Mobility  for the building and deployment of self-driving shuttles. The plan is to scale May Mobility’s self-driving shuttle fleet across the U.S. The initial fleet will debut for passengers on 26 Jun 2018 in Detroit, Michigan, US. (TechCrunch, Reuters)

BMW China and Baidu have signed an agreement between BMW Connected and Baidu Internet of Vehicles on a home-to-vehicle cooperation. This will further expand the application of BMW Connected – from vehicles and mobile devices into the digital lives of customers. (CN Beta, BMW Group)

Artificial Intelligence

Google has announced its next AI research center will be in Accra, Ghana. Google said that employees in the new AI center, which will open later 2018, will work closely with local universities, other research centers, and policymakers on the potential uses of AI in Africa. (VentureBeat, Google, Sohu)

Samsung has introduced a new early-stage venture fund, Samsung NEXT Q Fund, meant to invest in artificial intelligence (AI) technology startups. The new fund aims to identify technologies that Samsung believes will potentially play a key role in the development of AI 5 years from now and onwards. (Android Headlines, TechCrunch, CNET, VentureBeat, TechWeb, iFeng)