08-23: Unisoc is aiming to release its 7nm baseband solution designed for 5G smartphones in 2020; MediaTek aims to launch 5G phone with price tag of CNY2,000 in 2H20; etc.
Chipsets
Unisoc Communications, Tsinghua Unigroup’s chipmaking arm, has had its 7nm 5G baseband chip proceed to the customer validation stage. Unisoc is aiming to release its 7nm baseband solution designed for 5G smartphones in 2020. Dubbed Ivy 510, the chip is manufactured using TSMC’s 12nm process technology and will serve as Unisoc’s crucial offering in the transition to 5G. (Digitimes, press, CN Beta, 36Kr)
MediaTek general manager Joe Chen has indicated that Mediatek continues to fight for 4G markets, at the same time aims to launch 5G phone with price tag of CNY2,000 in 2H20. MediaTek expects that 5G phone market size in China in 2020 would reach 100M units, with global market size reaching 130M~140M. (Gizmo China, C114, Yicai, UDN)
Huawei has announced that it Ascend 910 chipset, which is revealed in Oct 2019 has been put in commercial use. Huawei’s rotating chairman Xu Zhijun has indicated the chipset will not be sold separately, but will be sold in the form of AI accelerator card, acceleration module, server and all-in-one. Huawei will continue to invest and introduce more AI chipsets to continuously provide more abundant, more economical and more suitable AI computing power for other segments. He has announced the names of some AI chips, such as Ascend 610, Ascend 620, and Ascend 920. (CN Beta, GizChina)
Touch Display
BOE Technology VP Chang Cheng has revealed that the company will ship ‘waterfall’, foldable, blind hole (under display camera) flexible AMOLED displays in 2H19. He has also indicated that the overall smartphone display shipment has reached 1.6B units in 2018, and expects to grow to 1.63B units in 2026, with CAGR of 0.3%. In particular, flexible display shipment will grow from 159M units in 2018 to 481M units in 2026, with CAGR of about 15%. (CN Beta, Yicai, Global Times)
Camera
OnePlus is reportedly working on a phone with a circular camera at the rear. Leaked images show a round camera cutout on the back of a phone. (GSM Arena, Twitter, 9to5Google, Sina)
Sensory
Nissan’s ProPilot Assist is one of the first super-advanced driver-aid suites to be made widely available in an affordable car. Nissan is working with Intel’s Mobileye to power its hands-off freeway driving feature. Mobileye has announced the partnership, along with a similar partnership with China’s NIO. (CN Beta, CNET)
Phone
According to Strategy Analytics, the average Apple smartphone has been active for 18 months and 16.5 months for Samsung. 1 in 5 Caucasians plan to keep their phones for 3 years or more while Baby Boomers increasingly are delaying their smartphone purchase for 3+ years. Apple and Samsung are dominant with brand loyalty above 70% with a huge separation to second tier vendors LG and Motorola with repeat purchase intentions below 50%. (Strategy Analytics, report, CN Beta)
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposes certain regulations on the emissions of smartphones. To quantify this quantity, the “specific absorption rate” or SAR is used. It depends globally on the energy of the waves relative to the tissue they pass through (here our skin). The FCC has determined a maximum magnitude for this value. Samsung Galaxy S8, for example, has a DAS equal to 8 times the maximum allowed value. And the S8 is not the only one to exceed the limits, the iPhone 7 is also doing it. (My Drivers, GizChina, Chicago Tribune)
Samsung Galaxy A50s and A30s are announced: A50s – 6.4” 1080×2340 FHD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-U, Samsung Exynos 9610, rear tri 48MP-5MP-8MP ultrawide + front 32MP, 4+64 / 6+128GB, Android 9.0, fingerprint on display, 4000mAh 15W. A30s – 6.4” 720×1560 HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-V, Samsung Exynos 7904, rear tri 25MP-5MP-8MP + front 16MP, 3+32 / 4+64 / 4+128GB, Android 9.0, fingerprint on display, 4000mAh 15W. (Neowin, Android Authority, CN Beta, Sam Mobile, GSM Arena)
vivo iQOO Pro is announced – 6.41” 2340×1080 FHD+ Super AMOLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+, rear tri 48MP-13MP ultrawide-2MP depth + front 12MP, 8+128/256GB or 12+128GB, Android 9.0, fingerprint on display, 4500mAh 45W, CNY3798~4098 (5G) / CNY3198~3498 (4G). (CN Beta, GizChina, Gizmo China, My Drivers, Engdaget, vivo)
Wearables
Huawei Vice President, Vincent Yang, has revealed that the company is “to launch a smartwatch using HarmonyOS”. (Android Headlines, Wearable, GSM Arena, Moore)
Apple’s patent suggests that the company is reportedly working on future versions of the Apple Watch with millimeter wave hardware, which it suggests will be capable of supporting either 5G cellular networks or a fast variant of Wi-Fi known as 802.11ad. (VentureBeat, USPTO, Patently Apple)
