IF / News

Chipsets

MediaTek has announced a new chipset named Helio G70. The Helio G70 is an octa-core processor that constitutes four cores of Cortex A75 working at 2GHz and four cores of Cortex A55 clocking at 1.7GHz. The SoC is coupled with 820MHz Mali-G52 2EEMC2. The smartphones powered by Helio G70 can deliver maximum resolutions of 1080×2520 pixels. It supports up to 8GB of 1800MHz LPDDR4x and eMMC 5.1 storage. (Liliputing, Gizmo China, XDA-Developers, MediaTek, Tencent)

China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) has reportedly recently received orders for 14nm FineFET process manufacturing from HiSilicon, which has been among major clients of TSMC’s Nanjing fab that was opened in late 2018 and entered directly 16nm FinFET chip production. (Digitimes, Digitimes, press, Huawei Central, 163)

TF Securities has pointed out that the demand for high-end 5G mobile phone replacement is lower than the expectations of Android brand vendors; in order to improve the 5G chip shipment momentum and increase demand for replacement, Qualcomm has significantly reduced the price of 5G chip SD765 (SDM7250) by about 25%-30% To USD40, significantly lower than MediaTek’s 5G chip Dimensity 1000 price of USD60-70 (cost of about USD45-50). They expect that MediaTek’s major 5G chip brand customers (including OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi) will transfer a total of about 20M-25M chip orders from MediaTek to Qualcomm, which will start as soon as Feb 2020. (CN Beta, Laoyaoba, TF Securities)

Touch Display

Samsung’s 2^nd generation foldable phone is reportedly named Galaxy Z Flip instead of the previously rumoured Galaxy Bloom. (Phone Arena, Gizmo China)

OnePlus has announced its extremely smooth OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate in China. The display is a Quad HD+ (QHD+) OLED “Fluid Display”, and it offers a refresh rate of 120Hz and 240Hz touch sampling rate. (Android Headlines, Weibo, CN Beta)

Pixelworks has announced that OPPO Group has signed a multi-year collaboration agreement with the Company to develop advanced display systems for smartphones, integrating the latest Pixelworks’ visual processor and software solutions. (Android Central, Globe Newswire, Globe Newswire)

Camera

The existence of a new mysterious smartphone with a 256MP sensor hit the web with a new mysterious smartphone will use a “256MP ultra-clear camera mode” interface.  From the user interface, it seems to be a mysterious Xiaomi smartphone. However, as of now, there is no report on the development of a 256MP sensor. (IT Home, CN Beta, Gizmo China)

Memory

DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology has developed 10nm process technology in-house, with risk production to kick off in 2H20. Nanya has disclosed that its in-house developed first-generation 10nm process node will be ready for risk production in 2H20. Nanya has also engaged in its second-generation 10nm process R&D, with risk production set to begin by 2022. (Digitimes, press, Digitimes, Bnext, UDN, Moore)

Battery

BYD Electronic chairman and president Chuangfu Wang has revealed that the “blade battery” recently developed by BYD will enter mass production for the first time in Mar 2020. The blade battery’s “volume specific energy density” is 50% higher than that of traditional batteries. BYD “Han” sedan will be the first model equipped with this blade battery. BYD Han will be launched in Jun 2020 and has a range of 600km. (CN Beta, Sina, DW News)

Connectivity

Samsung Electronics has announced the completion of an agreement to acquire TeleWorld Solutions (TWS), a network services provider headquartered in Chantilly, VA. TWS provides network design, testing and optimization services to mobile service and cable operators, equipment OEMs and other companies across the U.S. (Laoyaoba, TechCrunch, Samsung)

Phone

TF Securities expects that Apple will release 5 new iPhone models in 2020 (compared with only 3 in the past year), and the non-recurring engineering costs (NRE) of the new product development business of FIH Mobile is expected to benefit significantly. The 5 iPhone models in 2020 include the new 4.7” LCD model from 1H20 and the new 5.4”, 6.1” (rear dual camera), 6.1” (rear triple camera), and 6.7” OLED models from 2H20. In order to shorten the new iPhone release cycle and add new models, Apple needs EMS to provide more new product development resources. Among Hon Hai Precision, FIH Mobile is responsible for new product development, Hon Hai is responsible for assembly and shipment. (TF Securities, My Drivers, CN Beta)

TF Securities analyst Ming-chi Kuo expects shipments of Apple’s new iPhone in 2H20 will be 80M–85M units, as compared to the sales of 75M units of iPhone 11 models in 2019. In the overall shipment volume, the shipments of the mmWave version account for 15%–20% of 2020 iPhone. (TF Securities, Mac Rumors, Laoyaoba, GSM Arena)

TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo forecasts that FIH Mobile’s Android phone shipments are expected to grow significantly year-on-year. Their assembled phone customers are mainly Huawei and Xiaomi. In 2020, shipments to Huawei and Xiaomi customers will increase significantly year-on-year, about 15% -20% to about 50M units and 25% -30% to 45M, respectively. (TF Securities)

TCL Corp has announced it plans to rename itself TCL Technology Group Corp. TCL founder and Chairman Li Dongcheng has indicated that the new name also would over the possibility of the company extending its business into more tech-related fields besides display panels. (My Drivers, Caixing Global)

Gionee Steel 5 is launched in China – 6.217” 720×1280 HD+ IPS, octa-core processor, rear dual 12MP-2MP depth + front 13MP, 4+64 / 6+128GB, Android 9.0, no fingerprint scanner, 5000mAh 10W. (GizChina, GSM Arena, Playful Droid)

Doogee S5 Pro modular phone is announced – 6.3” 1080×2160 FHD+ IPS, MediaTek Helio P90, rear tri 48MP-8MP depth-8MP ultrawide + front 16MP, 8+128GB, Android 9.0, side fingerprint scanner, IP69 water / dust resistance, 5150mAh 24W, 10W wireless charging, USD369. (My Drivers, CN Beta, Notebook Check, Doogee)

Augmented / Virtual Reality

The AR/VR market is expected to take off in 2021 thanks to 5G commercialization, maturing 8K technology, the availability of AR/VR cloud platforms and game streaming services at telecom operators, with many companies showcasing their latest offerings at CES 2020 seeking to capture prospective business opportunities. (Digitimes, press, Digitimes, press)

Automotive

Google’s smart automotive solution Android Auto has surpassed the 100M download mark on Google Play Store. (GizChina, 9to5Google, Android Police, GSM Arena)

Fintech

Visa has announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Plaid, a network that makes it easy for people to securely connect their financial accounts to the apps they use to manage their financial lives. Visa will pay total purchase consideration of USD5.3B to acquire Plaid. (Engadget, Visa, Sina, CNBC)