IF / News

Chipsets

MediaTek may become the largest supplier of chips for Huawei’s smartphones in 2H20, and 5G SoC shipments are expected to increase to 42M units throughout 2020. Not only will it benefit in 2020, but MediaTek’s 5G SoC shipments will continue to soar in 2021. MediaTek’s originally expected shipment of 121M units has risen sharply to 145M units, with nearly 25M more units in a year, except for normal growth. Huawei will obviously contribute a lot, which will bring an additional 5.4% profit to MediaTek. (My Drivers, China Times, CTEE)

Qualcomm has announced FastConnect 6900 and 6700 Mobile Connectivity Systems. Signature Wi-Fi 6 series features are now available in the newly minted 6 GHz band, or Wi-Fi 6E, for multi-gigabit speeds (up to 3.6 Gbps with FastConnect 6900), low latency performance, and superior Wi-Fi capacity. In parallel, integrated Bluetooth 5.2 and advanced audio features deliver meaningful improvements to audio quality, reliability, and responsiveness. (CN Beta, Qualcomm, XDA-Developers, Neowin)

Qualcomm is introducing four new Wi-Fi 6E Networking Pro platforms, each including support for Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6 — capable of operating simultaneously on 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHZ frequency bands. Depending on the performance level an OEM chooses, it can offer anything from a business- or campus-scale enterprise access point to a home mesh Wi-Fi network, with support for up to 2,000 simultaneous clients. (CN Beta, ZDNet, VentureBeat, Hot Hardware)

Samsung is reportedly ready to start manufacturing 5nm Exynos chips in Aug 2020. The next chip will be called Exynos 992. The Exynos 992 will use ARM’s Cortex-A78 CPU cores and Mali-G78 GPU architecture. ARM has confirmed the Cortex-A78 will be used in chipsets built on a 5nm process that is also being developed by TSMC.  (GSM Arena, ZDNet, My Drivers, Gizmo China)

ASML has announced that it has completed system integration and testing of its first-generation HMI multibeam inspection (MBI) system for 5nm nodes and beyond. The new MBI system includes an electron optics system capable of creating and controlling multiple primary electron beamlets and then collecting and processing the resulting secondary electron beams, limiting beam-to-beam crosstalk to less than 2% and delivering consistent imaging quality. (My Drivers, CN Beta, ASML, Globe Newswire)

According to Guosheng Securities, SMIC’s capital expenditures are raised by USD1.1B to USD4.3B. With the capex increased, SMIC is accelerating its catch-up with TSMC. After 14nm enters mass production, N+1 / N+2 is more worth looking forward to. It is expected that with the expansion of 14nm capacity, it is planned to expand the capacity to 15,000 pieces / month by the end of 2020. The N+1 new platform has been introduced by customers, and the conversion rate of R&D investment has been accelerated. Compared with 14nm, N+1 has a 20% performance improvement, 57% reduction in power consumption, and 63% reduction in logic area, which means it is similar to the 7nm process except for performance. N+2 performance is expected reach the level of 7nm.  (Guosheng Securities report)

Touch Display

LG Display (LGD) will supply up to 20M OLED panels for the upcoming “iPhone 12” line, specially for the 6.1” “iPhone 12 Max”. At the same time, Samsung Display will produce 55M units. (Apple Insider, The Elec, Sina)

According to Sigmaintell, 1Q20 display panel shipments are 31.4M units, down 7.7% year-on-year, and display shipment area was 5Mm², down 3.8% year-on-year. In terms of shipment volume, BOE ranks first; in terms of shipping area, it has surpassed LG Display (LGD) for the first time. The average size of the display panel in 1Q20 is 24.0”, an increase of 0.7” year-on-year, and an increase of 0.2” month-on-month. (Sigmaintell, press, CN Beta)

ZTE’s patent for a new foldable phone shows that it uses a dual-camera + flip-out flexible display design. When folded, this new device looks quite compact. After flipping a small part of the screen area to the back, it can also be used with dual camera + flash.  (CN Beta, LetsGoDigital, TechNave)

ZTE’s patent filed with China’s CNIPA shows a phone with a tri-fold display. The phone can fold outwards in thirds to form a tablet. It appears that when unfolded, one side of the device will form a thicker ‘handle’. (Phone Arena, GizChina, Price Baba, Wanjiquan)

According to Guangzheng Hengsheng, with the development of smartphones in recent years, the market share of OLEDs in smartphone is expected to reach 37.7% in 2020. The penetration rate of OLED is directly related to its cost, and its cost is directly related to the production yield. If the prices of components and materials are reasonable and the production yield exceeds 80%, the cost of OLED will be lower than that of LCD. Once the cost is lower than LCD, OLED will replace LCD on a large scale with its performance advantages. (Guangzheng Hengsheng report)

As of Feb 2020, 25 AMOLED production lines have been built globally, 3 are under construction, and 2 are being planned. As for TFT-LCD, BOE is gradually replacing Samsung and LG Display’s production capacity to achieve a further leading position; and OLED manufacturing is still a certain distance from South Korean companies. Other than Samsung, BOE is still in a relatively leading position in the global OLED production line layout. (Guangzheng Hengsheng report)

In 2019, BOE shipped 39.1M OLED panels. Among them, there are 22.1M rigid OLED and 17M flexible OLED. For smartphone, BOE shipped a total of 17M OLED panels; for smartwatch, BOE shipped 22.1M units. Regarding the new production line, BOE’s Gen-10.5 production line set up in Wuhan is currently in the stage of ramping up production. During the epidemic, the overall production progress has not been greatly affected. (Guangzheng Hengsheng report)

Sharp has announced the decision to spin off the Display Device Business Division. The display business had annual sales of JPY651.4B in Mar 2020, while the camera business reached JPY333.4B in revenues, including internal sales. Sharp expects to complete the separations in the fiscal year 2020. (Laoyaoba, ACN, Yahoo, Telecom Paper)

Memory

Macronix International expects to start delivering 48-layer 3D NAND flash chip samples to its customers in 3Q20, followed by volume production later 2020. The company expects shipments of its 19nm SLC NAND products to ramp up substantially in 2H20, while its 3D NAND flash manufacturing yield rates will be greatly improved. The company will move forward developing 192-layer 3D NAND flash, and plans to utilize the majority of its 2020 capex estimated at NTD8.7B (USD290M) for its 3D NAND process development. (Digitimes, LTN, China Times, Yahoo)

Battery

Samsung reportedly might want to explore replaceable batteries again with for its mid-range and low-end smartphones. Upon further inspection, it was discovered that the SM_A013F code is a smartphone in development. It boasts a 3,000mAh battery and has 16/32GB of Storage. It may be just a test, to see how this trend will perform in 2020. (CN Beta, GizChina)

Connectivity

Cisco Systems has announced that it intends to acquire ThousandEyes, a security-software company, reportedly for close to USD1B. ThousandEyes’ Internet and Cloud intelligence platform delivers deep visibility and insights into the digital delivery of applications and services over the Internet. (CN Beta, CNBC, PRNewswire, Bloomberg)

Phone

ByteDance has more than doubled its revenues from USD7.4B in 2018 to USD17B in 2019, according to Bloomberg.  The firm released TikTok in 2016 and the app has already been downloaded over 2B times. ByteDance’s private valuation is reportedly around USD110B, and could fetch a valuation of up to USD180B in an initial public offering.  (CNBC, Bloomberg, SCMP, KrAsia, GizChina, IT Home)

Dailymotion, the video technology provider has announced a strategic partnership with Huawei Video, Huawei’s Entertainment Service which delivers its consumers a varied selection of international and local video content. Using Dailymotion’s advanced video solution technology as well as a substantial amount of international and local video content allows Huawei Video to engage more global audiences.  (CN Beta, Dailymotion, 9to5Google)

HMD Global is launching 3 new Nokia smartphones with Cricket Wireless: C5 Endi – 6.517” HD+ v-notch, MediaTek Helio P22, rear tri 13MP-5MP ultrawide-5MP depth + front 8MP, 3+64GB, Android 10.0, rear fingerprint scanner, Google Assistant button, 4000mAh 10W, USD170. C2 Tava / Tennen – 5.45” HD+ no-notch, MediaTek Helio A22, rear dual 8MP-2MP depth + front 5MP, 2+32GB, Android 10.0, no fingerprint scanner, Google Assistant button, 3000mAh 10W, the difference is both smartphones are colours, USD110. (Neowin, HMD Global, Gizmo China)

Huawei nova Lite 3 (rebranded P Smart 2020) is launched in Japan – 6.21” 1080×2340 FHD+ IPS u-notch, HiSilicon Kirin 710, rear dual 13MP-2MP depth + front 8MP, 4+128GB, Android 9.0 (GMS), rear fingerprint, 3400mAh 10W, JPY24,800 (USD231). (Gizmo China, Engadget, Huawei)

Infinix Hot 9 and Hot 9 Pro are launched in India featuring 6.59” 720×1600 HD+ HiD, MediaTek Helio P22, Android 10.0, rear fingerprint scanner, 5000mAh: Hot 9 – rear quad 13MP-2MP macro-2MP depth-QVGA low light + front 8MP, 4+64GB, INR8,499 (USD112). Hot 9 Pro – rear quad 48MP-2MP macro-2MP depth-QVGA low light + front 8MP, 4+64GB, INR9,499 (USD125). (GSM Arena, India Today)

Wearables

Global shipments of wearable devices grew 29.7% year over year during 1Q20 as total device volume reached 72.6M units according to IDC. Fueled by new product launches such as the Fitbit Charge 4 as well as aggressive price points from mainstays like Xiaomi and Huawei, the wristband category grew 16.2% during the quarter. Meanwhile, hearables grew 68.3% and accounted for 54.9% of the entire market. (Laoyaoba, GSM Arena, IDC)

Augmented / Virtual Reality

Varjo, maker of VR/XR headsets, has announced partnership with MeetinVR, creators of enterprise virtual collaboration software. MeetinVR will release a dedicated version of their application that supports all headsets in Varjo’s state-of-the-art product portfolio (the VR-2, VR-2 Pro and XR-1 Developer Edition) so enterprise users can experience a new level of immersion and visual fidelity during virtual collaboration.  (VentureBeat, Web Wire, Yivian)

HP is announcing Reverb G2 headset that is being developed in collaboration with Valve and Microsoft. It is  made for seamless integration with Windows Mixed Reality and SteamVR, and it has the same dual 2160×2160 displays with a 114° field of view as its predecessor. The Reverb G2 will be available for USD599. (My Drivers, Neowin, The Verge, UploadVR)

Google has released a new augmented reality (AR) feature that helps its users follow social distancing rules during the coronavirus pandemic. The free ‘Sodar’ tool uses a phone’s camera to superimpose an AR ring with a 6.5ft (2m) radius around the user.  (The Verge, TechCrunch, Daily Mail)

Home

Massachusetts-based smart home company Savant Systems has announced that the company is acquiring GE Lighting. GE Lighting portfolio still largely revolves around bulbs, with some push into more modern corners of the category, including LEDs. It is also the home to C by GE, a series of smart home products, including bulbs, plugs, switches and color strips. (TechCrunch, Business Wire)

According to IDC, since 2011, the average annual growth rate of China’s projector equipment shipments has reached 14.19%, and the industry space has gradually opened up: Among them, the average annual growth rate of China’s projection equipment shipments from 2011 to 2015 is 8.16%, while the 2015-2018 compound growth rate of China’s projector equipment shipments has reached 25.70% annually. Since 2016, driven by the penetration of consumer-level scenarios, new light source applications and online channel volume, the industry has entered a stage of rapid development. According to IDC, the compound growth rate of China’s projection equipment market will reach 14% in 2020-2024. (Essense Securities report)

Artificial Intelligence

Apple has acquired machine-learning startup Inductiv to improve data used in Siri. Inductiv has developed technology that uses artificial intelligence to automate the task of identifying and correcting errors in data.  (Mac Rumors, Bloomberg, Sina, 36Kr)

Fintech

Samsung has launched a new mobile-first money management system called Samsung Money, complete with an accompanying Mastercard and exclusive Samsung Pay benefits. Samsung Money is designed in partnership with fintech company SoFi, and is known officially as “Samsung Money by SoFi”. (Apple Insider, Android Headlines, Samsung, CN Beta)

Gemini Trust, a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian, is collaborating with Samsung Electronics to power the Samsung Blockchain Wallet and bring crypto to the fingertips of Samsung Blockchain Wallet users in the United States and Canada. This integration will allow Samsung Blockchain Wallet users to connect to the Gemini mobile app to buy, sell, and trade crypto.  (CN Beta, Gemini, PR Newswire)