7-28: Samsung ends its Transparent OLED Display Panel; Samsung is likely to ship over 350 million smartphones in 2016; Samsung’s revenue for the 2Q16 KRW 50.94 trillion; etc.
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Touch Display |
| Samsung ends its Transparent OLED Display Panel, which is the base panel used in all TOLED products available on the market. (TechRadar, Inavate, CN Beta) |
| AU Optronics (AUO) returned to profitability at the operating profit level in 2Q16, with consolidated revenues rising 12.6% sequentially to reach NTD80.09 billion (USD2.49 billion) on strong demand for TV panels and steadily rising prices. (Digitimes, press, OfWeek)
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| According to IHS Markit, AMOLED displays with LTPS backplane will account for 36% of all smartphone displays shipped in 2020, becoming the most-used display technology in smartphone displays, surpassing a-Si TFT LCD and LTPS TFT LCD displays. (IHS, press, Digitimes, 199IT)
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| Taiwan-based makers shipped 269.249 million small- to medium-size TFT-LCD panels during the second quarter of 2016, slipping 0.5% on quarter and 6.3% on year, according to Digitimes Research. Shipments in 3Q16 are projected at 288.123 million units. (Digitimes, press)
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Memory |
| In tandem with Western Digital, Toshiba announced its 3rd generation of BiCS flash chips. Toshiba will make the new flash at its New Fab 2 facility in Yokkaichi, Japan. Samples of the new NAND are already on their way to manufacturers, and Toshiba expects mass production of BiCS 3 in 1H17. (Digital Trends, CN Beta, Tech Report, Business Wire)
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| Samsung introduces Turbo Speed Technology (TST) for smartphone RAM performance optimization. It claims is capable of loading “applications up to 40% faster than a unit with double the RAM capacity”. (Phone Arena, Sam Mobile, ZOL, ChinaZ)
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Battery |
| Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea has made ultra-thin photovoltaics flexible enough to wrap around the average pencil. The photovoltaic is about 1µm thick. The researchers made the ultra-thin solar cells from the semiconductor gallium arsenide. (CN Beta, UPI, Phys, Digital Trends)
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Material |
| Washington University has found a novel way to purify drinking water quickly and efficiently using graphene oxide and sunlight. The new approach combines bacteria-produced cellulose and graphene oxide to form a bi-layered biofoam. (CN Beta, Indian Express, Gizmag, Siasat)
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Smartphones |
| Steve Milunovich, a hardware analyst at UBS, said the iPhone 7 will drive only moderate single-digit growth in Apple’s fiscal year 2017. UBS research suggests a third of iPhone users are still using older handsets, making it critical for Apple to migrate them to newer models, he said. (CN Beta, CNBC)
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| Samsung is likely to ship over 350 million smartphones in 2016, retaining its title as the largest smartphone vendor worldwide, estimated Digitimes. (Digitimes, press, Phone Arena, Tencent, Hexun) |
| Facebook reports USD6.44 billion in revenue and USD2.05 billion in profit for 2Q16, a 59% revenue increase from the same period last year. It has announced that monthly active users hit 1.71 billion during the 90-day period that ended in June. (Facebook, TechCrunch, Pocket-Lint, iFeng, Tencent, ZOL)
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| Samsung’s revenue for the 2Q16 (ended 30 June 2016) was KRW 50.94 trillion, an increase of KRW 2.40 trillion YOY, while operating profit for the quarter was KRW 8.14 trillion, an increase of KRW 1.24 trillion YOY. (TechCrunch, Samsung, 163, Sina)
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| Xiaomi Hongmi Pro is announced – 5.5” FHD OLED display, MediaTek Helio X25/X20 processor, 13MP-5MP dual-camera PDAF + 5MP cameras, 3/4GB RAM, 32/64/128GB storage, LTE, dual-SIM, fingerprint sensor, 4050mAh battery, from CNY1499. (Phone Arena, Xiaomi, 163, iFeng, PC Pop, Ubergizmo)
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| BLU Studio Touch is announced – 5” HD display, MediaTek MT6735 processor, 8MP + 5MP cameras, 1GB RAM + 8GB storage / 2GB RAM + 16GB storage, Android 6.0, LTE, 2500mAh battery, from USD99. (PR Newswire, The Verge, Android Headlines)
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Tablets |
| According to Digitimes, Huawei and Xiaomi have set their goals at 1 million notebooks for 2016, which are likely to fail. Orders placed by the two vendors already fell below 100,000 units each in March 2016. (Digitimes, press, Toutiao, Moqie) |
| Xiaomi Mi NoteBook Air is official – 12.5”/13.3” FHD display, Intel Core M3 processor (12.5”) / Intel Core i5-6200U processor (13.3”) , 4GB RAM + 128GB SSD (12.5”) / 8GB RAM + 256GB SSD (13.3”), USB Type-C, CNY3499 (12.5”) / CNY4999 (13.3”). (Tab Times, BJ News, TechWeb, PC Pop, 163, GSM Arena, Ubergizmo, PC Mag)
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| Lenovo Air 13 Pro is announced – 13” 1920×1080 display, Intel Core i5-6200U processor, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD, USB Type-C, fingerprint sensor, 46Whr battery, CNY5499. (CN Beta, Liliputing)
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| Fujitsu F-04GH tablet with iris scanner is announced – 10.5” 2560×1440 display, 1.8GHz hexa-core processor, 8.1MP + 2.4MP cameras, 3GB RAM, 32GB ROM, IP65 rated, 6000mAh battery. (Planet Biometrics, Mobile ID World, CN Beta)
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Wearables |
| Mercedes-Benz vehicle involved in an accident using the Rescue Assist mobile app. An update brings 3D imagery and AR, to the existing app, letting people involved in rescue operation get an even better overall picture of the situation when an accident happens. (CN Beta, Daimler, Gizmag, TechCrunch)
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| The AR mobile game Pokémon Go has been downloaded 75 million times since launched on 5 July 2016, according to Sensor Tower. (CNN, USA Today, VG247, Gamespot, CNET, SensorTower, 199IT)
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Internet of Things |
| General Electric (GE) is bringing its industrial Internet of Things (IoT) platform to China, and has partnered with Huawei to win more factory and utility contracts. Huawei will push GE’s Predix, an industrial IoT operating system, as its recommended platform to Chinese customers. (Read/Write, 163, Tencent) |
