8-23: Ramos denies the bankruptcy rumor; Amoi’s half stake is priced at CNY10,000 only; Samsung is changing its foundry strategy; Innolux says 2H16 panel is at extreme tight-supply; etc.
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Chipset |
| According to IC Insights, for 2016, the pure-play foundry market is expected to increase by 9% and greatly outperform the growth rate of total IC market, which is forecast to drop by 2% this year. 2016 the “Big 4” pure-play foundries (i.e., TSMC, GlobalFoundries, UMC, and SMIC) are forecast to hold an imposing 84% share of the total worldwide pure-play IC foundry market. As shown, TSMC is expected to hold a 58% market share in 2016. (IC Insights, press, TechNews)
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| ARM announces ARM v8-A with Scalable Vector Extensions (SVE), aiming for high-performance computing (HPC) and data center. Fujitsu is the first public licensee on board, with plans to include ARM v8-A cores with SVE in the Post-K RIKEN supercomputer in 2020. (Android Authority, MIT, AnandTech, EE Times, Sohu, My Drivers)
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| Nvidia unveils Tegra Parker SoC, built on 16nm TSMC process. Its GPU is based on Pascal architecture, CPU is Denver 2 architecture—4×A57+2×Denver 2 quad-core, ARM v8 instructions, and GPU is using 256 CUDA cores. (CN Beta, WCCF Tech)
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| Intel’s new Atom T5500 and 5700 chips — codenamed Broxton have features found in low-end PC processors, but they are targeted at robots, drones, wearables, and smart home devices. (Motley Fool, PC World, CN Beta)
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| Microsoft revealed HoloLens chip, Holographic Processing Unit (HPU). The HPU is a custom-designed chip with a 28nm processor by TSMC that has 24 Tensilica DSP (digital signal processor) cores. It has 65 million logic gates, 8MB of SRAM cache memory and a layer of 1GB of DDR3 RAM on top. Yet the package measures only 12mm×12mm. (TechNews, CN Beta, Ars Technica, PC World, CNET)
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| Samsung Electronics is changing its strategy on semiconductor foundry business from mass-production of small amount of goods to small amount of production of variety of goods. This is its measure to get out of sales structure that had been depending on one or 2 major companies such as Apple and Qualcomm. Samsung calls this strategy ‘open foundry’. (Android Authority, ET News, 51Touch) |
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Touch Display |
| Innolux is demonstrating several OLED prototypes – 5.5” WQHD (534ppi) flexible AMOLED built on plastic substrate and an LTPS backplane, and 12.3” AMOLED aims for automotive applications. (TechNews, OLED-Info, Digitimes, CTimes)
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| Samsung Electronics is expected to pour a whopping KRW17 trillion (USD15 billion) into 3-D NAND flash memory chips and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels, both key parts for smartphones, in 2016. Samsung has hinted it would invest about KRW26 trillion in 2016. (TechNews, Korea Herald, LED Inside) |
| Innolux chairman Jyh-Chau Wang indicates that 2H16 market demand is better-than-expected, panel supply is much lower than demand, which he has faced in 20 years of panel industry. (TechNews, China Times)
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Camera |
| According to Digitimes, Primax Electronics has increased production capacity of its compact camera modules (CCMs) by 10%, with production of 12 million units a month, of which 70% are 13MP models. The company is also expected to land more orders for dual-camera modules in 2H16, triggered by the planned launch of Apple’s dual-camera iPhone 7 devices. (CN Beta, Digitimes, press) |
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Memory |
| Toshiba announced that future generation of its FlashAir, an SD memory card supporting embedded wireless LAN communications, will implement Eyefi Connected features that the company has been granted the license from US-based Eyefi. (CN Beta, SlashGear, Business Wire, Photography Blog)
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| Samsung and SK Hynix are developing 3rd-gen High Bandwidth Memory (HBM3). HBM3 will double density of the individual memory dies from 8Gb to 16Gb (~2GB). HBM3 will feature a lower core voltage than the 1.2V of HBM2. (TechSpot, CN Beta, WCCF Tech, AnandTech, Ars Technica)
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Sensory |
| Mobileye and Delphi are teaming up to develop fully autonomous vehicle system by 2019. Mobileye’s focus lies in computer vision, machine learning and mapping, while Delphi specializes in software, sensors and systems integration. (CN Beta, NY Times, Forbes, CNET)
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| Apple is granted a patent titled “visual-based inertial navigation” detailing a method of device localization (mapping) using computer vision and inertial measurement sensors, one of the first inventions to be reassigned from acquisition of augmented reality startup Flyby Media early 2016. (CN Beta, Apple Insider, USPTO, Patently Apple)
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Connectivity |
| MIT CSAIL has created a “MegaMIMO 2.0” (multiple input, multiple output) system that coordinates multiple access points at once, syncing their phases so that multiple transmitters can use the same frequency slice without interference. The transfer speeds jump about 360% compared to conventional Wi-Fi. (Engadget, TechCrunch, MIT, ACM, CN Beta, BGR, Forbes) |
| Tom Moore, who previously co-founded WildBlue Communications, will head up Project Loon in Google. He is replacing Mike Cassidy, the project’s leader since 2012, who will be staying on at Google X to do different projects. (CN Beta, Recode, Business Insider, Bloomberg)
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Smartphones |
| Ramos mobile officially denies rumour of bankruptcy, and protest from employees. However, Ramos admits that company was facing tight cash flow to pay up some suppliers, causing rage among some more extreme suppliers. (163, My Drivers, CN Beta)
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| Sichuan Jiuzhou Electric Group is selling its 49.215% stake of China’s phone vendor Amoi for CNY10,000. (TechNews, CNC, OfWeek, eMoney) |
| Google has recently backed several early startups from former employees, including Hello, adding to Google’s already complex weave of corporate financing. (Android Headlines, 9to5Google, Recode, 163, 36Kr)
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| A combination of new developers entering the space and rising ad budgets will drive increased spending in years to come. US app-install ad revenue will grow to over USD7 billion by year-end 2020, according to BI Intelligence estimates. (Android Headlines, Business Insider, press, Venture Beat)
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| Pinterest has acquired the online bookmarking service Instapaper. (Android Headlines, CN Beta, CNET, Business Insider, Instapaper) |
| Flagship smartphones from Samsung and Xiaomi see prices cut in India. (Android Authority, India Times, Rayanera, NDTV, GSM Arena)
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| Samsung Pay nears 100 million transactions and facilitating more than KRW2 trillion, about USD1.78 billion on first anniversary, since launched on 23 Aug. 2015. (Android Authority, Samsung, Huanqiu, 163) |
| Samsung indicates that stronger-than-expected demand for the new Galaxy Note 7 is causing supply constraints globally, suggesting strong initial sales for the premium device. (CN Beta, Fortune, Channel News Asia) |
| Tizen-powered Samsung Z2 is official – 3.97” display, quad-core Spreadtrum processor, 5MP + VGA cameras, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, Tizen 2.4, 1500mAh battery, INR4590 (~USD70). (GSM Arena, Sam Mobile, CNMO, 163)
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| 360 Q5 and Q5 Plus are official in China: Q5 – 5.5” FHD 2.5D curved display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, 2×13MP + 13MP cameras, 4GB RAM, 128GB eMMC, 360 OS, security chip, USB Type-C, 3200mAh battery, from CNY1999. Q5 Plus – 6” FHD 2.5D curved display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 2×13MP + 13MP cameras, 4 / 6GB RAM, 128GB eMMC, 360 OS, security chip, USB Type-C, 3700mAh battery, from CNY2599. (CN Beta, ZOL, DoNews, Gizmo China)
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| Audio oriented Cubot Echo is announced – 5” HD display, MediaTek MT6580 processor, 13MP + 5MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, Android 6.0, Awinic AW87319 audio chip, 3000mAh battery. (GizChina, Cubot)
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| Meizu m U10 / U20 are announced, with 13MP PDAF + 5MP cameras, 2 / 3GB RAM, 16 / 32GB ROM, YunOS, LTE, dual-SIM, front and back glass design, mTouch 2.1 fingerprint sensor: m U10 – 5” HD IPS LCD display, MediaTek MT6750 processor, 2760mAh battery, from CNY899. m U20 – 5.5” FHD IPS LCD display, MediaTek Helio P10 MT6755 processor, 3260mAh battery, from CNY1099. (CN Beta, TechWeb, ChinaZ)
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Wearables |
| Google has started sending out an update to Android users so that the operating system will support Daydream VR. Google is now expected to launch the platform in a matter of weeks. (Phone Arena, Bloomberg, Tencent, Sina, Leiphone) |
| Acer is said to be planning to unveil a high-end smartwatch for the gaming market and a new smart wearable device. (CN Beta, Digital Trends, Digitimes) |
| Fitbit did not steal Jawbone’s trade secrets, according to a ruling issued by the US International Trade Commission (ITC). The case began when Jawbone accused Fitbit of poaching its employees and using their knowledge of Jawbone’s trade secrets in 2015. Jawbone also claimed that Fitbit violated some of Jawbone’s patents. (CN Beta, Mac Rumors, Business Insider) |
| Fossil will be will be launching more wearables before the end of 2016, with prices spanning USD100 to USD400. (Android Headlines, ReadWrite, Motley Fool) |
| Earlier 2016 Visa has created an NFC ring that would allow people to make payments using it. And now it can be pre-ordered for GBP40. (Engadget, NFC Ring, Infineon, Ubergizmo, YeSky)
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Internet of Things |
| Lyft President John Zimmer blasted reports that it is shopping itself around, disputing a series of recent news stories saying that Lyft had failed to find a buyer after talking to 6 different companies. (CN Beta, Apple Insider, Business Insider) |
| Japanese electronics maker Sharp will review its TV brand licensing deals overseas in an effort to boost its global presence under the aegis of Foxconn. Sharp effectively exited the money-losing TV business in those markets and licensed its brand to China’s Hisense Group in the Americas and to Universal Media Corp Slovakia in Europe. (CN Beta, Reuters, India Times, Global Times) |
| TECHnalysis Research conducted a survey of 1,000 US consumers who currently own a car and are planning to purchase one over the next 2 years. Though interest in automotive technologies, including autonomous driving, electric / hybrid vehicles, ridesharing services, etc. is growing, the influence of these technologies on car purchase priorities is still small. (TechSpot, TECHnalysis Research, blog, CN Beta)
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Others |
| IEEE has formed a special interest group on blockchain technology. The idea is to create continuing-education courses to train people who want to work on the technology and develop standards for it. (TechNews, IEEE)
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| A survey by DiaNEOsis in June 2016 revealed that many Greeks were facing an increasing struggle to get by. Extreme poverty in the Greek population (of 11 million people) had risen from 2.2% in 2009, to 15% in 2015, the public opinion survey of 1,300 people showed, with 1.6 million people now living below in extreme poverty. (TechNews, CNBC, Greek Reporter) |
| As per latest ranking released by New World Wealth, India is right now world’s 7th most wealthiest country with a total individual wealth of USD5,600 billion based on the individual assets of their citizens. Note that wealth refers to net assets of a person. (TechNews, News World India, Trak.In, New World Wealth report)
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| According to a 2016 Bankrate survey in US, millennials are strong savers, with 62% of adults between the ages of 18-29 saving at least 5% of their income. The factors driving this are limited worker protections and benefits. (Quartz, Baltimore Sun, TechNews) |
| According CB Insights, in total, over USD1.1 billion has been deployed across 21 deals to Chinese digital health companies in 1H16. Deal activity in 1H16 was nearly equivalent with that of all of 2015. (CB Insights, press)
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