9-18: Indian manufacture slow and cycle is long, and tax is a huge factor; Xiaomi Mi4 is found out having a “backdoor”; etc.
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Chipset |
| According to a teardown of Apple iPhone 7 by Chipworks, A10 Fusion processor part number is APL1W24,339S00255. A10 is thin thanks to TSMC’s InFO packaging technology. Intel has four components: the baseband LTE modem, two transceivers and a power management chip. (CN Beta, Forbes, Patently Apple, Chipworks)
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| Although volumes are still small, fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) could grow rapidly in the wake of Globalfoundries’ plans for a 12nm process. Whether Samsung or a new fab coming up in Shanghai will adopt FD-SOI will be a big factor, said veteran market watcher Handel Jones of International Business Strategies (IBS). (EE Times, article, EE Focus, CCIDNet, 52RD)
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Touch Display |
| Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) shipped 35.59 million small- to medium-size TFT-LCD panels in Aug 2016, increasing 0.5% on month and 12.3% on year, according to the company. (Digitimes, press, China Times) |
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Camera |
| IDC Christopher Chute indicates that in 2012~2013, worldwide DSLR shipment declined 8.2%, and in 2017 it will decline 22.3%. About 2/3 of the DSLR market used to be consumer models priced about USD600~700 and that is gone away because all those buyers are using phones. Henry Wang from Parks Associates also agrees that the “gap between smartphone camera and DSLR is shrinking”. Thus, while everyday camera consumers are ditching entry-level DSLRs for smartphones, professionals are getting comfortable with adding smartphones to their tool belts. (CN Beta, Slate, press) |
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Memory |
| iFixIt teardown of the 12GB Apple iPhone 7 Plus shows that it is using Toshiba’s TLC NAND chip. The tear-down iPhone 7 Plus is using a chip model number THGBX6T0T8LLFXF Toshiba NAND chip. (iFixIt, article, CN Beta)
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| SK Hynix’s HBM Gen 2 (HBM2) is entering mass production. SK Hynix intends to initially offer its clients 4GB HBM2 4Hi stack KGSDs (known good stack dies) based on 8Gb DRAM devices. The memory devices will feature a 1024-bit bus as well as 1.6 GT/s (H5VR32ESM4H-12C) and 2.0 GT/s (H5VR32ESM4H-20C) data-rates, thus offering 204 GB/s and 256 GB/s peak bandwidth per stack. (AnandTech, SK Hynix, 163)
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Battery |
| NC State has developed a thermoelectric generator that is roughly 1cm2 that would attach to a user’s bicep. The device would then be able to generate anything up to 20μW, which may be enough to power a medical sensor. (Engadget, NC State, Applied Energy, TechCrunch, 163)
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Smartphones |
| Almost half (49%) of smartphone users in the U.S. downloaded zero apps in the last month, a new ComScore report, representing a 3-month average period that ended in June. While the study also found that 51% of people downloaded 1 / 2 apps in a given month, the total number of downloads is highly concentrated at the top: Only 13% of users account for more than half of all download activity in a given month. (Fortune, comScore, MediaNama, article, ARC, 91.com)
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| Shenzhen association of mobile phone president Wenping Sun indicates that as India does not own a complete supply chain eco-system, its manufacture and cycle is longer. Tax is currently a big factor in India. He also indicates the self-reliance of the manufacturers determine its capability of localization in India. For instance, Foxconn itself can manage 90% of its supply chain with 10% outsourced. Huawei perhaps 70% relies on outsource, and only self-manage 30%. (CN Beta, 163)
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| Google acquires mapping analytics and visualization startup Urban Engines. (CN Beta, TechCrunch, Silicon Angle, Capital OTC)
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| A Computer Science student from Netherlands, Thijs Broenink has discovered the presence of a backdoor in Xiaomi Mi 4. The backdoor could allow an attacker – or Xiaomi itself – to silently install any app on the phone. Xiaomi has confirmed that any APK without an official signature will fail to install. However, it did not rebut the claims that the company itself could install anything it wants in the background without user interaction. (WCCF Tech, Android Headlines, Linux IDC)
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| Coolpad announced its 1H16 result, revenue reached HKD5.277 billion, a 39.9% drop from last year same period’s HKD8.783 billion. LeEco Vice Chairman Liu Hong, now also an executive director at Coolpad indicates that Coolpad+LeEco smartphone target in 2016 is 50~60 million units, and 100 million in 2017, entering top 4. (CN Beta, 163, Anzhuo, Asia Nikkei)
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| Samsung reportedly to launch 2017 versions of Galaxy A series, and according to Zauba (Indian export-import), there are 3 variants—SM-320F Galaxy A3 (2017), SM-520F Galaxy A5 (2017) and SM-A720 Galaxy A7 (2017). (CN Beta, GSM Arena, Zauba, Tech Update)
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Wearables |
| China Electronics Standardization Institute’s “2016 VR Development White Paper” indicates that there is a huge market potential of VR in China, yet there are still a lot of obstacles and challenges to live up to the potential – hardware technologies are limited, software usability is poor, application area is restrained, and user interaction experience is far from satisfaction. (CN Beta, CESI report)
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| FOVE announce that their first eye-tracking VR headset, the FOVE 0, will open for pre-orders on 2 Nov. 2016 – 2560×1440 OLED display, 70Hz refresh rate, 90°~100° FOV, claimed to be accurate to within 1°, and fast enough for foveated rendering. (CN Beta, Road to VR)
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| A Canadian company Electra Meccanica launching an affordable electric vehicle, Solo EV, priced at USD15,000. The Solo’s 16kWh battery gives the motor 82 horsepower and 140 pound-feet of torque. 0-62 comes in 8s and it is limited to a top speed of 81mph. (TechNews, CNET)
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Economics |
| Deal activity to VC-backed companies in Asia dropped sharply for the third-straight quarter, according to data in the 2Q16 KPMG And CB Insights, highlighting concerns regarding global economic uncertainty, the slowing of the Chinese economy and depreciation of the Chinese currency. 2016 is on track to end both annual growth streaks, with just USD14.6 billion invested across 732 deals over 1H16. (CB Insights, report, Sohu)
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