3-12: TSMC this year 50% revenue from China; Intel and MediaTek are pushing IoT; Apple to use OLED in 2018, LGD is preparing for it; etc.
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Chipsets |
| TSMC is expected to see 50% of its 2016 revenues generated from orders placed by its fabless customers based in China and Taiwan. MediaTek, Spreadtrum and HiSilicon are set to ship a combined 600-700 million handset chips in 2016. (Digitimes, press, My Drivers) |
| Intel is strengthening its competitiveness in the IoT market, pushing integration between upstream R&D and downstream manufacturing to gain market share in China. (Digitimes, press, OfWeek) |
| Robert Bosch GmbH announced it would launch its own “cloud” computing network to connect up anything from cars to thermostats via the Internet. (WSJ, Auto News, Yahoo, CN Beta) |
| Smartphone chipset solution providers have recently stepping up efforts to win more orders for system chips, including image signal processors, modems, and RF (radio frequency) chips, instead of focusing competition on the core number of their CPUs. CPUs account for only 15% of entire performance of a smartphone, and its performance can be boosted to a great extent by other chips. (Digitimes, press) |
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Display |
| Apple is aiming to release iPhones with OLED in 2017 but may be forced to wait until 2018 depending on supply and yield issues. A new report published today says that LG will have a new OLED plant up and running by 2018 to deal with Apple’s expected expanded OLED display orders. (CN Beta, Motley Fool, Patently Apple) |
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Memory |
| A new ultra-fast memory technology from Intel and Micron branded as Optane is expected to launch in 2017. Using 3D Xpoint technology, Optane is said to offer speeds 1,000 times faster and more durable than common flash storage. (Apple Insider, CN Beta) |
| SMIC and RRAM leader Crossbar announce strategic partnership agreement working on non-volatile Crossbar resistive RAM (RRAM) for MCUs, SoCs and other embedded non-volatile applications. (EE Trend, Yahoo) |
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Battery |
| SRI International is launching ReBOOT shoe concept, a steel-toe work boot that uses room-temperature water insoles, cooled by tiny fans, to keep people feeling cool. (TechNews, Green Tech Media) |
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Connectivity |
| There were 1.280 billion subscribers of mobile communication services in China as of the end of January 2016, declining 1.97% on month and 0.81% on year, according to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). (Digitimes, press, MIIT)
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| Google wants to make its Google Fiber service 1000 times faster than it is today, which is speeds of up to 1Gbps. (CN Beta, Yahoo) |
| A ruling issued by a U.S. Department of Commerce bureau that would restrict the sale of parts to Chinese telecom giant ZTE could have broad ramifications for a number of U.S.-based chip companies, particularly a handful of small to mid-sized firms that supply optical transceivers, such as Oclaro, Acacia, etc. (EE Times, press, OfWeek) |
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Smartphones |
| According to Creative Strategies, in the U.S., roughly 15%-18% of the mobile market still uses a feature phone. They skew older, with 50 percent of them saying they were in the 60+ demographic. They skew slightly more male than female. (Re/Code, 199IT)
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| According to IDC, the total smartphone shipments in Southeast Asia (SEA) hit slightly over 100 million units in 2015, posting a YoY growth of 22%. Indonesia remains the largest market, accounting for nearly 29% of the total SEA market. It was followed by Thailand and the Philippines at 22% and 14%, respectively. (IDC, press, report, Digitimes)
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| Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s arm, Ant Financial Services Group, is seeking a valuation of nearly USD60 billion in its current round of funding. (TechNews, Reuters, WSJ, Yahoo) |
| Analysts on Wall Street expect the Apple new 4” “iPhone SE” may be priced at USD450, taking the place of the entry-level iPhone 5s. But if Apple were to keep the iPhone 5s around at a cheaper price, it could allow the company to tap into new markets. (CN Beta, Apple Insider) |
| Shareholders of Samsung C&T Corp , Samsung Group’s [SAGR.UL] de facto holding company, have approved allowing an outside director to serve as chairman of the board. (CN Beta, WSJ, Yahoo) |
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Wearables |
| Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said the IonVR product is expected to be much more advanced than current Apple iPhone-based VR accessories. IonVR has created a proprietary optics system it calls “MotionSync”, which it claims will greatly reduce motion sickness when used with mobile devices like Apple’s iPhone. (Apple Insider, CN Beta) |
| Virtual reality (VR) device shipments will total more than 50 million units by 2020, according to ABI Research. This equates to a CAGR of almost 85%. (EE Times, ABI Research, press, Game Dog) |
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Internet of Things |
| Sonos has announced that it will be “letting go of some employees”, part of reshaping the company in a new direction. (Engadget, Sonos) |
| Toshiba’s board granted Canon preferential negotiating rights. Canon’s bid is worth more than JPY700 billion (USD6.21 billion). (Nikkei, CN Beta) |
| General Motors announced its plan to acquire Cruise Automation, a company that achieved acclaim by selling sensor-laden “kits” that enabled car owners to add autopilot driving features to their cars after-market. (Motley Fool, Yahoo, CN Beta) |
| Porsche confirmed plans to make the all-electric Mission E concept a reality. (CN Beta, Digital Trends, Motor 1) |
