IF / News

Chipset

Spreadtrum officially establishes a fully-owned subsidy in Nanjing Jiangbei New Area, with total investment of USD298M. (163, NJ Daily)

Spreadtrum announced that its LTE SoC platform SC9832 has been adopted by Algerian Condor. The 2 companies will collaborate to provide North African users with a high-performance LTE smartphone solution. (Press Release Point, Spreadtrum, Tsinghua Holdings)

Touch / Display

Jimmy Kim of IHS Display principal analyst indicates that after LG launching 55” OLED TV, the manufacturing cost of OLED TV panel is dropping following the increasing volume production. Jimmy Kim indicates that making OLED TV requires G8 or above production line, and 65” UHD OLED TV panel cost at G8 fab is estimated reaching USD1300. (CN Beta, Sohu)

2017 supposed to be year of TV panel shortage, and 1Q17 supposed to be the relatively more relaxed quarter. However, as Sharp decides to stop supplying TV panels to Samsung, Samsung must begin to stock up, making 1Q17 entering a supply tension stage. (Laoyaoba, OfWeek)

Sigma Intell estimates that, from the view of form factor, AMOLED is focusing on “curved and flexible”, while LCD is upgrading to “bezel-less and full display”.  As for integration of functions, it will be about TDDI in-cell, and also integration of fingerprint and display will appear in 2017. (Sigma Intell, article, China FPD, OfWeek)

Based on Sigma Intell, 2017 global flexible AMOLED smartphone panel production supply increases to 150M units (based on size of 5.5”), a 3-fold increase from 2016. (Sigma Intell, article, China FPD, OfWeek)

The OLED version of the new iPhone will allegedly all be curved as Apple ordered all plastic OLED — not glass — from Samsung Display. Samsung is capable of supplying a little less than 100M units of curved OLED displays to Apple. (Korea Herald, TechNews)

ITRI has developed a foldable on-cell touch AMOLED based on its FlexUPTM technology with high flexibility, lightweight and thin characteristics which make it superior over conventional glass display. The inward folding radius of the flexible on-cell Touch AMOLED is as small as 3mm with a high sensitivity touch performance at a border error smaller than 1.5mm, center error smaller than 1mm and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) greater than 20 measured by Linear. (TechNews, Patinformatics, CTimes)

Apple is widely expected to deploy displays based on organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), in at least one of its next generation iPhone models. Apple is still expected to utilize more traditional liquid crystal displays, or LCDs, in its mainstream iPhone models next year, though. (Motley Fool, CN Beta)

TrendForce reports that upstream LCD component suppliers based in China have significantly expanded their manufacturing capabilities through 2016 and will become stronger competitors against their international first-tier counterparts in 2017. As more advanced LCD panel fabs (Gen-8 and above) are being built in China and begin operation, local suppliers of materials and components such as glass substrates and polarizers are gearing up to fulfill their demand.s (TrendForce, press, TrendForce[cn], press)

Battery

Stanford University researchers have identified about two-dozen solid electrolytes that have the potential of one day replacing the volatile liquids used in laptops, smartphones, and other electronic gadgets. The results are based on methods adapted from AI and machine learning. (CN Beta, AZO Cleantech)

Samsung has been reportedly in talks with LG Chemical since it had to stop using batteries from its own affiliate Samsung SDI after the debacle surrounding the combustible Galaxy Note 7 phone in Oct. 2016. (Sammy Hub, Chosun, CN Beta)

Connectivity

SoftBank Group will reportedly invest some JPY100B in OneWeb Ltd., a U.S. startup that is planning to build a global satellite telecommunications network. The move is part of SoftBank’s strategy to expand its overseas presence to increase profits. (CN Beta, Asia First, Japan Times)

Smartphones

CMR estimates Samsung smartphone shipments target may fall short of 4M units for 2016 due to Galaxy Note 7 debacle. As per projected growth, Samsung was expected to touch revenues of INR45,446Cr in 2016, an increase of 46% compared to 2015.  However, following the Note 7 issue, it can earn revenues of INR38,989Cr, which means a growth of 25% in revenues in 2016. (199IT, CMR India, press)

According to CMR, by the end of Sept. 2016, India shipped 197.5M mobile handsets, of which 78.4M were alone shipped during 3Q16. 66% of the phones in 3Q16 were Made in India. A total of 137 brands shipped mobile phones, of which 69 shipped smartphones. (CMR, press)

Apple is about to fight the European Commission’s claims that it must pay the EUR13B in back taxes (USD13.6B) it allegedly owes from its deal with Ireland. (Engadget, Reuters, Hexun)

Morgan Stanley’s hardware analyst Katy Huberty expects that 2017 Apple iPhone upgrades on the back of OLED display, camera, and battery improvements which benefits Apple, Alps Electric, Goertek, Largan, Luxshare, Samsung, Sony, TDK. (TechNews, Barron’s, blog)

Tablets / PCs

LG G Pad III 10.1 is official in Korea – 10.1” 1200×1920 display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor, 5MP rear camera, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, LTE, 4800mAh battery. (Phone Arena, Liliputing, LG)

Internet of Things

Alexander Roepers of Atlantic Investment Management indicates his firm, which holds a 2.3% stake in Harman, will vote against the Samsung’s USD8B deal of acquisition. According to Roepers, the Stamford-based company is “worth a lot more.” (CN Beta, WSJ, Investopedia, Yahoo)

Samsung is reportedly focusing on increasing competitive edge and capabilities of its Smart Home Appliance business. Samsung is hiring employees who have experiences in Smart Home Appliance IoT field. (ET News)

More than 51% of users in Asia-Pacific express willingness to buy or use a driverless vehicle when available, but the possibility of being hacked is among key safety concerns. More than 60% wanted driverless cars with the intelligence to avoid traffic congestions and able to self-charge using solar energy, according to a Intel-commissioned study conducted by Intuit Research. (Fashaoyou, ZDNet, TechNews)

Morgan Stanley hardware analyst Katy Huberty indicates that in 2017 cloud adoption is inflecting higher and see white-box maker Quanta, and companies that can move up-the-stack, like IBM, as beneficiaries. (TechNews, Barron’s, blog)

Morgan Stanley hardware analyst Katy Huberty takes a crack at what comes after mobile technology, noting that “every 10 years a new computing cycle emerges that is 10 times the size of prior cycle”. She believes investments are concentrated around 4 key themes: 1) VR / AR, 2) IoT, 3) AI & Machine Learning, and 4) Autonomous vehicles. Together, these markets are forecasted to drive $13T of spend and forecasts for some markets. (TechNews, Barron’s, blog)

BlackBerry will open an autonomous driving research center, as it tries to make itself an indispensable under-the-hood piece of the automotive industry’s weaponry in the self-driving vehicle arms race. BlackBerry is expanding subsidiary QNX’s Ottawa facility to focus on developing advanced driver assistance and autonomous vehicle technology. (TechNews, Reuters, VentureBeat, Yahoo)

According to Strategy Analyitcs, robots for the home and for business are poised for rapid growth into the next decade.  Over the next six years, through 2022, personal service robot sales, which include vacuum cleaner robots and personal companion robots, will grow by 280% and professional service robots such as delivery and cleaning robots will grow by over 600%. (Strategy Analytics, press, Laoyaoba)

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV has completed building 100 minivans Pacifica that are being outfitted with autonomous vehicle equipment from Google’s self-driving car project, now known as Waymo. They will join Waymo’s self-driving test fleet in early 2017. (CN Beta, CNET, PR Newswire, Detroit News)

Careem, one of Uber’s lower profile rivals in emerging markets, has taken a step into the global limelight after it announced that it has raised USD350M led by Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten and Saudi Telecom Company (STC). (TechCrunch, STC, Tuoniao, Sina)