02-23: CrucialTec says that it will start supplying its on-screen fingerprint scanning solution, dubbed “Display Fingerprint Solution” (DFS); Toshiba is looking to spin off its flash memory business with plans to sell more than 50% of the planned separate entity; etc.
Chipsets
International Business Strategies (IBS) analyst Handel Jones estimates that cost of using 10nm process is near 50% increase of 14nm, and for 5nm it would be 3 times more than the cost of 14 / 16nm process. Thus, the design company needs to make a lot of sales to get the investment back. (EE World, 52RD)
Samsung officially launches Exynos 9 Series 8895, manufactured with 10nm FinFET, embedded a gigabit LTE modem that supports 5xCA, featuring 8 cores with 4 custom Samsung CPU cores and 4 Cortex-A53 CPU cores. (Samsung, Phone Arena, Liliputing, 163, Anqu)
AMD is launching its first serious challenge to Intel in the powering of desktop PCs for almost a decade, with a new generation of processors Ryzen it claims offers better performance at a much lower price. (CN Beta, PC World, Legit Reviews, Tech Report, Market Watch)
Qualcomm has petitioned the Seoul Central District Court to not implement fines totaling KRW1.03T (USD865M) levied by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). A Qualcomm spokesperson has confirmed that chip designer has filed an appeal and an application for a stay of the KFTC’S decision. (Laoyaoba, 163, Yahoo, Bloomberg, Digitimes, Korea Herald)
China Semiconductor Industry Association and Taiwan Institute of IEK have released status of integrated circuit industry separately. According to the data, Mainland China IC design production value has reached CNY164.43B, exceeding Taiwan’s CNY140.815B for the first time. However, the overall IC production value of Taiwan (more than CNY538.094B) is more than of Mainland China (CNY433.55B). (EE Focus, OfWeek, EE Focus, article)
Memory
Toshiba is looking to spin off its flash memory business with plans to sell more than 50% of the planned separate entity to one or more than one company, and reportedly will initiate a new process of the stake sale. (Apple Insider, Digitimes, press, Asia Nikkei, Hexun, China Times)
Toshiba has unveiled the latest addition to its line-up of BiCS flash 3D flash memory with a stacked cell structure, a 64-layer device that achieves a 512-gigabit (64-gigabytes) capacity with 3-bit-per-cell (triple-level cell, TLC) technology. (Digitimes, press, Citnews, 163)
The global supply of 2D-NAND Flash will remain tight going into 2Q17, according to TrendForce. Major smartphone brands will soon begin their first wave of new product release for the year. With the NAND Flash supply still under strain, the contract prices of both SSDs and eMMCs will see a more moderate sequential price hike of 5%~10% in 2Q17. (TrendForce, press, TrendForce[cn], press)
Sensory
Google’s Waymo division is preparing to build its own autonomous sensor suite from the ground up, rather than relying on traditional automotive suppliers. The company argues that buying separate sensors from multiple suppliers is too expensive and leads to poor integration. (CN Beta, Left Lane, Detroit News)
Biometrics
Fingerprint module maker CrucialTec says that it will start supplying its on-screen fingerprint scanning solution, dubbed “Display Fingerprint Solution” (DFS) that allows fingerprint authentication on a smartphone screen, not the home button, to global smartphone manufacturers in 2017. (Android Authority, The Investor, 163)
Connectivity
Vodafone said it is in talks with Aditya Birla Group in India, the group that owns Idea Cellular, over a deal. (TechCrunch, India Times, EA9, 60Malaysia)
India’s biggest telecom operator Bharti Airtel announced an agreement to acquire Telenor India, which has operations in 7 circles – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Assam. (TechCrunch, Telenor, Reuters, MSN)
Huawei, based on the constructed out-field in Huairou, took the first to carry out the out-field performance test and the interoperability and docking test of instrument/chip companies under the 3.5GHz 5G NR, marking the test’s second phase rung up the curtain. (Laoyaoba, C114, 4-Traders)
Smartphones
According to a recently released Government of India report, the mobile industry’s contribution to the country’s GDP currently stands at 6.5% (USD140B) and is likely to become 8.2% by 2020. Mobile manufacturing units generated 38,300 new jobs in last 2 years with Foxconn being the top employer with a workforce of 8,000. In 2015-16 India had generated more than INR500B worth of locally made phones, and is expected to generate more than INR900B from 175M units in fiscal 2016-17. (Forbes, article, Business Standard, CN Beta)
360 N5 is announced – 5.5” FHD 2.5D curved display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 653 processor, 13MP PDAF + 8MP cameras, 6GB RAM, 32 / 64GB storage, Android 6.0 (360OS 2.0), LTE (VoLTE), 4000mAh battery, from CNY1399. (Gizmo China, CN Beta)
Connectivity
India’s biggest telecom operator Bharti Airtel announced an agreement to acquire Telenor India, which has operations in 7 circles – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Assam. (TechCrunch, Telenor, Reuters, MSN)
Wearables
Fitbit reveals it paid USD23M to acquire Pebble’s assets. (TechCrunch, CN Beta)
Huawei revealed plans to release a 360º camera add-on device, Honor VR Camera. It was developed in partnership with Insta360, which has previously released similar add-ons for smartphones. (Android Authority, Insta360, GizChina, ChinaZ)
Internet of Things
Microsoft is teaming with audio company Hardmon Kardon to release a speaker that will have Cortana built-in. (Android Authority, Phone Arena, Wi-Fi Alliance)
Huawei is reportedly conducting R&D on driverless car project by cooperating with Tsinghua University in in-depth technologies. (Laoyaoba, Tencent, TechWeb, Gasgoo)
