11-18: Visionox plans to invest CNY44B to build a new Gen-6 flexible AMOLED production line; CSOT will start trial production of a LCD panel line with a total investment of CNY46.3B (USD6.71B); etc.
Touch Display
Visionox plans to invest CNY44B to build a new Gen-6 flexible AMOLED production line. Visionox’s Gen-6 flexible AMOLED fab will enter production in 4Q18. The fab will produce substrate of size of 1500×1850mm, with monthly production of 300K pieces. (Laoyaoba, Yicai, East Money)
TCL-backed China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) will start trial production of a LCD panel line with a total investment of CNY46.3B (USD6.71B). CSOT’s T6 line will produce 90,000 units monthly. The LCD or liquid crystal displays are used for TVs with 43”, 65” and 75” screens. CSOT has also announced a more advanced LCD panel line, T7, which produces panels for TVs with bigger screens and super high-definition such as 8K. (Laoyaoba, Sina, Yicai, PRNAsia, Shine.cn)
Memory
Tsinghua Unigroup has signed a strategic alliance with memory module firm Shenzhen Longsys Electronics in a move to accelerate its ambition in the NAND flash sector. The pair will partner to promote flash storage solutions utilizing NAND flash chips manufactured by Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC). (Digitimes, press, EE Focus)
China’s top antitrust authority said on Friday it has already made “important” progress in its probe into three dominant chipmakers, including Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, over possible price fixing. Wu Zhenguo, director of the anti-monopoly bureau under the State Administration for Market Regulation in China, said the agency has obtained and screened evidence from relevant companies and their downstream partners. (UDN, eNanyang, Drivers, China Times, My Drivers, China.org.cn, China Daily)
Connectivity
Youngky Kim, president and head of Samsung’s network business, reveals that Samsung will invest USD22B in 5G networking and AI going forward to secure a “minimum” of 20% market share in network equipment by 2020. He describes the next-generation network will unlock the potential of AI, describing 5G as “oxygen” for AI. (CN Beta, Market Watch, Koz Times, ZDNet)
Phone
Most handset brands including Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi and OPPO are gearing efforts to expand their shares in India as the growth momentum in the China market has slowed down, according to Digitimes. (Digitimes, press, Yahoo)
Huawei Consumer Business Group’s CEO, Richard Yu, reveals that in 2019 the company will be close to number 1, which will be on par with Samsung. In 2020, the company will have a chance to be number 1 in 2020. (Ubergizmo, CNBC, ePrice, Sohu)
Augmented / Virtual Reality
Alphabet’s life sciences arm, Verily, Chief Technical Officer Brian Otis reveals that the company is putting a hold on its work with glucose-sensing contact lenses. Verily embarked on the project in 2014. Later that year, Verily announced a partnership with Alcon, the eye care division of Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, which called for Alcon to license the smart lens technology. As Verily and Alcon shelve their work with the glucose-sensing lens, they will continue to focus on the other smart lens projects. (CN Beta, CNET, Verily)
HTC has unveiled an enterprise version of its standalone Vive Focus VR device along with a set of VR solutions and development tools including Vive Wave VR SDK and Vive Sync as it moves to further enhance its deployment in the VR industry. (Digitimes, press, Vive)
Automotive
Volkswagen has announced that it intends to spend about USD50B through 2023 on a variety of new tech, including mobility services, digitalization, autonomous driving and vehicle electrification. VW estimates that this will represent about one third of its total expenditures between 2019 and 2023. (CN Beta, CNET, Reuters)
Xiaomi Group has signed a strategic agreement with FAW Car. Xiaomi will now cooperate with FAW to carry out in-depth cooperation in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), smart devices and IoT. Xiao Ai will empower smart cars and provide users with a better intelligent car driving experience. (CN Beta, GizChina, IT Home, Sina)
Mercedes-Benz will be handing over the first Mercedes-Benz GLC F-Cell models to selected customers in the German market. Based on the mid-size GLC SUV, the unique plug-in hybrid can be driven in four modes: Hybrid, F-Cell, Battery and Charge. And the only tailpipe emission is water. (CN Beta, Auto Home, News.com, Gas World)
Artificial Intelligence
Huawei has announced that it has launched HiAi 2.0, an artificial intelligence (AI) development platform. Wang Chenglu, President of CBG software at Huawei Consumer Business Group, said HiAi 2.0 will support more devices, from smartphones to tablets and laptops, compared with HiAI 1.0. (GizChina, Sohu, E North, Leiphone)
Approximately 1/9 men in the U.S. will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime, according to the National Cancer Institute, and more than 2.9M patients diagnosed with it at some point are still alive today. And from a treatment perspective, it tends to be problematic — prostate cancer is frequently non-aggressive, making it difficult to determine which, if any, procedures might be necessary. Google has made headway in diagnosing it, encouragingly, with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). (CN Beta, VentureBeat, ARVIX, Google)
Fintech
Bloomberg Intelligence predicts the price could fall to USD1,500, which would indicate another drop of more than 70% from current levels. (CN Beta, Coin Telegraph, Bloomberg)
