03-21: Qualcomm is introducing a new series of chips, QCS400 SoC series; Royole has said that it has begun shipping its first foldable smartphone; etc.
Chipsets
Qualcomm is introducing a new series of chips, QCS400 SoC series, designed to fit into various smart speakers, soundbars, and displays, each with different levels of complexity. The basis behind the chips is to provide more reliable, better-sounding, and potentially more portable experiences for voice-activated speakers. (Android Authority, Android Central, Qualcomm, CN Beta)
Israel’s exports of computer chips to China soared in 2018 as Chinese companies bought more semiconductors made at Intel’s Kiryat Gat plant. An official at the Israel Export Institute has indicated that new data showed semiconductor exports to China jumped 80% in 2018 to USD2.6B. (CN Beta, VOA, Reuters CN, Channel News Asia)
Apple has reportedly already completed the R&D and design work for the A14 chipset and is apparently about to kick off tape verification, which is a key process that is completed before chipsets enter mass production. However, it can be more than a year before the A14 actually enters volume production as the streaming and listing process takes time. (My Drivers, CN Beta, WCCFtech)
Touch Display
Royole has said that it has begun shipping its first foldable smartphone, the FlexPai, as scheduled, and the company is tightening up its production scheme in order to meet volume orders placed through either its official website or offline stores. (My Drivers, Digitimes, press, BBT News)
Phone
Xiaomi Group and the general manager of Redmi brand Lu Weibing has indicated that at the early stage, Redmi was a CNY1,000 (USD149) brand. Now it has risen to CNY1,599 (USD238), and the price will increase in the future. They will step up the price gradually to CNY2000 (USD298) or even CNY2500 (USD372). (GizChina, My Drivers)
Samsung has reportedly managed to ship more than 500K units of Galaxy S10 series so far. The company has managed to sell the same number of S10 series devices in 7 days what took 30 days for the S9 series phones. (Gizmo China, CN Beta)
OPPO partners with Europe’s largest electronics retailer MediaMarkt and opens its first shop-in-shop on prime location in The Netherlands. (CN Beta, LetsGoDigital)
According to AppAnnie and IDC, notably mobile gaming generated 20% more revenue than console, PC, and handheld gaming. This includes all digital and physical spending, but it does not include ad revenues. 2014 is the first year in which mobile gaming generated more consumer spend than PC and Mac gaming. (CN Beta, VentureBeat)
Google has been hit with a EUR1.49B (~USD1.69B) fine by the European Commission for breaching EU anti-trust laws. The commission said the Mountain View company had imposed “restrictive clauses” in advertising-related contracts with third-party websites. (Android Authority, Europa, Apple Insider, DW, Sina)
Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei has revealed that the company’s revenue will reach USD250B in 5 years and will invest USD100B in R&D funds in the next 5 years. One of the important tasks is to reconstruct the network, to create a minimal network structure, a minimal site, a minimal trading model, a minimal internal and external security of the network, and to comply with the European GDPR standards for privacy protection. (CN Beta, Huawei, Wallstreet CN, Fonow)
Samsung Electronics will propel technology innovations to tackle the unfavorable business environment and foster new growth drivers, such as artificial intelligence and 5G. The world’s largest handset and chipmaker said it posted KRW244T (USD215.8B) in sales and KRW59T in operating profit in 2018 on a consolidated basis, posting record high profits driven by the boom in memory chips. (CN Beta, The Investor)
Xiaomi CFO Chew Shouzi indicates that in 2018 the company revenues from Internet service exceed CNY16B, and majority profit of the company is coming from this part. In Apr 2018, Xiaomi promised that the hardware business consolidated profit would not exceed 5%. Xiaomi’s 2018 financial report shows that the consolidated hardware profit is below 1%. (CN Beta, OfWeek)
Xiaomi has achieved total revenue of CNY174.9B (USD26.06B), a year-on-year increase of 52.6%. The adjusted profit was CNY8.6B (USD1.28B), a year-on-year increase of 59.5%. Total revenue is in line with expectations and net profit exceeded market expectations. (GizChina, TechRadar, Reuters, Kejilie)
Meitu has announced its annual results for 2018, reporting a net loss of over CNY1.2B (USD179.6M). Meitu’s total revenue declined 37.8% to CNY2.8B (USD419M), which the company attributed primarily to a slower smartphone business. Meitu said that of its net loss, some CNY0.5B was linked to its smartphone activities. The company said it expected to wind down that business line by mid-2019. (CN Beta, 199IT, TechNode)
vivo X27 and X27 Pro are announced in China: X27 – 6.39” 1080×2340 FHD+ Super AMOLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 / 710, rear tri 48MP-13MP ultrawide-5MP depth + front motorized pop-up 16MP, 8+128/256GB, Android 9.0, 4000mAh 18W fast charging, under-display fingerprint scanner, CNY3,198 / CNY3,598. X27 Pro – 6.7” FHD+ 20.5:9 Super AMOLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 710, rear tri 48MP-5MP depth-13MP Super Wide + front motorized pop-up 32MP, 8+256GB, Android 9.0, under-display fingerprint scanner, 4000mAh 22.5W fast charging, CNY3,998. (GizChina, CN Beta, My Drivers, GSM Arena, Fonearena, vivo)
Wearables
Xiaomi launches Redmi AirDots, priced at CNY99.9 (USD15). It packs a built-in Realtek 8763 chip and Bluetooth 5.0. The headset can be used for bilateral calls and digital sound quality is assured with its DSP digital noise reduction feature. The headset also packs a durable battery that can last up to 4 hours of continuous music playback when the pair is used. (Gizmo China, Mi.com, CN Beta, Liliputing)
Apple unveils 2nd generation of AirPods powered by H1 chip, equipped with (optional) wireless charging, improved battery life and hands-free command with Siri, and supporting Bluetooth 5.0. Apple also unveils Qi wireless charging case. (GSM Arena, Apple, CN Beta)
Home
Google has officially announced a new gaming platform that looks to bring gamers, developers, and streamers together in one platform. Stadia is designed to give gamers a seamless experience for jumping into a game no matter what device gamer wants to play on. Google will also be releasing its own Stadia Controller. The controller connects via Wi-Fi straight into the cloud. Stadia uses the same datacenter infrastructure already in place at Google. (AnandTech, Android Central, CN Beta, Polygon)