04-07: Samsung has announced that the modem is hitting mass production along with the single-chip radio frequency transceiver; Foxconn Technology Group is reportedly within weeks of starting trial production of the latest iPhones in India; etc.
Chipsets
Samsung has announced that the modem is hitting mass production along with the Exynos RF 5500 single-chip radio frequency transceiver and Exynos SM 5800 supply modulator as part of its new 5G chip offerings for mobile devices. The 3 chips all support 5G New Radio (5G-NR) sub-6-gigahertz (GHz) spectrum and legacy radio access technologies. (Neowin, Samsung, CN Beta)
Touch Display
OPPO has filed a patent for some new smartphone designs featuring a smartphone with a miniature pop-up display. The display is slightly smaller than the main display and pops out of the top of the smartphone about a third of the way. (Android Authority, LetsGoDigital, South CN, Sina)
Camera
According to Cowen, a preliminary analysis of the bill of materials (BOM) for the Samsung Galaxy S10+ and the Huawei P30 Pro reveals the 2 companies are getting quite close to Apple in terms of their margins. While the iPhone has been estimated to cost low to mid-60% margins for the last couple of generations, the Galaxy S10+ is thought to have margins of 57%~60%, while the P30 Pro is estimated to be 63%~65%. The biggest and most obvious escalation in spending is on the cameras. (Apple Insider, Phone Arena)
Memory
Tsinghua Unigroup has announced the establishment of Tsinghua Unigroup South Headquarters in Guangzhou and signed the cooperation framework agreement for Tsignhua Unigroup Guangzhou storage projects. It is reported that the project will invest CNY100B and will build two fabs in Guangzhou. (CN Beta, My Drivers)
TrendForce points out that the drop in DRAM contract prices continues to grow in 1Q19 due to the overabundance in inventory levels, falling by over 20% in overall ASP. The accelerating drop in prices did not stimulate a recovery in demand, and transactions have still been few. DRAM ASP is predicted to continue falling well into 3Q19 as inventories clearouts have yet to be completed. (Digitimes, TrendForce, press, TrendForce[cn])
Battery
Innolith AG, the world leader in rechargeable Inorganic Battery Technology, announces that it is developing world’s first 1000 Wh/kg rechargeable battery. The new Innolith Energy Battery would be capable of powering an Electric Vehicle (EV) for over 1000km on a single charge. (Engadget, Business Wire, Driving Electric, CN Beta, The Verge)
South Australia start-up CCT Technologies says it has built the world’s first working thermal battery, a device with a lifetime of at least 20 years that can store 6 times more energy than lithium-ion batteries per volume, for 60%-80% of the price. (CN Beta, New Atlas)
Phone
Samsung Electronics and American global content production and distribution company Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) have announced plans to bring to market titles mastered with HDR10+, the next generation of video standard specification technology developed by Samsung. (Engadget, Samsung, Teller China)
Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun has revealed there will be a revamp that addresses the key issues of its MIUI Android-based operating system. He has also added that they will also work on ads which a lot of users have complained about. (Gizmo China, CN Beta, IT Home, Android Authority)
Foxconn Technology Group is reportedly within weeks of starting trial production of the latest iPhones in India as Apple seeks to revive its fortunes in the country. The trial run of the iPhone X range of devices would come before Foxconn starts full-scale assembly at its factory outside the southern city of Chennai. (CN Beta, Money Control, Bloomberg)
Lenovo K6 Play is announced in China – 6.22” 720×1520 HD+ IPS, MediaTek Helio P22, rear tri 12MP-8MP tele-5MP depth + front 8MP, 4+128GB, Android 9.0, 3300mAh 10W fast charging, rear fingerprint scanner, CNY1,398. (Gizmo China, 91Mobiles, GSM Arena, Lenovo)
Wearables
Amazon is allegedly working on a pair of earbuds with integrated Alexa support that would be designed to compete with other truly wireless headphones, including Apple’s own AirPods. (The Verge, Bloomberg, CN Beta)
Augmented / Virtual Reality
North, the company behind the Focals smart glasses, is updating its glasses to add new, much-needed functionality. The company has added support for Spotify controls. Users will be able to skip songs, see a track’s title / artist, and adjust the volume of their connected listening device from the glasses’ accompanying control ring, called the Loop. (The Verge, North, Mshandong)
Payment
HSBC’s Nigel Fletcher indicates that Apple Card may reap USD1.5B in revenue and be in top 10 card issuers by 2024. Net income from the card from interest is predicted to be as high has USD300M in the first year. Fletcher predicts that outstanding balances on Apple Cards could surpass USD50B in five years, which would be enough to make Apple one of the country’s 10 biggest credit card issuers. (CN Beta, Apple Insider, Barron’s)