04-17: Qualcomm and Apple have announced an agreement to dismiss all litigation between the two companies; Intel has announced its intention to exit the 5G smartphone modem business; etc.
Chipsets
Qualcomm and Apple have announced an agreement to dismiss all litigation between the two companies worldwide. The settlement includes a payment from Apple to Qualcomm. The companies also have reached a 6-year license agreement, effective as of 1 Apr 2019, including a 2-year option to extend, and a multiyear chipset supply agreement. (Android Authority, Business Wire, CN Beta)
Intel has announced its intention to exit the 5G smartphone modem business and complete an assessment of the opportunities for 4G and 5G modems in PCs, internet of things devices and other data-centric devices. Intel will also continue to invest in its 5G network infrastructure business. (Android Authority, Intel, CN Beta)
Intel has announced the acquisition of Omnitek, a leading provider of optimized video and vision FPGA IP solutions. Omnitek’s technology enables customized high-performance vision and artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing capabilities on FPGAs for customers across a range of end markets. (CN Beta, TechCrunch, AnandTech, Intel)
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has announced its 6nm (N6) process, which provides a significant enhancement from its 7nm (N7) technology and offers customers a highly competitive performance-to-cost advantage as well as fast time-to-market with direct migration from N7-based designs. (Digitimes, press, GizChina, Apple Insider, EET China)
Connectivity
ZTE has released a video showing the company’s 5G test rate. It can be seen that the 5G rate reached a massive 2Gbps, while the 5G peak rate reached 2018.14Mbps. (Gizmo China, GizChina, Weibo, Sina, Sohu)
InterContinental Shenzhen, Shenzhen Telecom and Huawei have signed a strategic cooperation agreement to create the world’s first 5G smart hotel. Shenzhen Telecom is deploying Huawei’s 5G network equipment in the InterContinental Shenzhen to achieve continuous indoor and outdoor 5G coverage. (CN Beta, Huawei)
China Unicom has announced the first batch of 5G smartphones that the company will provide support for 5G connectivity. The list includes 12 brands and 15 smartphone models and CPEs from companies like Huawei, OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, and ZTE among others. (Gizmo China, My Drivers, CN Beta)
Phone
Apple continues to lead global premium smartphone segment by capturing more than half of the market while OnePlus entered the top 5 brands in the premium segment for the first time ever in 2018 as competition intensified in the global premium smartphone segment, according to Counterpoint Research. (GizChina, Counterpoint Research, blog, CNMO)
Samsung’s increased focus on the Galaxy A series which offers phones in the INR10,000~50,000 segment shows that the company is ready to give its Chinese competitors a tough fight in the coming days. Samsung aims USD4B in revenues from its Galaxy A series of phones in 2019. Ranjivjit Singh, CMP and SVP of Samsung India, reveals that they have sold a total of 2M units of 3 Galaxy A models in India — A50, A30 and A10, just 40 days since 1 Mar 2019. The revenue turnover from these 3 phones in 40 days is USD500M. (Phone Arena, Business Standard, 91Mobiles, Sakshi Post, Wenshannet)
Honor 20i is announced in China – 6.21” 1080×2340 FHD+ IPS, HiSilicon Kirin 710, rear tri 24MP-8MP-2MP + front 32MP, 4+128GB or 6+64/128/256GB, Android 9.0, 3400mAh 10W fast charging, from CNY1,599. (Gizmo China, My Drivers, CN Beta, IT Home)
Robotics
Boston Dynamics has shown its SpotMini robot, joining a robot army to pull a large vehicle that is in neutral gear. This is building off of the small, four-legged robot’s repertoire of skills that includes picking up objects, opening doors, climbing stairs, and having eerily lifelike movement. (The Verge, Boston Dynamics)