06-21: Huawei has announced HiSilicon Kirin 810; Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has announced a brand new series of smartphones – the CC series; etc.
Chipsets
According to IC Insights, the U.S. companies’ held just over 50% of the total worldwide IC market in 2018 followed by the South Korean companies with a 27% share, up 3% from 2017. The Taiwanese companies, on the strength of their fabless company IC sales, held the same 6% share of total IC sales as the European companies. (CN Beta, IC Insights, press)
Cambricon is launching its second generation of AI chip, MLU270, for cloud data center servers. The MLU270 chip is manufactured by TSMC with 16nm process, and its board products can be quickly deployed in servers and workstations via PCIe interface. (CN Beta, Sohu)
According to Digitimes, Intel is planning to cut prices of its eighth- and ninth-generation desktop processors by 10%~15% and has already notified its downstream PC and motherboard partners. The cost adjustment is due to: (1) the 14nm problem has been basically alleviated, (2) to deal with the AMD 7nm 3rd-gen Zen processor, and (3) to retain the market share before the 10nm desktop processor expected to launch market in 2020. (Digitimes, CN Beta)
Huawei has announced HiSilicon Kirin 810. It is an octa-core processor manufactured with 7nm process, which comes equipped with two Cortex-A76 high-performance large cores clocked at 2.27 GHz and six Cortex-A55 energy efficient small cores clocked at 1.88 GHz. It is coupled with Mali-G52 GPU for graphics processing. (Gizmo China, IT Home, CN Beta)
Memory
According to TrendForce, OEMs focused on de-stocking for various products with a rather weak re-stocking momentum in 1H19. The average NAND flash contract price has already fallen by nearly 20% QoQ for 2 quarters straight, and disappointed market expectations of a rebound which was supposed to result from price elasticity. Drops in NAND flash contract prices are expected to narrow in the third quarter, compared to nearly 20% decreases in the previous 2 quarters. (Digitimes, TrendForce, TrendForce, press)
Toshiba Memory has indicated that production at its plant in central Japan has been partially suspended for nearly a week since a brief power outage. The plant suspension is also affecting Western Digital, Toshiba Memory’s joint venture partner. (IT Home, My Drivers, CN Beta, CNA)
Biometrics
According to Sigmaintell, the ultrasonic fingerprint market share is up to around 7% in 19Q1, mainly driven by Samsung Galaxy S10 series, and this will be around 5% in 2019. Total shipment will be up to 54M and year-on-year increase around 170% in 2019. The market share of optical fingerprint is up to 33M in 1Q19, about 19% of the market share. Fingerprint on display (FoD) would penetrate to UD220 price segment in 1Q19. (Sigmaintell report)
Connectivity
In the first country to see widespread 5G adoption, South Korea, Opensignal’s analytics reveals the average download speed of 5G smartphone owners is 111.8Mbps or 48% faster than users with comparable recent 4G flagship smartphones1 and 134% higher than other 4G smartphone users. These metrics will likely improve as 5G becomes more mainstream and the early 5G technology matures over the coming months. (VentureBeat, Open Signal, Sohu)
Phone
Xiaomi aims to spend an additional CNY5B (USD725M) expanding its Chinese retail network over the next 3 years, anticipating a re-doubled effort by Huawei to grow its domestic market share. Xiaomi will spend the money on expanding distribution channels and on reward programs for its partners and sales employees. (Android Headlines, Yahoo, Sohu, NBD, 36Kr)
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has announced a brand new series of smartphones – the CC series. The new CC series is actually a product of the partnership between Xiaomi and Meitu. The series will focus entirely on selfie-centric smartphones, perhaps targeted at the female consumers. (CN Beta, GizChina, Mi.com)
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has announced its product portfolio has been consolidated into 2 major brands: (1) Mi – explore high tech, mid-to-high range, focusing on new retail market, including Mi number series, Mi MIX series (high artistic professional flagships) and new CC series (global youth trendy phones); and (2) Redmi – high quality, value for money, and focusing on online markets. (My Drivers, My Drivers, CN Beta)
Following its decision to axe orders for its entry-level and low-end smartphones that use non-Kirin processors in May 2019, Huawei also began cutting orders in early June for its flagship smartphones including the existing P30 series and the upcoming Mate 30 series. (GizChina, Digitimes, WCCFTech, Medium)
vivo Y12 is launched in India – 6.35” 720×1544 HD+ IPS, MediaTek Helio P22 MT6762, rear tri 13MP-8MP ultrawide-2MP + front 8MP, 3+32 / 4+64GB, Android 9.0, 5000mAh, INR12,490 (UD180). (GSM Arena, vivo)
Huawei nova 5 series is announced in China: 5 / 5 Pro – 6.39” 1080×2340 FHD+ OLED, Kirin 810 / Kirin 980, rear quad 48MP-16MP-2MP-2MP macro + front 32MP, 8+128GB / 256GB, Android 9.0, under display fingerprint, 3500mAh 40W fast charging, from CNY2,799 to CNY3,399. 5i – 6.4” FHD+ punch hole, Kirin 710, rear quad 24MP-8MP-2MP-2MP macro + front 24MP, 6/8+128GB, Android 9.0, rear fingerprint scanner, 4000mAh 10W fast charging, CNY1,999 / CNY2,199. (My Drivers, My Drivers, My Drivers, GSM Arena, Gizmo China, Android Authority)
PC / Tablet
Google has confirmed that it would not be working on any more tablets (i.e., devices that detach completely from a keyboard base or does not have a physical keyboard) for the foreseeable future. (Neowin, Computer World, Engadget CN, Sina, CN Beta)
Huawei MediaPad M6 is announced – 8.4” / 10.8” 2560×1600 LCD, Huawei Kirin 980, rear 13MP + front 8MP, 4+64/128GB, Android 9.1, Wi-Fi only / LTE version, 6100mAh / 7500mAh, CNY1,999 ~ CNY3,499. (GSM Arena, Gizmo China)
Wearables
Huawei has announced that its WATCH GT global shipment exceeded 2M units. (GizChina, My Drivers)
Automotive
Groupe Renault, Nissan Motor, and Waymo, leaders in their respective fields, have entered into an exclusive agreement for an initial period to explore all aspects of driverless mobility services for passengers and deliveries in France and Japan. (TechCrunch, The Verge, Alliance, CN Beta)
Robotics
In a bid to expand its educational offerings, iRobot has acquired startup, Root Robotics. The company is the creator of the eponymous coding robot, a two-wheeled device designed to draw on whiteboards and other surfaces, scanning colors, playing music and otherwise playing out coding instructions. (TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Technode)
