08-05: Apple’s 2021 iPhones will allegedly come with Face ID and on-screen fingerprint sensors; Huawei is allegedly busy testing its smartphone armed with self-developed HongMeng OS; etc.
Camera
Microsoft’s patent showcases an AI system with a single fisheye camera and multiple microphones. Fisheye cameras have special lenses that enable them to monitor a full 360º view. Microsoft plans to combine it with ambient capture devices in a different manner. (Neowin, USPTO, CN Beta)
According to IHS Markit, Samsung and Huawei have simultaneously developed the under display camera solution, currently the main bottleneck are: 1) Display performance of camera part is different from other field, and 2) Display transmittance is low, affects the photo performance. (IHS Markit report, IHS Markit report)
According to IHS Markit, due to the rapid adoption of triple camera/quad camera solution, the upgrade of camera specifications and the promotion of the 3D ToF solution, the market demand for camera image sensor has maintained rapid growth. At present, major image sensor suppliers Sony, Samsung, OmniVision and Hynix have expanded their production capacity to capture the mid high end specification market. (IHS Markit report, IHS Markit report)
Biometrics
TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple’s 2021 iPhones will come with Face ID and on-screen fingerprint sensors. He believes that GIS and Qualcomm will benefit from iPhone’s adoption of FoD (fingerprint on display), with the former providing the “large-area sensing ultrasonic” technology and the latter supplying the ultrasonic FoD module and lamination. He also forecasts that FoD-equipped Android phone shipment would reach 20M~25M, 260M~280M and 370M~400M units in 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively. (Mac Rumors, CN Beta, TF Securities, GizChina)
Battery
Xiaomi has patented a smartphone design which has an integrated solar panel in the back. The design appears to be sleek and slim, featuring an edge-to-edge screen which means that the phone. (GizChina, Xiaomi Today, Sohu, CN Beta)
Connectivity
The latest data from Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT confirms the healthy growth seen in the country’s 5G market since service launches in early Apr 2019. There were 1.34M 5G subscriptions at the end of Jun 2019, up 0.55M over May, equivalent to a 2.0% share of subscriptions. (My Drivers, GizChina, Strategy Analytics)
Verizon CEO, Hans Vestberg, believes that by 2020, half of the US population will have access to 5G network. He added that by 2024, half of the US population will have 5G mobile phones. (GizChina, CNBC, My Drivers, Sohu)
Phone
Huawei has has added 5 more models to the trademark application. The others include P600, P700, P800, P900, and P1000. All trademarks are filed with the UK IPO (Intellectual Property Office of Great Britain) as well as the EUIPO database. (GizChina, LetsGoDigital)
Huawei is allegedly busy testing its smartphone armed with self-developed HongMeng operating system (OS), and the phone could be put into the market at the end of 2019, targeting low- and medium-end markets and priced at around CNY2,000 (USD288) to attract software developers and users to join the ecosystem. (Android Authority, Global Times, The Verge, CN Beta)
President Donald Trump’s newly announced 10% tariffs on USD300B worth of Chinese goods could weaken Apple’s iPhone demand and negatively affect the company’s earnings. The tariffs could knock down iPhone sales by 6M~8M in the United States in 2020, said technology analyst Dan Ives, of Wedbush Securities. That could cut Apple’s earnings by 4% in 2020. (Business Insider, CNN, CN Beta)
TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple has pre-prepared for the event given guidance by Tim Cook, and should the 10% tariffs be applied “Apple will absorb most of the additional costs due to tariffs, and the prices of hardware products and shipment forecasts for the U.S. market will remain unchanged”. There would be a negative impact on profits should Apple shoulder the cost increases. He also believes that some of the impact will be mitigated over time by Apple’s shift to non-Chinese production sources, such as expansion in India, or production in Vietnam. (TF Securities, press, CN Beta, Apple Insider)
ByteDance, the company behind the viral short-video app TikTok and the news aggregator Jinri Toutiao, could be launching its first heavy game as early as 1Q20. (CN Beta, Kr Asia)
LG X2 2019 (LG K30 2019 globally) is announced in South Korea – 5.45” 1440×720 HD+ FullVision Display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 425, rear 8MP + front 5MP, 2+32GB, Android 9.0, 3000mAh, KRW198,000 (USD160). (GSM Arena, LG, My LG)
Wearables
Fossil Gen 5 is announced – Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100, 1+8GB, heart rate sensor, activity tracker, Android and iOS compatible, 3ATM water resistance, built-in Google Assistant, built-in speakers, GPS, GBP279. (Phone Arena, Fossil, Beebom)
Automotive
Didi Chuxing has announced that the company’s autonomous driving unit is now an independent company. Didi’s autonomous driving team was created in 2016. (TechCruch, The Information, Engadget CN, Yicai, CN Beta)
Commerce
India’s Reliance Industries is acquiring 87.6% stake in Fynd, a seven-year-old Mumbai-based startup that connects brick and mortar retailers with online stores and consumers, for INR2.95B (USD42.33M). Fynd, which is founded in 2012, helps offline retailers sell their products to consumers directly through its online store, and also enables them to connect with other “demand channels” such as third-party e-commerce platforms Amazon India and Walmart-owned Flipkart. (TechCrunch, Economic Times, Business Standard, Teller China)
