IF / News

Chipsets

TSMC chairman Mark Liu has explained TSMC’s advanced process planning, the most advanced 2nm process has also entered the pilot program, and in 2020 it will mass produce 5nm process. Among them, the 7nm N7 has been the only one in the world for two years, producing more than 1M 12” wafers. The N7+, which was the first EUV process, is also mass-produced in Jun 2019. Then there is the 5nm node. Mark has said that Hsinchu’s Fab 12 and Tainan’s Fab 18 plant are progressing smoothly and will be mass-produced by 2020. (CN Beta, LTN, TechNews, UDN, China Times, Focus Taiwan, Taipei Times, WCCFtech)

Ankya Microelectronics’ new shareholder is one of the investment entities of Changjiang Xiaomi Fund, Hubei Xiaomi Changjiang Industrial Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership), one of Qiandao Capital’s investment entities, Zhuhai Qianxing High-tech Venture Capital Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Xinmou Market Information Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Founded in 2000, Ankya Microelectronics is headquartered in Guangzhou, China, and is a chip design company that provides core chips for IoT smart hardware (Fabless IC Design House). (CN Beta, BJ News, Sina)

Touch Display

OPPO has filed a patent with the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office) for a ‘Mobile terminal’. The patent includes an extensive description of a very special smartphone accessory with a large flexible screen, giving the user access to a large folding tablet. The foldable tablet has a flexible screen and a hinge, making the device fully foldable. (Android Headlines, LetsGoDigital, WIPO, TechGenYZ, CN Beta)

While mini LED chips has begun seeing adoption for high-end LCD monitor and TV backlighting, the technology is not expected to be widely used over the next 3-4 years, according to Digitimes. (Digitimes, press)

TCL Group has revealed that the t4 flexible AM-OLED factory has achieved better-than-expected progress. It has achieved many leading advantages in the field of screen imaging, extremely narrow bezel, foldable and other differentiated technologies, of which mass production is expected to be realized in 4Q19. With the two new Gen-11 lines entering production, CSOT’s CAGR in the next 5 years is as high as 18%. (Sohu, Laoyaoba, Tencent)

Visionox has revealed that the yield rate of Gen-5.5 AMOLED production line in Kunshan currently has reached 90% (with capacity of 15K per month). Visionox has indicated that the operation level of the production line has continued to improve, and equipment upgrades have been carried out in 1Q19 to further improve product performance and supply more high-end brand customers. (Sohu, Laoyaoba, JRJ)

LG Electronics has submitted a design patent for a “TV receiver with flexible display” to the Hague International Design System. It features a built-in bar speaker, which can be folded many times and easily stored, so that users can carry it to various occasions. (CN Beta, LetsGoDigital)

Connectivity

OPPO has announced establishment of a 5G joint lab with Ericsson to promote global cooperation and technology exchange, and use the joint laboratory to share 5G advanced technology to optimize 5G products and network experience, and accelerate the scale deployment and popularization of 5G in the world. (CN Beta, Sina)

Phone

TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that the main logic-board on Apple’s 2020 iPhone 5G will have to grow by about 10% in area to accommodate the new technologies. That increase in area will come with a cost —the board fabrication and some new antenna technology will force a 35% increase in cost to build that component. Suppliers expected to benefit from the larger logicboard are Avary, EMC, and AT&S. (CN Beta, My Drivers, TF Securities, Apple Insider)

Samsung is reportedly currently working on a layoff plan in China, and its mobile phone business will be hit the hardest. The 11 branches and offices will be merged into 5, with more than a third of the employees affected and facing layoffs. Samsung has confirmed the rumors and detailing the downsizing as part of its normal business strategy to enhance the company’s competitiveness in the Chinese market and a necessary impetus for the long-term development. (CN Beta, KrASIA, Pandaily, Sina, Tencent)

China’s handset makers shipped a total of 180M smartphones globally in 2Q19, down 2.5% on quarter and 5.3% on year, Digitimes Research has estimated. Huawei remained its status as the top vendor in China and managed to ramp up its shipments by a double-digit rate in the third quarter as the impacts of the US trade ban on its overseas shipments have begun to wane and it has continued to dent market share from fellow vendors in the domestic market. (Digitimes, press, Digitimes)

STAGE FIVE, the telecommunication platform subsidiary of South Korean web service giant Kakao, has released an affordable 5G smartphone which is manufactured by ZTE and pre-installed with Kakao apps. (Aju Business Daily, Laoyaoba, Korea JoongAng Daily)

According to IDC, as of Sept 2019, the total shipment of 5G mobile phones in China is about 485,000 units. Among them, vivo has released two 5G models in one month. vivo has accounted for 54.3% of the share, Samsung’s share of 29%, Huawei’s share of 9.5%, Xiaomi’s share of 4.6%, ZTE’s share of 1.5%, China Mobile’s Share 1.1%. (IDC, My Drivers, CN Beta)

Xiaomi CC9 Pro is announced – 6.47” 1080×2340 FHD+ Super AMOLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G, rear peta 108MP-500MP telephoto OIS-12MP telephoto OIS-20MP ultrawide-2MP macro + front 32MP, 6+128 / 8+256, Android 9.0, under display fingerprint, 5260mAh 30W, CNY2,799 (USD400) / CNY3,099 (USD440) / CNY3,499 (USD400) (8P lens). (GSM Arena, CN Beta)

PC Tablet

Global tablet shipments for 4Q19 are expected to increase 4.5% on year to the same level as recorded in 3Q19 as both Apple and non-Apple brand vendors are likely to see their shipments pick up in the quarter, according to Digitimes. Worldwide tablet shipments amounted to 44.32M units in 3Q19, representing a sequential surge of 35.5% and an annual expansion of 1.5%. (Digitimes, press, Digitimes)

Wearables

OnePlus may launch its first wearable device alongside the OnePlus 8, which might release in 2Q20. (Gizmo China, Twitter, IT Home)

Xiaomi Mi Watch is announced featuring 1.78” 326PPI curved AMOLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 4G, 570mAh,WearOS platform, NFC, GPS, eSIM, supporting heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen VO2 max sensor, sleep monitoring, and body energy monitoring, CNY1,299 (USD185). (Gizmo China, BJ News, Tencent)

Augmented / Virtual Reality

Apple is reportedly working with game distributor Valve for the development of an Augmented Reality (AR) head-mounted display, which may be released in 2H20. Apple is said to be using familiar suppliers Pegatron and Quanta Computer to assemble the device. (Apple Insider, Digitimes, CN Beta)

Lenovo has displayed its latest foray into the world of augmented reality (AR) headsets, in the form of the ThinkReality A6. The A6 overlays 3D graphics and/or text onto the user’s view of the real world, providing instructions, alerts and extra information for the task at hand. It has a 40º field of view and a 16:9 aspect ratio, with resolution sitting at 1080p per eye. (CN Beta, New Atlas)

Home

LG Electronics has filed a patent lawsuit against Hisense in the US for breaching its TV patents. LG has claimed that Hisense has infringed on four types of its TV patents, including a solution to improve user interface, and a Wi-Fi-based technology to enhance data transfer speed. (Laoyaoba, ZDNet, The Investor)

Automotive

Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel has indicated the country should have 1M charging stations for electric cars by 2030. Germany now has just 20K public charging points. (Engadget, Reuters, Sina, CN Beta)

Robotics

MIT has developed a new method of navigation for robots that could be very useful for the range of companies working on autonomous last-mile delivery. The robot can figure out the location of a front door, without being provided a specific map in advance. (TechCrunch, MIT, Sohu)

Artificial Intelligence

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kim Ki-nam has indicated that the company has vowed to step up its research and development activities in artificial intelligence (AI) technology to maintain a leading position in the fast-changing tech industry. (Sohu, Laoyaoba, Korea Times)