IF / News

Back in late Feb 2020, UNISOC announced the Tiger T7520 mobile processor as the world’s first 6nm EUV processor. The Tiger T7520 will reportedly be mass-produced in 2020 and the chipset should appear in devices in early 2021. The Tiger T7520 is an octa-core chipset with 4x Cortex-A76 cores and 4x Cortex-A55 cores. (CN Beta, IT Home, Gizmo China)

Xiaomi has invested a total of CNY50M (USD7.06M) in a Series A+ round of financing that BYD arranged for its chipmaking affiliate BYD Semiconductor. Xiaomi has acquired a 0.49% stake in BYD Semiconductor. BYD has recently announced it has raised a total of CNY800M in the A+ round from investors including Korea-based SK Group, Xiaomi and Lenovo. (Digitimes, press, CN Beta)

JOLED announces the conclusion of a capital and business alliance with TCL CSOT. Under the alliance, JOLED will raise JPY20B in capital through a third-party allocation of new shares underwritten by CSOT-JAPAN. Also, JOLED will bring its proprietary printed OLED manufacturing technology and will start joint-development of large-sized OLEDs for TV application together with TCL CSOT. (CN Beta, JOLED, Impress)

In response to the report of “Samsung is planning to shift much of its display production from China to Ho Chi Minh City within 2020”, the company has claimed it is untrue. Samsung is the single largest foreign investor in Vietnam, with investments totaling USD17B. (CN Beta, Reuters, Deccan Herald, Business Times)

LG has announced that it has equipped the first cinema with LG LED cinema display technology with Dolby’s cinema server and Atmos immersive audio with Taiwan theatre chain Showtime Cinemas. LG has also unveiled its new transparent OLED touch screen, which has a transmittance of 38% and its possible applications have been aimed at commercial spheres. (CN Beta, LED Inside, Gizmo China, The Elec)

Apple’s patent describes a “scrollable” phone, which has a flexible display extended between two housing structures. (CN Beta, Patently Apple)

E Ink Holdings (EIH) has seen its colored e-paper production lines run at full capacity, with the high gear to persist through Sept 2020, according to company chairman Johnson Lee. EIH is adjusting and expanding its capacity for colored e-paper products, looking to increase it by 10-fold by year-end 2020, Lee said. (Digitimes, press, Apple Daily, Digitimes)

EMS provider Lite-On Technology, to cope with the US-China trade disputes, has been adjusting its global deployments, increasing output and capacity at factories outside of China, mainly in Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, India, Brazil and Taiwan, according to company CEO Warren Chen. Capacity outside China is expected to take up 15-20% of the total by year-end 2020, Chen said. (Digitimes, press, China Times)

Smartphone-use lens module maker Genius Electronic Optical (GSEO) is expanding production capacity in Xiamen, China to meet increasing demand, according to company chairman Jones Chen. Capacity is being added at 3 factories, one of which has already begun production, and the other two will start production at the end of Jun / Aug 2020 respectively. The 3 factories will increase GSEO’s total production capacity for 4P to 7P lens modules by 15-22%, Chen noted. (Digitimes, press, Yahoo)

In order to raise its competitiveness in the 128-layer V-NAND chip production, Samsung has set up a task force that includes executives from Samsung Device Solutions’ (SDS) Manufacturing Technology Center and from the department that is in charge of the NAND flash production. The new team will solve any issue that arises during chip production and implement steps that improve the productivity of the whole process. (Gizmo China, Sam Mobile, ET News, CN Beta)

Huawei has launched a new investment in Changzhou Fuene Technology via its subsidy Hubble Investment to deploy graphene technology. Fuene Technology specializes in the development, production, and sales of graphene thermal conductivity film. The company’s existing products include graphene thermal conductivity film, graphene foam film, and more. (GizChina, My Drivers)

Google has reportedly been working on an Android Beam replacement and Apple’s AirDrop called “Fast Share.” It is renamed to “Nearby Sharing” earlier 2020, but ultimately still unannounced. The Android 11 DP2 surprisingly references the feature. (CN Beta, 9to5Google, Android Central)

Samsung Electronics has been selected as the 5G networks infrastructure supplier for Telus, a world-leading telecommunications service provider in Canada. Ericsson and Nokia are also chosen as the vendors that would build Telus’ 5G networks. (CN Beta, Samsung, ZDNet, Light Reading)

The Indian Telecom Ministry has ordered Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam ) and other private companies to ban all Chinese deals and equipment. They have been asked to avoid Chinese equipment in upgradation. The decision by the Telecom ministry could play a major role in the 4G upgradation purchases by its subsidiaries. The effective ban on the use of Chinese network gear could extend to private telcos like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea which also use it in their networks. (My Drivers, Financial Express, India TV, NDTV, Economic Times)

The premium smartphone segment (wholesale price >USD400) sell-through declined 13% YoY globally during 1Q20, according to Counterpoint Research. The contraction is part of the general smartphone market slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The segment remains key as it contributed close to 57% of total global smartphone revenue during the quarter. Apple held a dominant 57% of the global premium market in 1Q20, follows by Samsung which came at a distant second with 19%.  (Counterpoint Research, GSM Arena)

Meizu has indicated that the company has no plans to launch new phones in 2H20. At the same time, Meizu smart home and smart wearable products are being planned, and would be launched in 2H20. (Gizmo China, Weibo, IT Home)

Wanting to avoid the 20% import tax on smartphones, Apple is reportedly planning to manufacture the new iPhone SE in India. Apple has reportedly told at least one supplier in China to start shipping components for the 2020 SE model to Wistron, one of Apple’s manufacturing partners in India. Apple’s other main manufacturing partner Foxconn also has a presence in the country, but it does not appear that they are involved in iPhone SE assembly in India. (Phone Arena, Apple Insider, The Information)

Google has announced its latest experiment from its startup incubator Area 120 and People and AI Research team called Keen, a web and Android app that allows users to curate content from the web and share the collection with others. (The Verge, Search Engine, ZDNet, Google, Sohu, CN Beta)

Huawei Enjoy 20 Pro 5G is announced in China – 6.5” 1080×2400 FHD+ IPS u-notch, MediaTek Dimensity 800 MT6873V, rear tri 48MP-8MP ultrawide-2MP macro +front 16MP, 6+128 / 8+256GB, Android 10.0, side fingerprint, 4000mAh 22.5W, CNY1,999 (USD280) / CNY2,299 (USD324).  (GSM Arena, CN Beta)

Apple reportedly has 2 wearables in development. The first, codenamed N421, is a pair of Siri-powered AR glasses. The second, codenamed N301, is a mixed reality headset that combines both AR and VR. N301 is meant to be an enormously powerful headset with high-end graphics and processing speeds.  (Bloomberg, Pocket-Lint, My Drivers)

Samsung announces The Frame 2020, new Smart TVs in India. Equipped with a QLED panel, Quantum Processor 4K and Quantum Dot technology, The Frame supports 4K UHD playback with HDR10+ support for top-notch viewing experience or looking at artpieces with the Art Mode. The TV also features an Art Store that allows to showcase over 1200+ artworks from globally renowned artists by subscribing to the Art Store for just INR299 per month. It is priced from INR14,490 (32” HD Ready) to INR31,990 (43” Full HD). (Sammy Hub, Samsung)

Samsung and OnePlus have announced plans to manufacture most of their televisions locally in India. The companies are considering it to benefit from the zero import duties on the key component – open cell TV panel.  This comes within days of Centre’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative where it wants all companies to set-up local production and supply-chain. The country’s largest television brand Samsung will now make in India almost 85-90% of the televisions they sell in the country. (Gizmo China, Economic Times, FP Display)

Ford will start offering a hands-free driving feature in 2H21, beginning with its new Mustang Mach-E electric vehicle. The company’s new “Active Drive Assist” will be part of the automaker’s “Co-Pilot360″ safety and convenience technologies. The hardware for the hands-free driving system will be available to order first on the Mach-E later 2020, followed by other “select” vehicles for the 2021 model year. (TechCrunch, CNBC, Ford)

BMW has announced that it will halt its self-driving technology development program with Mercedes-Benz after a steep plunge in demand for its vehicles due to the COVID-19. BMW will also get rid of 6,000 jobs, which accounts for 5% of its global employment force of 120,000 people. The halted partnership between the two German giants will delay the development of self-driving software that is agreed upon nearly one year ago on 4 Jul 2019. (TechCrunch, Teslarati, Automotive News, Reuters)