IF / News

According to IC Insights, China is responsible for essentially all of the total pure-play foundry market increase in 2018.  In 2019, the U.S. / China trade war slowed China’s economic growth but its foundry market share still increased by 2ppt to 21%.  Moreover, despite the COVID-19 shutdown of China’s economy earlier 2020, China’s share of the pure-play foundry market is forecast to be 22% in 2020, 17ppt greater than it registered in 2010. In total, pure-play foundry sales in China increased by 10% in 2019 to USD11.8B, much better than the 1% decline in the total pure-play foundry market in 2019. (Laoyaoba, IC Insights)

Samsung Electronics’ Jay Y. Lee has visited the ASML headquarters in Eindhoven for meeting with Peter Wennink, chief executive of ASML. The two discussed measures to forge partnership in next-generation manufacturing technology for future semiconductor as well as future semiconductor technology strategy and market prospect to cope with post Covid-19 upon prolonged situation. (CN Beta, Korea Times, Korea Herald, Pulse News)

ASML CFO Roger Dassen has indicated that the company would likely be “a few systems shy” of selling a targeted 35 of the machines worth USD200M apiece in 2020, due to customers not being ready. The company will have capacity to sell 45-50 systems in 2021 as planned, but said there are “uncertainties macro-wise, based on everything that is going on in the geopolitical environment.” He has also revealed that ASML can export DUV (deep ultraviolet) lithography machines from the Netherlands to China without a US license. (CN Beta, Caixing Global, Sohu, Reuters)

Samsung and LG are entering into strategic cooperation to facilitate the growth of small- and medium-sized (SME) suppliers, particularly in the materials, components and equipment sectors. The partnership is aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of their local partners. Samsung Display and LG Display have jointly launched a consultative body consisting of 30 display businesses targeting mutual growth for them and their local SME suppliers. (Gizmo China, Korea Times)

Apple’s patent “Electronic Devices Having Sliding Expandable Displays” indicates Apple is researching iPhone displays that could be pulled or rolled out of a device to show a greater screen area when desired. Apple’s proposed solution is to have the display in a housing, and then have that and the screen “slide relative to each other”. (CN Beta, Apple Insider, USPTO)

AUO has dismissed reports claiming that its plant in Kunshan, China has been ordered to halt operations after one of its Taiwanese employees there was tested positive for COVID-19. AUO disclosed the employee, who returned from China on 11 Oct 2020, was confirmed coronavirus-positive on 13 Oct, but he is now receiving treatment at a hospital and in good conditions. (Digitimes, Digitimes)

Sony’s new Spatial Reality Display (SR Display) uses eye-tracking technology to render believable 3D objects, without the need to wear 3D glasses or put on a VR headset. It features 15.6” 4K LCD; a high-speed vision sensor that tracks eye movement, as well as viewer’s position as she walks around the display; and a micro-optical lens that is laid over the LCD, and divides the screen for left and right eyes to create a stereoscopic image. (VentureBeat, Engadget)

Coming to iPhone 12 Pro later in 2020, Apple ProRAW is a new imaging format that combines Apple’s computational photography features with the benefits of shooting in RAW. Apple has created a whole new image capturing pipeline that combines multiple steps of processing and combines that into a new image file at the time of capture without any shutter delay. That includes processing done by the CPU, GPU, ISP, and Neural Engine. Users can shoot in Apple ProRAW directly from the built-in Camera app. (CN Beta, Apple Insider)

OmniVision has announced the OV64A image sensor, offering 64MP resolution with the largest pixel size in its class, at 1.0µm, along with a class-leading optical format of 1/1.34”. Its large optics and high resolution provide premium low light performance for the wide and ultrawide main cameras in high end smartphones. (GSM Arena, OmniVision, Sparrow News)

Samsung has unveiled the PRO Plus and EVO Plus, its two new lines of SD cards featuring exceptional speeds and improved durability. The PRO Plus offers sequential read and write speeds of up to 100MB/s and 90MB/s, respectively.  (Neowin, GSM Arena, Samsung)

According to Strategy Analytics, the global smartphone memory market has registered total revenue of USD19.2B in 1H20. Samsung Memory led the smartphone memory market (DRAM & NAND) with 49% revenue share followed by SK Hynix and Micron in 1H20. Samsung Memory, SK Hynix and Micron captured almost 84% revenue share in the global smartphone memory market in H1 2020. (CN Beta, Business Wire, YNA)

Global telecom equipment giants Ericsson and Nokia are reducing production in China. Their suppliers, South Korean companies KMW and Ace Technologies are also developing and producing their goods in Vietnam facilities instead of those in China in reaction to this. KMW and Ace Technologies each supply their goods to Nokia and Ericsson, respectively. The two also supply to their compatriot Samsung Electronics, which is expanding its network business. Samsung Network closed its Chinese factory in Shenzhen in 2018 and shifted its production equipment there to Vietnam.  (Gizmo China, The Elec)

Dutch network KPN has chosen Sweden’s Ericsson to build core elements of its new 5G mobile network following a decision in 2019 not to select Huawei. Huawei of course maintains that its products do not include any backdoors to Beijing, and while KPN did sign a 5G RAN deal with the Chinese kit maker. (My Drivers, CN Beta, Telecoms, The Register)

Orange (France Telecom) and OPPO have announced a co-innovation partnership agreement that will help to deliver Orange services to a broad range of OPPO’s smartphones and IoT devices to Europe, with a view to extending this further across the Orange footprint. OPPO has also partnered with Orange to launch an eSIM variant of the OPPO Watch in the European market. (Gizmo China, Orange)

Apple will no longer include headphones or power adapters in the box of iPhone, part of a redoubled effort to reduce its environmental footprint. Apple’s Lisa Jackson explained that the company is hoping to have “net zero climate impact” globally by 2030, meaning everything from manufacturing and assembly to packaging and device recycling will be carbon neutral. Achieving that means relying more on solar power and efficient operations, of course, but also reducing waste. (TechCrunch, CN Beta)

Apple has brought back its MagSafe name for a new ecosystem of iPhone 12 accessories including cases, chargers, and wallets. MagSafe refers to an integrated magnet in the back of the iPhone 12 line. The MagSafe charger snaps to the back of iPhone 12 and allows user to hold and use the iPhone while it is being charged at fast speeds. (TechCrunch, Apple Insider, CN Beta)

Shipments of Apple’s iPhone 12 lineup may reach as high as 80M units by year-end 2020, as the vendor’s more affordable pricing strategy is likely to entice users with older iPhones to upgrade, according to Digitimes. (Digitimes, Sina, 199IT)

realme Q2 series is announced in China: Q2 Pro 5G – 6.4” 1080×2400 FHD+ Super AMOLED HiD, MediaTek Dimensity 800U, rear quad 48MP-8MP ultrawide-2MP depth-2MP macro + front 16MP, 8+128 / 8+256GB, Android 10.0, fingerprint on display, 4300mAh 65W, CNY1,599 (USD237) / CNY1,799 (USD266). Q2 5G – 6.5” 1080×2400 FHD+ 120Hz HiD, MediaTek Dimensity 800U, rear tri 48MP-8MP ultrawide-2MP macro + front 16MP, 4+128 / 6+128GB, Android 10.0, side fingerprint, 5000mAh 30W, CNY1,199 (USD177) / CNY1,299 (USD192). Q2i 5G – 6.517” 720×1600 HD+ v-notch, MediaTek Dimensity 720, rear tri 13MP-2MP macro-2MP depth + front 8MP,  4+128GB, Android 10.0, rear fingerprint, 5000mAh 18W, CNY998 (USD148).  (Gizmo China, GSM Arena)

Apple iPhone 12 series is announced, powered by Apple A14 Bionic, iOS 14, Face ID, 18W fast charging, 15W Qi wireless charging, IP68 rated: iPhone 12 mini – 5.4” 1080×2340 Super Retina XDR OLED Ceramic Shield with Dolby Vision, rear dual 12MP OIS-12MP ultrawide + front 12MP-3D ToF depth, 64 / 128 / 256GB storage, from USD699. iPhone 12 – 6.1” 1170×2532 Super Retina XDR OLED Ceramic Shield with Dolby Vision, rear dual 12MP OIS-12MP ultrawide + front 12MP-3D ToF depth, 64 / 128 / 256GB storage, from USD799. iPhone 12 Pro – 6.1” 1170×2532 Super Retina XDR OLED Ceramic Shield with Dolby Vision, rear tri 12MP OIS-12MP telephoto 2x optical zoom OIS-12MP ultrawide-3D ToF LiDAR + front 12MP-3D ToF depth, 128 / 256 / 512GB storage, from USD999. iPhone 12 Pro Max – 6.7” 1284×2778 Super Retina XDR OLED Ceramic Shield with Dolby Vision, rear tri 12MP 1.7μm Sensor-Shift OIS-12MP telephoto 2.5x optical zoom OIS-12MP ultrawide-3D ToF LiDAR + front 12MP-3D ToF depth, 128 / 256 / 512GB storage, from USD1,099.  (Gizmo China, GSM Arena, Apple Insider)

OnePlus 8T is announced in UK – 6.55” 1080×2400 FHD+ Fluid AMOLED 120Hz HiD, Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, rear quad 48MP-16MP ultrawide-5MP macro-2MP depth + front 16MP, 8+128 / 12+256GB, Android 10.0, fingerprint on display, 4500mAh 65W, GBP549 / GBP649.  (GSM Arena, Neowin, Pocket-Lint)

Samsung Galaxy M31 Prime Edition is announced in India – 6.4” 1080×2340 FHD+ Super AMOLED u-notch, Samsung Exynos 9611, rear quad 64MP-8MP ultrawide-5MP macro-5MP depth + front 32MP, 6+128GB, Android 10.0, rear fingerprint, 6000mAh 15W, INR16,499 (USD225).  (GSM Arena, Gizmo China)

OPPO A15 is announced in India – 6.517” 720×1600 HD+ v-notch, MediaTek Helio P35, rear tri 13MP-2MP macro-2MP depth + front 5MP, 3+32GB, Android 10.0, rear fingerprint, 4230mAh 10W, INR10,990 (USD150).  (Gizmo China, GSM Arena, GizChina)

Coolpad Cool 6 is announced in India – 6.53” 1080×2340 FHD+ IPS, MediaTek Helio P70, rear tri 48MP-2MP macro-2MP depth + front motorized pop-up 21MP, 4+64 / 6+128GB, Android 10.0, rear fingerprint, 4000mAh INR10,999 (USD150) / INR12,999 (USD175).  (GSM Arena, Gizmo China, Coolpad)

OnePlus Buds Z is announced in India priced at INR3,190 (USD43.5). OnePlus claims a 20hrs of playback time with earbuds and the charging case combined. Other features like IP55 rating for water and sweat resistance, 2-microphones, touch controls, Quick Pair, Quick Switch, ultra-low latency mode of 103ms, access to Google Assistant, and more.  (Gizmo China, Android Authority, The Verge)

ZTE has announced a new partnership with Netflix for its Hailstorm program. The Hailstorm Hybrid Program is Netflix’s Android TV-based STB (set top box) device scaling program that gives Pay TV operators and consumer electronics partners a faster, low-cost way to integrate Netflix on their devices. (Gizmo China, ZTE)

Apple unveils HomePod Mini smart speaker for just USD99. It is powered by an Apple S5 chip that provides “computational audio”, which Apple explains adjusts how the music sounds almost 200 times per second. Its Intercom feature enables user to send voice messages to other HomePod speakers in the house. The HomePod Mini can also be used to control smart home devices. (Gizmo China, Apple)

Google is adding a new “hum to search” feature to its search tools today that will let user hum (or whistle, or sing) a song and then use machine learning techniques to try to identify it. Google says that the feature works by using its machine learning models to “transform the audio into a number-based sequence representing the song’s melody,” which it can then compare to existing songs. (CN Beta, TechCrunch, Google, 9to5Google, The Verge)