7-12: Xiaomi wants to open 2nd flagship store in Hong Kong and cover 5000 shops in India; Qualcomm officially announces Snapdragon 821; Microsoft to close down its Finland mobile division; etc.
Xiaomi wants to open 2nd flagship store in Hong Kong and cover 5000 shops in India; Qualcomm officially announces Snapdragon 821; Microsoft to close down its Finland mobile division; Big 3 operators in China have all planned to commercialize 5G network in 2020; Truly might be buying Samsung 7G TFT-LCD production equipment; Intel will supply Apple with 50% of LTE modems for iPhone 7; etc.
| Chipset |
| TSMC has reported revenues of NTD81.39 billion for June 2016, up 10.6% sequentially and 35.8% on year. TSMC expects to see its 3Q16 revenues climb to a record high of between NTD230-240 billion, buoyed by rising shipments of Apple A10 chips that use 16nm FinFET manufacturing process and in-house developed backend integrated fan-out (InFO) wafer packaging. (Digitimes, press, iDownloadblog, CN Beta)
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| Fujian Jin Hua Integrated Circuit will break ground for a new 12-inch wafer fab on July 16, according to media reports in China. The facility will be engaged in the manufacture of DRAM products using production technology developed by Taiwan’s United Microelectronics (UMC). (TechNews, Hexun, OfWeek, Digitimes, press, 4-Traders) |
| Qualcomm has announced a new flagship mobile processor Snapdragon 821. It builds upon the 820’s features, but provides a 10% performance increase. Its quad-core CPU runs at 2.4GHz.(CN Beta, PC World, eWeek, The Verge)
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| Akhan Semiconductor is working on making processing chips using diamonds instead of silicon. On average, diamonds can run 5 times hotter and eliminate up to 90% of energy typically loss in the course of electron transfer. (Digital Trends, IEEE, EE Focus)
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| Cowen & Company believes Intel will supply Apple with 50% of LTE modems for “iPhone 7”, which could generate some USD1.5 billion in incremental revenue over 2017. (CN Beta, Apple Insider, Motley Fool, press) |
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Touch Display |
| Samsung Display will dispose of 7G TFT-LCD production equipment by the end of 2016 and China-based LCD module maker Truly Semiconductors is more likely than panel makers BOE Technology and China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) to become the buyer, according to Digitimes Research. (Digitimes, press) |
| Though it is the end of the quarter, panel makers do have well performance on revenues in June 2016. In particular, big-size panel makers including AUO and Innolux both enjoy some growth compared to May 2016. Mid-to-small-size panel makers including CPT and Hannstar have relatively smaller increase in terms of revenue, but compared to shipment, and the increase prices, the makers do have some substantial support. (China FPD, Sigma Intell)
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| a-Si handset production is shrinking, 2Q16 handset panel is in tight supply and its price is increasing. Entering July 2017, a peak season of pull-in, in addition to tight supply, handset makers have increased their orders for panels. According to Sigma Intell, in July 2016 a-Si prices will increase further compared to June 2016. It expects in 3Q16 a-Si panel prices will continue to rise. (China FPD, OfWeek, Sigma Intell, press)
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Memory |
| Samsung is introducing a 4TB version of the 850 Evo that could easily replace a reasonably large hard drive. It will launch at USD1,500 in the US. (Engadget, PC World, Kit Guru, My Drivers, 163)
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| Samsung and several partners have developed a new socket design that will be able to accept both UFS and microSD cards. (Ubergizmo, Droid-Life, IT Home, Sohu) |
| Samsung Electronics and IBM recently published the research paper about STT-MRAM (magnetic random access memory) production technology through the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). STT-MRAM has succeeded in realizing a 10ns level speed and a super power saving structure, surpassing the performance of DRAM in theory. (EE Times, Business Korea, TechNews) |
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Connectivity |
| LUXSHARE-ICT is a main manufacturer for Apple lighting cable. Thanks to Apple’s high demand, LUXSHARE-ICT has enjoyed non net-profit increase of 109% and 67.7% in year 2014 and 2015, respectively. However, due to the decline of market share of Apple in 1H16, LUXSHARE-ICT business has shown some substantial decline. (CN Beta, 163) |
| Big 3 operators in China have all planned to commercialize 5G network in 2020, and at the earliest, in 2017 they will start preparing and testing 5G network. If everything goes smoothly, the big 3 operators will start constructing the 5G network, and by 2020 the network will be put in commercialized use. (CN Beta, Tencent) |
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Smartphones |
| Based on a survey of 400 US iPhone owners conducted by Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster and Douglas Clinton, 14.8% currently plan to upgrade to the Apple iPhone 7 in the fall, while 29% may upgrade to the new device. 67.3% of iPhone owners in the US have an iPhone 6/6 Plus or older, meaning they would fall into the typical carrier upgrade window during the iPhone 7 cycle. (CN Beta, Barron’s, blog) |
| While Apple’s online sales in China are still growing, T.H.Capital data suggest that its total Greater China sales is likely to be weaker than consensus expectation in FY3Q16. (T.H.Capital, CN Beta) |
| Vice-President Xiaomi Global, Hugo Barra indicates that after first flagship store in Hong Kong Mongkok last year, there is a “big chance” to have second store in Hong Kong. (Gizmo China, IT Home, SZ News) |
| Xiaomi India head Manu Kumar Jain says, Xiaomi is partnering with Indian brick-and-mortar distributors Just Buy Live and Foxconn-owned Innocomm to significantly expand to more than 5000 offline outlets. (Android Central, Telecom Talk, Tech Radar, China Times, Tencent) |
| Microsoft has confirmed it will close its mobile phone unit in Finland, cutting 1,350 jobs. (CN Beta, BBC, Yahoo) |
| Google ‘Android Skilling and Certification’ program aims to train 2 million mobile developers in India. (CN Beta, iFeng, BGR, Business Insider)
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| After months of reports that Yahoo is in talks for a potential sale of its core internet business, SunTrust’s analyst Bob Peck says there’s a chance a deal will not happen at all. (CN Beta, Business Insider) |
| Honor 8 is officially launched – 5.2” FHD display, HiSilicon Kirin 950 processor, 2×12MP + 8MP cameras, 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM / 4GB RAM + 32GB ROM / 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM, Android 6.0, LTE (VoLTE), fingerprint sensor, 3000mAh battery, from CNY1999. (GizChina, iFeng, CN Beta, GSM Arena, Gizmo China)
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Tablets |
| Worldwide PC shipments totaled 62.4 million units in 2Q16, a YoY decline of 4.5%, beating the forecast of -7.4% by roughly 3%, according to IDC. The United States market performed best, reflecting the strength of the U.S. dollar and relative market stability. (IDC, press, TechNews)
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Wearables |
| According to GWI, 40% of the age group 16-24 consumers are interested in VR. On the other hand, only near 20% of 55-64 aged consumers are interested in VR. (GWI, press, 199IT)
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| Cubot V1 smart band is official – 0.88” 128×32 OLED display, Dialog DA1458 Low Consumption Bluetooth 4.0 chip, Freescale triaxial accelerometer MMA8652 sensor, IP65 waterproof, 80mAh battery, USD15. (GizChina, Gizmo China)
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Internet of Things |
| Netgear confirmed it will pull the plug on its VueZone connected camera system. The range of wirelessly-enabled security cameras was acquired by Netgear back in 2012, which subsequently renamed the line-up and new additions as Arlo. Unfortunately for those with investment in the initial cameras, however, they will stop working in 18 months time. (CN Beta, Network World, Slash Gear)
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