7-19: Softbank acquires ARM; TSMC rumored to gain exclusive deals for Apple A10 and A11 processors; The strategy behind OPPO’s newfound success is staying away from e-commerce;
Softbank acquires ARM; TSMC rumored to gain exclusive deals for Apple A10 and A11 processors; The strategy behind OPPO’s newfound success is staying away from e-commerce; AMOLED penetration rate in the global smartphone market will surpass 20% by the end of this year and reach 40% in 2019; In 2H16 Xiaomi would launch a new series of high-end products; China Telecom is going to launch the plan to build 800M spectrum LTE network; etc.
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Chipset |
| SoftBank has confirmed acquiring British chip designer Arm Holdings for GBP23.4 billion (about USD31 billion). (CN Beta, Barron’s, The Verge, TechCrunch, Financial Times, Nikkei, ARM, Android Authority) |
| According to IC Insights, despite the expected increase of 4% in 2016, the 2015-2019 total cellphone IC market CAGR is forecast to be 6.7%, 3.0 points higher than the 3.7% CAGR forecast for the total IC market during this same time. The USD94.3 billion 2019 cellphone IC market is forecast to be about 30% higher than the level registered in 2015. (TechNews, IC Insights, press)
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| TMSC will allegedly use a 10nm FinFET process for the Apple “A11” processor in 2017, with production beginning as soon as 2Q17. TSMC is reportedly will be the sole provider of both A10 and A11. (Digitimes, press, Apple Insider, Tencent, Sina,, 9to5Mac) |
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Touch Display |
| TrendForce anticipates that the AMOLED penetration rate in the global smartphone market will surpass 20% by the end of this year and reach 40% in 2019. In addition to its high-end series, Samsung has expanded its AMOLED adoption to include some mid-range models. Products carrying AMOLED panels are projected to account for 70% of Samsung smartphone shipments this year. (TechNews, TrendForce, press, TrendForce[cn], press)
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| RiTdisplay, a subsidiary of Ritek Group, is an OLED panel maker. In 1H16, its revenue reached NTD997 million (USD31.21 million), and its annual growth rate surpassed 40%. RiTDisplay is planning to expand its production capacity by 20%. (Led Inside, OLED-Info) |
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Memory |
| Non-Volatile DIMMs (NVDIMMs) have emerged as a go-to technology for boosting performance for next generation storage platforms. It currently has 3 standards, namely NVDIMM-N, NVDIMM-F and NVDIMM-P. (TechNews, SNIA report)
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| Toshiba and Western Digital have jointly announced the opening of a new fab in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, Japan, which will support the conversion of the companies’ 2D NAND capacity to 3D NAND. (Digitimes, press, 52RD, Hexun) |
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Sensory |
| Valve’s Lighthouse tracking system base station is the box that is the foundation. It uses alternating sweeps of horizontal and vertical lasers to pass over the HTC Vive headset and SteamVR controllers which are covered in small sensors that detect those lasers as they go by. (CN Beta, Road to VR, E&T, article)
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Battery |
| LG Chem will supply lithium-ion batteries for NASA space suits. According to data from B3, the global lithium-ion battery sector is expected to grow to 169.3 gigawatt hours (GWh) by 2020, up from 90.3GWh this year. A battery capacity of 169.3GWh could supply about 2.8 million high-performance electric vehicles to run up to 320km on a full charge. (CN Beta, Korea Times) |
| Navigant Research estimates that the global revenue of the smart energy industry between 2015 to 2024 will be USD136 billion. It also expects the revenue to rise from USD7.6 billion this year to USD20.9 billion in 2024, bolstered in the U.S. and other countries with a strong renewable movement. (Navigant Research, press, Read/Write) |
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Material |
| School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at the Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have worked with U.K. industry recently to demonstrate a device that allows curved surfaces to appear flat to electromagnetic waves. QMUL’s design is based on transformation optics. (PC World, Gizmodo, Eureka Alert, QMUL, CN Beta)
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Connectivity |
| China Telecom executive Yang Jie indicates that the company is going to launch the plan to build 800M spectrum LTE network, aiming to achieve full coverage in 1H17. As CDMA network is applying 800M spectrum, it might mean China Telecom is closing down the CDMA network. However, China Telecom has yet to confirm that. (CN Beta, 163, OfWeek) |
| China Telecom indicates that the shift of 800MHz spectrum for LTE does not influence current voice and data network, and no plan yet to exit CDMA network. (CN Beta, 163) |
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Smartphones |
| Xiaomi co-founder Li Wanqiang has been busy—hiring spokespersons, working with operators, and managing the brand – Redmi, Xiaomi and high-end models. He also indicates that in 2H16 Xiaomi would launch a new series of high-end products. (163, iFeng, CN Beta)
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| The strategy behind OPPO’s newfound success is simple: staying away from e-commerce, analysts say. The efforts led OPPO to have a network of 200,000 retail stores throughout the country today. (CN Beta, Sina, Forbes, article) |
| ZTE ZMAX Pro is official with MetroPCS – 6” FHD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 617, 13MP + 5MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, Android 6.0, LTE, dual-SIM, USB Type-C, 3400mAh battery, USD99. (Android Headlines, Engadget, GSM Arena)
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| iNew U9 Plus is announced – 6” HD 2.5D curved glass display, MediaTek MT6735A processor, 13MP + 5MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, LTE, dual-SIM, 3000mAh battery, USD110. (GizChina, Gizmo China)
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Internet of Things |
| R&D investment by seven major Japanese carmakers will rise to an all-time-high JPY2.81 trillion (USD26.8 billion), according to data compiled by The Nikkei. That would mark a 2.8% uptick from fiscal 2015 and the 7th straight annual increase. (CN Beta, Nikkei) |
| The 2018 Audi A8 will be the first fully autonomous production car when it goes on sale in late 2017. The technology will apparently trickle down to cars like the 2019 Audi A7, A6, and Audi Q8 crossover. The new A8 will also feature artificial intelligence. The level 3 autonomous driving will come in the form of a Traffic Jam Assist, which will drive the car on its own at speeds up to 60km/h in congested traffic on the motorways. (CN Beta, Drives Park, Auto Car,Auto Evolution)
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| Microsoft and Boeing announced a partnership to move Boeing’s suite of digital aviation offerings over to Azure, and the end result is that said servers are going to begin to get smarter. (Microsoft, TechCrunch, Pin Chain, US China Express) |
| Baidu has made its second investment in a U.S. fintech company into ZestFinance, a big data firm specializing in credit scoring. (TechCrunch, Business Wire, iFeng, Sina) |
