4-4: Samsung to launch foldable phone next year; TSMC to invest USD3bln to build wafer fab in Nanjing; Foxconn believes Sharp’s IGZO is better than OLED; Sharp to invest in OLED; etc.
Samsung to launch foldable phone next year; ZUK to go back to Lenovo as one of the product series; Huawei global revenue to reach CNY39.5 billion; TSMC to invest USD3 billion in Nanjing to build a new 12″ wafer fab; Foxconn thinks Sharp’s IGZO is better than AMOELD; Sharp to spend Foxconn acquisition money in OLED; etc.
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Chipset |
| Intel executive Aicha Evans is leaving the company less than a year into her tenure as head of the company’s mobile phone division. (CN Beta, WSJ, Bloomberg, Seeking Alpha)
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| Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced that the company and the municipal government of Nanjing, China have signed an investment agreement. This agreement affirms that TSMC will make an investment in Nanjing valued at USD3 billion to establish TSMC (Nanjing) Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary managing a 12” wafer fab and a design service center. (CN Beta, Sina, Bonham Journal, Digitimes)
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Display |
| Foxconn CEO Terry Guo pointed to Sharp’s proprietary know-how to mass-produce the advanced IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) display technology as a standout, calling it superior to the popular OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology. (CN Beta, WSJ, Fortune, Forbes) |
| Foxconn CEO officially signs a USD3.5 billion deal acquiring Sharp. He promised to bring Sharp out of the difficulties, and making Sharp to become the world top-notch consumer electronic brand. (CN Beta, WSJ, Bilbaoya)
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| Of Foxconn’s stake investment of JPY388.812 billion in Sharp, JPY200 billion (USD3.42 billion) is earmarked for OLED technology, with production of small-size OLED panels for use in smartphones to kick off in 2018, followed by medium- to large-size applications for tablets, notebooks and TVs. (CN Beta, WSJ, Digitimes)
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| Samsung is reportedly going to mass-produce foldable display by end of this year and is planning to sell foldable smartphones on markets starting from next year. (TechNews, ET News) |
| LG Display has been reportedly picked by the Tesla as the sole supplier for this centre display of the Model 3. Tesla has used to use TPK Holdings as supplier for large displays of Model S and Model X. (Ubergizmo, Reuters, Gizmodo, iFeng)
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Memory |
| The drives announced by Intel that make use of 3D NAND include the SD DC P3320, SSD DC 3520, SSD DC D3700 and D3600, which are all targeted at data centers, workstations, storage arrays and other heavyweight business uses. (TechNews, Intel, eTekNix, PC World)
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Connectivity |
| University of Washington has developed passive W-Fi. As it is now, Wi-Fi-enabled devices give up a significant amount of their battery life to stay connected to wireless networks. The passive Wi-Fi discovery that uses 10,000 times less power than current WiFi methods. (CN Beta, Slash Gear)
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| MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has created a new system called Chronos that can accurately detect the position of a person or object inside a room within tens of centimeters, using Wi-Fi signals only. This new system is 20 times more accurate than the current Wi-Fi-based tracking systems. (CN Beta, Softpedia) |
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Smartphones |
| Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has launched its own e-commerce site, aiming to promote its own scientific and technology products. (CN Beta, 163)
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| Lenovo’s Mobile Business Group (MBG) CEO Xudong Chen’s internal email is leaked. In the email, Lenovo’s ZUK is going back to Lenovo, as one of the product lines, similar to Moto, Lemeng, etc. (Tencent, iFeng, CN Beta) |
| Sony US mobile unit has been relocated from Atlanta to the San Francisco Bay Area, and in the process, the company has also made an unspecified number of job cuts. (GSM Arena, Re/Code, IT Home) |
| Huawei recorded an annual revenue of CNY395 billion (USD61.10 billion) in 2015, which translates into an YoY growth of 37%. Huawei’s net profit for the year stood at CNY36.9 billion, up 32% from the CNY27.9 billion figure it reported the year prior. (GSM Arena, CNBC, CN Beta, Phone Arena, Reuters) |
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Internet of Things |
Hyundai Motors America CEO David Zuchowski has forecast that a car will eventually evolve into a smart device combining the know-how of both tech firms and automakers. Tech companies can focus on making software, leaving automakers to produce automobiles, Zuchowski said. (CN Beta, Auto News, MSN, Korea Herald)
 Hyundai President and CEO David Zuchowski, discusses the automaker’s Genesis vehicle at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Monday, Jan. 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) |
