IF / News

Airoha, a subsidiary of MediaTek, is the leader in the white-brand TWS headset and “copycat” Apple AirPods market. According to unofficial statistics from China’s supply chain, the total sales of white-brand TWS headset products from mainland China in 2020 may reach 600M pairs, with sales reaching tens of billions of yuan. According to unofficial statistics, nearly 50% of “copycat” AirPods use Airoha’s chip solution. In 2017, MediaTek acquired Airoha and merged Airda with its IoT department. (CN Beta, ICSmart, Sohu)

Strategy Analytics looks at estimated units and revenue for 2020 by Wi-Fi supplier, and then projects this forward to 2021 based on expected smartphone volume by brand and model. Strategy Analytics projects Qualcomm, Broadcom and MediaTek will capture the top-3 spots in the USD4.3B smartphone Wi-Fi chip market in 2021. (CN Beta, Strategy Analytics)

Intel and Samsung Electronics are targeting to resume full operations of their plants in Vietnam by the end of Nov 2021, a move that could provide relief to global supply chains. Saigon Hi-Tech Park is helping its tenants, many of which are currently running at about 70% capacity, to operate fully in Dec 2021, according to the park’s deputy manager Le Bich Loan. Samsung in Jul 2021 shut 3 of its 16 workshops in Saigon Hi-Tech as it also reduced workers at its HCMC CE Complex by more than half. Intel, which has a test and assembly plant in Saigon Hi-Tech, had its workers on a sleepover arrangement to avoid halting operations. (CN Beta, Bloomberg, Irish Examiner)

According to Loongson, Chinese domestic mainstream anti-virus software has been adapted to the Loongson 3A5000 processor platform. Loongson 3A5000 is the first processor based on the autonomous command system LoongArch, which represents the latest milestone in China’s independent CPU design field. It integrates special mechanisms to prevent Spectre and Meltdown vulnerability attacks at the kernel level. (CN Beta, My Drivers, Sohu)

Samsung’s System LSI Division will more than double the shipments of its application processor (AP) Exynos in 2022. Samsung is pushing for a plan to raise the proportion of Exynos installation in Galaxy smartphones from 20% to 50-60%. To expand AP production, the company has started to expand facilities for substrates, packaging, and test partners. Semiconductor test company Hana Micron has decided to invest KRW150B at the end of Aug 2021, and Nepes Ark has decided to invest KRW99.5B at the end of Sept 2021. (GizChina, ET News)

Judging from the discounted prices for large-scale orders in Sept 2021 confirmed between panel manufacturers in China, South Korea, and Taiwan and domestic and foreign TV manufacturers, the 32” Open Cell (semi-finished products without backlights, etc.) is about USD55. It is down about USD20 (27%) from Aug 2021. Compared with Jun 2021, which was the most recent peak, it fell by about 40%. Large-size 55” LCD also fell by 14% (USD29) to about USD181 per sheet. (CN Beta, CNYES, Nikkei)

Xiaomi is likely to continue its high-resolution strategy on the Mi 12 series, equipped with a 200MP camera, and may be released in 2H22. The Mi 12 series flagship is expected to launch with Qualcomm’s next-generation flagship mobile platform Snapdragon 898. The phone will also support 120W super fast charging. (CN Beta, Sina, My Drivers, ZOL)

Lucid Motors has shared new details of DreamDrive, its Advanced Driver-Assistance System (ADAS) with over 30 features. DreamDrive has a total of 32 on-board sensors, cameras and radars, including the first automotive LIDAR in North America, as well as a multi-faceted driver-monitoring system and “lightning-quick on-board ethernet networking.” The backbone of the powerful computer network in the vehicle is the Ethernet Ring, a high-speed data network enabling four computer gateways—one at each corner of the car—to communicate with each other at gigabit speeds.  (CN Beta, Eletrek, Inside EVs)

Apple studying ways to make AirPods into a health device, including for enhancing hearing, reading body temperature and monitoring posture. The future AirPods will use motion sensors in the earbuds to monitor a user’s posture. Alerts would be delivered if the user is found to be slouching in the chair, and other similar relative movements. (CN Beta, Apple Insider, WSJ)

There are many substances of a battery that are more expensive and scarce than lithium, such as metallic cobalt. Currently, cobalt is still an important raw material for batteries. As of 8 Oct 2021, the domestic spot cobalt price has risen from a low of less than CNY240K / ton in Apr 2020 to over CNY380K / ton, an increase of nearly 60%. (CN Beta, My Zaker, My Drivers, News Times)

Following multiple production delays, the latest Chevy Bolt EV recall is officially underway. General Motors (GM) has started replacing the battery packs of affected vehicles. (Engadget, Ars Technica)

Prony Resources has revealed that Tesla has agreed to purchase around 42,000 tonnes of nickel in a multi-year deal – a pact that is set to make the New Caledonian miner a key supplier of the metal to the U.S. electric car maker. Prony, which bought the loss-making nickel operations in the French territory from Brazil’s Vale SA in 2021, added it aims to produce 44,000 tonnes of nickel by 2024, double its expected 2021 output. (CN Beta, Reuters, US News)

Xiaomi 11T Pro highlights 120W HyperCharge fast charging and the active cooling system. Under the motherboard is the intricate cooling system covered in graphene film, thermal paste and copper tape. The 11T Pro gets a dual battery structure – each of the modules having separate connection cables. The bottom of the battery housing also has a graphite film and copper vapor chamber to dissipate heat as the fast charging kicks in. (Gizmo China, GSM Arena, Android Community)

After 5 months announcing a deal with two of China’s biggest two-wheel vehicle makers, Gogoro has officially launched opening 45 battery swapping stations in Hangzhou. The company’s co-founder and chief executive officer Horace Luke has indicated that it targets 80 stations by the end of 2021, before expanding into other major cities with its partners, Yadea and Dachangjiang Group (DCJ). In China, Gogoro’s battery swapping technology will operate under the Huan Huan brand, a partnership between Gogoro, Yadea and DCJ. (TechCrunch, UDN, Engadget, CN Beta)

TF Securities predicts that Apple’s first orders for the iPhone 13 series in 2021 will reach 90M units, which is much higher than the 80M for the iPhone 12 series in 2020. They believe that short-term production is affected by the shortage of parts and components caused by the suspension of Vietnam’s pandemic, and it is expected to be alleviated in mid-Oct 2021. However, the current domestic dual control of energy consumption + power curtailment has limited impact on Apple’s supply chain. (CN Beta, My Drivers)

Apple is likely to slash its projected iPhone 13 production targets for 2021 by as many as 10M units as prolonged chip shortages hit its flagship product. The company has expected to produce 90M new iPhone models in 4Q21, but it is now telling manufacturing partners that the total will be lower because Broadcom and Texas Instruments are struggling to deliver enough components. (Reuters, The Verge, Bloomberg)

Facebook is expanding its investment in audio initiatives with the launch of a new “Audio” destination in its mobile app in the U.S., where users will be able to discover in one place all the audio formats Facebook now hosts, including podcasts, Live Audio Rooms and short-form audio.  (CN Beta, TechCrunch, Music Tech)

Following Tile’s recent close on USD40M in debt financing, the company today is introducing its latest lineup of lost-item trackers, including Tile Mate, Tile Pro, Tile Slim and Tile Sticker. All four trackers are getting sleeker, updated designs, with improvements to both tracking range, volume, and water resistance. (CN Beta, The Verge, TechCrunch)

Samsung has announced that it is bringing an online flagship, Bespoke Studio, for its users where the whole spectrum of the user-centric showroom experience will be available for them to enjoy on their devices. Through Bespoke Studio, users from across the globe will be able to share their passion for interior design with others virtually. The Virtual Showroom page of Bespoke Studio will take the visitors on a virtual tour through a realistic Bespoke showroom where they will be able to interact with the products and connect to a live assistant to ask any questions they may have. (CN Beta, Samsung, Geeky Gadgets, Neowin)

Honor 50 is confirmed to be the first Honor smartphone with Google Mobile Services (GMS). The smartphone is schedule to be launched in Europe soon. (GizChina, Twitter, GSM Arena)

Huawei Technologies has established 4 new business units to ratchet up its diversification efforts, as its core smartphone and mobile carrier equipment operations around the world struggle under US trade sanctions. The new units are focused on digital transformation products and services for customs and ports; technologies to reduce the energy consumption of data centres; and smart systems for highways and the photovoltaic industry. (Gizmo China, SCMP, IT Home, STCN)

Nokia G300 is announced in US – 6.52” 720×1600 HD+ v-notch, Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G, rear tri 16MP-5MP ultrawide-2MP depth + front 8MP, 4+64GB, Android 11.0, side fingerprint, 4470mAh 18W, USD200. (GSM Arena, The Verge)

vivo Y20T is announced in India – 6.51” 720×1600 HD+ v-notch, Qualcomm Snapdragon 662, rear tri 13MP-2MP macro-2MP depth + front 8MP, 6+64GB, Android 11.0, side fingerprint, 5000mAh 18W, INR15,490 (USD206).  (GSM Arena, GizChina, Flipkart)

Huami has officially announced the new Powerbuds Pro for China. Each earbud weighs 6.7 grams and has IP55 dust and water resistance rating as well. The earphones offer various useful health related features as well, which includes calories burned, heart rate, step, and posture monitoring system. It also supports active noise cancellation (ANC), which the company claims can reduce noise by up to 40dB. It is priced at CNY899 (USD139).  (Gizmo China, Amazfit, GSM Arena, IT Home)

Amazfit has launched GTR 3 Pro, GTR 3, and GTS 3. The new Amazfit smartwatches from Zepp Health now run its proprietary Zepp OS and has third-party app support. All three smartwatches come with support for Amazon Alexa. They all come with a gamut of health monitoring systems like 24×7 heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring, sleep tracking, and more. They also have more than 150 sports modes. The GTR 3 and GTS 3 both starting at EUR149.99 / USD179.99, while the GTR 3 Pro comes in at EUR199.99 / USD229.99. (Pocket-Lint, NDTV, GSM Arena)

Russian tech giant Yandex is expanding its mobility footprint in Israel with the acquisition of shared e-scooter company Wind’s Israeli operations. The two are not sharing the terms of the deal, it is estimated to have cost USD40M-50M. (CN Beta, TechCrunch, Globes, Deal Street Asia)

Volocopter’s electric heavy-lift drone VoloDrone conducted its first public flight. Together with the international logistics leader DB Schenker, Volocopter, the pioneer of urban air mobility (UAM), demonstrated VoloDrone’s seamless integration into the logistics supply chain with an end-to-end cargo transport demonstration. The partners have shown their significant progress together since DB Schenker became a strategic investor of Volocopter in early 2020. (CN Beta, Volocopter)

Neobanking startup Open has raised USD100M in a funding round led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek, along with participation from other new investors like tech major Google, card operator Visa and Japan’s SBI Investment. Founded in 2017, Open offers its neobanking platform that integrates all the tools used by small businesses and integrates it with the business current account. (CN Beta, Business Standard, TechCrunch, India Times)

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO, has indicated that he personally thinks that bitcoin is worthless. He thinks that “regulators are going to regulate the hell out of it”. Bitcoin is currently trading at around USD57,501, according to CoinMarketCap, with a market value of more than USD1T. (CN Beta, CNBC, CNN)