The penetration rate of Samsung Display's flexible AMOLED panels at the high-end smartphone segment in China in the first quarter of 2021 was higher than that seen a year earlier, Digitimes Research has found.Among Chinese vendors, only Huawei and its spun-off Honor and ZTE have opted to adopt flexible AMOLED panels rolled out by local panel makers. Others, including Xiaomi and Vivo, were primarily using locally made AMOLED panels to produce mid-tier models.Samsung Display's newly launched E4 AMOLED panels improve the brightness of the displays to 1,500 nits from the 1,200 nits found in the previous model and reach a contrast ratio of 5-million:1, which has enabled the Korean panel maker to continue to make headways in the China market, Digitimes Research says.Samsung Display has also lowered its rigid AMOLED panel prices, making those products more affordable than rival Chinese vendors' LTPS TFT LCD panels.Honor has launched its first smartphone, V40, after being spun off from Huawei. The Honor V40 features a MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ CPU, with its AMOLED panels coming from BOE Technology and Visionox.ZTE has been using AMOLED panels from Visionox since 2017. Visionox has managed to roll out full-screen AMOLED panels with in-display camera modules.In addition to using E4 AMOLED panels from Samsung Display, Xiaomi has also purchased flexible AMOLED ones from China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) for its updated Xiaomi 10S model.

Based in Montreal, Quebec, one of Canada's three artificial intelligence (AI) innovation clusters that host world-leading AI technology firms and talent, startup Dataperformers endeavors to incorporate AI technologies into the day-to-day operations of the manufacturing industry. The Dataperformers team specializing in deep learning and computer vision has decided to begin with end-to-end automated material and process defect inspection solutions with a focus on maximizing the corporation's ROI for its adoption of AI technologies so that Dataperformers' customers can reap the biggest AI benefits.Dataperformers started out focusing on joint development projects entrusted by customers and has gained ground in aerospace and electronics applications. Transitioning to targeting automated inspection solutions, Dataperformers names its new product Macula AI. Featuring easy installation and usability, Macula AI does not require the customer to employ an AI expert to make use of the system. Under the circumstances that AI talent is hard to find, this lowers the barrier for customers to incorporate Dataperformers' AI solution. Furthermore, Macula AI only needs a small amount of data for AI model training and algorithm creation to achieve industry-grade precision. This is a compelling advantage that Dataperformers' AI solution offers to customers.Macula AI has made significant progress in addressing challenges facing the manufacturing sector and engineering technologies. Successful use cases include the collaboration with Autodesk and Aisin Seiki, Japan's second-largest auto part supplier. Dataperformers recently began working with a disposable medical product manufacturer that seeks a perfect balance between product quality and production yield in view of its manufacturing process and brisk customer orders. As soon as it detects a defective product, Macula AI prompts the laser marking machine to mark the product. This allows the production line to keep operating uninterruptedly and the production equipment to keep churning out products at a high speed. The laser marking also accelerates the screening of defective products at the step of quality control sorting and inspection. Macula AI also includes an anomaly detection system that automatically notifies the site manager when discovering the product quality has started to deteriorate so that critical decisions can be made to stop unnecessary waste of materials.In view of Taiwan's pivotal role in the global electronics manufacturing sector and semiconductor supply chain, Dataperformers entered into a partnership with Advantech at year-end 2020, from which an outstanding product portfolio combining software and hardware systems is created. Leveraging Macula AI's appealing features such as the detection of scratches, stains, pores and other surface defects, Dataperformers has also initiated the search for potential business opportunities in Taiwan. Macula AI's expansion in Taiwan targeting low latency automated inspection and quality control applications based on cloud and edge computing technologies, coupled with private network infrastructure, has made eye-opening achievements.Canada-based startup Dataperformers CEO, Mehdi Merai

China's IC design sector saw out grow 24% to hit a record high in 2020, with the top-five vendors accounting for nearly 50% of the total, Digitimes Research has found.Chips related to communication, consumer devices and IT products contributed over 80% of IC output value in 2020, with communication applications alone taking up nearly 50%.The number of IC design houses is fast rising in China thanks to policy support and ample funding. Ten IC design firms went public in 2020, and most of them have been performing positively so far.Even so, China suffered a deficit of CNY200 billion (US$30.73 billion) in international trade of IC parts, a level which was on par with that seen a year earlier. The deficit is likely to remain at high levels in coming years, as it relies heavily on imports of high-end chips, while still focusing mainly on developing and producing entry-level to mid-tier IC products locally.

Supply in the semiconductor market has been so tight that prices in many segments, including foundry services, have been rising. Taiwan's pure-play foundry houses are now in contract talks with clients for 2022, and they are looking to introduce floating price schemes to make sure their pricing will reflect the volatility in costs, supply and demand. Tight capacity at foundry partners have undermined revenues gains at MCU vendors, but they are expected to see substantial sales growths starting in March and in second-quarter 2021. In China, memory makers CXMT and YMTC are keen to incease output that could raise their global market share significantly as early as year-end 2021.Pure-play foundries mulling floating price contracts for 2022: Taiwan-based pure-play foundries are already in talks with clients about contracts for 2022, and intend to implement a floating pricing policy amid tight capacity, according to industry sources.MCU makers poised to see significant growths in March and 2Q21: Taiwan-based MCU suppliers are likely to see their revenues increase significantly in March and second-quarter 2021 thanks to capacity support from wafer foundry houses and IC backend service firms, according to industry sources.China memory chipmakers gearing up for output ramp-ups: ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) are both looking to ramp up their chip output with substantial production yield rate improvements this year, and may start contributing meaningfully to the global memory industry bit output as early as year-end 2021 or 2022, according to industry sources.

Canada-based startup FLITE Material Sciences focuses development efforts on two main areas. First, FLITE develops innovative processing techniques and manufacturing technologies that protect and strengthen materials or products. The FLITE product R&D team is especially interested in green and sustainable technologies. Second, FLITE takes an in-depth look into challenges facing the manufacturing sector today and tackles them with enthusiasm and courage, particularly critical challenges that pose risks of loss or damage to corporations and societies.FLITE looks to commercialize its core technologies developed through specialized R&D strength and join forces with customers to create instantaneous values. In sum, FLITE hopes to develop products and processing techniques that are safer, more durable and more environmentally friendly.Laser surface functionalization enabling resistance to water, oil and contaminantsIn alignment with its development roadmap, FLITE's core business now focuses on laser surface functionalization. Using FLITE's clean and safe laser engineering techniques to improve surface properties of materials and thus enable resistance to water, oil and contaminants, manufacturers can protect their products while furnishing them with anti-dust, anti-fouling, anti-icing and anti-bacterial surfaces with no or reduced use of conventional chemical coating processes and techniques that may have negative environmental effects.FLITE's laser surface functionalization can also be used to reduce surface roughness and therefore lower the risks of temperature increase resulting from surface friction. It is actively exploring significant contributions to the manufacturing process of applications such as the manufacture of semiconductors, aircraft, and oil and gas products. FLITE expects that the laser engineering field testing and market validation will lead to becoming a trusted and adopted solution in multiple industries. FLITE also licenses its patented laser devices and technologies built on the foundation of its laser engineering to manufacturers or system maintenance service providers with a view to fostering long-term win-win partnerships.With promising potential for application in high-precision processing, laser surface functionalization drives industrial upgradeUnder the match-making efforts of startup incubator Canadian Technology Accelerator and startup community Garage+, FLITE has reached out to manufacturers in Taiwan and is set to begin closer partnership talks for a few promising applications after the Lunar New Year holidays. If everything goes as expected, FLITE will set up a branch office in Taiwan, which will enable it to not only provide prompt technical support locally but also explore greater and broader partnership opportunities.As a startup in its early stage of development, FLITE expects to engage in 18 joint development projects by year-end 2021, which span across aerospace, automotive, healthcare, energy and food industries. FLITE looks to expand applications into industrial and urban water systems, marine science and semiconductor manufacturing. It is hoped that FLITE's technology will enable a balance between commercial viability and eco-friendliness and create a win-win situation.

Taiwan's semiconductor industry continues suffering from tight supply with GlobalWafers seeing its capacity fully loaded all the way to the second half of 2021. Meanwhile, the shortage of copper foil is creating increased costs to CCL and PCB suppliers with them already planning to raise their quotes. With wafer foundries reportedly may increase their prices in the second half of 2021, many IC designers have already begun mulling prices hikes.GlobalWafers to see tight capacity through 2H21: Silicon wafer company GlobalWafers expects to run all its production lines for 12-, 8- and 6-inch silicon wafers at full capacity through the second half of this year.Copper foil shortage worsens: Shortages of copper foils for making copper clad laminates (CCL) and PCBs have become severe, according to industry sources.IC designers may hike quotes to reflect further foundry cost increases: Taiwan's IC design houses will have no other choice but to directly pass increased costs to downstream clients if their foundry partners raise quotes again in the second half of the year, according to industry sources.

Canada is the fourth largest vehicle exporting country in the world, making 2.1 million cars a year. And the country is keen to take its car industry to a new level. Last year, Canada's Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association (APMA) launched Project Arrow - an initiative for developing electric vehicles (EV).Digitimes recently talked to Warren Ali, SVP of innovation at APMA to learn more about Project Arrow and Canada's vision of future mobility.Q: It has been one year since APMA launched Project Arrow at CES 2020. But not many people are familiar with this project. Could you please introduce the reason for launching the project, and the goals that you are looking to achieve through the project?A: Let me walk you back with a bit of the background. The APMA is Canada's national association that represents automotive OEM producers of parts, equipment, tools, supplies and advanced technologies across Canada. This year is actually our 69th year.For the past five or six years, we have been focusing on demonstrative projects, using a vehicle as a platform, to showcase Canadian autonomous and connected technologies and applications. Both in terms of infotainment and smart cars, as well as cyber security, quantum encryption, and other things like LiDAR, and the system that has the cars interacting with the things around it.That was a very successful program, but for the factors that are driving the auto industry - connected, autonomous, electric, and shared - we didn't really have anything to showcase for electric cars, the new energy aspect. We have been using production line vehicles. While that is useful for showcasing autonomous and connected vehicles, you really cannot use it to showcase new EV technologies.So we thought, what better ways are there than building the electrical vehicles from the ground up? We can showcase many elements that are not on the market yet. Last year we launched Project Arrow, as an extension of what we've been doing in the autonomous and connected space. It really showcased zero-emission technology capabilities of Canada.At CES last year, we launched the initiative, basically divided into four phases. The first phase is design. We wanted it to embody some Canadian culture. So a competition's held across the country. We got dozens of submissions, and the winning design was from a team of four from a non-traditional industrial design school. And now we are on the second phase, which is RFP and engineering, core technology and components. We are building this concept car from ground up. Of course we need software, but we also need things like doors, windshield, tire, which are in the traditional space. So we recently kicked off the request for proposals (RFP) at CES 2021. It closes on March 1; so far we have over 200 companies registered to submit proposals. There are a whole host of products, applications and services we are sourcing. We have set up a portal site for Canadian companies which are interested in contributing by submitting their proposals and information, such as the area they are interested in participating.Q: So only Canadians can participate? Are companies of other countries able to join this project?A: We are here to showcase as much as we can of the Canadian EV/automotive ecosystems. And what I am saying by "Canadian" are companies which are operating and able to supply out of operations in Canada. We can source all kinds of things from all over the world, but the idea is that this vehicle is going to be designed and produced. We are trying to showcase the sources of stuff which is done in Canada as much as we can. There is no vehicles in the world that source completely from within one country. Every vehicle in North America sources things from United States, Mexico, and Canada, no matter where the assembly is. Just like in Europe, there is no one country that can produce cars that only source within its borders. Even in Asia, you are sourcing parts from all over the world. It is not only an electrical vehicle platform, but also a technology platform. So technology supplier across Canada don't need to be located next to the final assembly facility to be able to supply it. This is a unique opportunity for the complete automotive and auto-tech system to come together and teaming with our EV team in Canada.Q: What about phase three and four? Will it be available for mass production next year? What role can Taiwan play in the collaboration with Canadian industries?A: Phase three and four kind of happen concurrently. Phase three is designing the digital twin, and phase four is production. So we are designing the full functioning of the digital version of the vehicle itself. And then the production of the concept car as well.Q: What is the function of the digital twin? What are the use case or effect you want it to perform?A: This is one of the rare opportunities we want to showcase how a vehicle could be made and will be made in the future. In the past, whenever you want to participate in the manufacturing of a vehicle, you have to build and make physical components and do various iterations. From the digital twin side, you can not only create digital versions of the files, but also test it dynamically and digitally in many types of environments. We are partnering with several institutions in Canada on the virtual showcase. We are working at the ecosystem out of the Windsor area, which involves Windsor Economic Development Corporation, as well as University of Winsor, etc. We are also working with Ontario Tech University, and they have a wind tunnel to do all-weather testing in physical ways but also digitally with all the data accumulated.So the digital twin will allow us not only to do a lot more dynamic testing in showcasing, but also enable a lot more participants to join in. You can only have so many suppliers in a produced vehicle, but in a digital environment, you can mix up, plug and play, for the optimal results without having to worry about the tooling cost and everything else you need to spend on producing all the elements. And you can combine other technologies within it, in more dynamic and quicker ways. What is great about the digital twin is that it can travel with you in your pocket. It is easier to bring around and interact around the world in real time whether we are home or abroad and give people the platform to engage with the vehicle to see how different things are working in concert with one another, and how they operate independent systems in different environments.Q: It certainly is a very interesting new way to build cars in the future. Foxconn recently announced their MIH framework and a joint venture with Geely to build future electric cars. Do you see any possibility for their model to work for Project Arrow? Or is it more of a competitive kind of things?A: I am somewhat familiar with what they are trying to do. A lot of companies now are looking at this opportunity to revolutionize the way vehicles are made. Using a more technological foundation, being more flexible and dynamic, incorporating new ideas into the systems that are going to be built, is allowing new players to enter this space.One thing is for certain. There will be competitions, but there will also be cooperation across the market. Because with all of the investment and work being done, EV still makes up a small percentage in actual vehicles on the road. It's going to increase over time. But it is going to need the cooperation with OEMs, to work with the market to cause consumer shifts that changes mindsets, use cases, buying preferences, etc. As much as you want to compete with one another, there is going to have some cooperation. It is one of those areas where there may be partnerships that we have never seen before. For example, Honda with GM, working together on Cruise, here in North America; or BMW and Mercedes in Europe; and battery initiatives between France and Germany.There is going to be work between countries and between companies. So there is a lot of areas we can participate. One thing is for sure: electronics and the hardware within the vehicle have been and will be playing an ever-increasingly important role in the value of EVs going forward. We know Taiwan has a lot of advanced works in those fields that they have been doing for a long time. The people and experts in Taiwan will have a lot to give. The market in Taiwan is big, but not massive, while the Canadian market is huge in geography with tiny population based in some urban centers and rural areas.There will always be room for cooperation to look for new markets and new opportunities. Sometimes a couple of different applications working in concert will provide new ideas and new opportunities to work with different consumers and different customers, and even new investors.Q: Which sectors of Taiwanese manufacturers are having the most opportunity of cooperation with Project Arrow, in your opinion?A: One of the companies we are looking forward to working with is a company called E-One Moli out of Vancouver. They have been around for a very long time. Tesla's battery has its roots out of E-One Moli. And E-One Moli actually produces battery cells out of Taiwan. So there is cross linkages of some of the companies leading the future of EV space, such as Tesla, it is investing in talent that came out of that facility, which is now manufacturing out of Taiwan. There are connective tissues of cooperation that we can definitely build upon. And you have expertise in electronics. And we can also cooperate in R&D to improve batteries in terms of weights, volumes, and range. The batteries are great, but people in Canada will always be worried about warmth and cold. The batteries power everything in the vehicles now. So everything has a pull on the electronics, which includes software and everything else. It is going to affect the range and the performance. So there is all kinds of stuff in the software and battery management system that the Taiwanese ecosystem has been working on for a while now. There is definitely an opportunity to learn. But there will also be competition. No doubt about that. You have companies hiring away talent from other firms and bringing them on board. But while volumes of EV are still small, healthy cooperation in line of competition is going to be necessary to get to the point where the inflection of EVs becomes predominant across the world.CES 2020 gave us a new way to see mobility in the future. You walk into the booth of Hyundai expecting to see a car, but actually they're showcasing a vehicle without wheels. The automotive world is moving towards technological space, and it is more about future mobility and the connection with a customer journey and how they want to move from one place to another. We are seeing more investments in flying taxis/cars as well as micro mobility vehicles such as electrical scooters, e-bikes or autonomous shuttles, different types of urban transit vehicles.GM has announced at CES about building flying Cadillac, and Fiat-Chrysler is teaming up with flying EV startup Archer. The investments are more than just the itinerary of internal combustion vehicles themselves, but also in hydrogen cars, solid state batteries, etc. All of those things are not only converging but they are accelerating their developments as well.We welcome interactions from Taiwanese companies on our platforms, and will be hosting a multitude of new events. I would encourage you to engage with our trade offices, which are excellent conduits, to look for opportunities of cooperation. Our platform is open; there is no harm in reaching out to us asking what can we do together. The new NAFTA agreement would go into effect on July 1st. It has opened up at minimum 6-8 billion dollars' worth of new automotive business opportunities here in Canada. So there is room for growth. I would be very happy to help look for opportunities for R&D and business development.Warren Ali, SVP of innovation at APMAPhoto: APMA

Acer and Asustek are set to see strong notebook shipments in first-half 2021, with order visibililty becoming clear for the second half of the year, despite recent concerns that the PC market may weaken later in the year. Asustek and fellow graphics card vendors are also expected to post strong profits in 2021, fueled by stay-at-home needs and cryptomining applications. In the semiconductgor sector, as CIS vendors move to devote more to developing automotive applications, backend partners are also eyeing growing opportunities from the segment.Acer, Asustek to see strong shipments in 1H21: Acer and Asustek Computer are both set to report strong notebook shipments, particularly shipments of Chromebooks, in the first half of 2021, according to industry sources.Taiwan graphics card makers to see profits surge in 2021: Taiwan-based graphics card makers including Asustek Computer, Gigabyte Technology and Micro-Star International (MSI) are expected to generate handsome profits in 2021, thanks to pandemic-driven demand and the cryptomining fever, according to market sources.Taiwan IC packaging-testing firms eyeing automotive CIS: As international design houses of smartphone-use CMOS image sensors (CIS) including Sony, Samsung Electronics, OmniVision and On Semiconductor have shifted 2021 business focus to automotive CIS, Taiwan-based IC packaging/testing service providers have obtained or stand a good chance of obtaining corresponding orders from them, according to industry sources.

The stethoscope may be the one instrument common to all medical professionals today in the 21st century. Its development process from invention to widespread use over the past 200 years is probably hard to imagine. The traditional stethoscope is an easily accessible tool, so too will be the future ultrasound device. Canada-based biotech startup MEDO.ai has developed a software platform based on AI and cloud computing technologies. When coupled with a handheld ultrasound device, MEDO.ai's solution can simplify the acquisition and interpretation of ultrasound images for diagnosing common and critical conditions for medical professionals, allowing them to work more efficiently and reliably.Handheld ultrasound devices - a diversified tool to family doctorsTaiwan-based Qisda and Leltek as well as US-based Butterfly Network are among the firms looking to expand into the market of handheld ultrasound devices and providing more affordable medical care access to remote areas. The innovation that MEDO.ai brings forward is the adoption of its AI model that makes ultrasound device available to everyone - regardless of expertise. According to MEDO.ai vice president David Quail, MEDO.ai's software can be integrated with both non-portable and portable ultrasound devices. In view of the fact that selling hardware is the dominant business model in the ultrasound device market with a US$9 billion value, MEDO.ai looks to offer its software platform through subscription plans so as to create a competitive edge.MEDO.ai's online platform obtained FDA clearance as a marketable 510(K) Class II medical device in June 2020. It plans to submit its solutions for Developmental Hip Dysplasia (DDH) screening, pre-natal health examination and lung scan for FDA clearance in the future as well.Technological barrier and data quality are the considerations leading MEDO.ai to take a different pathMost research teams working on AI-powered medical imaging focus on computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) rather than targeting ultrasound imaging. However, Quail points out that those other modalities can be costly, harmful to human body, and hard to move around, for example, to fit in the back of the pickup truck can be challenging; whereas, the ultrasound device equipped with the AI technology can be lean, agile, non-invasive and much more impactful in terms of the enhancement of general wellbeing.The decision was also made for the reason that ultrasound imaging has a high technological barrier. Not only do ultrasound imaging innovations need to deliver better picture quality but they also need to offer complete solutions and applications, which will determine their success.Apart from working with point of care (POC) doctors, MEDO.ai also collaborates with radiologists, to whom the system can automatically generate reports, including thyroid nodule detection and classification.MEDO.ai looks forward to working with the medical industry ecosystem in Taiwan, its first choice as a manufacturing baseWell aware of Taiwan's status as a manufacturing heavyweight and a frontrunner in smart medical solutions, Quail hopes to find an OEM partner in Taiwan and to collaborate with the local picture archiving and communication system (PACS) industry ecosystem. He also looks forward to in-depth interactions with potential customers and sales channel partners. Founded in 2018, MEDO.ai employs a team of 20 professionals, including product managers, employees with gaming industry experience and AI engineers. Proceeding into A round funding, MEDO.ai plans to add specialists in image processing, visualization, labeling, regulatory affairs and business administration to its workforce.Canada-based biotech startup MEDO.ai vice president David QuailPhoto: Company

Taiwan-based foundry houses are running at full capacity for their 28nm and more mature processes, and are said to have already reached agreements with their clients for supply in 2022. The supply of 28nm and more mature processes has already fallen short of demand, which is expected to grow further in 2022 and worsen the shortage. Canada is devoting efforts to promote an ecological transition in transportation. Digitimes recently talked to Propulsion Quebec CEO Sarah Houde to find out how the Canadian province is building its EV value chain.Taiwan foundries running at full capacity for mature processes: TSMC, United Microelectronics (UMC), Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) and Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing (PSMC) continue to run at full capacity for their 28nm and above process technologies, which may persist through the end of this year, according to industry sources.Foundries to see demand for 28nm process surge in 2022: Foundries have seen their 28nm process capacity become tight due mainly to supply-side issues, but the shortage will worsen in 2022 as chip orders demanding the process manufacturing will surge, according to industry sources.Ecological transition in transportation: Q&A with Propulsion Quebec CEO Sarah Houde: As electrification becomes a clear trend for future cars, solutions for infrastructure, power supply and batteries are very much in need to develop a sound and sustainable ecosystem in line with such a trend. Propulsion Quebec is an NPO created to support the ecological transition of transportation by enhancing the collaborative efforts of the industry.