In operation for a decade, Fashion Intelligence has been developing smart services on the basis of IoT positioning technologies in recent years. For example, Fashion Intelligence designed and integrated the software elements of the Taipei Navi app, which provides indoor navigation services at the Taipei Main Station, the biggest application field in Taiwan. It is among the highly praised public services offered by the Taipei City Government.In addition to being a public transportation hub connecting the Taiwan Railways, Taiwan High Speed Rail, Taipei MRT, Taoyuan International Airport MRT and bus networks, the Taipei Main Station is also home to a huge underground market, making it a maze to travelers. Fashion Intelligence makes use of beacon devices combining Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technologies working in connection with the traveler's smartphone to position the traveler and thereby enable functionalities including indoor navigation, traffic information, restaurant and store location, smart parking information and push notification. With Fashion Intelligence's app, travelers can easily find their way to the exit closest to where they are going or navigate to their rendezvous point without getting lost.According to Fashion Intelligence general manager Kent Chang, its positioning system delivers a +/- 2-meter accuracy, the best that BLE can achieve. However, in the lobby area with the black-and-white checkered floor, it is not easy to deploy sensors so a +/- 5-meter accuracy is acceptable to most users.Fashion Intelligence has been experimenting with using IoT positioning technologies to solve a range of different problems. Elderly care in remote communities is one area that Fashion Intelligence is trying to put its solution to practical use. Leveraging Wi-Fi communication and beacons, coupled with IoT sensors to detect smart IC cards, can enable precise positioning. Moreover, a diversity of outdoor positioning devices in the form of amulets or incense bags from temples, inductive cards or key chains that are compact, lightweight, wearable and convenient can be carried by elders so that caregivers can keep track of their whereabouts anytime anywhere.Fashion Intelligence has piloted the solution in Xishi Village, Zhutian Township, Pingtung County. Elders are more willing to wear the positioning devices offered in the form of amulets and many users have expressed satisfaction. Chang noted that the app provides two functions - positioning and self-reported positioning. It is a much more efficient and economical alternative to the old-fashioned approach of using video cameras to conduct searches and is therefore growingly adopted throughout Taiwan. Available at a monthly rental fee of NT$150, Fashion Intelligence is building up its user base and expects to connect the device with the smartphones of the elder's families or children to enable greater smart IoT business opportunities.Launching smart applications in Thailand, Singapore and Hong KongWith the assistance from the Smart City Development Projects Office, Industrial Development Bureau (IDB), Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Fashion Intelligence has successfully expanded into Southeast Asian markets by building regional distributor networks. Fashion Intelligence looks to present localized smart applications through distributors that are capable of system integration. For example, its positioning solution available at Mercedes-Benz service centers in Thailand allow car owners to stay on top of how far along the repair or maintenance process their vehicles are as well as where they are in the service center.The solution is also being used at an elderly daycare center in Singapore. Indoor positioning helps keep track of who has been in contact with the elders for the purpose of epidemic control. Such location specific applications have tremendous development potential in Southeast Asia. Chang thinks IoT services will enable two main benefits that are welcome by the general public - safety and cost saving. For instance, asset management by warehousing companies or access control of airport restricted areas are applications that catch market attention.As Fashion Intelligence's solution is largely adopted by large-scale organizations such as government institutions and hospitals, Chang is grateful to IDB for bridging Fashion Intelligence and local distributors together, enabling a better understanding of regional needs. Thanks to IDB's match-making efforts, Fashion Intelligence has engaged in partnership deals that have allowed it to successfully penetrate into local markets. This is something Fashion Intelligence could hardly achieve by attending regional trade exhibitions. In just two years, Fashion Intelligence is already seeing business value generated as a result of these partnership deals.Fashion Intelligence is engaging in partnership deals at large scales with major telecom operators and hospitals in Hong Kong and sees promising outlook. Going forward, Fashion Intelligence expects to move toward the Software as a Service (SaaS) model, through which more vendors across different industries can join efforts.Fashion Intelligence GM Kent ChangPhoto: Sandy Du, Digitimes, October 2020

Demand for OLED is picking up, with Apple's freshly released iPhone 12 family all featuring OLED screens. Now China-based maker CSOT has plans to build a new 8.5g fab in 2021 for making inkjet-printed OLED panels. SK Hynix is expected to get a bigger share of the NAND flash market after acquiring Intel's NAND flash business. But Intel's memory backend partner PTI stands to lose orders. And Intel's data-centirc tech evangelist Abigail Hing Wen tells Digitimes in an exclusive interview how AI is transforming the world.CSOT to build new 8.5G fab for inkjet-printed OLED panels: China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) plans to start building a new 8.5G fab in Guangzhou in 2021 for production of inkjet-printed OLED panels, with volume production likely to kick off in 2024, according to industry sources.Memory backend firm PTI to see orders drop from Intel: With Intel agreeing to sell its NAND flash and storage business including a manufacturing plant in China's Dalian to SK Hynix, Taiwan's memory backend specialist Powertech Technology (PTI), now with 10% of its revenues contributed by Intel, will have to adjust and enhance its customer mix to offset upcoming loss of orders from the US chipmaker, according to industry sources.Promoting trust in AI: Q&A with Intel data-centric tech evangelist Abigail Hing Wen: Abigail Hing Wen is the data-centric tech evangelist and AI podcast host for Intel. Beside her work at Intel, she has multiple identities: a lawyer in venture capital, a leader in emerging AI tech, a New York Times bestseller novelist, a wife and a mother of two. One of her novels, "Loveboat, Taipei," drew from her experience participating in a youth camp in Taiwan more than 20 years ago, and is now being adapted into a Hollywood film.

PwC Taiwan has published a report predicting blockchain technology will add a total of US$1.76 trillion to GDP of all countries around the world during the 2021-2030 decade.According to the "Time for Trust: The Trillion-dollar Reason to Rethink Blockchain" report, China will see the largest addition of US$440 billion to its GDP arising from blockchain applications in the decade, followed by the US (US$407 billion), Germany (US$95 billion), Japan and the UK (US$72 billion each), India (US$62 billion) and France (US$59 billion).Among the five main areas for blockchain application, traceability of products and services rank first with total GDP contribution of US$962 billion, followed by payment and other financial services (US$433 billion), personal identification and professional certificates (US$224 billion), contracts and dispute settlement (US$73 billion) and strengthening of customer relationship management (US$54 billion).The government sector, education and medical care will benefit the most from blockchain, the report said.Successful development and application of blockchain technology hinges on supporting policies, technology ecosystems, and a suitable mix of industries, PwC indicated.IDC projects that global spending on blockchain application is increasing at a CAGR of 55.3% to US$14.4 billion in 2023 from 2018, and the spending in 2020 is estimated at US$4.3 billion, hiking 57.7% from 2019.

Abigail Hing Wen is the data-centric tech evangelist and AI podcast host for Intel. Beside her work at Intel, she has multiple identities: a lawyer in venture capital, a leader in emerging AI tech, a New York Times bestseller novelist, a wife and a mother of two. One of her novels, "Loveboat, Taipei," drew from her experience participating in a youth camp in Taiwan more than 20 years ago, and is now being adapted into a Hollywood film.During her recent stay in Taipei as a guest speaker at Anchor Taiwan's "Women in Venture Roundtable," Digitimes had the opportunity to talk to her about her career changes, the prospects of AI, and the potential of Taiwan to become a hotbed for startups.Q: You have been very successful in your career path as a lawyer, but what made you decide to transition into a venture capitalist?A: I started off practicing law in Washington, DC, working for the government. Washington DC is a one-industry town, the practice of law. But my husband was working in technology, he would come to the party, talking about all the latest technology, and everyone thought he was so nerdy. He had always wanted to work in the Silicon Valley, but as soon as we got married, he went with me to New York so I could finish law school, and then to DC, so I could clerk in the DC Circuit. So it was kind of my turn (to sacrifice), and it was a hard move for me. DC was my town as a lawyer, but Silicon Valley is also a one-industry town, his town. My husband is working for Google now. After giving birth to my second child, I stayed home taking care of my kids for three years, and I wrote two novels during that time. After that, I decided I need to go back to law, to continue my training. Because Silicon Valley's bread and butter is technology, I went into venture-capital law. The opportunity came very quickly, I went to the company and loved it. Very soon I out-grew my legal job, the work itself is very easy for me, I closed so many deals very fast. There was one year we counted the number of cases and mine was twice as many as my colleagues'. So I thought, I really need to do something else, because I felt I needed to be challenged more. I started moving more towards the business side of things. Three years ago, I connected with an artificial intelligence (AI) company that Intel acquired for US$400 million. They were building a business unit at Intel, for artificial intelligence. And I joined the office of the CTO in a business role focused on incubating new technologies within a company, versus a venture capitalist investing in tech outside of a company.Q: So how do you structure your portfolio? Do you decide specifically to focus on machine learning, or natural language processing, etc?A: Intel invests very broadly. Its mandate has shifted over the years from strategic to financial investment in startups. As a strategic investor, you want to go ahead of the curve to invest in a company, and think about, where should the company be technology-wise in the next 5-10 years. I specifically asked to do AI work, because I have been interested in that and actually have been writing about it in my novels. I really think it's one of the technologies that changes our future. And I want to be part of that.In terms of what we invest in, it depends on whether we are a strategic or financial investor and what's the best for the company in that space. I worked with Andrew Ng's company, Landing.ai, which is in manufacturing, and we have another one called Datarobot. And there are some startups on the human-resources side in the portfolio. We have another startup venture which was just acquired, focused on denoising speech.You meet so many entrepreneurs, and we have a lot of investors who are constantly cultivating relationships with entrepreneurs. They bring in whatever looks interesting from a financial investor's point of view. AI, for Intel, has some advantage as accelerator. Intel is so big, and so diverse, so it is often driven by interests within the company. In my CTO team, one area we focused on was privacy-preserve machine-learning technologies. Because the future in AI is data, we want to make sure data is processed in a way that protects your privacy, and make technologies that comply with regulations. It is a nexus that combines my legal background and my work with technology.Q: You mentioned you need to look 5-10 years ahead as a strategist. What are the AI technologies that are going to change the way we work, the way we live?A: In my podcast, I interviewed Andrew Ng, who said he tried to find one sector that would not be affected by AI, but he could not. They thought maybe haircuts would not be affected, but actually even haircuts would be disrupted. All of it, everything is going to change. We are already using AI in our cellphones, our home devices. They collect big data in order to analyze trends, across all sectors, including finances, healthcare, etc. AI will accelerate our research in so many different fields. I personally am very interested in the intersections of these technologies, like natural language processing with computer vision, recognition, recommendations. I can actually pull them together on the entertainment side. I am thinking about film tech. But that's more likely to be a 5-year plan, still very early.I have a friend who is doing virtual models. I am fascinated to see how she moves from still images to video. Over time I am excited to see when we can create virtual videos using AI technologies. Right now we do animation, which is like analog in comparison. But we are moving toward virtual humans. Digital Domain and Facebook are just a few companies working on it. That's the holy grail of that space. But we are still at very early stages.I was a beta tester of OpenAI's GPT-3 language model, which is one of the largest language models in existence now. Actually I played off it a bit when I was writing my second book. What I did was putting into a few sentences that I was thinking about writing. It was able to generate text by predicting the next word and the sequences, given all the words that came before it. It is pretty good: it's cogent, the grammar is good, tone actually matches the tone I put into it. If I put in "wealthy family, succession story", it kind of develops a generic story around that. It is useful to me, because it shows me this is how the generic writer might write, so I am not going to write that. But that also reminds me what else I need to include in my own book. There are a number of startups that are springing up around GPT-3, and I think that's going to be very exciting to see what those applications are.Q: But as a writer, are you worried that the AI robots will replace you?A: No, not at all. When I interviewed Jerome Pesenti, the VP of Facebook AI Research, we discussed this topic about AI and creativity. AI is just a tool to enable us to make better art. It's like a camera, which doesn't replace watercolors. Those are two different mediums, but there might be more photographers than watercolorists now. And I think AI is going to be a tool for all art creators. And AI art is being generated out there. Art is like a two-way street. There is the creator and there is the consumer. And the consumer completes the artistic experience. They bring their own experiences to bear. So when people look at a piece of AI-generated art and see meaning in it is because of the experiences they are bringing. The human creativity is what distinguishes us from artificial intelligence, and that is going to be difficult to ever be replaced.Q: You are a podcast host and also an AI evangelist for Intel. We all know that Intel is a B2B semiconductor company. Why does Intel feel it's so important to have an evangelist writing articles and using podcast as a medium to communicate to the public about AI?A: This is me speaking on my own, not representing the company. The vision of the podcast is to help build our thought leadership. We have so many brilliant, incredible scientists and researchers of artificial intelligence at Intel. But they are not very visible. People don't naturally think of Intel as an AI company, because it focuses on the underlying chips. But on AI-related issues like ethics, we do have things to say. I love that platform of Intel, because it's agnostic, it doesn't have an agenda to drive AI, the way that some companies might. That gives me a little bit of flexibility to explore a number of topics. The podcast's emphasis is on a C-suite audience and what I call an "NPR" (National Public Radio) audience. They are smart, informed people who may not know too much about artificial intelligence. But I want to make it accessible to them.And part of the vision is that, I do think AI is going to transform the world. I want as many people as possible to know what is going on. That transparency is actually helpful to build trust in technology.Q: How does Intel create synergy with AI in its products?A: There are many cool technologies, but a lot of them are still in the labs. If we look at the investments Intel has in AI technologies, that would be a good indicator of what they are possibly exploring. And there are a lot of companies that are using Intel chips as the base of their AI, or deep-learning applications. But there are always interesting projects that are incubated around AI. And with the maturity of the technology, there will be more demand for chips and computing power. As Andrew Ng puts it, the "appetite for computing power from the AI revolution is infinite."Q: Earlier you mentioned that the number of companies in Intel's startup investment portfolio has decreased from more than 1,200 to 400+, what was the lesson learned to make that dramatic change?A: No, no, it's more like exits, rather than lesson learned. We had lots of exits over the years - companies get acquired, sometimes they closed. In the startup ecosystem, as a general rule, most startups will fail; but as an investor, you want to make the best bets you can and help the startup company to be successful. The portfolio has gone up and down over the years, usually due to IPO, M&A, or the company folding.Q: But why the turn to financial investment from strategic?A: That's a corporate decision. People recognize that corporate venture capital (CVC) can bring to bear the weight of their expertise, but it does sometimes limit you to companies that have some kind of ties to the larger parent company, like Intel. And the very ambitious investors all want the best deals. You have more options as a financial investor, rather than just strategic.Q: As an investor, do you see Taiwan as a potential hotbed for AI startups in the next 5-10 years?A: I am already very impressed with the tech sphere here. With COVID-19, there are so many COVID refugees coming all over the world to Taiwan. That's an incredible opportunity to create a branch hub for innovation. The universities here are fantastic. Taiwan has almost all the ingredients except for one key thing, which is the uptake for risk, being willing to take big bets, smart bets, but make that seem ok to failure. As I said, not all of Intel's huge portfolio all wins. But that is part of the way you get to your wins.(Editor's note: The Women in Venture series is a collaboration with Digitimes' strategic partner Anchor Taiwan, a platform to connect the world with Taiwan focusing on corporate innovation and cross-border expansion. The Women in Venture Roundtable is a network of 80+ female investors and bi-monthly sessions featuring world-class guest speakers. More info: Anchor Taiwan. For the podcast, see Spotify, Apple Podcast or Soundcloud: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Dy6TKKLIazz8oaCW0oiiE.)Abigail Hing Wen, data-centric tech evangelist and AI podcast host for IntelPhoto: Micahel Lee, Digitimes, September 2020

The freshly released iPhone 12 devices all feature OLED screens. China-based panel maker BOE reportedly was initially not among the OLED suppliers for the new Apple smartphones, but is now said to be ready to ship OLED screens in small volume for the 6.1-inch iPhone 12. The overall handset market in China may have been weak this year, but 5G smartphone sales are picking up. Sales of 5G phones in China may reach 150 million units in 2020. The TV market in China has also been unimpressive. TV sales during the shopping season around China's October 1 National Day dropped on year.BOE to ship OLED panels for iPhone 12 in small volume, say sources: BOE Technology reportedly will start shipping 6.1-inch OLED panels, albeit in small volume, for the just released iPhone 12 in the second half of October, with prospects to gradually ramp up related shipments in 2021, according to industry sources.China 5G phone shipments to top 150 million units in 2020: Sales of 5G phones in China, already in full swing, are expected to gain a further boost in fourth-quarter 2020 thanks to higher than expected pre-orders for iPhone 12 lineup received by e-commerce operators there, according to market observers.TV sales down in China during National Day shopping: TV shipments during China's three-week shopping season around the National Day (September 21-October 11, 2020) totaled 2.684 million units, down 8.3% on year, according to All View Cloud (AVC).

The iPhone 12series are expected to see significant sales, with Apple likely to increase orders for its ecosystem partners. Apple will reportedly increase SLP orders with its PCB suppliers for the iPhone 12 mini, as the smaller-size model has good sales prospects in Asia. In the semiconductor backend service sector, strong demand for wire bonding capacity is likely to last beyond first-quarter 2020. And Foxconn is gearing up efforts for the electric vehicle market. The EMS giant has unveiled its MIH software/hardware open platform for EV development.iPhone 12 mini mainboard suppliers may land extra orders: Taiwan's PCB makers Compeq Manufacturing and Unimicron, both now supplying SLP mainboards for iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max, are likely to land additional orders from Apple as the former model stands a good chance of seeing better-than-expected sales, according to industry sources.Taiwan IC backend service firms ramping wire bonding capacity: The current tight wire bonding (WB) packaging capacity at Taiwan's IC backend service firms is likely to last beyond the first quarter of 2020 thanks to strong demand from analog and logic IC vendors, according to industry sources.Foxconn unveils software/hardware open EV development platform: A joint venture newly established by Foxconn Electronics and Yulon Motor has unveiled MIH, a software/hardware open platform for developing electric vehicles (EVs), according to Foxconn.

NADI System, Memorence AI and Verdigris Technologies have developed AI-based solutions for manufacturing.NADI has developed a 3D visualization management platform based on PSIM (physical security information management) architecture. The platform integrates data collected from manufacturing systems and IoT devices as 3D visualized displays for users to undertake analysis and prediction, according to company general manager Steven Chang.The 3D displays use in-house-developed algorithms and locational parameters for each production line, Chang said, adding that the platform is intended to help manufacturers attain real-time, accurate and remote management.Memorence has developed Memorence Suite, a GUI (graphical user interface)-based visual deep learning system capable of data management, AI model learning and inference, and results analyses, company founder and CEO Hsiao Pai-heng noted.To adopt AI-based solutions to upgrade production, the first step is to define the problems to be solved and choose appropriate image-capturing devices, and then keep collecting images and data and establish corresponding databases. The final step is to build AI models and let the models keep learning for optimization, Hsiao indicated. Memorence has helped clients hike defect detection accuracy to over 99.9%, Hsiao said.Verdigris, a company established in Silicon Valley by Taiwanese entrepreneurs, has developed AI-based sensors and algorithms to help factories diagnose power use for equipment and manage details of power consumption to maximize efficiency in power use, said company senior sales manager Jacky Wu.Verdigris has helped US-based Katerra install six smart monitoring systems consisting of 216 smart power meters at six switchboards at its factory to monitor 72 different electrical circuits, Wu noted. Verdigris also provides smart early warning and power use prediction during hours of peak power demand.Memorence founder Hsiao Pai-heng (left to right), NADI general manager Steven Chang, and Verdigris senior sales manager Jacky WuPhoto: Digitimes, October 2020

TSMC expects revenues from its 5nm manufacturing process to pick up in 2021 with the share to rise from only 8% in 2020 to more than 20%. Meanwhile, as the IT industry continues witnessing insufficient wafer foundry support, backend houses have also extend their delivery lead times to reflect their tight capacities. Demand from China will strongly influence iPhone 12's sales performance in 2020.TSMC expects 5nm chip sales to boost in 2021: TSMC CEO CC Wei has reiterated his previous remark that the foundry expects to see 5nm process technology to account for 8% of its total wafer revenues this year. The proportion will climb further to nearly 20% or above the level, said Wei at an earnings conference call on October 15.Taiwan backend houses extend delivery lead times: Delivery lead times at Taiwan-based packaging and testing houses have been extended, as fabless chipmakers are striving for capacity support, according to industry sources.China sales crucial for iPhone 12 performance: Sales of the just-released iPhone 12 lineup in China would be a linchpin for Apple to see whether its iconic product line could sustain growth in 2020 and beyond, according to industry observers.

The 5G subscriber market has continued growing steadily in China, with its 5G connected devices in use on track to grow to 185 million units by year-end 2020, having reached 66 million units in the first half, Digitimes Research estimates.After building over 400,000 5G base stations in first half-2020, Chinese telecom operators as a whole will install another 250,000-300,000 such base stations in the second half of the year, Digitimes Research indicates.To mitigate the financial pressure for 5G infrastructure buildups, China Mobile has reached a deal to share its 5G networks with China Broadcasting Network (CBN), while China Telecom has also teamed up with China Unicom for network sharing.Combined capital expenditure of China's top-3 telecom operators – China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom – totaled CNY88 billion (US$13.094 billion) in first-half 2020 and is to expand to CNY180 billion by year-end, representing an increase of 338% from a year earlier.Despite heavy investments for 5G network construction, the three telecom operators have yet to see meaningful improvements of their financial results in terms of ARPU (average revenue per user), EBITDA and EBITDA margin for migrating into 5G from 4G.

Apple's new 5G smartphone series is expected to see significant sales momentum, with shipments for iPhone 12 devices standing a chance of hitting as many as 80 million units by the end of 2020, although the US vendor is looking to build an inventory of 71-75 million units for this year. Foxconn is the major assembler for the iPhone 12 series. The Taiwanese ecosystem remains a major partner for Apple, as its PCB makers will supply 60% of the SLPs for th enew iPhones. Shipments of iPhone 12 lineup may top 80 million units by year-end 2020: Shipments of Apple's just-unveiled iPhone 12 lineup may reach as high as 80 million units by year-end 2020, as the vendor's more affordable pricing strategy is likely to entice users with older iPhones to upgrade, according to market observers.Foxconn remains major iPhone assembler: Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai) has secured the bulk of orders for the new iPhone 12 series and will see its shipments for the new Apple smartphones peak through the first quarter of 2021, according to market sources.Taiwan PCB makers obtain 60% of SLP orders for new iPhones: Zhen Ding Technology, Compeq Manufacturing and Unimicron Technology have together landed nearly 60% of total substrate-like PCB (SLP) orders placed by Apple for its new iPhone 12 series, according to industry sources.