Connectivity has become an essential commodity that determines how people live, work and play, according to John Mathew, co-founder and CEO/CTA of Cavli Wireless, an Internet of Things (IoT) module company that works with telecom operators to provision local IoT data in LTE/LPWAN technologies like NB-IoT, LTE-M on eSIM technology.Mathew believes connecting every object in the physical world to the Internet will solve a variety of problems and improve quality of life and human productivity - which he describes as the "true power" of IoT. In an email interview conducted by Digitimes recently, he talks about the company's innovative solutions and how he sees future trends and opportunities in IoT.Q: Tell us about Cavli Wireless and your team. What is its current valuation and are there fundraising plans in the near future?A: Cavli Wireless is a technology enablement company that aims to democratize the Internet of Things sector with our software-hardware product suite that includes a proprietary connectivity and device management platform, smart IoT modules, and eSIM solutions.We directly work with telecom operators around the world to facilitate local data connectivity thereby ensuring that any IoT product maker or enterprise in any industry, be it logistics, smart agriculture, industrial IoT, smart city applications can easily launch, build and scale their IoT solutions to any geography in the world in the most seamless manner possible.We believe that connecting every object in the physical world to the Internet will most seamlessly and efficiently solve a wide variety of problems and massively improve quality of life and human productivity.At Cavli Wireless we are simplifying the IoT connectivity infrastructure landscape with our end-to-end suite of smart embedded modules, eSIM solutions, and connectivity cloud platform.We are one among the first players in the industry to launch connectivity modules integrated with eSIM that are preloaded with global IoT data, which can be managed by our own platform - Cavli Hubble. Cavli Hubble gives remote backdoor access to smart modules & eSIMs, thereby giving businesses the confidence to scale seamlessly. There is a layer of intelligence and analytics for connectivity management for IoT solutions that are currently not on offer in the global cellular IoT deployment market.Our journey began in 2017 when four industry professionals aligned on the seemingly simple straightforward idea that enabling IoT should be made seamless, scalable and accessible to any smart product maker so that the industry accelerates and human life is greatly improved and efficient. But only when the team started decluttering the current industry problems, did we realize that though the idea is straightforward, the path towards achieving this reality was a complex one. Over the years, the team at Cavli Wireless has grown to become a multicultural community of motivated and curious engineers and business professionals who are on a quest to declutter IoT and make it seamless, secure and scalable one day at a time. Our 50-member team is spread across four regions including the Americas (the US), Europe (Spain ), Middle East (Turkey and Oman), and South Asia (India). We have an R&D innovation center set up in India, with sales operations in all other regions. Together, we aim to be at the forefront of innovation and deliver the best IoT solutions for our customers.I am afraid that I won't be able to share details regarding fundraising at this point in time, but we'd like to share that we are moving towards our Series A raise in 2021.Q: Tell us about the growth Cavli has been witnessing and your insights into the market trends.A: The global adoption of Low Power Wide Area Network technologies like NB-IoT and CAT-M1 and the emergence of 5G technology is certainly resulting in a massive growth in the number of connected IoT devices in the next few years. Cavli is foreseeing this transition and is on a mission to ensure our solutions are relevant to the needs of the cellular IoT industry.Cavli's product suite is the result of the amalgamation of three different verticals - telecom technology, embedded electronics, and cloud engineering. Over the years we have worked with top industry majors spread across the globe at upstream and downstream ends to ensure our IoT CaaS solution always remains few steps ahead of the game. To emerge as the top-5 global solution providers for cellular IoT implementation, Cavli is building an aggressive global sales operation that would make strong inroads into newer markets. With a passionate team that believes in the vision and an agile R&D process built within a very scalable business model, we are very sure that we not just coexist but capture a good mindshare of the market, where product makers will consider "Cavli tech" as one among the most trusted options to get solutions "smart connected."In the next five years, 790 million cellular IoT connections are set to surge to over four billion connections solely on cellular IoT. The market will be worth US$125 billion for IoT connectivity management alone and we are very confident that we will create a dent in the industry with our innovation in technology and business model.Q: In view of the LPWAN cellular-IOT global market distribution, the top-10 telcos take up 85% of the LPWAN IoT connection (in which China enjoys 60%). This is a winner-take-all market, and it may take a long time for the LPWAN to get widely adopted without policy advancement. That's why it depends on government subsidies so much for the time being. Since telecom operators collect limited revenues from IoT connection services, the demand from operators is still very weak for now. How do your products and services address the pain point of the LPWAN IoT market?A: As far as the customer is concerned there are several hurdles or pit stops which makes the journey to figure out seamless IoT connectivity an arduous one. Some of the challenges would be: Connectivity hardware - which involves evaluating multiple embedded hardware product lines based on network technology type); application software/firmware - whether to flash the software on a separate processor Vs. programming the software into the connectivity hardware; network access - eUICC (eSIM) vs single profile SIM technology. Data contract negotiations with telcos or connectivity resellers; R&D effort for the integration of network access technology and connectivity hardware; figuring out telco certifications and other device certifications; and device-cloud connectivity management integration for data subscription managementWith our integrated solution and launch of Hubble99, deep technology players like us are now getting to work closely with telecom operators to bring about a holistic offering that could also push the telecom's enterprise sales efforts as well. The higher purpose of Hubble99 is to democratize IoT - the very problem which you have hinted in the question - that right now industry is dependent on telecom operators to drive large scale IoT adoption, which is not a burden that the telecoms need to carry on their own. By working hand-in-hand with preferred telecom operators in each region, we are making life easy for multitudes of IoT SMBs who would otherwise take even up to a year to hit the market with their solution. The telecoms we are partnering with for Hubble99 are already seeing the results where relatively smaller enterprises with not so huge volumes are moving to market faster. The more the number of such players, it adds up to significant revenue for our telecom partners giving them all the more reasons to ensure continued service quality for LPWAN in the deployed markets.Q: As for the future growth potential for the unlicensed spectrum IoT market, you seem to have focused on cellular-IoT, but has not developed products such as LoRa and SigFox which applies to the unlicensed spectrum technology. However, this unlicensed spectrum market share is bigger than NB-IoT/LTE-M and may have a bigger potential to grow in the future. What is your view about it and plans to meet the demand of that market?A: As of now, our focus is on cellular IoT which we are convinced that it would be a sizable market to prove our worth given the four billion devices that are forecast to go live on cellular networks over the next five years. We have an agile R&D team that is working towards introducing innovations in the cellular-based IoT space in the near future. In fact, we have already started working with complimentary network technology players like Sigfox to define hybrid solutions for certain smart city use cases.The alternative unlicensed LPWAN market will surely grow, but we are confident of being able to cement our position as an IoT enabler for licensed LPWAN especially in application and use cases where security layers are going to be very high.After all, we are in the space to make the "technology for the connected tomorrow," and I believe with the advent of 5G in the near future and with its accelerated proliferation, many unlicensed network technology-based applications could also sway its way towards cellular.Q: What is your plan to transition to the 5G IoT module? It is probably unavoidable for a transition to a 5G NR SA network. But currently, most of the IoT modules that are based on 4G LTE (namely, NB-IoT/LTE-M) may be phased out and make all investments obsolete. What is your opinion about that trend and how do you address it?A: We were set to launch a test network at our Innovation Center in India by Q3 2020, but have slightly delayed it to mid of 2021 owing to the shift in priorities due to the pandemic.When realized, our 5G test network platform will enable startups and companies in the IoT segment in and outside India, prepare their products and prototypes to be ready for the latest technologies.This test network will be available with 5G SA and NSA modes (supporting sub-6Ghz bands), alongside LTE NB-IoT and CAT-M for the LPWAN side of the IoT. Access to this test network will be totally free of cost, fast-tracking different use cases, allowing you to take your smart products globally anywhere completely pre-tested and compliant.As 5G will bring many new test requirements and challenges by the use of SDN/NFV and cloud services, the technology can also be used for creating new test solutions. We've already partnered with two global chipset players to build 5G based modules.OEMs and ODMs can make use of this platform to test their prototypes in real-world scenarios and to leverage their product development. We will be supporting companies with our modules which are in testing - C200-Series 5G IoT modules/modems and the C1X, C3X, C4X series modules/modems for the LPWAN networks, which are currently in production.Q: It seems that the prices of cellular IoT modules have been falling in recent quarters. That could imply wider adoption in the future, but cost-effectiveness will be a challenge to you. What's your strategy to overcome the problem?A: It is true that the price of cellular IoT modules has been dropping over the years. From being a specialized component, cellular modules in its standalone form are now becoming a commodity. However at Cavli, what we bring to the market is not simply hardware. Cavli modules are "intelligent modules."In a span of three years, Cavli Wireless has managed to bring to the market a product suite that is at par or surpasses the capabilities of the incumbents in the IoT space. We recently launched Hubble99, the world's first truly subscription-based IoT offering with zero hardware cost. For an irresistible package price of US$0.99/month/device, IoT solution players get the eSIM integrated connectivity hardware of their choice of technology (on LPWAN/LTE technologies - NB IoT, LTE-M, CAT 1, CAT 4, 2G,3G), pre-loaded IoT data subscription (ranging from 5MB to 30MB), and a robust connectivity-device management cloud platform - Cavli Hubble all bundled into one single package. In 2016, Ericsson predicted a near future where the LPWAN module will be priced below US$5 in the market. With Hubble99, Cavli has brought it down to US$0.Q: Your slogan attracted my attention: "Cellular IoT will never be the same." Tell us how you re-imagine IoT in the next 10 years.A: IoT connectivity enablement is a multi-stakeholder ecosystem that includes connectivity providers/telecom operators, application providers & system integrators. For SMBs, OEMs and enterprises in IoT, figuring out and activating IoT connectivity has not just been the most important cog in the wheel, it has also been a very distorted one. To top it, for most sensory application products, the cost for connectivity hardware at the edge is a significant component of the total product cost, thereby bringing up the initial capital investment involved. This has in fact affected decisions for scale and has been a major reason why many IoT SMBs and benefactors of smart city projects have been cautious about scaling up. There have been projections galore, but not enough on the ground deployments to match it up. Out of the 50 billion devices that were expected to get connected on cellular by 2020, as per predictions by Ericsson, so far only nine billion seems to have found its way through.Thus to unlock the real potential of IoT and to get the next 10 billion devices connected, the currently fragmented ecosystem needs to be re-engineered, consolidated and thus re-imagined from start to end.The last few years have seen a tussle for prominence and dominance amongst the major connectivity technologies that have been grazing the IoT deployment landscape. While LoRaWAN has seen steady growth thanks to the low latency feature and resultant low power consumption, it has stumbled when it comes to quality of service and data packet delivery. Sigfox though it establishes security layers which are commendable with strong firewalls, when it comes to scalability, it has its limitations. WiFi over time has found its permanent seat for indoor home, personal automation and wireless access use cases, with Zigbee taking its fair share of indoor applications from WiFi. Wading through this ensemble, cellular IoT began its ascent up the curve with the definition and advent of cellular LPWAN - NB-IoT and LTE-M which have sealed whatever service gap there was for LTE 4G in terms of enabling low power, low latency, wide coverage applications.Despite the evident advantages that cellular IoT has over its unlicensed spectrum peers like LoRaWAN, Sigfox, Zigbee, and the likes, in terms of security and quality of service, to be the preferred choice for a wide range of industrial and outdoor IoT applications, it has had its share of jinxes. Cellular IoT has had its critics go back and forth on questions around its actual scalability. Theoretically, it can be a non-steered connectivity option but the real challenge for the IoT solution players has been how they can manage the hassle of liaising with multiple telecom operators for the regions they wish to deploy their projects in. So far, from how the market has evolved, it is safe to assume that this has not been an easy ride for the countless IoT product and solution companies trying to expand beyond home turf. The other jinx that has pulled back cellular IoT has been the burden of the initial cost of associated connectivity hardware including smart modules and SIM solutions. With Cavli Wireless, cellular IoT is shedding the shackles that have held it back as it enters a new age.Just like food and fuel, connectivity has also become an essential commodity, one that will determine how we live, work and play. At Cavli Wireless, we believe that connecting every object in the physical world to the Internet will most seamlessly and efficiently solve a wide variety of problems and massively improve quality of life and human productivity. This is the true power of the Internet of Things.(Editor's note: Digitimes Research analyst Benson Wu contributed ideas to the making of this interview.)

Notebook ODMs expect their shipments in the first quarter of 2021 to only slip less than 10% sequentially instead of traditional 20-30% declines, while Taiwan's pure-play foundries will also enjoy a strong 2021 because of robust demand for their capacities. Pegatron is looking to establish a new factory in the US to supply products to clients there.Notebook ODMs to see strongest-ever first quarter in 2021: Notebook ODMs are expected to post only single-digit sequential decreases in shipments for the first quarter of 2021, compared with the 20-30% declines usually seen during the same period in previous years, according to industry sources.Strong year ahead for Taiwan pure-play foundries: Taiwan-based pure-play foundries, led by TSMC, are expected to enjoy a strong 2021 when there may be no obvious seasonality, according to industry sources.Pegatron mulls setting up manufacturing facilities in US: Pegatron is considering establishing a new plant in the US to better serve its clients there including Apple and Tesla, according to industry sources.

The world's top-5 notebook brands saw their combined October shipments (excluding detachable models) hit another new monthly high for 2020 reaching over 17 million units, due mainly to consumer markets in the US and Europe entering a peak season and resurging pandemic further fueling demand for remote work and study applications, according to Digitimes Research's latest figures.Bolstered by strong shipments of both education and consumer notebook models, HP returned to the track for sequential growth in October, and Dell unseated Lenovo as the second largest vendor after registering a sharp increase in Chromebook shipments for the US education market.As to Lenovo, its October shipments slipped sequentially as its fulfillment of education-use Chromebook orders from Japan already peaked earlier and notebook demand in the China market was weaker than in the US and Europe in the month.Taiwan's top-3 notebook ODMs saw their combined October shipments surge 13% sequentially to a historical high, with Compal Electronics posting the highest monthly shipment growth of over 30% due to a significant increase in orders from Dell.

Sony has been keen on developing car-use CIS applications, and it has added ASE Technology to its backend supply chain. ASE will set up a new business unit to handle Sony's CIS orders. Also in Kahsiung, passive components maker Yageo has broken ground for a new plant in line with a plant to continue expanding capacity in Taiwan in the next forve years. Many other manufacturers are expanding their overseas production sites outside of China. Quanta Computer has just disclosed a plan to invest over US$70 million in a subsidiary in Thailand.ASE reportedly joins Sony supply chain for automotive CIS: ASE Technology reportedly has become Sony's second backend partner for processing automotive CMOS imaging sensors (CIS), marking its return to the CIS packaging segment following years of hiatus, according to supply chain sources.Yageo breaks ground for new plant in southern Taiwan: Yageo recently broke ground for a new plant at an industrial park in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan where the passive component vendor has two plants.Quanta expands investments in Thailand subsidiary: Quanta Computer has announced an investment of THB2 billion (US$70.08 million) in QMB, a subsidiary in Thailand, to fund its purchases of production equipment.

TSMC has been fast expanding advanced node manufacturing capacity, requiring strong support from ASML for EUV litho equipment. The world's top pure-play foundry house has already placed orders for at least 13 EUV sets with AMSL for 2021 in line with its 5nm capacity expansion and its advance to 3nm production. The world's top EMS provider Foxconn has also shown ambitions in the semiconductor sector. It has confirmed that it has entered a bid to take a stake in Malaysia-based 8-inch foundry house Silterra. In the IT market, server demand has been robust to meet pandemic-fueled stay-at-home needs. Cloud server makers expect such demand to stay strong in 2021, during which their shipments will see double-digit growths.TSMC places big EUV equipment orders for 2021: TSMC has already placed EUV lithography equipment orders with ASML for 2021 for at least 13 sets, according to industry sources.Foxconn bids for stake in Silterra, says chairman: Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) has confirmed that it has placed a bid to take over a stake in Malaysia-based 8-inch foundry house Silterra, expecting the result to come out by the end of 2020.Cloud server makers to see double-digit shipment increases in 2021: Taiwan server manufacturers including Foxconn, Wiwynn, Quanta Cloud Technology and Inventec are all optimistic that their shipments for 2021 will see double-digit annual increases, largely bolstered by strong demand for datacenter applications supporting the booming stay-at-home economy.

Combined revenue of TSMC, United Microelectronics (UMC) and Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) are expected to grow over 3% sequentially in the fourth quarter after registering a 14.9% rise in the third, according to Digitimes Research.The top-3 Taiwan-based foundries will see their combined revenue for all of 2020 surge 30.2% on year to US$52.5 billion, Digitimes Research forecasts.TSMC, UMC and VIS enjoyed robust chip demand propelled by coronavirus-induced stay-at-home initiatives, such as remote work and distance learning, in the third quarter. Besides, Huawei's aggressive inventory build-ups prior to the US sanctions imposed in mid-September against it boosted further revenue at the foundries.TSMC, UMC and VIS are all expected to enjoy another quarter of record-high sales in the fourth quarter, driven by a pick-up in smartphone demand, as well as a ramp-up in orders shifted from China amid the escalating US-China trade disputes.The top-3 Taiwan-based foundries are forecast to see their combined revenue register another on-year growth of over 8% in 2021, thanks to a surge in in 5G smartphone penetration, and the arrival of the foundries' new capacities and a rise in their wafer ASPs.

Taiwan will focus its next wave of technology development on materializing smart healthcare, precision medicine, smart city and digital data governance by leveraging its robust semiconductor prowess to incorporate AI, IoT and blockchain technologies into diverse vertical applications, eventually embracing a smart new future featuring high-security Internet of Everything and thriving digital economy, according to Tsung-Tsong Wu, the country's minister of science and technology.Wu told Digitimes in a recent interview that the 5G traits of high bandwidth, low latency and wide connectivity, as well as 4k and 8K display screens and camera lenses with increasingly high resolution can be combined to support versatile applications in the near future, particularly allowing cost-effective remote surgery and high-performance security surveillance systems with clear facial images and multi-screen displays.Wu said the gradual availability of privacy protection regulations, growingly mature tech applications and exchanges, the relaxation of regulations governing healthcare data uses, and the incorporation of medical technology sandboxes will further help usher in massive innovation-driven business opportunities in Taiwan.He stressed that humanity and scientific technology should be closely blended and his ministry hopes to join forces with other ministries in integrating resources and building ecosystems from diverse facets such as infrastructure construction, frontier technology, talent cultivation, digital economy and digital government.IaaS, PaaS, SaaS solutions requiredBig data collection, modeling, prediction, transmission and storage as well as information security protection for diverse vertical domains all require the establishment of IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service) and SaaS (Software as a Service) systems in addition to joint efforts by members in software and hardware ecosystems, according to Wu.He noted that the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) at National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs) under his ministry has teamed up with academic and industrial segments for many cooperation projects seeking to strengthen IaaS, PaaS, and standard data specs and promote them among industries.With its tech sectors and innovation ecosystem developing vigorously under the tech island chain architecture, Taiwan has been striving to create a friendly environment for startups and innovations by connecting technology and humanity, aiming to facilitate exchanges of international talent and build a fast and safe Internet of Everything with strong innovation momentum. This has attracted major cloud service giants Microsoft, AWS and Google to set up large-size datacenters in the country seeking to better capitalize on Taiwan's key position in Asia, Wu indicated.In line with around-the-clock services by these web giants, Wu said, the NCHC must also build a trust mechanism encouraging tech startups to utilize national cloud network services to process and transmit data under tight information and domain knowledge security and full data privacy.Digital data governanceIn terms of future digital data governance, the focus must be on smart healthcare offerings including generic drugs, new pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and health and well-being promotion, and the strategy for biomedical big data concerning disease prevention, diagnosis, medicine, nursing and long-term care services should be even more comprehensively formulated, Wu said.Citing human biobank as an example, Wu said after a biobank is integrated, biomedical startups should be allowed to join efforts to catalyze a new wave of digital transformation at small- and medium-size biomedical firms and medical service and retail firms.In cultivating startups, Wu stressed that it is imperative for innovative technologies and startup teams to grow up initially in innovation parks with easy exchanges of international talent. And after their C-round fundraising, the National Development Fund can step in to assist, and venture capitalists and field experiment partners can also join forces to help the startups build international connections, he added.Wu said tech innovations usually involve high risks, which in turn also imply great momentum for success. He urged Taiwan enterprises to nurture the culture of allowing errors, withstanding frustrations and fighting on despite repeated defeats, so that they can stand out in certain pivotal segments in the next wave of tech innovations.Taiwan science and technology minister Tsung-Tsong WuPhoto: Michael Lee, Digitimes, November 2020

Apple's launch of new Macs with its own M1 chips means losses for Intel processor business. And M1 also comes as an encouragement for other Arm-based chip vendors to challenge the dominance of Intel. In the M1 ecosystem, Unimicron reportedly is the sole supplier of ABF susbstrates for the new Apple Silicon. In the gaming sector, a host of makers in Taiwan are gearing up production for Sony's PS5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X games consoles. Apple M1 threatens Intel: Apple's Arm-based M1 processor featured in the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini is expected to challenge Intel's dominance in the notebook CPU market in the long term, according to sources from the notebook upstream supply chain.Unimicron reportedly sole ABF substrate supplier for Apple M1 SoC: Taiwan's Unimicron Technology reportedly is the sole supplier of ABF substrates for Apple-designed M1 chipsets powering its just-unveiled new MacBook series.Taiwan supply chain bracing for new-generation game console boom: Taiwan supply chain players are gearing up for the game console replacement boom to be triggered by Sony's new-generation game console PS5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X, according to industry sources.

TSMC is expected to end the year 2020 with impressive shipments, revenues and profits, driven by robust 5nm and 7nm chip demand. The foundry house is keen on expanding capacity for its advanced node manufacturing processes, and it has just announced a US$3.5 billion budget for its US fab project. Meanwhile, tight supply of IC substrates, partly the result of a recent fire that damaged facilities at Unimicron, has sent prices up shaply.TSMC 4Q20 sales likely to beat guidance: Pure-play foundry TSMC is expected to see its fourth-quarter revenue outpace the guidance given in mid-October, driven by additional 5nm and 7nm chip output, according to industry sources.TSMC board approves US$3.5 billion investment for US fab project: TSMC has allocated a US$3.5 billion budget for setting up a subsidiary in Arizona, where the pure-play foundry plans to build a wafe fab using 5nm process technology.IC substrate quotes rising 20-40% amid tight supply: A new wave of price hikes for high-end IC substrates, ranging from 20-40%, has emerged following a recent fire damaging a plant of Taiwan's Unimicron Technology, with clients rushing to vie for more capacity support from other suppliers by offering higher prices amid increasingly tight supply, according to industry sources.

It comes as a surprise that Pegatron, long being a manufacturing partner for Apple, has been penalized by the US client for employing student workers reportedly at its iPhone 12 assembly lines. But the incident highlights the pressure of Pegatron and others from severe labor shortages in China, compounded by the coronavirus pandemic. Pegatron has maintained that it is confident it can make improvements, despite speculation about the possibility of Apple removing its from the iPhone supply chain. Meanwhile, Taiwanese top pure-play foundries have reported strong sales for October, with TSMC's revenues staying above NT$100 billion for fifth consecutive month.Pegatron violation highlights iPhone 12 supply chain pressure, say sources: Pegatron's alleged violation of Apple's supplier code of conduct by using student workers was probably the result of needs to fulfill strong orders for for iPhone 12 amid a serious lack of labor in China that has been compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, according to industry sources.Pegatron woes spark replacement speculation: Pegatron, reportedly suspended by Apple from new business deals, could be replaced by other makers, such as Foxconn, Luxshare and Wistron, should it fail to remedy the violations of the US client's suppliers code of conduct, but replacing Pegatron mahy not be as easy as it sounds, according to market observers.TSMC October sales stay strong: Pure-play foundry TSMC saw its monthly revenue stay above NT$100 billion (US$3.5 billion) for the fifth consecutive month in October 2020.