Wan Da Tong is in charge of operating and managing the Taipei Bus Station, which houses the Taipei terminal for mid- and long-range bus services operated by nine companies. Amid fierce competition, Taiwan's bus service providers operate on narrow profit margins and are often obliged to extend services to remote villages. It is difficult for them to allocate additional capital toward developing smart application programs or services under such circumstances.Running the Taipei Bus Station for eleven years, Wan Da Tong knows what it feels like when massive crowds line up in front of ticket counters to get bus tickets ahead of every Lunar New Year holiday or any public holiday. Wan Da Tong's general manager Ching-Hsiang Chen has been interacting with bus service providers for a long time. They have worked out their differences and established mutual trust and good rapport. To improve overall service quality and efficiency while fulfilling the digitization of public transportation, with the assistance from Industrial Development Bureau (IDB), Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Wan Da Tong undertook a project to develop an app for ticketing and integrated value-added consumer services. The app provides highway bus service information and online TBS ticketing service.In response to growing awareness on environmental protection and encourage citizens to take public transportation, Wan Da Tong worked with Syscom to develop the app that provides highway bus service information and online ticketing service. With a nationwide service scope, the app offers a more convenient way for passengers to purchase bus tickets and more than that, it can help bus service providers improve scheduling efficiency and cost structure through big data analytics. Traffic authorities can also gain a better grasp on public transportation management with access to data collected by the app.Chen highlighted that the TBS app serves as a joint ticketing platform consolidating bus services provided by five operators. Credit cards and mobile payments including JKoPay and LinePay are accepted. Featuring smooth operation and a user-friendly interface, the app presents an easy-to-understand menu and view of the different routes and schedules offered by all the bus operators. This is a result combining long-term industry experiences, field observations, discussions and repeated system tests and validations.With the app, users can check all operators' bus schedules, select seats and compare ticket prices. After purchasing their tickets online, all they need to do to get on board is scan the QR code. Such environmentally friendly, paperless ticketing also allows users to easily manage their itinerary on their mobile phones, which is the app's main appeal. To promote purchase of multiple tickets at a time, the app allows one user to buy more than one ticket and distribute the tickets to each passenger afterwards. Users can also conduct ticket changes on the app. Not only does the app make ticket purchase a breeze for passengers, it will also drive digital transformation for bus service providers while boosting utilization of public transportation.Although bus services sustained major COVID-19 impact in the first half of 2020, there has been an increase in ridership since infection cases dropped and summer vacation began. After starting pilot operation on August 23, 2019, the app has accumulated 120,000 subscribers in less than a year and is enjoying a steady increase in subscribership.The platform currently includes long-range bus service providers Kuo-Kuang, Ubus, Kamalan, Ho-Hsin and Alohatransport, and will add regional operators such as Jasun, Taroko, Chia-Yi Bus, Tainan Bus and Taiwan Tourist Shuttle. Statistics indicate that the No. 1 destination of all the app users is Taichung, followed by Tainan at No. 2, Kaohsiung at No. 3, Changhua at No. 4 and Chia-yi at No. 5.Chen extended gratitude to MOEA's Smart City Program for providing funding that enabled timely completion of the app and expressed admiration for the Taiwan government's active investments to help domestic businesses explore digitization applications. In response, businesses receiving the government assistance give their 100% to perfect their systems. To ensure the system can support a sharp spike in user log-ins before long holidays without performance degradation, the ticketing app has passed a stress test wherein 100,000 users go online and buy tickets at the same time, demonstrating optimal reliability.Going forward, more integrated marketing features will be incorporated into the app, including local tourist spot recommendations, itinerary planning and local specialty promotions. Moreover, the results from big data analytics will bring about a diversity of services. There are also ongoing efforts to seek partnership opportunities with Southeast Asian governments and connect Taiwan's industries with the rest of the world.Wan Da Tong's general manager Ching-Hsiang ChenPhoto: Sandy Du, Digitimes, September 2020

Following Kingston Technology's recnet move to raise prices for standard DRAM products, fellow module makers now believe DRAM ASP is unlikely to fall in fourth-quarter 2020 and have now started resuming puchases. The handset market is also heading towards recovery in the fourth quarter. Suppliers of FPCB materials now expect shipments to be driven by stable demand from Apple for its new iPhones and from Chinese vendors looking to expand share in their domestic market. In the gaming smartphone segment, Asustek Computer and Qualcomm reportedly are forming a partnership that can shore up the former's device shipments and give birth to the US chip vendor's own-brand phone.DRAM pricing unlikely to fall in 4Q20: Spot market prices for DRAM and NAND flash memory have been rising over the past several weeks, with ASP for the former unlikely to fall in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to sources at memory module makers.Vendors of handset FPCB materials eyeing strong 4Q20: Taiwan's suppliers of flexible PCB materials including FCCLs and polyimide (PI) films are optimistic about their sales performance for fourth-quarter 2020, which will be bolstered mainly by stable shipments for new iPhones and strengthened shipment pull-in momentum from Chinese handset vendors, according to industry sources.Qualcomm reportedly to develop own-brand gaming smartphones with Asustek assistance: Qualcomm reportedly will team up with Asustek Computer to develop and launch its own-brand gaming smartphones at the end of 2020 at the earliest, according to industry sources.

Global tablet shipments are expected to slip every year in the next five years (2021-2025) after registering flat growth in 2020, with demand to mainly come from the education and high-end enterprise segments, according to Digitimes Research's latest five-year forecast for the tablet industry.Worldwide tablet shipments are forecast to decline 10.5% in 2021, but overall shipments are expected to stay firmly above 120 million units annually during the five-year period.The US trade sanctions against Huawei will affect the tablet landsacpe in 2021. Apple and Lenovo will have a good chance of cannibalizing Huawei if the Chinese vendor is pevented from rolling out new devices by failure to obtain key components.Amazon is also expected to see shipments decline in the next five years, as it has focused on small-size tablets and large-size models have grown to become the mainstream particularly during the coronavirus pandemic.

North America is Taiwan-based startups' top target market, with China coming only in fourth place, according to a recent survey.The survey, jointly conducted by PwC Taiwan and Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, shows 31% of the 678 startups asked rank North America as their first target market, followed by Southeast Asia and India (26%), Japan and South Korea (20%) and China (12%).Of the surveyed startups, 73% have only 1-5 employees, and 48% of them have consumers or individual users as primary customers, followed by enterprises or organizations (43%) and government agencies (9%).Only 27% of the startups have profits; 55% have generated revenues but not yet profits; and 18% have yet to see revenues. The top-3 reasons for the profitable startups: Understanding market demand via accurate evaluation (21%); competitive products/services (19%); and efficient business models (13%).In terms of engagement, 58% of the startups have experienced cooperation with partners, and 42% of these startups have had non-listed small- to medium-size businesses as partners, followed by other startups (26%) and listed companies or large enterprises (20%).In startups' opinions, the top-3 factors influencing such cooperation are: There have to be communication mechanisms for cooperation between both sides' decision-makers (36%); one side's business model or operational processes has to be compatible and/or can be connected with the other side's (28%); large enterprises should not unduly intervene in startups' independent decision making.

Global server shipments are expected to see a CAGR of 6.7% from 2020-2025, driven by demand for datacenter, HPC, AI and 5G related applications, according to Digitimes Research's latest five-year forecast for the server industry.First-tier public cloud services providers' expansions for their infrastructures will be the key growth driver as enterprises accelerate their paces of moving their systems to public cloud platforms to enable remote work and study. Demand for e-commerce has also been rising in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, with the stay-at-home economy likely to persist.Chip developers including Intel, AMD and Nvidia have been keenly developing next-generation CPU and GPU solutions to satisfy demand for high-performance computing (HPC), AI-acceleration and parallel computing applications.Nvidia's plan to acquire Arm is expected to allow the company to roll out AI-acceleration solutions that combine Arm-based CPU with its GPU and the InfiniBand high-speed network technology, and boost Arm CPUs' share in the server market.Several chip developers, in addition to improving the capability of their CPUs and GPUs, are also devoted to developing InfiniBand and high-speed Ethernet solutions, looking to upgrade datacenters' network standard transmission speed to 400GB/s.Server shipments for core network and edge network datacenters will also gradually expand after 2020 as telecom operators worldwide increase their investments in establishing 5G datacenters, Digitimes Research's findings show.

Following three consecutive years of declines in 2018-2020, global smartphone shipments are expected to grow by a double-digit rate or 150 million units in 2021, bolstered by renewed efforts to build infrastructure and accelerate commercial operations for 5G in Japan, Western Europe and the US, according to Digitimes Research.Looking into the next five years, replacement demand for 5G phones will gather momentum thanks to the growing number of commercial 5G networks and expanding coverage.The availability entry-level 5G or 4G devices in emerging markets will also drive global smartphone shipments, which are expected to reach over 1.5 billion units in 2023 and 1.7 billion units in 2025, respectively, Digitimes Research estimates.Samsung Electronics and Apple will be able to secure the top-two positions in 2021, followed by Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi. China-based Transsion, which markets entry-level handsets under Tecno, Itel and Infinix brands in Africa and South Asia, will be sixth. Huawei, hit by US trade sanctions, is expected to retreat to seventh place.Digitimes Research also expects global shipments of 5G phones to reach over 200 million units in 2020 and to expand to over 1.22 billion units in 2025.

The US is apparently turning the heat up on China's semiconductor industry. China's fledgling memory industry may become the next tagret for US sanctions. The US-China trade war has already sent many Taiwanese companies leaving the world's factory. Taiwanese IC backend service provider SPIL has just sold a subsidiary in China, citing Huawei's woes. Meanwhile, Taiwanese III-V IC firms have reported clear order visibility for 4Q20, thanks to upcoming launches of new smartphones.Micron eyeing new patent infringement lawsuit against China memory firm: Micron Technology has expressed its concerns to DRAM module manufacturers that chips developed by China-based ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) may violate its patents, according to industry sources.SPIL sells China subsidiary on Huawei woes: ASE Technology Holding has announced that Siliconware Electronics (Fujian), a wholly-owned subsidiary in China of its member firm Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), has been recently sold to Shenzhen Hiwin System for CNY966 million (US$142.2 million).Taiwan III-V IC firms see order visibility for 4Q20 strengthened: GaAs foundry Win Semiconductors and other Taiwan-based III-V semiconductor players are ramping up their output for new smartphones, with order visibility for the fourth quarter strengthened, according to industry sources.

Global notebook shipments are forecast to rise at a CAGR of 0.9% from 2020 to 2025, according to Digitimes Research's latest five-year forecast for the notebook industry.Stay-at-home activities in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic have been driving robust shipment growth for the notebook industry in 2020. The pandemic is likely to linger in 2021, with stay-at-home activities becoming the new normal to continue sustaining notebook shipments. But notebook shipments in 2021 are expected to stay flat only from a year ago due to the weakening global economy and reduced stimulus subsidies.With lockdowns eased, shipment momentum in 2022 and 2023 is expected to weaken, but competitions among CPU platforms will become fiercer. Notebooks based on AMD's 5nm processors and Arm-based solutions are expected to be more competitive in price/performance ratios.The notebook market will see a new round of replacement demand in 2024 and 2025.Chromebook shipments are expected to surpass 30 million units in 2021 thanks to demand from the global education segment and emerging markets. The Chrome-based devices are also expected to see stronger shipment growth than Windows-based consumer and enterprise models, Digitimes Research's forecast figures show.With AMD, Apple, MediaTek and Qualcomm all developing processors for notebooks, Intel CPUs' share of worldwide notebook shipments is expected to slip below 70% in 2021. The proportion of notebooks featuring touchscreen functions will also break 20% of overall volumes in 2021 as the functionality is a standard specification for Japan's education procurement projects and Microsoft's Surface series products.

Going into its fourth year, startup AdvMeds provides consolidated medical information services with a focus on leveraging information and communications technology (ICT) advances to integrate medical and healthcare services and deliver AI-enabled smart solutions. By providing and promoting access to medical information, AdvMeds helps partners improve the quality and performance of their medical and healthcare services. Its customer base currently comprises hospitals, medical care institutions, insurance firms, healthcare product manufacturers and healthcare service providers. Its market footprint now includes 12 countries and regions around the world.According to Johnson Huang, general manager of AdvMeds, since its creation in 1995, Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) program has achieved impressive results that the rest of the world is envious of. Boasting a 99.5% satisfaction rate, the program is advancing toward precision medicine and looks to export Taiwan's smart healthcare technologies. The AdvMeds team has created a spectrum of solutions based on its years of experiences in developing and promoting medical systems. Extending from a data hub, AdvMeds offers wide-ranging products that cater to a variety of user requirements and use scenarios, including: mHIS, a cloud-based hospital information system; and LinkBox, a health AIoT device that collects lifestyle data of patients or community residents and connects with vendors in the "Big Health" industry such as assistive device makers or dietary supplement suppliers for cross-industry collaborations that create new business opportunities.To address the situation where medical care is largely provided in hospitals and becomes hardly accessible after patients leave hospitals, Huang said its team has developed a solution that aggregates patients' self-measured physiological data such as blood pressure and blood sugar levels from 255 nodes on the network connecting home care and health AIoT devices. By conducting AI-based analyses on the data collected at communities, the solution can issue medical care alerts and help patients complete measurement charts. It can serve as a basis for tailor-made healthcare services and health education video delivery. Several hospitals located in Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Penghu have put the solution to use.AdvMeds' platform currently has 230,000 registered members and 150,000 of them are active, according to Huang. Through a diversity of collaboration models, the platform enables a myriad of extended services including insurance, healthcare and physical examination referral. Its smart AI-based analyses allow precise dissemination of information. Tailored services targeting patients with chronic diseases, health education videos played on smart robots and online health education courses are also available to reduce hospitals' needs for human resources so AdvMeds' solutions are enthusiastically embraced by medical care institutions.Expanding into Thailand and Malaysia, AdvMeds bridges the digital divide in healthcareWith the assistance from the Smart City Development Projects Office, Industrial Development Bureau (IDB), Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), AdvMeds has initiated efforts toward Southeast Asian markets, where medical information is still largely paper-based and software-enabled services need time to develop. For the time being, AdvMeds chooses to target partnership opportunities in Thailand and Malaysia, according to Huang. In Thailand, it is working with medical universities and Bangkok Hospital to use its health kiosk solution for blood alcohol testing and COVID-19 screening and management. AdvMeds has exported 200 devices amounting to an impressive NT$60 million in revenue during phase-one collaboration.In Malaysia, AdvMeds is working with an insurance company on a proof-of-concept solution that offers services to encourage individuals to take actions on improving their health, sid Haung. Incentives such as deductions in insurance premiums are offered to individuals who reach their goals. Such solutions can also be introduced to Taiwan-based insurance firms that offer similar health insurance policies.The AdvMeds team participated in Taiwan's electronic medical records project and has been actively driving ICT advances for hospitals and non-governmental organizations. Huang said he took part in multiple AIDS information system projects in Africa and WHO's tuberculosis control project. They now endeavor to join efforts across Taiwan's healthcare sector to bring what Taiwan has achieved with medical data aggregation to Southeast Asian countries through cloud-based platforms. For a long-term goal, they look to partner up with suppliers of assistive devices, ventilators, pulse oximeters and dietary supplements to foray into emerging markets. AdvMeds aims to bridge the digital divide in healthcare by improving and boosting people's quality of life through technology and particularly targeting medical information applications and technology development for remote villages, underprivileged communities and developing countries.AdvMeds-developed smart medical services solutionsPhoto: Company

The server sector has seen robust demand triggered by stay-at-home activities in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, but server brands are slowing down the pace of orders for fourth-quarter 2020 pending the release of Intel's new CPU platform. But PCB makers expect strong shipment momentum in the fourth quater for the notebook and handset segments. Gaining momentum is also 5G notebook development, with chip vendors and PC brands developing AiP modules supporting both sub-6GHz and mmWave technologies.Server brands decelerate 4Q20 orders to wait for Intel new CPUs: Server shipments to brand vendors in the fourth quarter are expected to be weaker than in the third due to Intel postponing the release of the next-generation CPU platform, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.PCB makers to see strong 4Q20 shipments for handsets, notebooks: Taiwan's PCB makers are expected to embrace a strongest-ever fourth quarter in 2020 thanks partly to orders for the year's new handsets concentrating in the quarter and partly to shipment pull-in momentum from major notebook clients staying robust, according to industry sources.5G notebook development gains momentum: First-tier chip designers and PC brand vendors have begun cooperation to develop notebooks with integrated antenna-in-package (AiP) modules to support both sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G technologies, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.