The competition between Nvidia, AMD and Intel is intensifying, with the vendors playing a highly strategic game concerning the launches of their next-generation CPUs and GPUs. Even their supply chain partners have seen difficulties keeping with the game. Meanwhile, notebook demand is expected toremain strong until the end of third-quarter 2020, according to memory vendor Winbond. For Huawei, its bid to reduce reliance on US suppliers is prompting it to seek to build its own supply chain for VSCEL.Supply chain confused by AMD, Intel, Nvidia next-gen chip launch schedules: Supply chain partners of AMD, Nvidia and Intel have been left confused recently by the chip vendors' product launch schedules, which have either been changed frequently or kept a secret in their latest rounds of competition, according to industry sources.Notebook demand remains robust, says Winbond chairman: Chip orders for notebooks are expected to stay robust until the end of the third quarter, according to Arthur Chiao, chairman for specialty DRAM and flash memory maker Winbond Electronics.Huawei moving to build own VSCEL supply: In expanding its semiconductor ecosystem, Huawei reportedly has newly invested in China's VCSEL startup Vertilite through its investment arm Hubble Technology Investment seeking to develop its own VCSEL supply capability, according to industry sources.

Startup 3Sdrive has developed an Omnie IoV audio content app based on voice interface for car drivers, with automotive parts/accessory after-market being the target market, according to company co-founder and CEO Alex Jeng.Acting upon drivers' voice commands, Omnie provides audio content concerning location-based real-time road conditions, sight-seeing information, news, music streaming on demand, and connection with Line, Jeng said.There have been about 500,000 downloads of Omnie since it was launched, Jeng said. Some life and property insurance companies have talked with 3Sdrive for cooperation to collect data on driving behavior relevant to their insurance business, Jeng indicated.3Sdrive co-founder and CEO Alex Jeng (center)Photo: Shihmin Fu, Digitimes, June 2020

Despite the coronavirus pandemic's influence on global demand for handsets, MediaTek is still optimistic about its sales in the second half of 2020 as 5G will take off and relatively boosting sales of 5G smartphones. However, the IC market may not look too bright during the period as the US' new trade sanctions on Huawei is expected to undermine the market's sales. Memory spot prices are expected to rise with China's returning end demand for DRAM products thanks to e-commerce platforms' promotion campaigns.MediaTek firmly confident about business growth in 2020: MediaTek is firmly confident about its business growth in 2020, and expects end-market demand to pick up fast later this year, according to top company executives.US trade ban on Huawei may cast shadow over 2H20 IC market, says Chang Wah: New US trade sanctions against Huawei will bring "uncontrollable variables" to the IC market in the second half of 2020, according to Canon Huang, chairman and president for IC packaging material and equipment supplier Chang Wah Electromaterials (CWE).Memory spot prices start rising: Memory spot prices particularly those for DRAM have started to rise reflecting a pick-up in buying momentum prior to China's 618 shopping festival, according to industry sources.

Notebook ODMs have seen robust shipments in second-quarter 2020, thanks to stay-at-home needs fuled by the coronaviru pandemic. But the notebook makers have mixed views about the second half of the year, with some still placing high hopes on the stay-at-home economy, and some turning consevative. In the semiconductor foundry secgtor, both TSMC and UMC have seen impressive operations from their China fabs. TSMC's Nanjing fab saw staggering increases in its 2019 sales, while UMC's fab in Xiamen is running at almost full capacity in the second quarter of 2020.Notebook ODMs having mixed views on 2H20 shipments: Notebook ODMs are having mixed views for their shipments in the second half of 2020 with some expecting sequential drops in the third quarter and further declines in the fourth, and some anticipating orders to continue growing in the third quarter thanks to strong end-market demand, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.TSMC Nanjing posts 170% revenue hike in 2019: TSMC Nanjing posted revenue of CNY4 billion (US$566.7 million) in 2019, up 170% on year, making it the third-largest foundry chipmaker in China trailing behind Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) and Huali Microelectronics (HLMC), according to industry sources.UMC Xiamen fab runs at near full capacity: United Semiconductor (Xiamen), a 12-inch foundry subsidiary of Taiwan's United Microelectronics (UMC), has run at near full capacity since the second quarter of 2020 thanks to a pick-up in orders for 28nm chips.

China's top-three handset ODMs - the Wingtech Group, Huaqin Telecom Technology and Longcheer - are expected to ship a total of 183 million ODM models to the world's four major brand vendors in 2020, decreasing 15.28% from the 216 million shipped a year earlier, Digitimes Research estimates.The four handset brands - Samsung Electronics, Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo - have been outsourcing most of their entry-level to mid-tier smartphone models priced below CNY2,000 (US$283) to the three ODMs.The four brands are reducing ODM orders to their production partners this year as their own shipments will be affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Digitimes Research expects the combined global smartphone shipments of the four vendors will decrease 106 million units or 14.5% on year to 629 million units in 2020.Wingtech has a high proportion of orders from clients other than those four. Huaqin's orders are spread among clients more evenly than Longcheer, which relies heavily on orders from Xiaomi.

Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) under Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs has introduced a training program in cooperation with various research organizations, associations and companies, to promote industrial upgrading and help enterprises in digital transformation.The scope of training covers application of IT, AIoT, information security, and a host of manufacturing industries, such as electronics, machinery, food, textile, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and materials, printing and metal processing.IDB will help match job seekers or companies, and provide on-the-job training to cultivate mid- and high-level experts for innovation in line with industry trends and company needs. IDB offers subsidies to cover 50% of the training cost.Government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), for example, will offer training courses in design and testing/validation for ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection, according to IDB.

TSMC has disclosed intentions to build a 5nm wafer fab in Arizona. But the foundry house is seeking US governmen subsidies that it says are needed to run the US fab at costs on about similar levels of TSMC's Taiwan-based plants. Meanwhile, MediaTek is expected to see strong demand for its 5G smartphone chips from Chinese vendors in second-half 2020, as the handset market starts recovering. Apple's upcoming iPhones reportedly will start volume production in July, injecting momentum into the 5G phone market.Government subsidies crucial for new TSMC fab establishment in US: TSMC is in talks with the US government about relevant subsidies for its new wafer fab in Arizona so that the foundry is able to implement the investment plan, said TSMC chairman Mark Liu at a press event right after the company's shareholders meeting on June 9.MediaTek 5G chip shipments may top 80 million units in 2020: MediaTek is likely to ship more than 80 million mobile SoCs for 5G handsets in 2020 mainly to Chinese handset vendors, which may push up its global market share in the segment to at least 40% and serve as a major growth driver for the company, according to industry sources.Apple 5G iPhones expected to begin volume production in July: Apple is expected to complete its second-phase engineering validation and testing (EVT 2) for its upcoming 5G iPhone series by the end of June, paving the way for volume production in July, according to industry sources.

Many first-tier international automotive components makers have been keen on collaborating with LiDAR developers trying to increase economies of scale for LiDAR devices, but high unit prices and slow revisions of laws governing autonomous driving remain major obstacles, according to Digitimes Research.France-based automotive components supplier Valeo has spent seven years helping Germany's automotive LiDAR sensor specialist Ibeo kick off mass production of such sensors for sedans. Korea's auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis and Sweden's CarTech specialist Veoneer have joined forces to assist US-based Velodyne in expanding volume production. Germany's Continental Group and Kapan's Koito will also integrate LiDAR devices with their existing automotive components.On another front, automakers including General Motors, Ford, Hyundai and Volkswagen are planning to roll out robotaxi cars (with Level 4-5 autonomous driving) featuring LiDAR devices in 2020-2022, while Honda, Lexus, BMW and Volvo are also developing Level 3 autonomous vehicles with LiDAR. This indicates LiDAR will become a standard spec for Level 3 and above autonomous vehicles, up from the existing Level 2 ones, Digitimes Research notes.Nevertheless, Audi is mulling cancelling its Level 3 vehicles as the regulations governing autonomous vehicles have yet to be formulated or revised in many countries. Japan has allowed Level 3 autonomous cars to run on roads in the country starting April 2020, and the US, China and European Union have not readied their relevant regulations in this regard.This, coupled with the unit prices for LiDAR devices having yet to fall under US$200 as expected, will hinder such devices from being massively applied to autonomous vehicles and affect their volume shipments, Digitimes Research comments.

Fortune Electric has disclosed it has set up its first EV (electric vehicle) parking lot in combination with in-house-developed power charging facilities in Taipei.The facilities consist of charging piles, a lithium battery-based energy storage system, and a rooftop PV system, Fortune said.The parking fee is NT$30 (US$1.01) per hour, and charging is priced at NT$6.5/kWh for AC and NT$9.5/kWh for DC, Fortune noted.Fortune has set up many EV charging stations around Taiwan and used a cloud-based management platform to operate them. The company aims to increase the number of power charging stations to 150 by year-end 2020, including five fast-charging ones near highways.There were 2,017 EVs sold in the Taiwan market during January-May 2020.Fortune Electric's EV parking lot in TaipeiPhoto: Yihan Li, Digitimes, June 2020

Taiwan-based Bio Preventive Medicine (BPM) has disclosed it has obtained the EU's CE IVD (in vitro diagnostics) mark for its DNlite-IVD103 reagent used to predict diabetes patients' diabetic nephropathy, and has signed with Austria-based sales agents to begin shipping DNlite-IVD130 in mid-June.By detecting changes in a specific urinary biomarker and monitoring translational modification of the biomarker, DNlite-IVD130 can predict kidney conditions of a diabetes patient over 1-2 years, BPM said.DNlite-IVD130 will be used on a trial basis at diabetes centers in Austria and Germany initially, BPM noted. As Germany is the largest and most advance medical market in Europe, BPM hopes that the trial use is a pilot for adoption of DNlite-IVD130 in other EU countries, company chairman and CEO Karen Tseng indicated.BPM is expected to soon obtain official licenses for DNlite-IVD130 in other markets including Malaysia and Singapore.BPM showcased DNlite-IVD130 at the virtual congress of ERA (European Renal Association)-EDTA (European Dialysis and Transplant Association) during June 6-9, 2020 and is attending North America-based BIO Digital One-on-One Partnering during June 8-12.BPM's DNlite-IVD130Photo: Company