Chronic illness affects more people than other diseases in Taiwan. In fact, according to Taipei City's Department of Health, seven of the 10 leading causes of death are chronic diseases and 64.3% of deaths are due to chronic diseases. Following the recent trend of smartization in the healthcare sector, the BEAR Lab team, led by Hsin Hsiu, chairman of Graduate Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST), built a high-precision pulse analyzer that collects blood flow measurements from different parts of the body through wearable devices the patient puts on. It then performs AI-based analyses to provide extremely accurate results. Through assistance from the Taiwan Tech Global Research & Industry Alliance (Taiwan Tech GLORIA) project, the BEAR Lab team has initiated collaborations with medical institutions and leading medical device suppliers at home and abroad to put their pulse analyzer to use at hospitals, in communities and in people's homes.Hsiu started devoting himself to the research on chronic illness detection 17 years ago. The healthcare industry began to embrace a wave of smartization in 2014, incorporating a multitude of information technology (IT) applications with wearable devices among them as well. However, for usability and practicality reasons, these applications have yet to enjoy widespread use. The pulse analyzer developed by the BEAR Lab team after years of research is built on top of solid hardware and software strength in addition to close clinical collaborations with medical institutions. Through continuing refinements, the BEAR Lab team was able to quickly boost the accuracy delivered by the pulse analyzer.BEAR Lab (Bio Electronic Application and Research Laboratory) is committed to advanced research in the field of biomedical electronics. The BEAR Lab team's pulse analyzer works by measuring arterial pulse waveforms and then performing AI-based analyses on the signals. It can be used for wide-ranging healthcare purposes. Hsiu noted that blood transports nutrients and oxygen to cells throughout the body and plays a vital role to normal body operation. The human body responds to changes by making adjustments in order to maintain a constant and balanced internal environment. Regulating blood flow is a way to make such adjustments. When blood circulation in a certain part of the body shows irregularity, it may be an indication that something is wrong, possibly cancer or dementia. The pulse analyzer can measure pulse waveforms and detect irregularity. However, due to the instable nature of blood-flow waveforms and the intricate human body, it is very challenging to discern signals from noise. The BEAR Lab team said it is the first in the world to achieve accurate signal reading.The BEAR Lab team's pulse analyzer currently targets four use areas, including cardiovascular disease and cancer detection as well as long-term care and rehabilitation therapy. In cancer detection, it can identify stage 0 to 2 breast cancer with 99% accuracy. In long-term care, it can achieve 99% accuracy in dementia case identification. Aside from its high precision, Hsiu highlighted the pulse analyzer's advanced features and usability as its additional advantages. Taking dementia case identification for example, Hsiu pointed out medical professionals currently diagnose dementia by having patients fill out assessment forms and make a determination based on evaluation results. The pulse analyzer, on the other hand, relies on physiological data and makes a more objective judgement based on blood-flow waveforms. It also enables more refined classification of disease severity and progression. Furthermore, the pulse analyzer is quick and easy to use. It only takes the pulse analyzer two minutes to come up with the result, a significant improvement over most medical-grade wearable devices currently in use that require patients to wear them for an extended period of time.BEAR Lab may have developed advanced technologies that are ahead of the rest of the world, but the NTUST team has long focused on doing research in the lab and knows little about marketing and promotion, indicated Hsiu. With limited time, resource and staff, it is not easy for the team to find the right industry partners. The team participated in the GLORIA project in 2018, which helped bring the team to the attention of medical institutions and leading high-tech firms at home and abroad. It has now engaged in collaborations with large hospitals in Taiwan to collect clinical data in the four target use areas to help further enhance accuracy. Going forward, the team will continue to work with medical institutions while endeavoring to expand the use of the pulse analyzer into communities and homes. It will also look to integrate the pulse analyzer with consumer electronics and rehab equipment, bringing healthcare closer to people's everyday life.Hsin Hsiu, head of BEAR LabPhoto: Digitimes staff, January 2020

The coronavirus outbreak is hitting hard the ICT industries and markets in China. Digitimes Research provides a preliminary estimation on the impacts on four major sectors: semiconductors, display panels, handsets and notebooks. Many manufacturers in China are slowly returning to work. The pace of recovery reportedly has been faster than expected though production for many ODMs remains low. For some in the semiconductor sector, the outbreak so far has had little impact on their orders. IC testing solutions provider Chunghwa Precision Test Tech (CHPT) continues to land major orders from first-tier vendors.Digitimes Research examines health of four major ICT sectors in China amid outbreak: IC design houses in Taiwan and China will see the coronavirus outbreak impact their revenues for the first quarter of 2020, and foundry and backend houses may take clearer hits starting in the second quarter, according to a study by Digitimes Research on impacts of the epidemic on semiconductor, panel, handset and notebook sectors.ODMs see better-than-expected recovery in China capacity amid outbreak: Taiwan-based ODMs including Compal Electronics, Quanta Computer and Inventec have seen capacities at their plants in China recovering in a pace faster than expected amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to industry sources.CHPT secures major wafer test orders for flagship smartphone APs: IC testing solutions provider Chunghwa Precision Test Tech (CHPT) continues to land major orders from first-tier vendors for wafer probing cards and other test interfaces for high-end handset APs despite the coronavirus outbreak, and will be carrying on its capacity expansion plans as scheduled, according to company chairman Scott Huang.

Despite automation equipment, robotic arms and AGVs (automated guided vehicles), manual operation is still necessary for some manufacturing industries and thus harmonized collaboration between workers and robots is essential to Industry 4.0, according to Shinyi Fukui, executive officer for Technology Development under Omron.Fukui made the remarks at a keynote speech "Manufacturing Site in the Near Future Where People and Robots Are Harmonized" at the Robot Development & Application Expo 2020 (RoboDEX) taking place in Tokyo, Japan, during February 12-14.Japanese and other advanced countries' manufacturers, to cope with declining labor supply and rising wage rates, have moved production lines to China and Southeast Asian where workforce is abundant, Fukui said. However, moving of production lines is not the optimal solution, and instead hiking automation via adoption of robots and AI technology is a sustainable solution, Fukui noted.While Industry 4.0 is mostly thought of as development of automation toward unmanned factory, not all manufacturing industries can realize that because robots and AI technology are unable to replace many types of manual work, Fukui explained. Omron aims to transform human-robot interaction from mutual replacement to mutual cooperation and have robots excite potential human capability eventually, Fukui indicated, adding this is the goal of Industry 4.0 for many manufacturing industries.For realizing human-robot collaboration, 5G communication technology plays a key role, for its high-speed data transfer in large volumes enables analysis of detailed movement of human bodies. When robots can understand the characteristics of human behavior via analysis of real-time images and algorithm-based computing, they can ideally collaborate with workers, Fukui explained. By virtue of low latency and multi-point connectivity, 5G technology enables wide deployment of IoT sensors and hikes efficiency in data collection, Fukui said.Omron has begun human-robot collaboration at its factories, Fukui noted. For example, AGVs carrying components and materials can run to each worker and avoid collision through machine learning-based sensing of surrounding physical changes, Fukui said. In addition, IoT sensors collect data on workers' operating conditions to let them understand their working performance and what can be improved, Fukui noted. This can not only hike working efficiency in man power but also save time and cost for training workers, Fukui indicated.Omron will keep cooperating with NTT DoCoMo, Nokia and other telecom carriers to seek more applications of 5G technology to human-robot collaboration.A robotic device showcased at RoboDEX 2020Photo: Jay Liu, Digitimes, February 2020

High-definition electronic map provider Kingwaytek Technology has obtained Taiwan's approval for trial operation of autonomous mini-buses, and will start the trial on a road mainly used for sight-seeing trips in central Taiwan in March, according to the company.The government of Taoyuan City has been developing Hutoushan Innovation Park specifically for use to test smart driving, IoV as well as IoT information security, with Kingwaytek commissioned to operate the testing site and facilities for the former.Following enforcement of Statute for Experiments of Technological Innovations in Unmanned Vehicles in October 2019, Kingwaytek and partners had been testing autonomous mini-buses at the testing site in preparation before obtaining the trial-run approval, it said.

IC design houses in Taiwan and China will see the coronavirus outbreak impact their revenues for the first quarter of 2020, and foundry and backend houses may take clearer hits starting in the second quarter, according to a study by Digitimes Research on impacts of the epidemic on semiconductor, panel, handset and notebook sectors.Impacts of the outbreak on IC designers have gradually surfaced in February, as China's first-quarter demand for smartphones has been revised downward by 15% from January estimates, significantly denting shipments of MediaTek and HiSilicon relying heavily on the Chinese market. In addition, demand for their 5G APs may remain weak until the fourth quarter.Foundry plants in China, boasting highly automated operations, have seen smaller impact in the first quarter as they can sustain normal runs following the Lunar New Year break. But they will see growth momentum weaken starting the second quarter as epidemic-induced shrinkages in consumer demand and delays in product launches will slow inventory depletion at IC designers, with 5G chip shipments unlikely to see significant increases until the fourth quarter.For IC backend plants, which require the support of relatively larger workforce, their operations will remain plagued by slow return of employees for at least two more weeks and it will take one more month to ramp up their capacity utilization to 80-90% if there is support of sufficient backend orders.Digitimes Research estimates that if the entire supply chain of the semiconductor industry in China can resume normal operations in early March and the epidemic can end in the first half of the year, the industry is expected to gradually return to growth track in the third quarter.LCD panel segment suffering more than AMOLEDChina-based panel makers BOE Technology, Tianma Microelectronics and China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) all have plants in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, and they can hardly resume normal operations in the foreseeable future. Among them, CSOT is suffering the most as its 6G LTPS TFT LCD panel fab there is estimated to be running at only 30% of its capacity in the short term due to serious labor shortages. This will significantly undermine the firm's shipments to clients as the plant now account for 10% of global LTPS LCD production capacity, although the company has managed to mitigate impacts of traffic controls on transportation of raw materials and finished products.As Tianman's 4.5G a-Si TFT LCD line in Wuhan has shifted to production for industrial control and medical applications and its 6G AMOLED line there still registers low yield rates and capacity utilization, their production delays will not much affect the overall supply. BOE's 10.5G LCD line and CSOT's 6G AMOLED line are still at an initial volume production stage with global capacity contribution ratio of less than 1% each, and therefore their failure to resume normal production soon will neither much affect global supply, according to Digitimes Research.Meanwhile, CEC Panda LCD Technology's Nanjing plant, BOE Technology's plants in Chongqing and Hefei, and Century Technology's plant in Shenzhen will not restart production until February 17, with their massive shipments of LCD panels to be somewhat impacted. In contrast, Chinese AMOLED panel makers such as EverDisplay Optronics, Visionox and Royole will remain less affected as they mainly adopt imported components.Many panel makers in China are suffering insufficient supply of components, particularly PCBs and backlight modules, as many plants operated by Taiwanese PCB makers in Huangshi and Xiantao, both adjacent to Wuhan, can hardly restart regular operations due to serious labor shortages and labor-intensive production of backlight modules at most plants are also unlikely to run smoothly.Handset vendors lower 1Q20 shipment projectionsIn the handset sector, four major Chinese vendors Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi have lowered their shipment projections for the first quarter of 2020, with their combined quarterly shipments estimated to fall by 15.2% to 84 million units as it would take time for their supply chain partners to resume high capacity utilization while domestic consumer demand is also being eroded by the outbreak, Digitimes Research estimates. Camera lens maker Largan Precision, EMI parts supplier Triumph Lead Group and many touch control makers, for instance, can register only up to 50% capacity utilization till mid-March, and may face shipment disruptions if the epidemic fails to have eased by then.Foxconn, a major assembler for iPhones and other Chinese handset brands, is also suffering from uncertainties in employee returns to its plants in Chinese cities of Zhengzhou, Longhua, and Taiyuan, which is likely to drag down shipments of a new entry-level iPhone model by 10% in the spring and affect scheduled normal shipments of new iPhones in the autumn.Samsung Electronics should be more immune to the epidemic thanks to its heavy production deployments in India and Vietnam.Heavy blow to notebook supply and demandAs up to 90% of global notebook shipments come from China, the coronavirus has dealt a heavy blow to both supply and demand of the sector, according to Digitimes Research.Taiwan's major notebook ODMs including Compal Electronics, Quanta Computer and Wistron have resumed operations at their plants in Chongqing, Kunshan and Shanghai at low capacity utilization rates of around 20% since February 10, and the utilization may gradually pick up starting February 24 after returning employees finish a 14-day quarantine and their components suppliers restart production then.The ODMs still have to recruit new employees to fill labor shortfalls associated with low rates of returning employees, but the recruitment will be increasingly difficult as Chinese people increasingly prefer working in the service sector to the manufacturing industry.

Global all-in-one (AIO) PC shipments totaled 3.42 million units in the fourth quarter of 2019, rounding out the volumes for the whole-year 2019 at 13.25 million units, down 3.4% on year, according to Digitimes Research's latest report on AIO PCs.Fourth-quarter shipments accounted for 26% of the overall volumes in 2019, showing no obvious sign of a seasonal pickup in demand from the business sector.Shipments in the first quarter of 2020 are expected to slip 27% sequentially and 17% on year partly due to the high comparison base in the same quarter a year ago during which vendors pre-stocked extra inventory to avoid the US tariff, Digitimes Research's figures show. The coronavirus outbreak is also dampening demand in first-quarter 2020.Among major AIO PC brands, Apple and Micro-Star International (MSI) were the top performers in shipments in fourth-quarter 2019. The top-2 brands - Lenovo and Apple - continued to see increased market shares with the two together already dominating over half of the AIO PC market in the quarter.However, the top-2 brands will both witness slipping shipments in the first quarter of 2020 due to unsatisfactory sales. Lenovo will be hit particularly hard by the coronavirus outbreak in China, its home market.Among key manufacturers, Quanta Computer will see its first-quarter 2020 shipments undermined by the order cuts from Apple and Hewlett-Packard (HP), while Lenovo's ODM partners Wistron and Compal Electronics will also see decreased orders for the quarter.

Apple's manufacturing partners may not be able resume normal production in China anytime soon in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, but it does not seem to be derailing the vendor's plan of launching the next-generation iPhones in September. In fact, Apple is keen to carve out a big slice of the 5G device market despite a late start. Apple's demand for 5nm A14 mobile application processors to support its 5G devices is likely to be 50-60% higher than that for its 7nm A13, according to industry sources. Meanwhile, server memory demand remains strong thanks to orders from datacenters although the memory industry in general is bracing for worse impacts from the outbreak to come in the second quarter. Apple may still unveil next generation iPhones on schedule despite possible production delays, say sources: Apple is likely stick to its plans to unveil its next generation iPhone devices on a product event in September as it did in past years although this year's production of new iPhones could be delayed until after June due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to sources familiar with the matter.Apple reportedly in high demand for 5nm A14 to support 5G devices: Apple's demand for 5nm A14 mobile application processors (AP) to support its 5G devices is likely to be 50-60% higher than that for its 7nm A13, highlighting the vendor's determination to strengthen its market share in the 5G segment, according to industry sources.Server memory demand remains strong: Server memory demand continues to be strong thanks to a pull-in of orders from US- and China-based datacenter and server vendors, which will help sustain contract price growth in the second quarter, according to sources at memory module makers.Memory industry faces even harsher impact in 2Q20: Challenges arising from the coronavirus outbreak may become severe in the second quarter, according to sources in the memory industry, which may suffer from upstream material shortages starting later this month.

Shipments of LCD TVs by Taiwan-based makers are expected to fall below five million units in the first quarter of 2020, down nearly 44% on quarter and over 20% on year, affected by the coronavirus outbreak and seasonality, Digitimes Research estimates.In the fourth quarter of 2019, Taiwan's LCD TV shipments came to 8.48 million units, up 14.7% sequentially but down 12.6% from a year earlier, Digitimes Research figures show. The sequential gains were driven by peak-season effects.The ratio of shipments to Europe increased significantly in the fourth quarter of 2019 thanks to efforts by TPV Technology and Foxconn Electronics to ramp up shipments to the area. While the ratio of those shipped to North America remained flat, shipments to Asian markets have continued to decline since the second quarter of 2019.Meanwhile, shipments of over 50-inch TVs for the first time accounted for over 50% of Taiwan's TV shipments in the fourth quarter, while the ratio of 32-inch models showed a significant decline.TPV and Foxconn remained the top-two vendors in the fourth quarter but with their combined share falling to 63.3% from the 67.5% a quarter earlier, as fellow companies Innolux and Amtran Technology, which took third and fourth places respectively, both posted higher shipment growth in the quarter.

Production disruption in China is everyone's nightmare in the IT supply chain in the wake of the coronavirus. Many makers are raising their production outside of China, and Apple reportedly is shifting its oreders to assembly lines in Taiwan for an array of products. But for Taiwan-based Foxconn - Apple's major partner for making its iPhone devices in China - the epidemic is creating tremendous pressure on its production at its plants that employ hundreds of thousdands of workers - managment of whom would be a big challenge as far as health monitoring is concerned. The outlook of Foxconn's sales in first-quarter 2020 is rather gloomy. At any rate, global handset shipments are likely to fall sharply even if the virus can be contained at the end of June.Apple reportedly to shift orders for new devices to assembly lines in Taiwan: Apple is mulling shifting more assembly orders for its new models slated for launch in the first half of 2020 to factories in Taiwan mainly to diversify production risks associated with the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, according to industry sources.Foxconn sees 1Q20 revenues come under pressure: Foxconn Electronics is likely to have its first-quarter revenues hit by the fallout from coronavirus, according to industry sources.Global handset sales still face steep fall even if outbreak can be contained by June: China's coronavirus outbreak is set to have far-reaching impacts on the global IT industry and could undermine global demand to a great extent if related supply chains are cut off, according to Colley Hwang, president of Digitimes.

China's coronavirus outbreak is set to have far-reaching impacts on the global IT industry and could undermine global demand to a great extent if related supply chains are cut off, according to Colley Hwang, president of Digitimes.As health authorities battle the epidemic, the severity of the impacts on the global IT industry still needs to be fully understood, Hwang said in live broadcast TV program aired in Taiwan recently.The program where Hwang presented his insights into the IT supply chain in the wake of the outbreak has been viewed more than 100,000 times after it was uploaded to YouTube, which underlines the growing concerns about the damage that the epidemic has done to IT ecosystem and market.This is because Taiwan-based companies play a key role in the formation of the highly-connected global IT industry where all parts are tightly interwined.A large number of Taiwanese businessmen who have returned home for the Lunar New Year holiday have now been unable to return to work in China, and their counterparts in Europe and the US as well as their clients are unlikely to travel to and from China at the moment. This means, Taiwanese businessmen are in a better position to monitor the ongoing industrial changes from the perpsective of the supply chain, with their insights and observations likely to serve as barometers of future industry trends.Hwang's initial observation is based on an assumption that the epidemic will come to an end at the end of June, coupled with dynamic market situations and analysis of three major aspects of the IT industry: the industry fundamentals, supply side and demand side.FundamentalsThe fundamentals include the US-China trade relationships, the ongoing developments of 5G/AIoT applications and the coronavirus outbreak itself, while the supply side information focuses on the handset, computer and components sectors in addition to the emerging businesses.Hwang urges businesses to pay attention to the fluctuations in the demand of some key industries such as PCs, mobile phones, and TVs. He also believes that the emerging business opportunities related to IoV, autonomous driving and electric vehicles (EV) coupled with their supporting mechanisms will form a stream of information that will provide meaningful read on related supply chains.With regard to the demand side, the degree of shrinkage of the China market, as well as the impacts on its industries in the wake of the outbreak have to be monitored closely, as China's GDP currently accounts for 17% the global GDP, and a dwindling Chinese economy will have a far-reaching impact on the advanced economies in the US, Europe and Japan, as well as other emerging economies, Hwang asserts.Digitimes Research forecast at the end of 2019 that global smartphone shipments are likely to grow 4.5% on year to 1.42 billion units in 2020. The forecast was based on the prospects of the release of 5G phones.Digitimes Research also estimated earlier that sales of 5G phones would reach 248.6 million units in 2020, up from 21.5 million units shipped in 2019, and the proportion of 5G phones to global handset shipments would increase to 55.1% in 2024 from 17.4% projected for 2020.The black swanHowever, these optimistic estimates may have to be downward adjusted by the black swan - the coronavirus.Based on the experience from the SARS outbreak in 2003, and an assumption that the epidemic may be contained at the end of June, Digitimes Research expects the present outbreak to cut smartphone sales in China by 30% to 280 million units in 2020 compared to 400 million units it forecast earlier.Meanwhile, the outbreak will cut smartphones shipped to elsewhere around the globe outside China in the year to 800 million units, down 20% from one billion units as projected.Together, total global smartphone shipments will reach only 1.08 billion units in 2020, a contraction of 22.9% from Digitimes Reseach's forecast of 1.4 billion units.If the outbreak prolongs to year-end 2020, then the global economy should be ready to face a steep fall in demand as smartphone sales in China are likely to shrink to 160 million units or 40% of projected volume for the year. And consequently, global smartphone shipments could fall to as low as 600 million units in the year.However, this worst-case scenario is subject to correction by actual shipments alongside with the gradual resumption of work in China.Pre-outbreak forecast for global handset shipments, 2019-2024 (m units)Source: Digitimes Research, February 2020