The mainstream design of high-end active noise-cancelling true wireless stereo (TWS) headset has been trending toward hybrid driver configurations that have helped drive up the growth of capacitive MEMS speaker market, Digitimes Research has found.Apple's launch of its latest AirPods products has been a key impetus for the emerging manufacturing trend that has in turn benefited its major acoustic component supplier, Goertek.With the competition in the TWS market likely to become increasingly keen in 2020, the effectiveness of active noise-cancelling functionality will become a barometer for sales of TWS headsets, and therefore, the sales proportion of high-end TWS headsets that come with a configuration of two MEMS speakers for a single ear are expected to grow significantly in the coming year, said Digitimes Research.Although piezoelectric speaker providers are also trying to tap TWS market, they will continue to lose out orders to those offering MEMS models in the near term, said Digitimes Research, as capacitive MEMS speakers perform much better than piezoelectric ones in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (NSR) and acoustic overload point (AOP).Digitimes Research also believes that major MEMS speaker providers such as Goertek and Knowles will continue to strive in the market in 2020.

Coretronic Intelligent Robotics (CIRC) is trialing two automatic surveillance drone systems for security patrols at the Tongluo site of Hsinchu Science Park, according to company president Andy Hsin.The automatic surveillance drone system, via setting flight missions based on management needs in advance, enables drones to automatically take off, patrol, land and be charged with power, Hsin said.Of the site's total land area of 349.7 hectares, 72.5% is occupied by public and service facilities and conservation zones for which regular security monitoring puts a large draft on the existing security guard staff, Hsin noted. Through collaboration with the staff, flight missions cover regular patrols, recognition of anomalous vehicles, inspection of construction progress, detection via thermal sensing, remote real-time monitoring, detection of urgent cases for immediate handling, Hsin indicated.The drones can also collect information for analysis or model building for decision making, Hsin said.CIRC plans to offer high-precision and high-payload drone solutions for diverse commercial use in the first half of 2020, Hsin noted.A subsidiary of LED backlight unit (BLU) maker Coretronic, CIRC is a startup engaged in development of human-machine interaction, motion control, intelligent recognition and fusion of sensing.CIRC-developed automatic surveillance drone systemPhoto: CIRC

Law Insurance Broker, startup BravoAI and insurance marketing software developer GoUP Tech have cooperated to develop an AI-based solution for evaluating existing life insurance policies as a basis for adjusting insurance, according to Law Insurance.The solution combines BravoAI-developed OCR (optical character recognition) technology and language model analytics with 23,000 cloud computing-based scenarios of life insurance established by GoUP Tech, Law Insurance Broker president Chao Hui-hsien said.It takes about two weeks to manually evaluate existing life insurance policies - from analyzing the policies, discussing with clients, and making recommendations for adjustment in policy to meet needs based on current conditions, Chao noted. To shorten the the labor-consuming and repeated process, the AI-based solution, which uses recognition of the uploaded images of the first pages of policies, natural language processing and connection with scenarios, can finish the evaluation in 5-10 minutes, Chao indicated.In case of settling compensation claims for medical treatment, it is necessary to inspect diagnosis reports and doctors' instructions, and digitization of such unstructured data entails interpretation of the entire context to hike accuracy for character speculation, according to BravoAI chairman and CEO Jack Chao.BravoAI has applied AI to semantic analysis as well as property insurance using image recognition to assess damage to properties, Chao said.

The world's top-5 notebook brand vendors saw their combined shipments (excluding detachable models) for November 2019 suffer a 2% on-month decrease, compared with previous years' sequential increases for the month, according to Digitimes Research.The decrease was attributed partly to relatively higher inventory of Wintel models at vendors rushing to advance shipments pull-in to counter the US-China tariff war, and partly to Intel CPU shortfalls failing to improve significantly.Among the top-5 vendors, HP registered a sequential shipment decline of nearly 10% in November due in part to the firm still undergoing organizational restructuring. Lenovo leaped back to the second place as its shipments for the month surged over 20% sequentially on strong demand from e-commerce shoppers. Dell suffered the weakest performance among the top-3 vendors in shipments of both business-use and consumer models, Digitimes Research's figures show.Meanwhile, the world's top-3 notebook ODMs posted a 4% on-month shipment contraction in November. But shipments by Compal Electronics only inched down 1% sequentially thanks to increases in orders from HP, Lenovo and Acer.

Fingerprint recognition will continue to be a major feature for smartphones next year, with optical and ultrasonic in-display sensors to be two main options for device vendors. Taiwan-based Goodix Technology is set to ramp up shipments for optical in-display fingerprint sensors and has reserved capacity support from TSMC. Facial recognition is another option. AMS, known for its sensors for smartphones' 3D facial recognition, believes that in the 5G era, non-mass market applications such as those for automotive, industrial and healthcare, will also provide significant opportunities for sensors. And 5G-driven demand for devices will also fuel growth for the upstream sectors, such as IC substrate suppliers. Taiwan-based IC substrate makers have already seen order visibility extend to 2020, and have stepped up capacity expansion.Goodix to ramp up optical in-display fingerprint sensor shipments in 2020: Goodix Technology is set to ramp up shipments of its optical in-display fingerprint sensors in 2020, and has reportedly reserved sufficient 8-inch fab capacity from TSMC, according to industry sources.AMS puts increased focus on non-mass market applications: Austrian sensor chipmaker AMS will move to enhance its focus on non-mass market applications including automotive, industrial and healthcare, according to Daniel Lee, country manager for Taiwan at AMS.IC substrate suppliers see clear order visibility stretch into 2020: Taiwan-based IC substrate makers including Unimicron Technology, Nan Ya PCB and Kinsus Interconnect Technology have seen their shipments ramp up in most of fourth-quarter 2019 with clear order visibility extending into 2020, and they are stepping up capacity expansions to meet growing demand driven by 5G and IoT applications, according to industry sources.

While ToF (time of flight) 3D sensing technology is mostly used in rear cameras of smartphones and facial recognition currently, it has potential of being used in autonomous driving, smart retail and smart manufacturing, according to technical marketing manager Jerry Chang at Imaging Division under STMicroelectronics.As Apple will reportedly adopt ToF for rear cameras of new iPhone models to be launched in 2020, the adoption of the technology in smartphones is increasing.Since ToF features long-range and wide-angle 3D sensing, the technology can be used in digital signage, detection of cars at public parking facilities, monitoring of crop growth in smart agriculture, Chang said. For smart manufacturing in particular, ToF can be used to detect short supply of components or materials in manufacturing process and in AGV (automated guided vehicle)/AMR (autonomous mobile robotic arm) combination, Chang indicated.Technical marketing manager of STMicroelectronics' Imaging Division, Jerry Chang Photo: Chloe Liao, Digitimes, December 2019

The Ministry of the Interior commissioned Department of Geomatics under Taiwan's National Cheng Kung University to set up High-definition (HD) Maps Research Center, and the center has come into operation to provide HD maps for use in ITS (intelligent transportation system) such as road inspection, asset management and collection of parking fees for the time being, according to Kai-wei Chiang , the director of the center as well as professor with the department.The foundation of the center is part of the government's plans to construct digital infrastructure, Chiang said.Through dynamic updates, HD maps reflect nearly actual road conditions and thereby can be used by car drivers to plan optimal routes on daily basis, Chiang indicated.The ultimate plan for the HD maps is their adoption by the navigation of autonomous vehicles, Chiang noted.High-definition Maps Research Center director Jiang Kai-weiPhoto: Yihan Li, Digitimes, December 2019

UMC's acquisition of Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor apparently has fulfilled two of its major strategic purposes: to expand its presence in the Japanese maket and the niche market. Through the wholly-owned Japanese subsidiary, now renamed United Semiconductor Japan (USJC), the Taiwan-based foundry house reportedly has entered the supply chain for Sony's CMOS image sensors. CIS demand is expected to see impressive growth coming from the automotive sector and 5G phone market. Taiwanese IC design houses have already seen significant increases in orders from 5G phone vendors, particularly those from China. Orders from Chinese handset vendors have also been buoying sales at PCB maker Tripod Technology, who is set to report record sales for 2019. Chinese handset vendors have also turmed keen on introducing foldable devices next year. China-based panel maker Tianma Microelectronics, eyeing opportunities from such a trend, has decided to devote more of its production capacity to making flexible AMOLED applications.UMC enters supply chain for Sony CIS: United Microelectronics (UMC), through its takeover of Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor (MIFS), has entered the supply chain for Sony's CMOS image sensors, according to industry sources.Taiwan IC design houses see increases in orders for 5G phones: Taiwan-based IC design houses have seen significant increases in orders for related ICs for 5G phones recently, particularly from first-tier Chinese handset brands, with the ramp-ups likely to result in strong performances for most firms in the first quarter of 2020, according to sources from Taiwan's IC supply chain.PCB maker Tripod on track to end 2019 with record revenues: HDI PCB specialist Tripod Technology is on track to meet its revenue target of NT$54 billion (US$1.77 billion) for 2019, a new high compared to the previous record of NT$52.1 billion in 2018, as its shipments of anylayer HDI boards to Chinese handset vendors have remained robust in the fourth quarter, traditionally an off season, according to industry sources.Tianma ramping up flexible AMOLED panel capacity: China-based flat panel maker Tianma Microelectronics plans to convert its rigid AMOLED panel product lines at its 6G line in Wuhan to the production of flexible applications, with the conversion to be completed in the first half of 2020, according to industry sources.

The world's top pure-play foundry is set to wrap up 2019 with strong sales performances, thanks to impressive contributions from advanced manufacturring processes. TSMC is also on course to enter commerical production in first-half 2019 for 5nm process, whose yield rates have been climbing. The foundry has seen particularly strong orders from the 5G chip vendors, inculding Qualcomm and MediaTek, both of whom are expected to compete against each other fiercely in the smartphone maket. MediaTek launched its new generation 5G SoC, Dimensity 1000, in November, and it is now to unveil a second SoC in the Dimensity family later this month. Meanwhile, the memory market is heading towards recovery, with NAND flash prices in China - where pricing is usually rather chaotic - showing signs of stability.TSMC poised to post up to 5% revenue growth in 2019: TSMC is poised to post revenue growth of up to 5% on year in 2019, with sales for the fourth quarter set to meet its guidance range, according to market observers.MediaTek to unveil 2nd 5G SoC later in December: MediaTek reportedly plans to unveil its second 5G SoC in the latter half of December, one month after it released the first model of its 5G SoC family product, the Dimensity 1000, in November, according to industry sources familiar with the matter.Consumer NAND flash prices rally in China: Consumer NAND flash memory prices in China have rallied about 3% since the end of November, showing signs of market stability, according to industry sources.

XFail 2019 Conference, an occasion for entrepreneurs to share their experiences of failure to improve startups' chance of success, will open in Taipei on December 14.Speakers sharing their experiences of failure at the event - to be held at Syntrend Creative Park - include AirSig founder Pokai Chen, Hope Bay Technologies chairman Ben Jai, Singularity University graduate Ju-Chun Ko, digital influencer Luke Hsu and US angel investor Greg Hao.The annual XFail conference was first organized in 2015.Figures from Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) show that up to 90% of entrepreneurships in Taiwan will end up failures within a year and among the remaining 10%, 90% will go out of business within five years, indicating that only 1% of Taiwan's entrepreneurships can last over five years.XFail 2019 Conference to open on December 14Photo: NARLabs