Driven by the application of sensors, AI, big data and IoT technologies, smart agriculture has developed rapidly in Taiwan, and a spate of latest smart agricultural solutions unveiled by academic research groups at the just-concluded Futex Taipei 2019 are expected to help accelerate upgrades and transformation in the farming sector.The solutions were showcased at the smart agricultural biotech section debuting at this year's edition of the annual event, hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) to enhance collaboration in developing future technologies and applications among industry, academy and research sectors.Among them is a non-toxic AI-based smart farming system, developed by a research team from National Chiao Tung University (NCTU). The system can be linked to a smartphone app allowing farmers of turmeric roots to monitor and adjust plant growth environments such as pest and disease control, soil fertility, moisture, light and temperature. The system can be applied to grow high-value root vegetable for herbal medicine.Another solution, developed by a team from National Taiwan Normal University, leverages AI algorithms, optical signals, and big data analysis to conduct fast and automatic detection of orchid diseases without damaging the plants and culture flasks. The team has cooperated with major orchid farms to promote the solution, which can be integrated with more sensors to form a plant growth IoT system.There was also a cyber-physical sensing (CPS) 3D stereo modeling for fruit tree growth monitoring, presented by another team from NCTU. The core technologies include lightweight UAV, heterogeneous sensor integration, obstacle avoidance, group flight automatic flight control, RTK precision positioning system, and fruit tree 3D stereo modeling, which can be used to establish a 3D fruit tree growth process.

Taiwan-Janssen Project, focusing on R&D of treating lung, rectal and colorectal cancers in 2019, has awarded grants to three academic/research units, according to Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).The three award recipients are: a team organized by Biomedical Technology and Device Research Laboratories (BTDRL) at government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute; one from National Taiwan University (NTU); and one from Taipei Medical University (TMU).Taiwan-Janssen Project is jointly sponsored by MOST, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and Belgium-based Janssen Pharmaceutica, which is subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.Focusing on cancer treatment, the project calls for proposals from Taiwan-based academic and research organizations and then selects those with potential technologies for use in developing pharmaceuticals, diagnostic devices or medical materials.Janssen will offer 3-year R&D subsidy of US$500,000 to the BTDRL team, while MOEA will also offer financial assistance at a certain percent of the amount.The NTU team will be given US$60,000 from MOST for developing blood tests to identify epigenetic marks that could be signs of lung cancers in early stages, while the TMU teams will receive a MOST grant of US$40,000 for its research of using intestinal metagenomic sequencing to develop a vitro screening platform for people with high risks of rectal and colorectal cancers.Janssen will offer 6-month technological counseling services for the NTC and TMU teams.Taiwan-Janssen Project's award ceremonyPhoto: MOST

TSMC has been fast advancing its manufacturing processes. It is on track to move 5nm node to commercial production in the second half of 2020, and will soon break ground for a 3nm facility where volume production will start in 2022. Next year promises to be a fruitful one thanks to 5G picking up momentum, but in the meantime, Taiwanese IC desingers see orders slow down from Chinese clients who are conducting year-end inventory checks. But phone vendors are set to launch more 5G devices in 2020, including foldable ones. But vendors of such foldable phones have to make sure they receive sufficient supply for OLED panels.TSMC to kick off 3nm process manufacturing in 2022: TSMC is firmly on track to move 5nm process technology to commercial production in the first half of 2020 and will kick off production of chips built using a newer 3nm process node in 2022, according to JK Wang, the firm's senior vice president for fab operations.Taiwan IC design houses see orders slow down from China: Taiwan-based IC design houses have seen their China-based customers start slowing down their pace of orders due to year-end inventory checks at the clients, which may drag down revenues at those fabless chipmakers in November and December.AUO loses Motorola foldable Razr OLED orders to Chinese peers: Motorola has switched orders for flexible AMOLED panels for its new foldable smartphones to Chinese suppliers BOE Technology and China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) from Taiwan-based AU Optronics (AUO) who cannot provide sufficient production capacity, according to industry sources.

Despite the ongoing US-China trade tensions, Taiwan's IC packaging and testing industry is still expected to see second-half 2019 revenues grow from the first half thanks to rising demand for 5G-related applications, according to Digitimes Research.Digitimes Research expects Taiwan's top-5 packaging and testing service providers to see their combined revenues rise over 20% sequentially in the second half and 6.2% on year. Demand for packaging and testing services on 5G chips is expected to continue rising in 2020 and boost the providers' revenues.The semiconductor industry was in a downturn in the first half of 2019, but sales started to recover in the second half with vendors' releases of 5G equipment and smartphones. Taiwan's top-5 IC packaging and testing service provider already saw their combined revenues reach a new high in the third quarter of 2019 and 5G chips will remain the key driver for their operation in the fourth quarter.

As 5G penetration rate is expected to reach 50% in 2023, smart augmented reality (AR) glasses will begin entering the consumer market, according to Digitimes Research.Many firms released inexpensive all-in-one VR solutions in 2018 to stimulate demand. AR/VR firms have also started combining their hardware with big-screen viewing experience, shipments of VR head-mounted display (HMD) have increased significantly in 2019 with particularly strong support from multimedia streaming service providers. All-in-one VR device shipments have also seen a surge in China in 2019.In 2020, the shipment growth driver for AR/VR wearables will be smart AR glasses, which will serve as a peripheral and a second smartphone screen. The wearable will also be integrated with the functionality of Bluetooth earphones.Since the devices' AR functionality will still be limited in 2020, the costs are unlikely to be too high and should put their prices in a rather consumer friendly zone, which is expected to expand their popularity among users.Many telecom carriers have begun forming partnerships with AR/VR wearable firms recently and Digitimes Research expects the trend to grow stronger in 2020 as more business opportunities will emerge, making AR/VR applications a crucial part of the telecommunication market in the next few years.With 5G commercialization expected to completely take off by 2023, full-function smart AR glasses will pose a strong challenge to smartphones.

Taiwan's commercial sector has witnessed significant achievements in smart transformation, especially in retail and logistics, over the past year, with many players having created brand-new business models driven by AI, big data and IoT applications, according to May Lee, director general of the Department of Commerce (DOC), Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).Lee made the remarks at a recent forum on Taiwan's smart commerce hosted by DOC. About 600 people attended the event where keynote speeches were delievered and diverse smart commercial applications and solutions were showcased by Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), retail, logistics, and e-commerce firms and startups. She said that smart transformation of the country's commerce sector will accelerate further under the government's policy support, with more intelligent applications to emerge soon.At the event, Pei-Zen Chang, executive vice president of ITRI, also said that ITRI has zeroed in on four aspects -system, service, software and startup -in pushing for Taiwan's industries to go smart by leveraging AI, big data, cloud computing and IoT technologies accumulated over the years.Among the keynote speakers, KW Chien, e-retail department head at convenience store chain FamilyMart, said as consumers can now easily get diverse product information online, the past advantages enjoyed by traditional retailers have gone. In the digitalization era, Chien stressed, the decisive match point in the retail market lies in the degree of understanding the needs of consumers.Through a single cross-industry e-commerce platform, consumers can purchase products supplied by all the distribution channels, which can be coupled with strong logistics capability to provide consumers with one-stop buying and fast delivery services, according to Chien.Money flow and logistic flow have been crucial issues in e-commerce operations. As the former can be easily addressed with payment tools available now, Chien continued, whoever can harness the last mile of logistics or physical delivery can better grab business opportunities. This can explain the rapid emergence of UberEat and Foodpanda.Amazon Global Selling doing well in TaiwanClare Lin, general manager of Amazon Global Selling Taiwan, said that since Amazon set up an office in Taiwan in late April 2017 under its Global Selling Program to better connect Taiwanese sellers and global buyers, many Taiwanese suppliers have joined the program to engage in e-commerce businesses.Lin said that total annual global retail sales amount to around US$20 trillion, with e-commerce transactions growing fast to command an 18% share of the total. The ratio, although quite smaller than retail sales via physical stores, is expected to surge at a 10x pace along with the rapid advancement of various smart technologies.Amazon has set up comprehensive global selling and logistics systems to support e-commerce businesses worldwide. For the moment, third-party cross-border e-commerce transactions have accounted for over 25% of total third-party sales. To meet the resultant strong demand for logistic services, Amazon has set up 170 operation centers around the world to provide fast delivery services for sellers and buyers, according to Lin.SW Chen, CEO of Taiwan AI Academy, said since the third wave of AI development started in 2010, the focus has been on machine learning of human experiences.AI has its limitations, Chen continued, but machine learning algorithms can work well in finding the unknown from the known as long as the linkage between them is strong enough.Chen indicated that machine learning has developed fast in e-commerce, smart manufacturing and healthcare sectors, with healthcare registering the fastest development as data generated by the sector are less vulnerable to interferences.He stressed that Taiwan's solid tech prowess and AI must be combined to facilitate professional integration of vertical domains such as retail, logistics, manufacturing and healthcare.Meanwhile, logistics service firms Morris Enterprise, Scanwell Logistics and Quantium Solutions were also present to share diverse technologies associated with secure transportation of pharmaceuticals, international cargo handling and e-commerce logistics.Many startups engaged in smart commercial and retail applications and solutions also introduced their latest offerings at the event. They included GoWiFi , Eunomics, InforCharge, Point Innovative, Dipp, Giftpack and Showhue.May Lee, director general of the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA)Attendees of the DOC-hosted forum on smart commercePhotos: Digitimes staff, November 2019

Qualcomm has introduced its new 5G SoC lineup - the Snapdragon 865 series for smartphone vendors' flagship models and the 765 series for midrange to high-end ones. But it is the midrange smartphone market segment that is expected to see the most intense competition among chip vendors in the upstream and among phone vendors in the end market. Around 70% of over 200 million 5G smartphones to be shipped next year are estimated to be midrange to high-end ones. The smartphone market, after a year of sluggish demand in 2019, is heading towards recovery thanks to the arrival of 5G. Foundry house Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing (PSMC) expects smartphone-use sensors to help keep its 12-inch fabs running at full capacity in 2020.Qualcomm intros new 5G SoC lineup: Qualcomm has introduced its new Snapdragon 865 and 765 seies SoC chips designed for 5G-capable Android smartphones slated for launch in 2020. TSMC and Samsung Foundry reportedly are both being contracted to manufacture the chips.Midrange 5G handset chips market to heat up in 1H20: The main battlefield in the 5G mobile chip market is expected to shift from flagship models to mostly midrange ones in the first half of 2020, as around 70% of over 200 million 5G smartphones to be shipped next year will be midrange to high-end ones, according to industry sources.Powerchip seeing strong demand for smartphone sensors: Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing (PSMC), a foundry subsidiary of Powerchip Technology, has enjoyed robust demand for smartphone-use sensors which is filling its 12-inch fab capacity.

Taiwan's National Defense Medical Center (NDMC), a military medical university, has cooperated with HTC DeepQ, the smartphone vendor's healthare research unit, to set up a MR-based anatomy lab, according to NDMC president Cha Tai-lung.P4 (preventive, predicative, participatory, personalized) medicine needs support from high technologies, Cha. MR technology, through combining VR and AR, allows students to learn anatomy in a virtual scenario and interact with real environment, Cha noted. By virtue of dynamic simulation, MR-based anatomical education provides 3D display of organs that can move such as hearts and blood vessels at a microscopic level that fluff of small intestines, chyle ducts, muscle fibers and renal glomeruli are visible.The MR-based anatomy lab system integrates more than 5,500 human organs, more than 500 sets of physiological animation images and over 15 types of microscopic anatomy diagrams.NDMC began to use a VR-based education system through cooperation with HTC Deep in 2017, with students' learning featuring immersion, interaction and imagination.NDMC has procured 20 sets of HTC VIVE Focus and seven sets of HTC VIVE Pro for operation of the anatomy lab.An anatomical display at NDMC's MR-based anatomy labPhoto: Mark Tsai, Digitimes, December 2019

Taiwan's PC monitor shipments registered increases of 8.2% sequentially and 5.8% on year in the third quarter of 2019, according to Digitimes Research. But shipments are unlikely to see further on-year growth in the fourth quarter.The shipment growth in the third quarter was contributed by brand vendors stocking extra inventory as a precaution against the upcoming US tariffs on monitors imported from China, while LG Electronics, which manufactures most of its monitors in house, had lost share in the mid-range to entry-level segment due to fierce competition from US-based brands and TPV's sub-brands, Digitimes Research's figures show.Since most brand vendors have already advanced their fourth-quarter orders to the third quarter, Taiwan's fourth-quarter monitor shipments are expected to slip over 10% sequentially and witness the first on-year decline since the first quarter of 2018.Taiwan's share of global PC monitor shipments went up to above 70% in the third quarter as Taiwan makers' clients were able to make gains against LG Electronics in the mid-range to entry-level segment.PC monitors sized 22-inch and above did not see much growth in shipment share in the third quarter, while 21.x-inch ones had a major gain in share as most of LG's monitors that were undermined by fierce competition were within the size range. However, in the long term, demand will continue leaning toward large-size models.Qisda has been seeing stable shipments every quarter in 2019, while TPV, Foxconn Technology Group (Hon Hai Precision Industry) and Wistron all experienced over 10% on-quarter increases in third-quarter shipments. Wistron also registered an over 30% on-year growth in the third quarter due primarily to Hewlett-Packard's (HP) order ramp-up.TPV and Qisda were the top-2 monitor makers worldwide in the third quarter, while Foxconn was in third place, surpassing LG Electronics. With the exception of Qisda, TPV, Foxconn and Wistron will all see over 10% sequential declines in the fourth quarter.The production value of Taiwan's PC monitors saw a sequential growth weaker than that of unit shipments in the third quarter and the trend will continue in the fourth quarter. With panel prices continuing to drop, PC monitor ASP also slipped sequentially in the third quarter.

Mini and micro LEDs are being touted as strong candidates to play a key role in the next-generation display market. Now Apple is said to be developing a 12.9-inch mini LED-backlit iPad Pro for launch in third-quarter 2020. Many Taiwan-based supply chain partners are eyeing the mini LED opportunity. While micro LEDs will still play second fiddle to LCD panels by providing backlight, micro LEDs have the potential to oust OLED and LCD from the market. At any rate, the LCD industry is feeling pressure not just from rivaling technologies, but also from oversupply in the wake of fast capacity expansion. For China's BOE and CSOT, it is time to halt further investments in LCD.Taiwan supply chain eye orders for mini LED-backlit iPad Pro: Taiwan-based supply chain makers including Epistar, General Interface Solution (GIS), Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology (TSMT), Zhen Ding Technology and Flexium Interconnect are poised to receive orders for components to be used in a 12.9-inch mini LED-backlit iPad Pro that Apple reportedly will launch in third-quarter 2020, the sources said.BOE, CSOT to stop investing in LCD panel segment: BOE Technology and China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) have both disclosed plans to stop their investments in LCD display technology development and capacity expansion.