Taiwan hopes to cultivate its own unicorn startups by leveraging major services provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), which is now maintaining operations in the government-funded Startup Terrace in New Taipei, according to the nation's premier Su Tseng-chang.Wu made the statement after hearing a briefing about the latest development of the international startup hub in northern Taiwan, which has attracted 15 accelerators, including AWS.AWS has promised to help develop 150 startups in Taiwan within three years by cultivating cloud talent, fostering startup teams, promoting international cooperation and helping enterprises with business transformations.The Taiwanese government will provide multiple support for tech startups boasting strong potentials, including sufficient funds, sound regulations, commercial outlets for innovations and assistance in international marketing, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).The Startup Terrace has so far attracted as many as 132 startups and accelerators from 10 countries to set up operations there, mainly focusing on AI, IoT, smart healthcare and big data, by offering them one-stop services and tax incentives, MOEA said.

Taiwan's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has reported success in showcasing 12 local startups at MedTech Conference 2019 in the US, during which they attended 180 sessions of matchmaking for capital, talent and technology.The startups attracted much attention from global medical giant firms and academic and research institutes, said MOST, which set up a national pavilion under the Taiwan Tech Arena branding at the event in Boston last month.Showcasing their research and AI capability, the startup teams focused on three applied fields - rapid diagnostic test, health care test and innovative medical device, which are in line with the trends of bio-tech markets in American East, MOST said.One of the startups, Heroic-Faith Medical Science, demonstrated its latest artificial intelligence (AI) combined with respiratory monitoring, and was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration FDA, the American College of Anesthesiology, the American Dental Association, and the US Military Medical Unit, said MOST.

TSMC apparently can't wait to extend its technology leadership. It has asked the Southern Taiwan Science Park to ready the land it has alloacted for the foundry's 3nm fab project by the end of 2019, a few months ahead of its original schedule. In the IT supply chain, Taiwan-based ODM Quanta Computer is said to be quitting the assembly work for the next-generation Apple Watch to be launched in 2020. It remains to be seen whether the next-generation Apple Watch would come with OLED screens, but backend service providers believe demand for OLED drivers ICs will surge in 2020.TSMC to accelerate 3nm fab construction: TSMC is expected to step up the construction of its advanced 3nm wafer fab after securing 30 hectares of land in the Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP) by the end of 2019, according to industry sources.Compal, Foxconn to share next-gen Apple Watch orders in 2020: Quanta Computer will not serve as a production partner for Apple's next-generation Apple Watch to be launched in 2020, and instead Compal Electronics and Foxconn Electronics will share the orders, according to industry sources familiar with the matter.Backend demand for OLED driver ICs to surge in 2020: Backend demand for OLED driver ICs is set to take off in 2020, with COP (chip on plastic) and COF (chip on film) likely to co-exist as main packaging processes, according to industry sources.

China's top-3 IC backend houses Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology (JCET), Tianshui Huatian Technology and Tongfu Microelectronics (TFME) have seen sales pick up in the second half of 2019, with the growth momentum set to carry into 2020, according to Digitimes Research.JCET, Huatian and TFME saw their combined sales increase 10.3% sequentially to CNY8.69 billion in the second quarter of 2019, following two quarters of sequential drops, said Digitimes Research.China's IC backend industry posted a 5.4% on-year increase in revenues for the first half of 2019, with the top-3 players' combined revenues accounting for 16.2%.With growing demand for China's homegrown chips and for emerging 5G and automotive applications, JCET, TFME and Huatian, along with China's overall IC backend sector, will be gearing up for a strong year ahead, Digitimes Research believes.JCET remains the technology leader among China's IC backend service providers, with its complete offerings including fan-out WLP, SiP, TSV, flip-chip, bumping, PoP and PiP services. Nevertheless, JCET is facing more competition from some foundry chipmakers, which have stepped into the high-end IC backend segment.

China's mobile solution provider HiSilicon Technologies is expected to see its shipments of application processors continue to grow in 2019 with its chips powering nearly 70% of handsets shipped by its parent company Huawei in the year, according to Digitimes Research.HiSilicon is able to ramp up its AP shipments as Huawei has been using more of its chips to power its high-end smartphones, while also raising the ratio of chips from HiSilicon for its entry-level to mid-range models - a segment where Huawei is expected to see its shipments decrease 5% on year in the second half of 2019, Digitimes Research estimates.Overall, HiSilicon's AP shipments will account for 20% of total handset AP demand in China in 2019, excluding those used by Samsung Electronics.HiSilicon launched Kirin 990 5G, its first 5G SoC, in September featuring a neural-network processing unit (NPU), and it is expected to continue releasing NPU-focused 5G SoCs as a means to significantly ramp up its AP shipments in the first half of 2020.However, its AP shipments in 2020 could be impacted by the US-China trade dispute, which may dent consumer acceptance of Huawei's new handsets without the support of GMS (Google Mobile Services), undermine its ability to secure supply of key components, and hinder the use of new Arm architectures.

SSD prices have been falling fast in China. Consumers may be happy, but vendors are wary of a looming price war that would further undermine their profitability from the SSD market. But in the motherboard market, makers may see ASP improve in the fourth quarter, thanks to Intel and AMD releasing new platforms. For major Taiwan-based ODMs, they have to look beyond consumer electronics for business growth. The smart healthcare sector is promising.SSD prices continue fall in China: SSD prices have been falling in China, with prices for 128GB SSDs having dropped over 10% in the last two months, according to sources at memory module makers.Taiwan mobo makers to see ASP improvement: With Intel lowering prices for its high-end desktop Cascade Lake-X series processors and AMD set to roll out its next-generation top-end Threadripper series processors and Ryzen 9 3950X, Taiwan-based motherboard makers are expected to see their ASPs improve in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to industry sources.Taiwan ODMs deepening deployments in smart healthcare: Major Taiwan-based ODMs including Compal Electronics, Quanta Computer and Wistron have stepped up their deployments in healthcare aiming to leverage AI and big data technologies to tap the lucrative medical electronics business, according to industry sources.

The US trade ban may have affected Huawei's business, but it is apparently fueling the Chinese vendor's bid to wean itself off reliance on US technology. Its handset IC design arm, HiSilicon, is accelerating its chip development, and reportedly has become the top client of TSMC for its advanced manufacturing node. Fellow IC design house, Unisoc, under China's Tsinghua Unigroup, has also stepped up its deployments, seeking new investments to support its 5G and IoT chips development. HiSilicon now top TSMC customer for advanced process node: Huawei's HiSilicon has unseated Apple as the largest customer of TSMC in terms of advanced process node capacity share, according to industry sources.Unisoc set to raise new funds to support 5G, IoT chips development: Tsinghua Unigroup's chipmaking arm Unisoc will enforce a capital increment of CNY5 billion (US$707.44 million) to support its development of core 5G and IoT chipsets, according to a statement posted by China Beijing Equity Exchange.

Own-brand electric scooter maker Gogoro has launched GoShare services for sharing e-scooters on a rental basis in Taipei, according to GoShare director Henry Chiang.Gogoro started GoShare operation in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan, on August 29, 2019 and, as of October 20, cumulatively registered over 100,000 users with cumulative running distance of 550,000km, equivalent to carbon reductions by 450,000kg, Chiang noted.Gogoro uses 125cc Gogoro 2 e-scooters for GoShare services in Taoyuan but uses Gogoro Viva, a model featuring much less weight, in Taipei, Chiang indicated. This is because public transportation takes up about 15% of all intra-city trips in Taoyuan but the percentage in Taipei is 42.8% and therefore, rental e-scooters provided in the former are for long-distance ride while those in the latter are for short-distance last-mile connection between homes or working places and subway stations or bus stops, Chiang explained.Gogoro will deploy 1,000 Gogoro Viva e-scooters in selected areas in Taipei in three days and increase the number to 3,000 by the end of 2019, Chiang said.Along with continued accumulation of GoShare operating data, Gogoro collects and analyze data concerning riding time, origins and destinations of trips and running distances, and will use the analysis to derive GoShare operating models in different areas as reference for optimizing services and developing next-generation rental e-scooters, Chiang noted.Gogoro Viva for GoShare services in Taipei Photo: Michael Lee, Digitimes, October 2019

Notebook vendors are introducing new features and form factors trying to inject new momentum into the mature PC market. Apple is said to be introducing a new ultra-thin-bezel notebook with a 16-inch display fitted into a taditional 15-inch device later this year. TSMC may see record revenues for 2019, but pofits may slip compared to last year's. But TSMC's profitability may return to a growth track in 2020, thanks to strong demand from the 5G sector.Demand for 16-inch notebooks to rise: Notebooks with 16-inch ultra-thin bezel displays are expected to become a new trend among vendors in the next few years, following the upcoming release of Apple's new notebook, according to sources from the supply chain.TSMC to see profits surge in 2020-21: TSMC is expected to enjoy significant profit increases in 2020 and 2021, after posting its first annual decrease in eight years this year, according to industry observers.

Taiwan startup Zhi He Technology has developed AI-based AOI (automated optical inspection) equipment that detects defects at diamond grinding wheels aiming to help boost wafer thinning efficiency.Zhi He is one of a few startups tapping into the miniature flawed images detection recognition for the semiconductor industry. Printed circuit board and display panel sectors now command 64% and 15% of AOI applications market, with the remaining 21% for semiconductor, solar cell and healthcare sectors.Utilizing AI to detect defective diamond grinding tools for wafer thinning process will become a new lucrative service segment for AOI application, a company engineer said, adding that the detection used to be done with human eyes.The engineer stressed that AI-based detection can help boost diamond grinding efficiency and quality and raise yield rates for wafer thinning. The company will incorporate AI technology into more automated equipment including robotic arms.Zhi He's AI AOI can also detect the surface curvature and smoothness of contact lens molds.