The commercialization of 5G is injecting momentum into the serve industry. Taiwan-based ODM Quanta Computer expects impressive results for its server lines next year, with shipments to telecom carriers in Europe and the US to start in second-half 2020. The ODM also has ambitious plans for he self-driving car market. It has already developed its own self-driving car and tested it in the US. For TSMC, 5G is definitely its growth driver. Now the foundry's CEO has disclosed that it has raised the forecast for 5G smatphone penetration in 2020.Quanta expects 5G deployments to bear fruit in 2020: Quanta Computer has started shipping 5G x86 servers to Japan's Rakuten, and is in talks with a number of Europe- and US-based telecom carriers for shipments slated to kick off in the second half of 2020, according to company senior vice president Mike Yang.Quanta tests in-house developed self-driving vehicle in US: Quanta Computer has developed its first autonomous vehicle, and tested in recently in the US, according to company senior vice president Mike Yang.TSMC raises forecast for 5G phone penetration for 2020: TSMC CEO CC Wei has disclosed the foundry's more optimism about chip demand for 5G smartphones in 2020, and its forecast of the 5G smartphone penetration rate next year has already been revised upward to 15% from its previous single-digit estimate made six months ago.

Appier, a Taiwan-based start-up business developing AI-based solutions for precision marketing, has acquired a 100% stake in Japan-based Emotion Intelligence (Emin) AI startup, according to Appier co-founder and CEO Yu Chih-han.The acquisition is motivated by Emin's AI-based solution with which e-commerce operators can analyze online shoppers' browsing behavior to predict their purchasing intensions and then offer timely electronic coupons and/or discount information specifically for hesitating customers to facilitate sales transactions, Yu said.Appier has integrated the solution with its own technology to form AiDeal, an AI-based solution to help e-commerce operators reduce online shopping cart abandonment rate and hike purchase conversion rate, Yu noted.Via the acquisition, Emin has become Appier's operational base and R&D center in Tokyo but maintains independent operation, Yu indicated.Since its inception in 2012, Appier has developed CrossX cross-device online advertising platform, Aixon data science platform to help users predict customer behavior, and Aiqua interactive platform helping users identify potential customers and push online advertising, Yu said.Headquatered in Taipei, Appier has set up business offices in 13 cities in Australia, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, India, Thailand and South Korea, with more than 400 employees in total, Yu said.Appier has won venture capital investment of over US$82 million via three fund-raising series.

China market demand for interactive white boards (IWB) has been gaining momentum thanks to the country's strenuous efforts in promoting intelligent education programs, allowing its top-2 homegrown suppliers Shiyuan Electronic Technology and HiteVision Technology to sustain stable increases in shipments and revenues, according to Digitimes Research.IWB sales in China reached 1.5 million units in 2018, representing an annual growth of 23%, with 80% of them adopted for education use.In the first half of 2019, the country's largest IWB supplier Shiyuan saw its education-use IWB sales surge 14.2% on year to CNY2.1 billion (US$1.49 billion), with conference-use IWB shipments shooting up 40% on year to CNY340 million.Prices for large-size LCD panels have plunged by 20-30% so far this year, which is expected to boost demand for education-use IWBs and prompt more monitor and projector makers to jump on the bandwagon.But as IWB penetration rate is relatively high in the fundamental education segment, makers have to develop new markets such as job training institutions or tap the conference-use IWB solutions that entail higher unit prices and are still rather low penetration, Digitimes Research believes.

The impact of the shortages of Intel's 14nm CPUs seems to be rippling out from the PC to the sever sector. Sever ODMs now see tight supply for Intel 14nm CPUs with their stocks reportedly going under safe levels. Despite the pressure, the server ODMs' CPU stocks will still be enough to last through the fourth quarter of the year. For ODMs, profit margins for a lot of products are usually low, and the profitability of making the Apple Watch is said to be so low that its primary maker, Quanta Computer, is considering quitting. It remains to be seen whether Apple would allow it to do so. In the flat panel industry, China makers remain keen to build up their OLED production capacity. It is expected that 10 new 6G OLED fabs will have come on line in China by 2021.Server makers see 14nm chip supply become tight: Server ODMs have reportedly seen the supply of Intel's 14nm CPUs become tight but remain sufficient to support their shipments in the fourth quarter, according to sources from the server industry.Quanta mulling stopping assembly for Apple Watch in 2020, say sources: Apple Watch is emerging as a crucial cash cow for its vendor, but it seems a hot potato for its most veteran assembler Quanta Computer, which reportedly is considering stopping assembly operation for the device in 2020 amid thinning profitability, according to industry sources.10 new 6G OLED fabs to go online in China by 2021: Ten new 6G OLED fabs are set to come online in China by 2021, despite some delays resulting from the US-China trade tensions and weak demand, according to a Taiwan-based upstream supplier.

No one could do better than TSMC when it comes to predicting the possible size of next year's 5G smartphone market, as the top foundry house can rely on order visibility from chip clients to support its estimation. Now some industry sources have cited TSMC's internal estimates as expecting global 5G smartphone shipments to approach 300 million units next year. TSMC has been runing at full capacity at its 7nm processes, thanks to demand from the 5G sector, and capacity supply for other nodes has also been running tight. And some memory device vendors have asked their controller suppliers to build up inventory in advance to avoid production jams at TSMC. Chip vendors looking for advanced node manufacturing support could turn to Samsung Foundry, which is reportedly keen to build up its EUV production capacity.TSMC more optimistic than others about 5G phone shipments in 2020: Global shipments of 5G phones could approach 300 million units in 2020, much higher than most market observers expect, according to industry sources, citing an internal estimate at TSMC.Memory controller suppliers urged to build up inventory in advance: Judging from TSMC's rising capacity utilization rates, downstream memory device vendors have asked their controller suppliers to build up their inventory in advance, according to industry sources.Samsung reportedly places additional EUV equipment orders: Samsung Electronics has reportedly placed additional EUV equipment orders for its foundry operations.

Strong demand from the 5G sector is apparently not the only factor driving TSMC's sales growth. The foundry house is gaining growth momentum from better-than-expected sales of Apple's iPhone 11 series for fourth-quarter 2019, and first-quarter 2020. But the semiconductor industry is definitely relying on 5G applications to fuel its next wave of growth. And smartphone vendors are rushing to release 5G devices to gain a head start in the market, with Chinese brands Oppo and Vivo said to be rolling out their 5G phones ahead of schedule.TSMC sales outlook brightens: Sales of the iPhone 11 series have been better-than-expected, brightening the outlook for TSMC's sales performance in the following quarters, according to market observers.Taiwan chipmaking industry gearing up for next stage growth: Taiwan's chipmaking industry, led by TSMC, is gearing up to enter its next stage of growth as chip demand for 5G applications is set to start ramping up substantially next year, according to industry observers.Oppo, Vivo to roll out 5G phones ahead of schedule: China-based handset vendors Oppo and Vivo both are reportedly accelerating the developments of 5G smartphones and are expected to roll out their respective 5G phones at the end of 2019 or in early 2020, which will be about 2-3 months ahead of schedule, according to sources from Taiwan's IC supply chain.

TSMC is expected to report record sales for 2019, driven by strong demand for its advanced manufacturing processes. Its 7nm production capacity has been fully occupied, thanks to robust orders from clients eyeing the strong growth of the 5G market. Less advanced processes, including the 16nm node, have also seen tight capacity, with delivery lead time extended. The foundry house is likely to see even stronger revenue growth in 2020. Packaging firm ASE Technology will also see strong growth momentum in 2020 coming from the 5G sector. In Taiwan, the government is ready to auction off its 5G spectrum to telecom operators in December, but it has yet to decide whether a dedicated frequency band should be reserved for other private enterprises or entities to implement their respective 5G vertical applications.TSMC 16nm production lead time stretched: TSMC has already seen its 16nm chip supply fall short of demand, with longer delivery lead times, according to sources at IC design service companies.ASE Technology to see growth momentum carry into 2020: ASE Technology is expected to see its revenues grow quarter by quarter into 2020 thanks to strong packaging demand from major clients including Apple, Huawei's HiSilicon, MediaTek and Qualcomm to support mass production of their new offerings, according to industry sources.Taiwan to auction off 5G spectrum in December: Taiwan's government will start the bidding process for the release of related frequency bands to telecom operators for 5G services on December 10, and the auctions would likely to be carried out without plans to reserve a dedicated frequency band to be available for other private enterprises or entities to implement their respective 5G vertical applications, according to government sources.

The establishment of a charging station standard is necessary for a market to see broader adoption of electric cars, according to Jacques Borremans, head of Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN) Asia.He noted that without a finalized standard, Taiwan will continue to see stagnant acceptance of electric cars.Prior to 2017, overall installment of electric car charging stations in South Korea had had difficulties surpassing 500 units, but the number went up to more than 1,500 units in 2017, and has been growing rapidly since the government adopted CCS1 as the standard in 2016.Borremans pointed out that people show more confident in buying electric cars after seeing the broad installation of charging stations. Citing South Korean government data, he noted that the number of electric cars registered in the country was 10,855 units at the end of 2016, and went up to 25,108 in 2017 and 55,756 in 2018.At the moment, Taiwan still does not yet have a standard for electric car charging stations and most charging stations in Taiwan are equipped with multiple charging adapters, which significantly increase the costs for establishment.The availability of charging stations is crucial to the electric car market.Photo: Digitimes file photo

Notebook ODMs have again been hit by Intel CPU shortages. But Bob Swan, visiting Taiwan for the first time as Intel's CEO, said his company is expanding production capacity, particularly for 14nm processors. Swan noted that Taiwan has played a critical role in helping Intel go through 2019, a year considered a difficult one for semiconductors. And indeed, Taiwan's semiconductor sector has been spending more on chipmaking equipment purchases this year, despite the US-China trade war, which has been sending manufacturers moving their production lines out of the "world's factory." Now Google is having its manufacturing partners set up production lines in Thailand and Vietnam.Intel expanding chip output: Q&A with company CEO Bob Swan: Intel will be gradually expanding its foundry production capacity, particularly for 14nm process this year, according to company CEO Bob Swan. Swan and other Intel executives arrived in Taiwan earlier this week meeting with local partners and suppliers.Taiwan sees significant rise in chipmaking equipment imports: Taiwan's imports of semiconductor equipment shot up 65.1% on year to US$2.5 billion in September and surged 32.2% to US$15.5 billion for the first three quarters of 2019, according to customs statistics.Google suppliers to relocate production to Thailand, Vietnam: Google has decided to choose Thailand as the new production base for its Google Home smart speaker with Quanta Computer remaining its manufacturer, and the Internet service giant is now reportedly considering moving the production of its Chromebooks to Thailand and Vietnam to avoid the US tariff, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

Texas Instruments is revamping the way of selling its products, relying less on distributors. TI earlier this month decided to terminate Avnet's rights to distributing its products starting 2021, and Taiwan-based WPG and WT Micro have just disclosed their distribution partnerships with the US client will also end at the same time. Meanwhile, Apple stands a good chance of leapfrogging Huawei to second place in global handset vendors rankings in fourth-quarter 2019, thanks to significant sales for the iPhone 11 series.WPG, WT Micro to discontinue sale of TI products: Taiwan-based IC distributors WPG Holdings and WT Microelectronics have disclosed that they will discontinue their Texas Instruments (TI) chip and component offerings starting from 2021 after the US firm terminates their distribution rights.Apple likely to outrace Huawei in smartphone shipments in 4Q19, says sources: Buoyed by brisk sales of the iPhone 11 lineup, Apple is likely to outrace Huawei to recapture second place in the global smartphone vendor ranking in the fourth quarter of 2019 after losing out to the Chinese rival since the second quarter of 2018, according to market watchers.