The semiconductor supply chain is eyeing the robust demand from 5G commercialization. IC designers are designing chips supporting 5G, and in turn their backend partners are also gearing up development of AiP packaging process to suppor their new offerings. And for 5G smartphones, vendors upgrading camera functionalities is good news for both lens makers and CMOS image sensor suppliers, such as Sony and Omnivision, both of which reportedly see strong demand from Huawei, which is expected to see robust smartphone shipments next year despite the US trade sanctions. And others in China's IC supply chain are also stepping up efforts to improve the country's semiconductor self-sufficiency. YMTC is looking to improve its 64-layer 3D NAND flash memory production yield rate to facilitate commericial production.IC backend service providers gearing up for AiP packaging: TSMC and other major Taiwanese IC backend service providers including ASE Technology and Powertech Technology (PTI) are ready to offer, or have exerted efforts to develop, AiP (antenna-in-package) packaging process for the manufacture of mmWave 5G devices, according to industry sources.Sony, OmniVision enjoy robust demand from Huawei: CMOS image sensor suppliers Sony and OmniVision have both enjoyed robust demand for multi-camera smartphones from Huawei, with their regional distributors and backend suppliers being among the beneficiaries of Huawei's strong demand, according to industry sources.Yangtze Memory to ship 64-layer NAND chips for SSD: Yangtze Memory Technology (YMTC) is aggressively improving its 64-layer 3D NAND flash memory production yield rate, gearing up to ship the chips for SSD applications in the first quarter of 2020, according to industry sources.

For biomedical startups, solving industry issues and integrating cross-domain connections will be their two core values, and they will have a chance of enjoying unlimited growth if they start with broad industry perspectives and move to build cross-nation, cross-industry linkages, according to Ken Yu, CEO of smart healthcare startup iMedtac.In the smart healthcare field many professors and physicians have joined forces to work out innovative service solutions step by step, Yu said, and such innovations will see higher clinical acceptability thanks to their integration of domain knowledge and technologies applicable to diverse medical departments.But from the perspective of commercial development, Yu stressed, the technical services presented by startups must be able to solve biomedical industry issues rather than address issues at individual medical departments, in order to support the integration of the R&D teams for both service product lines and software/hardware.Integrating resources and building connections are highly crucial for developing regional markets. Taiwan boasts strong R&D power and good pilot areas for experiments, but when startup teams extend their services to China, Southeast Asia, the US and Europe, they may encounter different industry cultures and have to adjust their business models. Also, their medical service contents have to be slightly adjusted in line with different races and genes, according to Yu.Medical devices need support of cross-domain integrationPhoto: Mark Tsai, Digitimes, August 2019

Notebook brand vendors who hesitated about moving production out of the China in the wake of the trade war are now determined that they need to do so, as the disputes between the two superpowers are unlikely to end anytime soon. The vendors are now asking their ODMs to accelerate the relocation of their production out of the world's factory. While the notebook market is unlikely to see any major growths next year, the smartphone market is expected to see strong stimulation from 5G commericalization. MediaTek has become more upbeat about 5G smartphone shipments in 2020, and has increased its orders for 5G SoCs to be manufactured at TSMC.Notebook brand vendors accelerating production relocation out of China: The ongoing trade tensions between the US and China is prompting notebook brand vendors to have their ODMs accelerate production relocation out of China, with Compal Electronics to expand capacity in both Taiwan and Vietnam, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.MediaTek increases wafer start orders for 5G chips at TSMC: MediaTek reportedly has increased its wafer start orders for 5G chips at TSMC as more of its handset clients in China have taped out 5G-focused smartphones using its SoC solutions, according to industry sources.

Despite the US trade sanctions, Huawei has never stopped foraying into the 5G market, neither on the equipment side nor the mobile device segment. Its 5G smartphones with major camera function upgrades are expected to see impressive shipments next year. Taiwan-based suppliers of camera lenses can expect a fruitful year in 2020. Chip vendors are also gearing up development of optical in-display fingerprint sensors for smartphone applications, and their backend service partners are ready to provide full support. Huawei camera lens orders may reach 1.5 billion units in 2020: Huawei's procurement of smartphone camera lenses for 2020 may reach as high as 1.5 billion units, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.Optical fingerprint sensors shipments to ramp up in 1Q20: Taiwan's IC designers are set to ramp up shipments of diverse optical in-display fingerprint sensors for smartphone application starting in the first quarter of 2020, and backend specialists such as ASE Technology Holdings and ChipMos Technologies are also ready to give full support with wafer-level and COF packaging processes, according to industry sources.

Blockchain startup BiiLabs and IoT solutions provider SoftChef have jointly launched Benchy-Alfred SaaS (Software as a Service) platform for machine-to-machine (M2M) encrypted IoT data.At the launch of the platform, Josh Chai, founder and CEO of SoftChef, said that the new platform can give clients of both firms versatile applications. BiiLabs co-founder and CEO Lman Chu also noted that the blockchain-ready SaaS platform is designed for enterprises in the IoT-enabled data marketplace.The platform allows secure and cost-efficient data exchange with M2M services for a variety of industries, according to the Taiwan-based companies. When a connected device exchanges data via Benchy-Alfred, the platform's API will send a transaction notification to the public ledgers, creating a tamper-proof digitally signed timestamp of encrypted data.Current users of SoftChef's sensor.live IoT platform will find Benchy a new add-on integration that allows them to easily encrypt their device's data directly on sensor.live and safely share data within the sensor.live community, they said.The SaaS design behind BiiLabs' Alfred API is ideal for scenarios such as proof-of-existence (PoE) and decentralized identifiers (DIDs) as users do not have to master blockchain technology to use it, the companies said. Instead, they can handle the API gateway as regular I/O traffic regardless of whether storage is fully distributed.Benchy-Alfred can help developers build peer-to-peer (P2P) applications, mobile or other, without having to implement their own P2P networking layer from scratch, allowing them to focus on building the application logic and simply integrate Benchy-Alfred to handle the replication aspect, they added.

TSMC sees strong demand not just for its 7nm manufacturing node. Some of Taiwan's IC designers have reported that they have been unable to secure full support for their demand from the foundry house's 16nm, 12nm and 10nm nodes that are also becoming tight in supply. In fact, many Taiwanese IC design service providers have seen strong demand from Chinese clients keen on developing their own CPUs and GPUs in line with China's ambition to significantly improve its semiconductor self-sufficiency, the importance of which has been underlined by the country's ongoing trade war with the US.TSMC 16nm, 12nm and 10nm chip supply becomes tight: In addition to its tight 7nm chip supply, with delivery lead times extending to over six months, pure-play foundry TSMC has seen its supply of 16nm, 12nm and 10nm chips also fall short of demand recently, according to industry sources.More Chinese firms developing advanced-node CPUs in-house: More China-based firms have become keen on in-house development of new-generation CPUs and GPUs, allowing Taiwan IC design service providers, especially those associated with TSMC, to enjoy clear order visibility for 2020 for helping with chip designs or offering related engineering assistances, according to industry sources.

The NTPC-AWS Joint Innovation Center (JIC), established jointly by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the New Taipei City government, has activated the second phase of recruitment of startup teams, and is specifically looking for groups with backgrounds in smart manufacturing, smart medical care, smart retailing and smart home.NTPC-AWS JIC was founded in August 2018 and started the first round of recruitment in June. Of the 43 startup teams that applied to be partners of the JIC during the first round, 12 of them were accepted.NTPC-AWS JIC's work is to integrate resources from its partners in the IT industry, academic and government sectors, and assist startup teams to create new business opportunities. The center is also providing workshop classes and AWS's Activate program to these startup teams.

Demand for 7nm manufacturing capacity at TSMC is so strong that long lines have been formed trying to secure supply from the foundry house for the advanced process. As supply is tight, TSMC has reportedly asked clients to book capacity well in advance for the entire 2020. Part of the reason for the strong demand of TSMC's 7nm capacity is the coming of the 5G era. It is expected that 5G-enabled smartphone shipments to the Chinese and Korean markets will reach 10 million units in 2019. Meanwhile, Taiwan-based foundry UMC, though not as eager as TSMC in advancing manufacturing nodes, is expected to see significant sales growth in 2020, partly thanks to expansion in the Japan market.TSMC advises clients to book 7nm capacity for entire 2020: TSMC has advised its clients to book foundry capacity well in advance for their 7nm chip demand for the entire 2020, according to industry sources.5G phone shipments in China, Korea to total 10 million units in 2019: Combined shipments of 5G-enabled smartphones from Chinese and Korean vendors are expected to reach about 10 million units in 2019 - a result of collaboration between telecom operators and handset makers, according to market observers.UMC revenues to climb at least 10% in 2020: Pure-play foundry United Microelectronics (UMC) is expected to post revenue growth of at least 10% in 2020, thanks mainly to its expanded business scale in Japan, according to market sources.

Despite the global semiconductor industry's weakening demand in the first half, China's semiconductor industry continued to perform stably with sales rising 11.8% on year during the period, but the growth was still weaker than that of first-half 2018, according to Digitimes Research's figures.The China semiconductor industry's short-term development is likely to continue being constrained by a weak economy, US-China trade tensions and a lack of advanced technology and talent. However, for the medium to long term, demand created by emerging technologies and support from government policies are still expected to drive China's semiconductor market growth.Of the global semiconductor industry's sales in the first half, over 30% were contributed by China, the largest semiconductor market. However, the China semiconductor industry's rapid growth cannot be achieved without the strong support by government policies and funds. Sales of China's semiconductor industry in 2018 doubled from those in 2014 with the IC design sector having particularly strong growth.Cities in the eastern coast of China are still the key hub of the country's semiconductor industry, but several western cities including Xian, Chengdu and Wuhan, have also been aggressively developing semiconductor applications and are poised to become another hub for the industry, Digitimes Research believes.Despite the effort of the China government nurturing the local semiconductor supply chain, it still cannot function independently much, especially in the IC design segment. Currently, China-based players can only supply less than 5% of ICs for high-end and specific applications, and the problem is becoming more critical because of the trade war between China and the US.In the IC design sector, China has been accelerating local capability in the entry-level to mid-range segments, but it still depends heavily on US-based ICs in the high-end segment.China's development in IC manufacturing and packaging/testing is more mature than IC design, and local players in the fields are able to replace or compete against non-China players, but for more advanced manufacturing technology, China currently still relies on Taiwan.As for raw materials and equipment, Chinese suppliers only have a very small presence and the industry is highly dependent on the US and Japan for supply.

UK-based Everledger has announced it has completed its US$20 million series A funding. The round comes to a close with the backing of China's Tencent Internet-based services provider. Graphene Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, Rakuten, Fidelity and Vickers Venture Partners have also participated, according to Everledger.Leanne Kemp, founder and CEO of Everledger, said, "Today's announcement amplifies our commitment to global markets, whilst fuelling our industry momentum as we continue to build Everledger. Having this strong investor cohort join us at this stage in our development is both validation of the innovation we've displayed to date, and a statement of future intent. They will support us in bringing more visibility to good business practices in industries that impact millions, if not billions of people in developing countries.""Everledger's application of blockchain technology enhances value to consumers and reduces risks for businesses across the industry", said James Mitchell, chief strategy officer at Tencent. "We are delighted to support Everledger to improve the transparency and sustainability of global supply chains." Tencent is now represented in the Everledger board.Kemp said Everledger and Tencent share strategic synergies, disclosing that Everledger will launch a WeChat Mini Program for blockchain-enabled diamonds, uniting key stakeholders in the diamond value chain, which aims to empower WeChat users to buy jewellery with more transparency and security, said Kemp.