Taiwan startups are showcasing a variety of cross-domain smart tech solutions integrating 5G telecom infrastructure, diverse sensor-based IoT equipment, blockchain and AR/VR/MR applications at CES 2020, providing new opportunities for digital transformations at various industries.Among the exhibitors at the Taiwan Tech Arena at the CES Eureka Park, AgriTalk Tech led by professors from Taiwan's National Chiao Tung University offers smart agriculture AI solutions for farmers. Its all-in-one sensors monitor vital farm conditions such as nutrient levels, soil moisture, power supply and irrigation to secure normal operations of either large farms or small backyard gardens.Ganzin Technology showcases its Aurora eye tracker module and Luna eye tracker module that can be applied to VR/AR/smart glasses to make the devices perform better in serving users' needs, with the modules mainly comprising SoCs and API (application programming interfaces). The company also supplies relevant software development kits for customers.Nestech, specializing in access control solutions, has unveiled a mobile front desk management system for hospitality industry and property management that can be done via a mobile phone or a tablet.Other smart solutions on display include smart helmets from Jarvish, automated fire-fighting robots from SunJet Robotics, an IoT system for detecting invisible blood from RedEye Biomedical and AI baby cameras from Yun Yun.AgriTalk's system on display at CESPhoto: Mark Tsai, Digitimes, January 2020

Micro LED technology is limited to applications in high-end large-size commercial displays and deluxe home theater systems currently due to high production cost, but technological improvements are expected to broaden its adoption in display modules which can be mosaicked into large screens of various sizes starting 2024, Digitimes Research's newly published Special Report on the outlook of mini and micro LED.While Sony and Samsung Electronics have unveiled micro LED-equivalent display modules, their prices are over US$50,000 per square meter, far exceeding US$500-1,500 per square meter for 75-inch 4K LCD TVs and US$3,000-6,000 per square meter for 77-inch OLED TVs, Digitimes Research indicates in its Special Report, "Mini/micro LED: Challenges and opportunities in the display industry." As sizes of glass substrates are limited for production lines, it is difficult to produce LCD or OLED TV panels of over 120 inches. In comparison, micro LED display modules can be mosaicked into 110-, 220-, 440-, 790-inch or even larger displays and will therefore have market niche in commercial displays of over 100 inches. But, the problem is how to reduce production cost for micro LED panels.A new manufacturing process via embedding CMOS circuits in micro LED chips seems to be able to hike yield rates and thereby decrease production cost for micro LED panels. The process reduces complexity of mass transfer of micro LED chips onto backplanes to facilitate wafer-level production and testing. In addition, backplanes are not limited to TFT-LCD glass substrates and can be made of glass, metals or flexible materials.

Huawei managed to ship 240 million smartphones in 2019, but the US trade ban remains a concern, with the Chinese vendor likely to cut its smartphone shipment goal for 2020. The memory market has started recovering, with NAND flash suppliers cautiously expanding production capacity. But competition is expected to heat up in 2021 when their new NAND flash capacities are ready. For Taiwan's CCL suppliers, the first quarter of 2020 will be a strong one, thanks to robust demand from the 5G sector.Huawei likely to lower smartphone shipment goal for 2020: Huawei is conservative about the outlook for its smartphone shipments in 2020 and is likely to set its shipment goal for the year 30 million units below the amount it shipped in 2019, according to industry watchers, citing internal information from the top Chinese handset vendor.Samsung, Kioxia gearing up for capacity expansions: Major NAND flash makers including Samsung and Kioxia (formerly Toshiba Memory) have had their capacity expansion projects proceed at a gradual pace, with new capacities set to come online beginning later in 2020, according to industry sources.Taiwan CCL makers to see strong 1Q20 on 5G commercialization: Taiwan-based CCL makers are expected to see stronger-than-expected shipment momentum in the fourth-quarter 2019 persist into the first quarter of 2020 thanks to robust demand for their high-frequency, high-speed products, though both quarters are traditionally off seasons, according to industry sources.

Many startups from Taiwan are showcasing innovative smart healthcare solutions at CES 2020 incorporating edge computing, AI and non-invasive medical technologies to materialize preventive medicine and holistic healthcare services.Among the exhibits at the Taiwan Tech Arena pavilion is an AI-assisted chest sound monitoring system unveiled by Heroic-Faith Medical Science. The system can automatically collect breathing sound data of patients and monitor the breath via different angles using 6-8 detection pads, according to company CTO FJ Tsai.Tsai said that the system can detect early symptoms of many major lung diseases including spasm, pulmonary edema, and fibrosis in order to materialize preventive medicine and provide early treatment for patients.Ahead Medicine debuts its AI-based clinical blood cancer analysis system. The system, with an intelligent algorithm developed based on over 5,000 pieces of medical data, can offer up to 90% accurate blood analysis to help physicians identify and optimize blood cancer treatment strategies within seven seconds, compared to 30 minutes in the past, according to company CEO Andrea Wang.Wang said her company's solutions can not only visualize data but also incorporate healthcare data and clinical experiences into AI-based algorithms through machine learning. She continued that Ahead will move to develop AI-assisted medical solutions to deal with more diseases.The flow-EZ solution developed by Above Care is a non-invasive blood detection system that hemodialysis patients can easily operate to check their blood flow conditions in 10 seconds.Other exhibits include an instrument provided by FaceHeart allowing users to check their abnormal heart beats via face detection.

Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) organized a warm-up show ahead of CES 2020, showcasing some of the best innovations of its team of startups in 2020 Taiwan Demo Day in Silicon Valley.A total of 28 TTA startups demonstrated their innovations and 15 local Taiwanese investors and mentors wee invited to practice in mentor talks to the startups, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), which organized the Taiwan startup delegation to CES.During the Demo Day, TTA invited its important partners in Silicon Valley, reviewing the impacts and opportunities that Taiwan tech startups can make to and from the world. Its matchmaking event also invited Vic Kapur (SAP.io), Michael Crane (AWS IoT), Paul Ark (Digital Ventures), Anders de Jounge (The Financial West Group), and John Doricko (SiCamore Semi, LLC - Silicon Power Corporation), sharing views from investors, said MOST.Yu-Chin Hsu, deputy minister of MOST, indicated that the 28 TTA startups attending 2020 Taiwan Demo Day demonstrated solutions in med-tech, cyber security, smart city and others. Some of them have been awarded by CES in advance, Hsu saidMOST has contributed to and connect the Taiwan startups and global resources. Since its launch in June 2018, TTA has built partnerships with more than 60 global startups ecosystem enablers and supported more than 200 startups. TTA also aims to foster startups' ability to access global markets.

Global shipments of medical display devices have been expanding at an annual rate of about 5% in recent years, driven by demand for upgrades in display products that has come along with the emerging trend of smart medical care and IoT connectivity, Digitimes Research has found.Global shipments of medical displays are projected to reach 2.55 million units in 2019, with patient monitoring displays accounting for 64% of total unit shipments. In terms of sales value, diagnostic displays accounted for the highest portion of 46%.Belgium-based Barco has been a major vendor in the segment with its medical display revenues and related gross margin rising year on year thanks to its offerings of large-size, high-resolution models and its ability to cope with the ongoing trend for digitalization and connectivity in operating rooms.The bulk of patient monitors, which are used to gauge patient's pulse, blood pressure and other physiological parameters, come in sizes ranging from 8-12 inches, with their specifications much lower than those for surgical and diagnostic applications. China-based Mindray, a specialist for patient monitor displays and ultrasound image display devices, has seen its revenues continue growing at an annual rate of over 20% in the past three years.In light of rising popularity of displaying medical images in 4K, 8K and 3D formats, demand for medical display devices with larger sizes, higher resolutions and higher specifications (brighter, more contrast, and deeper red functionality) will keep growing, Digitimes Research believes.

The tech-savvy Taiwan is targeting biotechnology as its next major industry sector. According to government figures, Taiwan's biotech sector's output already reached NT$500 billion (US$16.64 billion) in value in 2019.Thanks to government policy and regulation support, 123 biotechnology enterprises have been listed, worth about NT$800 billion in total market value, said Howard Lee, partner for venture capital firm CID Group at a recent forum jointly hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan and Taiwan Bio Industry Organization (TBIO) on Taiwan's biotechnology industry development.As part of infrastructure construction,the Act for the Development of Biotech and New Pharmaceuticals Industry has been conducive to integration of experts, regulations, capital and other resources to form a sound biotechnology ecosystem in Taiwan, said Ho Mei-yueh, national policy advisor to the president.Tien Wei-cheng, former TBIO chairman and former CEO for Development Center for Biotechnology for 15 years, indicated that the center, through linking upstream and downstream biotechnology companies, has helped upgrade Taiwan's biotechnology industry from food manufacturing and processing of agricultural products originally to R&D and production of new pharmaceuticals, medical devices and innovative biotechnological products, almost all being internationally competitive.Taiwan-based biotechnology startups have to choose items with international market potential and thoroughly plan for patent application and third-party validation in the R&D stage and capitalize on venture capital investment to commercialize R&D results in the fund-raising stage, said BioGate Precision Medicine CEO Jeff Wang.Taiwan-based startups should balance between benefits from innovations and feedback to venture capital investors to keep attracting funds to sustain continued innovation, Apollo Medical Optics co-founder Allen Lin noted.In view of Taiwan's advantage in matching imaging medicine with electronics technology and international trend in development of digital medicine, Yourator was founded in 2015 to develop a machine leaning-based solution of interpreting pathological images for assisting diagnoses, company founder and CEO Joe Yeh indicated.For Taiwan-based startups planning to raise funds abroad, the success hinges on whether they choose R&D subjects that coincide with international trends, said Eric Yang, vice president of Quark Biosciences. Quark, in view of fast growing big data analysis and awareness of health, focuses on the subject of precision medical treatment, Yang indicated.Five Taiwan-based biotech startup companies raised NT$2.7 billion in total at IPO in 2019, decreasing 6.9% on year, according to Audrey Tseng, deputy chairwoman for PwC Taiwan.Biotechnology startup companies should make 3- to 5-year financial plans to raise funds when the business environment is the most favorable and corporate operation is optimal, said Lin Rong-jin, chaiman for Center Ventures.Since the IPO costs in the US and Hong Kong are as high as US$7-10 million, it may not be feasible for Taiwan-based biotech startups to raise funds abroad, Lin said. Also important is that such startup companies should evaluate marketability by considering time-to-market and time-to-peak sales, Lin indicated.Speakers at a biotech forum jointly held by PwC Taiwan and TBIOPhoto: Digitimes, January 2020

Yilan, with fascinating sceneries of mountains, rivers and hot springs, is not satisfied with just being a tourists' favorite destination; it is transforming itself, upgrading from the tourism-generated economy to a living economy that emphasizes the "sixth-industry (cross-industry cooperation), cultural and creative industries, and high-tech industries (VR and drones).The northeastern county, which is just about an hour's drive from Taipei via the National Freeway No. 5, is building the country's third-generation science park. It has its own county-owned museum and is promoting experimental education.Increasing investments from high-tech sectorsYilan Science Park is located between Yilan County's government hall and Yilan Sports Park, along Zhongshan Road Sec.1, the artery across Yilan City (the main city of the county), making it easy to access the science park. Many corporations have set offices due to convenient transport connections, such as Innodisk Co and Omnio Calibration Lab Co.In addition, in the park's neighborhood stands the Cheng-Nam campus of National Yilan University (NIU), which makes a geat drone-testing area without any no-flight zone. Recently, NIU has set up a drone office and received the greenlight to become a test center by Civil Aeronautics Administration of Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC). It will boost the park chances of bringing in more investments from drone-related industries.Clusters of biomedical industriesYilan has high environmental awareness, allowing it to maintain its natural sceneries and prevent its water resources from pulltion - conditions that are ideal for biomedical, healthcare and eldercare industries. Sinphar Group, Kingcar Biotech Co and Bioteque Medical Inc are the three major local biomedical companies that operate there. In fact, more than 40 biomedical companies have chosen Yilan as their base of their business, setting up respective operations at Yilan Science Park, Loung-Te Industrial Park and Le-Tzer Industrial Park.Recently, the central government has allocated a NT$30 billion (US$1 billion) budget to build a Biomedical Science Park is near Yilan City's railway station. This big budget will accelerate the growth of the industrial clusters of biomedical industries in Yilan.Freeway No. 5 links businesses in Yilan with TaipeiNational Freeway No. 5 begins in Taipei City at Nangang Junction on National Freeway No. 3 and ends in Suao, Yilan. Traveling from Taipei's Nangang, Neihu and Xizhi districts to Yilan Plain takes only about an hour. Besides, the average land cost in Yilan is only a quarter of that in Nangang, Neihu and Xizhi.Not only companies have selected Yilan as their business bases; many people have also chosen to live in Yilan and commute to work in Taipei. More and more companies and people will tend to make the same choices and the MOTC is planning to extend the Taiwan High Speed Rail system to Yilan.The Yilan County Government is going to host "Invest In Yilan" event on Jun 15, 2020, at Taipei's Songshan Cultural and Creative Park. The details of investment information will be released at the event.Yilan is transforming its economyPhoto: Yilan County Government

Nintendo launched Switch Lite with friendlier pricing in late September and signifcant increaes in its overall Swtich console sales in the three-month period ended September 30, 2019. Now the Japanese vendor is reportedly planning to launch a new Switch model in mid-2020, qwith volume production for the new device beginning in first-quarter of this year. In China, chipmakers have been keen on developing high-performance AI chips and high-end CPUs, which will prompt suppliers to expand their ABF substrate production capacity to meet their needs. In Taiwan, startup team BeVi, is ready to showcase at CES 2020 its CarePLUS, a 360-degree AI-based environment recognition system for eldercare.Nintendo new Switch to enter mass production in 1Q20: Nintendo is reportedly planning to release in mid-2020 a new model of Switch, which will begin volume production at the end of first-quarter 2020, according to sources from the related upstream supply chain.China AI chip development to spur ABF substrate capacity expansion: Taiwan IC substrate makers will have no time to lose in expanding their ABF substrate capacities as demand for such substrates will grow substantially in 2020 and beyond along with Chinese chipmakers revving up in-house development of high performance computing (HPC) AI chips and high-end CPUs, in addition to robust demand for 5G applications, according to industry sources.BeVi introduces 360-degree AI-based environment recognition system for eldercare: To bring the conveniences made possible by today's network communication technologies to the elderly population, Taiwan-based startup team BeVi has developed CarePLUS, a smart home living solution combining 360-degree AI-based environment recognition technologies and an integrated service platform.

To bring the conveniences made possible by today's network communication technologies to the elderly population, Taiwan-based startup team BeVi has developed CarePLUS, a smart home living solution combining 360-degree AI-based environment recognition technologies and an integrated service platform.CarePLUS, using AI-based analysis on elderly users' routine activities at home, can gain an in-depth understanding of their daily needs and behavior patterns and thereby provide active assistance to help them order meals, tickets, rides online and even prevent accidents at home. CarePLUS helps build a safe and smart home environment for elders to enjoy life, according to BeVI, founded by Vision Science Lab (VSLAB) of the Department of Electrical Engineering at National Tsing Hua University.Currently undergoing seed round funding, BeVi plans to establish a company in the first quarter of 2020. The BeVi team has been chosen by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) to present its achievement at the Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) at CES 2020. Being one of the few academic research teams that have been selected this time is an indication of the enormous commercial value BeVi's innovative solution will bring, according to the team.The US is a developed country that attaches great importance to elderly services, and by participating at CES 2020, BeVi hopes to expand into North American markets.Three main technological advantages of CarePLUSBeVi CEO Cheng-Zhan Lin pointed out the three technological advantages of CarePLUS. First, it uses 360-degree AI-based environment recognition technologies which automatically encrypt the data for privacy protection without compromising AI performance. Second, it uses deep learning algorithms to identify and track the elderly user's routine activities at home and interacts with the user through smart speakers. With enhanced AI learning and modeling capabilities for environment recognition, CarePLUS can quickly build up a model of the user's surroundings. Third, featuring identification and analysis on user behavior, CarePLUS can create a complete summary report of the user's daily routine three days after installation for reference by the elderly user's children or caregiver to provide more personalized services.BeVi CTO Hou-Ning Hu added that BeVi opted for high-performance processors and AI chips when designing CarePLUS from scratch. The aim is to enable simultaneous computation of multiple neural networks for activity recognition, object detection, object segmentation and speech processing so that CarePLUS can run like a powerful computer. With 360-degree AI-based environment recognition and voice interaction, CarePLUS can have a clear picture of the indoor surroundings and deliver effective care.Lin takes two daily life scenarios for example to illustrate CarePLUS's strength over other caregiving systems on the market. Elderly people often miss meals because they don't feel hungry. However, not eating at regular times may result in lack of energy, weak immune system or even illness. CarePLUS can analyze the elderly user's daily activities and create a report by identifying certain gestures and characteristics. If it finds the user has missed a meal, CarePLUS can automatically issue an alert and log the event in the activity report.Moreover, caregiving systems on the market generally have difficulty discerning whether the subject is picking up something, mopping the floor or actually falling down and may thus give a wrong response. On the other hand, when CarePLUS finds the user is down on the floor, it will first issue a voice inquiry asking, "Do you need help?" Then, it will react according to the user's response, engaging in more real-life and human-like interactions.Building up a high barrier with an edge in technology and applicationIt is very simple to install CarePLUS at home. First, find an ideal spot at home from which CarePLUS's 360-degree AI-based environment recognition can work at its best. Then, install a CarePLUS device on the ceiling in the living room and connect it to the network and the app.BeVi said it has built up a high barrier with an edge in technology and application for CarePLUS. Lin thinks there are a lot of integrated platforms being developed and the market will see more and more such integrated services over the next two years. By presenting CarePLUS at CES 2020 ahead of other solutions, BeVi hopes to increase the user base and accelerate market expansion and growth.The BeVi teamPhoto: Digitimes staff, December 2019