While top chip vendors have been keen on securing support from TSMC's cutting edge 7nm and 5nm manufacturing nodes, demand for the foundry house's other processes have also been strong. Now TSMC and its fellow competitor UMC are both set to allocate more of their 12-inch fab capacity to making driver ICs to meet growing demand for 8K and 5G applications. Meanwhile, TSMC has obtained approval from environmental authorities for building an advanced packaging fab project in northern Taiwan - a project aimed at strengthen its 3D heterogeneous integration packaging capabilities. China-based SMIC, in line with the country's bid for semiconductor self-sufficiency, has been trying to catch up with the global leader in the pure-play foundry sector. Its latest development has seen it moving closer to volume production for 12nm FinFET.TSMC, UMC to allocate more 12-inch fab capacity for display driver IC: TSMC and UMC are set to allocate more of their available 12-inch fab capacities for the fabrication of display driver ICs in 2020 to satisfy growing demand for applications such as 8K TVs and 5G smartphones, according to industry sources.TSMC to build advanced packaging fab in northern Taiwan in 2020: TSMC's planned advanced packaging plant in Miaoli, Northern Taiwan has passed environmental impact assessment, enabling the foundry house to kick off construction of the new fab in 2020 as scheduled, which is expected to benefit the semiconductor equipment supply chain, according to industry sources.SMIC to move 12nm FinFET process to risk production by year-end 2019: China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) has kicked off volume production of 14nm FinFET chips, and plans to move a newer 12nm FinFET process to risk production by the end of 2019, according to sources familiar with the matter.
China's bid to increase semiconductor self-sufficiency will take a step further - albeit a small one, perhaps - as homegrown DRAM maker CXMT is ramping up 19nm production. CXMT's goal is to reach an output of 40,000 wafers monthly for the 19nm process by mid 2020. While many Taiwan-based firms are moving some of their production lines out of China, others are still increasing their investments there, including Nan Ya PCB. The Taiwan-based maker have disclosed it will invest another US$48 million in its plant in Kunshan to expand production capacity for ABF substrates, which have seen significant demand from the 5G networking chip segment. In the IT supply chain, servers remain promising. Inventec expects a significant rise in revenues from the server segment in 2020 when worldwide server shipments rebound.Chinese DRAM maker CXMT ramping 19nm process output: China-based DRAM chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT, formerly Innotron) has managed to improve its 19nm process manufacturing yield rates to satisfactory levels, and is ramping up the process output with a goal of reaching 40,000 wafers monthly by the middle of 2020, according to industry sources.Nan Ya set to expand ABF substrate capacity in 2020: Nan Ya PCB has disclosed plans to invest an additional US$48 million in its factory in Kunshan, China, where the Taiwan-based company will expand ABF substrate production capacity to meet rapidly growing demand.Inventec expects server sales to boom in 2020: Inventec expects to post a significant increase in its server business revenues next year when server shipments worldwide are expected to rebound by 4-6%, according to company president Maurice Wu.
Sales of smartphones in China retreated 7.5% sequentially in the third quarter of 2019 after registering a sequential 22.4% growth in the previous quarter, Digitimes Research has found. On a yearly basis, third-quarter shipments were down 14.2% from a year earlier.Smartphone shipments to China are expected to rebound about 10% sequentially in the fourth quarter, driven by replenishment demand ahead of the forthcoming Lunar New Year holidays. However, fourth-quarter shipments will still represent a single-digit drop from a year earlier as China's economy and market demand will remain weak despite possible easing of its bitter trade dispute with the US, Digitimes Research estimates.Huawei, Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi and Apple, the top-five smartphone vendors in China, saw their combined share reach 95% in the third quarter, the same level as they held a quarter earlier.In the fourth quarter, only two out of the top-five vendors, Huawei and Apple, are expected to see their shipments increase over 20% on-year, and the other three vendors will suffer a setback of over 20%, Digitimes Research estimates.
E-commerce operator Yahoo! Kimo has converted two conventional warehouses in northern Taiwan into an automated logistics center for delivering online purchased merchandise items.For the center's establishment, iAmech supplied automated logistics equipment, government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) provided AI-based automation software, and HCT Logistics undertook hardware/software integration, Yahoo! Kimo said.In order to maximize efficiency in using storage space units, decision on receiving merchandise items from suppliers and the corresponding volumes is based on online orders and thereby dynamically adjusted, Yahoo ! Kimo noted. The decision includes consideration of seasonal changes, peak demand in festivals or on holidays and predicted demand based on historical data, Yahoo ! Kimo indicated.As locations of storing merchandise items influence efficiency in sorting and delivering merchandise items, AI-based high-density dynamic storing and picking technology is adopted for automatically distributing storage space units, Yahoo ! Kimo said. In principle, storage space units for correlated merchandise items, such as matched cosmetic products, are in the same places to minimize frequency of and time taken in storing and picking, Yahoo ! Kimo noted. The AI-based technology regularly adjusts locations of storage space units based on daily deliveries and recent sales conditions, with more frequently stored and picked merchandise items placed at more accessible locations, Yahoo ! Kimo indicated.Compared with the original two warehouses, the automated logistics operation has increased warehousing capacity by 50% and SKU (store keeping unit) by 250%, and decreased average storage time at the center by 60%, Yahoo ! Kimo said, adding the time from purchasers' placing orders to beginning deliveries has been shortened from 20-30 minutes originally to 10 minutes.With an automation level of 80%, labor input at the center has decreased by 30%, Yahoo ! Kimo said, adding labor is mainly used in receiving shipments, packaging and handling merchandise items, while a CAPS (computer-assisted picking system) is used to reduce human errors in the picking process.Yahoo! Kimo's automated logistics centerPhoto: Shihmin Fu, Digitimes, November 2019
The US-China trade war may be hurting the economy of both countries, but as far as the server industry is concerned, the impact on the Chinese market seems greater than that on the US. It may take a few more months before China's server market recovers. For Mitac Group, a major Taiwan-based server ODM, it still expects significant gropwth next year. In the wearable market segment, TWS headset demand is picking up, partly fueled by the recent l;aunch of Apple's AirPod Pro. But major chip vendors' eagerness to carve out slices of the market has brought down TWS chip prices.Trade war affecting datacenter market in China: The ongoing trade disputes between the US and China continue to affect negatively China's datacenter market, with recovery unlikely to take place until the end of 2019 or even 2020, according to sources at server and related device makers.Mitac to push into cloud computing in 2020: The Mitac Group will see three major growth drivers - edge computing, large-scale datacenters and Internet of Vehicles - in 2020 with subsidiaries Mitac Computing Technology and Mitac Digital Technology to be responsible for these business opportunities, according to group president Billy Ho.TWS earbud chip prices fall below US$1.50: Unit prices for SoC chips used in true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds have fallen below US$1.50 recently, down from US$2.50-3 in the first quarter of 2019, amid growing presence of major chipset vendors in the maket segment, according to industry sources.
Taiwan startup FruitPay offers a weekly fresh fruit subscription service aiming to help consumer address the inconvenience, bad quality and high price issues when buying fruits, according to company Darren Chang, founder and CEO.Chang said through the subscription service, consumers can enjoy regular supply of a variety of fresh fruits they need, as the company can have fruit farmers deliver their products to its warehouse from where the fruits are distributed to customers based on their subscriptions. The company has contracted logistics startup Lalamove as its third-party distribution service provider.Chang stressed that the subscription service can help fruit farmers sharply lower inventory volumes and costs, and can also help his company build a buffer pool for buying and selling fruits.FruitPay has registered more than 2,000 users and partnered with over 500 farmers able to offer traceable certificates for their fruit products. It has delivered over 60,000 boxes of fruit since the service was launched in 2015. Most of its users are mothers and professionals, which together contribute 40-50% of the firm's revenues, according to Chang.FruitPay CEO Darren ChangPhoto: Yihan Li, Digitimes, November 2019
The #AsiaRocks, the first and only Asia-focused startup event, will open on November 13 for a three-day run in Taipei, aiming to help local and overseas startups expand their businesses in the Asia Pacific region and strengthen ties between regional startup ecosystems, according to event organizer Taiwan Startup Stadium (TSS).Through exhibitions, keynote speeches, panel discussions and networking meetings, the event will provide access to key players and resources from Asian markets as well as opportunities to tap deep into different startup ecosystems and learn more about investment trends, government subsidy programs and soft-landing services of participating countries, TSS said.Among exhibitors and speakers are: Taiwan Tech Arena, Startup Terrace, AppWorks and DIT Startup, all from Taiwan; Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks, Hong Kong Cyberport; Invest Tokyo, ProtoStar, Fukuoka Growth Next all from Japan; Seoul Startup Hub from Korea; SEA Bridge from Indonesia; Startup Bootcamp from Australia; Zino Innovation Hub and New Zealand; and National Innovation Agency & Startup Thailand.TSS CEO Leroy Yau said the startup scene in Asia is young compared to that in Silicon Valley, but it is booming and has produced over one third of the world's 331 unicorns as of April 2019. The government in Taiwan has pledged to boost its startup scene by providing tax credits and relaxing regulations to facilitate introduction of foreign talent and funding resources seeking to create its first unicorn.
Trade tensions between the US and China seem to be easing a little, but it remains uncertain whether the more "friendly" atmosphere will be subsequently followed by a full truce between the two super economies. For notebook vendors who risk higher tariffs for Chinese imports if the trade war doesn't end, they are still having their manufacturing partners moving production lines out of China although they have yet to fully commit orders to the relocated plants. In the display industry, which has been plagued by oversupply, Chinese makers are shifting more of their capacity to producing IT panels, seeking to stem losses from the competitive large-size TV maket segment.Notebook ODMs see vendors slow down orders on trade war easing: US notebook vendors have slowed down placing orders with Taiwan ODMs amid seemingly easing of US-China trade tensions, but have not asked the manufacturers partners to stop moving production lines out of China, according to industry sources.China display makers shifting more capacities for IT panels: Some China-based flat panel makers are shifting more of their production capacities to the manufacture of IT applications as they seek to stem losses resulting from keen price competition in the large-size TV panel segment, according to industry sources.
Taiwan-based startup InnoVart Design has developed a digital communication device, CarWink, allowing drivers to communicate with other drivers and vehicles behind them using texts and animations, according to company founder and CEO WC Chou.Chou said CarWink is a solar-powered, voice-control and portable vehicle-connection solution integrating software, hardware and app, and users can use a distinct emoji feature of the device to alert drivers following them to any incidents ahead.Drivers can hang the circular, digital display on their rear windshield and use voice prompts to display its pre-set animations or messages. For example, if a car is honked at by a following car when stopping to let a pedestrian cross, the driver can say "CarWink, pedestrian crossing" and then the device will display an image of a figure crossing a road followed by a text reading "ped xing," according to Chen.CarWink can help reduce disputes among drivers and facilitate traffic flow, Chou stressed, adding his company has just completed the first-batch volume production of the device for shipments to the US and Japan.InnoVart Design's CarWinkPhoto: Yihan Li, Digitime, November 2019
The production value of South Korea's memory chip industry increased 5.5% sequentially to KRW19.8 trillion (US$17.06 billion) in the third quarter of 2019, according to Digitimes Research.Samsung saw its memory revenues register a sequential increase for the second consecutive quarter in the third quarter, while SK Hynix' stopped falling. The pair also had their operating margins fall at a slower pace in the third quarter than previous quarters.Samsung and SK Hynix have both managed to lower their inventory to appropriate levels indicating the global memory market is poised for a rebound in the first half of 2020, Digitimes Research indicated, Digitimes Research believes.Memory demand for 5G-capable smartphones and other related devices is set to boom next year. Samsung and SK Hynix are both expected to enjoy a rebound in their chip ASPs starting the first half of 2020.
