Of the 82 startups organized by Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) to attend Eureka of CES 2020, 13 have won CES 2020 Innovation Awards, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) that supports the TTA delegation.The winners include LuluPet's pet health management system using AI-based analysis of animal excretion conditions collected by sensors to understand pets' daily intake of nutrients and water.AgriTalk's smart agricultural solution uses IoT sensors to collect data on air quality, temperature and humidity and dryness of soil for analysis of soil productivity.The others include: AuthenTrend Technology's fingerprint-based security authentication solutions; Taiwan User-Friendly Sensor and Tech's IoT-based portable device providing rapid food allergen test results; ible Technology's wearable air purifiers; Rice Ear's personal air purifier for cleaning air in users' immediate surrounding of up to 16 square meters; Brillant Optronics's smart window film that can be laminated onto existing window glass and adjusted in transparency, tint, privacy protection and image display via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.In smart transportation, the winners include Mindtronic's AI-based smart solutions for automotive application, the company has obtained over 100 patents around the world; Jarvish's smart safety helmets; and Nestech's smart access control solutions.Happy Island's bone-conduction music shells (MP3) for use by swimmers, YunYun Tech's smart baby camera via integrating AI with vision technology for use to detect risky conditions for babies' safety, and Ganzin Technology's eye tracking solutions that can be integrated into AR/VR modules, have also won awards.Taiwanese startups that have won CES 2020 Innovation AwardsPhoto: MOST

CES 2020 has started with a bang. Big companies - such as Intel, AMD, and Samsung - and startups alike are showcasing their latest products and innivations at the annual show in Las Vegas. For the display sector, mini and micro LED technologies are catching attention, with Samsung demonstrating its modular micro LED display modules, The Wall, that can be stacked up to cover an entire wall. Taiwan's ITRI is also showcasing a 16.7-inch modularized micro LED display that it claims is the world's first model directly mass transferring micro LED chips onto PCB backplanes - a process that can reduce production costs. Digitimes Research believes, as shown its latest Special Report on mini/micro LED outlook, technological improvements are expected to broaden micro LED's adoption in display modules which can be mosaicked into large screens of various sizes starting 2024. Device vendors have also unveiled their mini LED-backlit monitors for gaming. And with Intel, AMD and Nvidia releasing their next-generation processors, PC demand is expected to pick up in the third quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, OmniVision reportedly will raise th eprices for high-resolution CMOS image sensors due to tight supply.ITRI showcasing modularized micro LED display at CES 2020: Taiwan-based Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is exhibiting at CES 2020 a 16.7-inch modularized micro LED display that it claims is the world's first model directly mass transferring micro LED chips onto PCB backplanes without using temporary backplanes.Micro LED to be widely used in large displays starting 2024: 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.Taiwan companies showcasing mini LED-backlit products at CES 2020: Asustek Computer and Acer are exhibiting 32-inch 4K mini LED-backlit gaming LCD monitors featuring 1,152 local diming zones and maximum luminance of 1,400nits at CES 2020.New-gen PC processors to stimulate demand starting 3Q20: With Intel, AMD and Nvidia set to ship their new-generation processors later this year, industry sources are generally optimistic about PC sales picking up starting the third quarter.OmniVision to raise CIS prices to reflect tight supply: OmniVision will revise upward by as much as 20% its quotes for high-resolution CMOS image sensors for use in consumer devices due to tight supply, according to industry sources.

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