Intel may have eased its CPU shortages, but competition from its arch rival AMD is intensifying. Both vendors are set to unveil new top-of-the-line desktop processors in October in a new round of battle between the chip vendors. Meanwhile, the global economy is being complicated by the fresh trade war between Japan and South Korea although the one between the US and China seems to be easing. Taiwan's semiconductor backend service providers now expect orders from Huawei to return to normal soon. But Japan's tighter control of semiconductor materials exports to South Korea is sending memory module makers mulling price hikes in anticipation of tight supply of NAND flash and DRAM. Intel, AMD to roll out top-end desktop CPUs in October: Intel and AMD are both set to roll out their new top-end desktop processors in October, triggering competition between them in the DIY market segment, according to sources at motherboard makers.Taiwan backend houses to see Huawei orders pick up: Taiwan-based backend houses and COF substrate suppliers will see orders from Huawei pick up in July or August, according to industry sources.Memory modules makers mulling 10-15% hike on SSD prices: Taiwan memory modules makers including Adata Technology, Phison Electronics and Team Group are mulling a 10-15% hike in SSD prices and enforcing a limited-supply policy amid growing expectations that both NAND flash and DRAM chip prices may rebound in the short term, according to industry sources.

Taiwan-based startup Fox-Tech has developed an AI service platform focusing primarily on collecting and analyzing big data of temperature and moisture.So far, Fox-Tech has already expanded its services to 24 countries and its platform stands a good chance of becoming the world's largest temperature and moisture database, according to the company CEO Sonic Wang.Many restaurants in Taiwan are still checking food freshness manually and are usually not aware of food storage conditions until a problem has occurred, which gives good business opportunities for Fox-Tech's Internet of Things (IoT) devices that are able to constantly monitor and collect temperature and moisture data, Wang said.Fox-Tech has cooperated with the Taipei City government to use its products to monitor the temperature and moisture changes of Taiwan's Yangmingshan National Park in a bid to prevent forest fires.Fox-Tech's solutions have also been adopted by Singapore's state-owned Gardens by the Bay and have been implemented by many Taiwan-based players of premium agriculture and farmers in Southeast Asia.Fox-Tech was accelerated by SparkLabs.Fox-Tech CEO Sonic Wang (left), COO Yadia Colindres (center) and SparkLabs Taiwan managing partner Edgar Chiu (right)Photo: Judy Lin, Digitimes, July 2019

Foxconn is not satisifed with its role as merely the biggest EMS provider in thew world, as its latest deployments have demonstrated its ambitions in building an ecosystem that includes semiconductor and brand businesses. Meanwhile, some IC desingers expect shipments to Huawei to return to normal soon to support's Chinese vendor's new smartphones.Foxconn looking to build semiconductor ecosystem via new acquisitions: Foxconn Technology Group, gearing up to build its own semiconductor ecosystem, is expected to activate a new round of acquisition deals to fill up the gaps in its supply chain, according to industry sources.IC orders from Huawei to resume momentum soon: Huawei's IC orders for its new smartphone models to be released in the second half of 2019 are to pick up again soon thanks to an easing of the US trade ban against the top Chinese smartphone vendor, according to industry sources.

Taiwan startup Mind & Idea Fly (Mifly) has rolled out an AR editing tool, dubbed MakAR, to help users create their own AR content within 5-10 minutes, which, coupled with a subscription system, targets the emerging enterprise web AR market, according to company founder and CEO Roger Lu.Lu said that despite the availability of dozens of VR development platforms worldwide, only a few of them are B2C platforms that can simultaneously support AR and VR applications. This has inspired Mifly to develop MakAR that can support AR, VR and even MR content development.Lu continued that enterprises can now use AR services on Facebook and Snapchat to promote their products, but consequent web traffic will all stay on the platforms of the two service providers.Accordingly, helping enterprises create traffic on their own webs has become a selling point for Mifly's MakAR. Through the tool and the subscription system, AR function can be embedded into the enterprises' websites or apps, a way to encourage long-term subscriptions, according to Lu.Lu disclosed that enterprises usually subscribe to app-based AR services for one month or one quarter, but most of them are willing to extend to one-year subscription for web AR service provided by MakAR.Lu stressed that web AR service will become the top-choice marketing tool for enterprise clients and only through the support of more and more long-term paid subscribers can his company sharpen its competitiveness in the new niche segment.Mifly saw MakAR platform contribute 50% of its total revenues for 2018, and the contribution ratio also reached 40% in the first half of 2019.Lu revealed that Google's ARCore and Apple's AEKit have lowered the threshold for AR application development, but developers of AR apps still have to develop Android and iOS versions respectively to serve users. He added that Mifly's mobile AR/VR application software can support both versions for use in PCs and mobile devices and the company will support ARCore and ARKit solutions on MakAR by the end of the year.Mifly will also tap the education-use AR application segment, allowing teachers to use MakAR to design their own AR-based teaching materials.

Apple may have disbanded its team for the development of AR/VR HMDs (head-mounted displays), but that does not mean that the vendor is negative about the future of AR/VR technology. The 5G connectivity is said to be not mature enough for AR/VR HMD devices, but lens module maker Largan Pecision believes 5G smartphones will shore up demand for premium feature, such as better cameras.Apple reportedly suspends development of AR/VR headsets: Apple has suspended the development of head-mounted display (HMD) AR/VR headsets, and already disbanded its team for the development of AR/VR HMDs, according to sources familiar with the matter.Largan reports high gross margin for 2Q19: Smartphone-use lens module maker Largan Precision has reported its gross margin reached 69.6% in second-quarter 2019, the second-highest quarterly level next only to the 71.34% for third-quarter 2018.

For the IT industries, there are still many uncertainties, such as the outcome of the US-China trade talk, lying ahead for the rest of the year. TSMC's better-than-expected second-quarter sales may prompt optimism, but it remains to be seen whether its biggest client, Apple, can wow the market with its upcomig iPhones. Apple's PCB supplier Compeq Manufacturing feels the same uncertainty about the new iPhones despite significant first-half 2019 revenues growth. For notebook ODMs, shipments in June were impressive, but they are not sure whether shipment momentum can continue in the remaining months of the year.TSMC 2H19 performance hinges mostly on new iPhones sales: TSMC's better-than-expected revenues for second-quarter 2019 in defiance of some operational hiccups may have come as a confidence boost, but a spate of variables may affect the pure-play foundry's performance in the second half of the year, with the most crucial factor being the sales momentum of new iPhones to be released by its largest client Apple.Compeq gives guardedly optimistic outlook for 2H19: PCB firm Compeq Manufacturing has expressed guarded optimism for its sales outlook for the second half of 2019, even though its sales performance for the first half was better than the industry's average.Notebook ODMs see rising shipments in June, but conservative about 2H19: Taiwan-based notebook makers all saw their shipments in June rise on month. Nevertheless, their shipment outlook for the second half of the year appears cautious.

The Bakery, a UK-based accelerator of start-ups and entrepreneurs, has set up its Asia Operations Center at Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP) to provide incubation services for local startup teams, according to Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).The center is The Bakery's first operating base in Asia, and the company plans to enter the Japan, Singapore and China markets, according to its Taiwan partner, Flag Digital. With a global network of more than 10,000 enterprises, The Bakery focuses on startup teams engaged in AI, FinTech, robotics and digital media in Taiwan and aims to incubate 50 teams and attract total venture capital investment of US$30 million, Flag Digital said.An ecosystem for innovation and startup incubation has formed at STSP, MOST noted, adding STSP cooperated with National Cheng Kung University to set up the first accelerator, Start-up Workshop in 2015. Since then nearly 150 startup teams have been stationed at Start-up Workshop, and 79 of them have established companies with capital totaling NT$1.47 billion (US$47.8 million) and nine have moved to STSP's incubation center for further acceleration, MOST noted.Government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute has set up an accelerator, StarFab, at STSP, focusing on smart manufacturing, smart medical care, smart finance and smart agriculture, MOST indicated, adding StarFab has helped 20 startup teams cooperate with enterprises with venture capital investment totaling NT$120 million.MOST has commissioned government-sponsored Metal Industries Research & Development Center to set up a maker base, AI_ROBOT, to provide resources and technological services for innovation developers. AI_ROBOT focuses on robotics, AI/AR/VR, IoT/big data, drones, smart agriculture and smart medical care for the elderly, MOST noted.MOST minister Chen Liang-gee indicated that startup businesses Appier, Kneron and iStaging stand a chance of becoming three Taiwan-based unicorns. Appier specializes in AI-based processing of voice signals, Kneron is a developer of software solutions based on reconfigurable artificial neural network, and iStaging is engaged in developing VR and AR software solutions.MOST minister Chen Liang-gee (center)Photo: MOST

Taiwan-based medical care solution developer Heroic Faith Medical Science has launched a fully automated chest sound monitor system that is able to automatically collect patients' breathing sound data and monitoring the breath via different angles using 6-8 detection pads.The data is able to assist doctors in making diagnosis. Since the system is able to monitor the early symptoms of many major lung diseases, patients can receive early treatment, said Fushun Hsu, company president.Meanwhile, the system also support artificial intelligence (AI) technology and is able to visualize the collected data and categorize them by disease type, Hsu added.Heroic Faith Medical president Fushun Hsu with a chest sound monitorPhoto: Mark Tsai, Digitimes, July 2019

TSMC has reported better-than-expected growth in revenues for the second quarter of 2019, with the prospect of seeing robust demand in the third quarter, partly driven by demand from Apple. The new iPhones to beleased by Apple are also expected to boost sales at PCB suppliers in the third quarter although their fourth-quarter sales remain to be seen. Meanwhile, one of Apple's major rivals in the smartphone space, Huawei, is aggressively cannibalizing its fellow vendors in China, having seen overseas consumers' confidence eroded by the US trade ban.TSMC posts revenue growth in June: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has reported consolidated revenues for June 2019 increased 6.8% sequentially and 21.9% on year to NT$85.87 billion (US$2.76 billion).FPCB makers to ramp up shipments for new iPhones in 3Q19: Taiwan-based flexible PCB makers, after ending the first half of 2019 with lower revenues than a year earlier, are expected to significantly ramp up shipments in the traditional peak season in the third quarter. But their order visibility for the fourth quarter remains unclear, according to industry sources.Huawei makes gains in China handset market at the expense of fellow vendors: Huawei has seen its share in China's handset market continue rising at the expense of other fellow brands, although the vendor's overseas shipments have been hampered by the US trade ban, according to industry sources.

The US and China m ay have entered into a truce to their trade war, but for Taiwan's notebook ODMs that means clients are now less eager to build up their inventory, affecting their shipments during the traditional peak season in the third quarter. In fact, the US-China trade war remains a key factor affecting various industries, with the semiconductor sector needing at least three months to digest its inventory. But in the NAND flash sector, despite its sufficient inventory levels, prices have dropped so low that they are expected to rebound.Notebook ODMs see June revenues rise, but 3Q19 shipments may be flat: Inventec has reported June revenues surged 16.7% sequentially, while other Taiwan-based ODMs are also expected to post substantial revenue increases for the month.Semiconductor supply chain needs at least 3 months to digest inventory: It will take at least three months for global semiconductor inventories to be digested while semiconductor supply chain players are still plagued by overcapacity and clients' conservative order placements, as a result of persisting global economic uncertainties, datacenter growth slowdown, memory demand recession and smartphone market saturation, according to industry sources.Samsung reportedly mulling 10% hike for NAND flash prices: NAND flash prices are expected to rebound in the near future, as Samsung Electronics is reportedly considering raising its quotes by as much as 10% and other peer makers including Micron Technology may follow suit, despite distributors still holding more than two months of inventories, according to industry sources.