Major players in the augmented reality (AR) industry have slowed down the development of consumer-end products, and instead have shifted their strategies to focus on developing AR platform products, according to Digitimes Research.The lackluster performance of AR/VR devices in the consumer market and end market is the main reason for this change, Digitimes Research said. Besides, the existing hand-held devices have been able to deliver AR applications and experiences effectively, making it less urgent for major players to develop other AR end-market devices.Among these major players, Google has been pioneering the development of AR platform for hand-held devices and has rolled out its Tango platform. On the other hand, Microsoft has been focusing on developing its integrated AR/VR platform, Windows Holographic, which can be utilized by AR/VR end-device users without changing platform.Facebook has continued to deepen its deployment in community platform, aiming to a build up a premium AR ecosystem with its "Camera Effects" AR platform. Meanwhile, Apple has come out with its ARKit platform, which allows all of iOS users to try on AR experiences without a hardware upgrade.

Smartphone shipments in the China market stayed flat on quarter but fell 11.8% on year to 94.1 million units in the second quarter of 2017, accounting for 28.9% of total global smartphone shipments, according to Digitimes Research.Based on the information provided by supply chain makers, Digitimes Research believes that vendors including Huawei, Oppo and Vivo have increased their component orders for the third quarter, which is likely to result in an over 20% on-quarter growth in smartphone shipments in China in the third quarter.China's smartphone shipments will again drop slightly on a yearly basis in the fourth quarter of 2017 as vendors are expected to adjust their shipments appropriately as compared to an aggressive shipment strategy adopted a year earlier.There were two main reasons for the lackluster shipment performance in China in the second quarter, according to Digitimes Research's latest China smartphone report. Firstly, due to a lack of a clearly subsidy policy at operators, the number of new 4G service subscribers at the top-three telecom operators hit a low of 56 million in the quarter resulting a decline in demand as well as sales of the entry-level and mid-range 4G smartphones. Besides, some vendors adjusted downward their shipments for the second quarter to help digest the high inventory levels at channels.The top-five smartphone vendors in the China market in the second quarter were Huawei, Xiaomi Technology, Vivo, Oppo and Apple. Among them, Xiaomi saw its shipments more than double in the quarter as it has managed to clear out the inventories of old models, while demands for its Mi 4X and Note 4X models have been brisk.Meanwhile, Oppo and Vivo are ready to further ramp up their shipments in the third quarter as they also have effectively cleared out their inventories at channels in the first half of the year.

With inventory preparation for back-to-school demand reaching an end in June, first-tier notebook vendors' shipments slowed down in July with the top-5 brands' combined shipments dropping 31% on month and top-3 ODMs' combined volumes down 22%.But top vendor Hewlett-Packard (HP), which enjoyed strong sales in both the consumer and enterprise sectors in the first half of 2017, still produced impressive results on a yearly basis. It has been pushing its notebook shipments aggressively in the second half of the year, and its shipments in July rose 33% on year.Dell surpassed Lenovo for the second time in 2017 in July and went up to second place thanks to the expanding replacement trend in the enterprise sector, according to Digitimes Research's latest notebook shipment monthly update.Lenovo's July shipments slid 15% on year and are likely to see weak performances for the rest of the second half of 2017. Asustek Computer's shipments also slipped dramatically in the month because of its business reorganization.The top-2 ODMs' combined share of Taiwan's overall shipments went up in July. Compal Electronics and Quanta Computer both achieved around 20% on-year shipment growths in July because of orders from US-based clients, while Inventec and Pegatron Technology saw on-year shipment declines.First-tier notebook vendors' shipments slowed down in July.Photo: Digitimes file photo

The decision by Foxconn Electronics to invest US$10 billion in the US, which will include the establishment of a 10.5G TFT-LCD panel plant in Wisconsin in the initial stage, will help the company move closer to its clients and accelerate its corporate transformation, according to Digitimes Research.Including the planned LCD plant in Wisconsin, a total of five 10.5G flat panel fabs are expected to commence for commercial operations during the period from 2018-2021 signaling that there will be a risk of overproduction of large-sized TV panels. But Foxconn's decision still makes sense given the US is one of the world's two major high-end TV markets. The establishment of a streamlined production line covering from the panel production to the system assembly will help improve manufacturing efficiency and make prompt responses to market demand, while also reducing transportation costs, said Digitimes Research. The new US investment plans, if realized, will also help Foxconn transform itself from its current OEM business model into a conglomerate with powerful system integration and brand management ability.While Foxconn is likely to win a US$3 billion tax break from the State of Wisconsin, the capital efficiency and optimization of the 10.5G plant in the US still shows a significant difference as compared to a 10.5G line currently being built by China-based BOE Technology, which is required to put up a mere 5% of capital needed for the construction and operation of the plant.Leveraging its advantages of being close to the US market and able to deliver goods promptly, Foxconn is expected to further expand its investments in the US to include other products such as automotive panels, robots and other innovative products.

While the mobile network infrastructure in most countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has reached above the global average, the 4G LTE mobile user market in the region, with the exception of Singapore, has been growing relatively slowly. Meanwhile, mobile Internet has served as a growth driver pushing the development of Internet networks in the region, and the use of community applications has played a key role to push up the demand for mobile applications.The number of network community users in Indonesia is growing rapidly, which has driven indirectly the development of mobile application service and e-commerce business in the country. With its enormous domestic consumption potential, Indonesia has become a major focus within the ASEAN market.As of the end of 2016, Indonesia had a total of 133 million Internet users, representing a penetration rate of 51% and making it the largest Internet user market among the 10-member ASEAN countries.Due to the preference for community application services by Internet users in Indonesia, the Special Capital Region of Jakarta has optimized this foundation to develop smart city applications. After extensive success, the central government of Indonesia has decided to adopt this operating model and plan to promote the smart city applications to the nation's top-100 cities. Local Internet service provider Telkomsel and application service provider Go-Jek both have also utilized the feature of high dissemination of community networks to rapidly promote their mobile services.E-commerce will also become a promising segment along with the growing popularity of Internet networks in Indonesia, Digitimes Research believes. While the penetration rate of e-commerce in Indonesia was below 10% in 2016, the average consumption per e-commerce user reached US$228, the second highest level in the e-commerce market in the ASEAN region trailing after Singapore.With on-line sales accounting for only 2.2% of total retail sales in Indonesia in 2016, the country's e-commerce market is full for growth potential. However, the segment still faces a number of challenges including government regulations and administration efficiency, payment tools, and immature logistics infrastructure.

US president Donald Trump revealed at a meeting with a group of small-business leaders August 1 that Foxconn chairman Terry Gou told him privately that his company could invest as much as US$30 billion in the US, three times the figure announced by Gou at a press conference held on July 27 at the White House. Trump's unexpected disclosure has sparked concerns over Gou's willingness to carry out the sharply-floated investment bid.At the press conference, Gou announced that Foxconn will spend US$10 billion over the next four years building a LCD panel manufacturing plant in Wisconsin.Foxconn issued a statement on August 2 that the Wisconsin plant "will be the first of a series of facilities we will be building in several states as part of the robust electronics ecosystem we will be creating in the US." It did not address Trump's statement about the total investment amount or Trump's claims that Gou told it to him in confidence."We have not yet announced our investment plans for other sites," Foxconn said in the statement. "We will provide an update as soon as we have finalized those plans."Some observers said Trump intentionally released the encouraging news about the US$30 billion investment simply to encourage the small-business leaders. Some other opined that he was trying to test the response of Foxconn to the claimed US$30 billion investment or leverage the matter to directly triple his administration's achievement in soliciting overseas foreign investments in the manufacturing industries in the US.Observers said that it's a sure decision for Gou to set the US as another major market beyond China's and it's foreseeable for Foxconn to make long-term investments in US. Whether Foxconn will duplicate his China success in the US remains to be seen. Neither is it clear how Gou can materialize his "8K+5G ecosystem" for the US. If the company can build a complete supply chain for the display panel industry in the US, it can benefit from lower tariffs and transportation costs, but how to maintain viable operations of the supply chains will be another issue to address, observers said.

It's 2002, and the widgets come rolling down the factory's conveyor. Then it happens: a misfortune nobody anticipated. An equipment breakdown halts production dead in its tracks. Technicians swarm over the machinery to make the fix as swiftly as possible. Every minute of the production shutdown means lost revenue.Fast-forward to today's smart factory, where edge computing and solutions from the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) make predictive maintenance possible. This technology can closely monitor the conditions under which the equipment is apt to fail, and it alerts staff when a malfunction is impending. It also pinpoints the best time to perform proactive maintenance, when a lull in production minimizes any losses in time and money.All of this is part of the smart factory revolution.Edge computing transforms manufacturingSensors are everywhere in many of today's factories and fabrication plants, taking in reams of data. They measure any number of variables that affect the factory's performance or portend machinery breakdown. The processing of this data often occurs at the edge of the network, which affords a host of advantages over cloud-based systems. Information from the sensors is ingested by the software-driven smart gateways in real time for processing as near the device as possible. Edge computing cuts the latency that results when data goes to a remote cloud server and returns. The factory enjoys stronger performance, lower data costs, fewer network bottlenecks and greater security.This technology is erasing much of the uncertainty in manufacturing and other processes. Imagine a piece of equipment that tends to fail when the temperature climbs too high. As IIoT sensors monitor that equipment and keep track of the operational temperature, edge computing processes and interprets the data via complex algorithms. When conditions reach statistically dangerous levels, alerts go out to staffers so they can deal with the impending failure proactively. This is an enormous benefit, because forecasting an equipment failure is always better than scrambling after it occurs.Predictive maintenance, therefore, is one of the most transformative aspects of the smart factory.Integration challengesBut it's not as easy as it sounds. A factory owner does not walk into a local IIoT store to buy some one-size-fits-all computer products ready to plug in. That's because factories differ profoundly from one another. Part of the process is tailoring the predictive maintenance process to each facility's specific operations.Among the daunting challenges is the fact that so much legacy equipment exists in factories today, and the disparate pieces usually don't talk to one another. There's no universal protocol. In addition, the IIoT solutions have to work seamlessly with both operational technology (OT) and informational technology (IT) – two modes of technology that are often worlds apart.Stopping failures before they startMechanical failure is a costly issue that has bedeviled factories since the first Industrial Revolution. The related problem of product failure can be expensive, too. If conditions are inhibiting the proper manufacturing of a product, a factory ends up with a great deal of waste and lost productivity. Even worse, faulty products can end up in the hands of consumers. Apart from IIoT technology and the accompanying edge computing, all this might easily go undetected.In a smart factory, IIoT sensors monitor all kinds of conditions – for example, whether the ambient temperature is ideal for spray paint adhering to metal. Data processing at the edge determines when conditions become detrimental to normal manufacturing, and alerts go out to staffers who can respond accordingly.This technology also factors in history. Suppose there are certain times of day when temperatures tend to put product manufacturing out of compliance. Predictive maintenance can look at the history of manufacturing failures and educate employees on how to deal with an issue before it becomes a problem.Trimming unneeded maintenancePredictive maintenance also informs staff when costly, ongoing maintenance is unnecessary. It's a common scenario: Technicians shut down and service equipment at regular intervals, whether it actually requires that servicing or not. Sometimes they replace components that don't yet need replacing, or lubricate an idled machine that requires no such action. Predictive maintenance takes that guesswork out of the equation: The machine isn't lubricated until it needs to be, and the components aren't swapped out if they're still good. Production rolls on without interruption.When equipment does need servicing, these advanced edge analytics can reveal the best times to perform such maintenance, the times that least affect the production schedule.More benefitsIIoT analysis has another benefit: Determining the conditions that have led historically to the best product yield. This is important in the case of products sensitive to their surrounding conditions, such as semiconductors.In addition, IIoT sensors can determine when a piece of equipment is drawing too much current or operating in other ways that diminish energy efficiency. Staff can then recalibrate the equipment and save the factory even more money.What to look forThere are a number of predictive maintenance solutions on the market today. ADLINK, Intel, IBM and PrismTech (an ADLINK company) have pooled their expertise to introduce predictive maintenance solutions. These address the challenges of connecting the unconnected and creating communication efficiency through fog architecture. Each of these companies has IIoT solutions designed to address the distinct challenges that arise on the factory floor.These predictive maintenance solutions can analyze data from the cloud or from the network's edge, whichever is necessary in a given application. And because these solutions can operate at the edge of the network, results are more instantaneous. They are secure and integrate smoothly into the factory's OT and IT environments, with low IT management overhead. The solutions are also customizable and scalable, and offer predictive analytics and secure distribution of data, making the smart factory smarter. The result is less downtime, reduced costs, enhanced product quality and greater productivity.With all the inherent positives – better yield, less downtime, better-informed decisions – these solutions truly are part of the revolution. It's a revolution that's bound to grow as people increasingly discover the benefits of turning their factories into smart factories.(Jason Ng is a business development director for ADLINK in Singapore.)

While UFS has held much hype as being the successor to eMMC providing greater performance, it has yet to be seen if the mobile market as a collective whole has embraced this technology, according to Robert Bielby, senior director of Automotive at Micron Technology.A quick poll of the leading smartphone manufacturers yields an inconsistent story in regards to their propensity to move away from the existing, proven, eMMC technologies in favor of adopting UFS, Bielby wrote in an email response to a recent Digitimes Research article about the prospect of the UFS market.In practice most of the potential performance that is offered by UFS at the physical layer is obfuscated due to the immature, bloated software interfaces that ultimately affect overall system throughput, Bielby said.For the automotive market, the immaturity of the UFS will present unique challenges in embracing a technology that was targeted for a consumer application, missing the robustness and safety required for next generation automotive applications where safety, end to end data path protection is increasingly a non-negotiable capability, asserted the Micron executive.According to Bielby, with 35 years of industry adoption, the PCI standard is well proven across a broad spectrum of applications with well refined software stacks and system level integrity that is aligned to the needs of the most demanding markets.NVMe based storage solutions are now seeing increased consideration over UFS in situations when higher system level throughput, density, or system level integrity is essential.For lower density solutions, eMMC is still proving to have long-legs as extensions to the existing spec such as 5.2 continue to extend the longevity of this solution which has already proven to be the industry's workhorse.In short, while the UFS spec has seen a lot of hype in the past year, what is not clear is the ability for UFS to deliver to the promise of higher performance, Bielby continued. The broader mobile market is on the fence in adopting this technology, and is showing a trend to remaining with eMMC at lower densities, and embracing (PCIe based) NVME in applications that demand higher performance, higher density, or reliability that extends beyond and early generation consumer specification.At best, UFS will prove to be a distraction to the broader storage customer base for those who consider the technology, and most likely prove to be a dead-end strategy as OEMs will have to re-think their storage strategy in light of the existence of more robust, proven technologies, he added.Micron believes UFS will prove to be a distraction to the broader storage customer base for those who consider the technology.Photo: Digitimes file photo

Mini LEDs, with much higher yield rates than those for Micro LEDs, are expected to come into commercial production next year, with initial application expected to be backlighting of LCD automotive displays, according to Digitimes Research.Mini LEDs range from 100-200 microns in size, larger than sub-30-micron Micro LEDs. The former's much larger size makes them less difficult in mass transfer and mass inspection, offering higher yield rates, Digitimes Research indicated.As compared with conventional LEDs used in direct-type backlighting, Mini LEDs offfer better display quality, more flexibility for device design and curved-surface screens, less power consumption and visibility under strong sunlight.For direct-type backlighting of automotive displays, a single panel will use several thousand to over 10,000 Mini LED chips and there will be monthly global demand for an estimated 15.56 billion Mini LED chips in the first year of commercial use.The estimated global demand will need production capacity support of about 48 4-inch MOCVD sets for 200-micron x 200-micron equvilanets assuming yield rates of 85-90% and almost 30 MOCVD sets for 150-micron x 150-micron equivalents at yield rates of 80-85%.Prices for a conventional LED backlight unit (BLU) for a 10-inch or above LCD automotive display stand at US$2.7-3.6 currently. Without considering yield rates, prices for a BLU made of 150-micron x 150-micron and 200-micron x 200-micron LED chips are estimated at US$11.50 and US$19.40 respectively. The large price gap accounts for little of the total cost for a car but makes a big difference if Mini LED chips are used in displays of smart wearable devices, IT devices and LCD TVs, and this is why Mini LEDs are expected to be initially adopted for BLUs for automotive display.Mini LEDs offer more flexibility in display design.Photo: Digitimes file photo

According to the Transparency Market Research, the global connected car market is expected to reach US$131.9 billion by 2019 continuing to maintain its steady growth. Businesses are scrambling for a share of the automotive electronics market in recent years. Lelon Electronics, Taiwan's No. 1 manufacturer of aluminum electrolytic capacitors, entered the market at an opportune time and have secured their place in the OEM supply chain of American and European automakers. As the automotive electronics market continues to grow, Lelon is confident in sustaining its business model and market share in the second half of the year.Jimmy Wu, General Manager of Lelon Electronics, noted that automotive LCD panels used to be installed only in luxury cars. However, due to increased importance being placed on vehicle safety, even entry-level cars are now coming equipped with a variety of sensors to collect information, then processed and displayed on LCD monitors. Lelon is one of the select few non-Japanese manufacturers of aluminum electrolytic capacitors that are capable of being used in automotive applications. Their products now recognized by leading international automotive electronics companies. The automotive electronics market accounted for 9% of Lelon's 2016 revenue and is expected to increase to 10% in 2017. Lelon plans to introduce aluminum electrolytic capacitors for automobile transmission systems in the future to expand Lelon's automotive applications product line.Focusing on the development of high-end capacitors to build up the company's positionFounded in 1976, Lelon has engaged in the R&D, manufacturing and sales of aluminum electrolytic capacitors for over four decades. In order to provide comprehensive services for their customers, Lelon expanded into upstream material production of formed aluminum foil and automated production equipment. Through vertical integration of upstream and downstream manufacturing, Lelon is strengthening its competitive edge in technology, quality, cost, and service. Lelon now has complete offerings of aluminum electrolytic capacitors, including aluminum electrolytic capacitors (radial, SMD, snap-in, and screw terminal), organic conductive polymer capacitors, and conductive polymer hybrid aluminum electrolytic capacitors, which are widely used in automotive electronics, telecommunication equipment, cloud computing, and power electronics. Its quality products and services are highly regarded by their customers.Last year, Lelon's major revenue generators included power electronics, telecommunication equipment, automotive electronics, and consumer electronics. With the company transitioning from mid-range to high-end markets, it plans to reduce its share of products used in consumer electronics due to the fiercely competitive pricing environment. Instead focusing its efforts on aluminum electrolytic capacitors for high-end electronics, which are used in automobiles, telecommunication, healthcare, green energy, smart grid, and cloud computing.Wu further commented that the rising demand for consumer electronics, especially flat-panel TVs, smartphones, and tablets, drew a large number of companies to expand into the production of aluminum electrolytic capacitors. However, as prices of consumer electronics continue to fall, passive component markets have become "red oceans" where many vendors have resorted to price-cutting and have sacrificed quality for cost. If Lelon were to use its resources on low-end products with little margin, it would eventually impact its overall profitability and competitiveness. Lelon has always insisted on delivering premium quality products since its establishment.Actively engaging in new technology development and vertical integrationLelon has been able to come out ahead in the competitive market of aluminum electrolytic capacitors due to their long-term devotion to the R&D of advanced technologies. In addition to their own professional R&D team, they have also hired technical consultants from Japan to help refine their technology and quality systems. Furthermore, Lelon has been collaborating with Industrial Technology Research Institute to jointly research critical technologies and participate in the research of material suppliers and customers in order to develop products that cater to market needs.Lelon has generated impressive results in terms of its patents. It has obtained multiple patents in Taiwan, China and Japan, including ones for a V-chip vibration-proof back plate, a vibration-proof capacitor, a capacitor electrolytic solution with heat resistance and high spark voltage, electrolytic capacitors with optimum cooling, and horizontal capacitors. With growing public awareness of the need to protect the environment and an increasingly strict enforcement of environmental protection laws, the supply of aluminum foil for aluminum electrolytic capacitors has become rather limited. Wu pointed out that in an attempt to minimize the impact of market instability and maintain a steady supply for its customers, Lelon had already begun to search for new material suppliers prior to the Japan 3/11 earthquake and conducted testing on a variety of materials in order to understand the characteristics of the materials and the type of capacitors they were suitable for.Demand for polymer capacitors is rising with exciting developments in quick chargingA growing number of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets now feature quick charging, which requires the use of matching quick chargers. Quick chargers must meet more stringent requirements than conventional chargers and need polymer capacitors to match product design specifications. Polymer capacitors are also used in cloud computing equipment, telecommunication equipment, and power supplies. Lelon has accumulated years of experience in manufacturing polymer capacitors and will be able to produce close to 100 million polymer capacitors per month. This number includes the monthly capacity of 60 million polymer capacitors produced on the equipment acquired from Matsuki Polymer last year, and Lelon's original monthly capacity of 35 million polymer capacitors. After the completion of this expansion, which is expected to happen this year, Lelon will become a leading manufacturer of SMD polymer capacitors made outside of Japan. Benefiting from an increasing market demand, polymer capacitors will become a major revenue growth driver for Lelon this year.Wu remarked that Lelon has adopted a flexible production approach. It is able to quickly adjust the production line according to order changes and thereby meet their customers' delivery schedules. The purchase of Matsuki Polymer's production equipment of polymer capacitors was completed efficiently and economically. This deal will assist in moving up the company's original scheduled date to expand its production capacity and upgrade its production equipment. It will also further enhance the company's competitiveness.Lelon has made remarkable progress in the market of aluminum electrolytic capacitors and has become a chosen partner of multiple global companies by maintaining its goal of providing premium quality aluminum electrolytic capacitors. As it looks forward to a promising future, Lelon will devote additional resources to the development of high-end aluminum electrolytic capacitors, focusing its efforts on the high-end electronics markets.Jimmy Wu, General Manager of Lelon ElectronicsLelon focuses on the development of high-end aluminum electrolytic capacitors, and on actively expanding its high-end electronics customer base.