Despite the fact that the design is complete and the chip is ready for mass production, Intel's 28nm SoFIA 4G application processor (AP) is still unlikely to be launched until the beginning of 2016 due to the adjustments over the software part that is still not yet mature. For 2015, Intel will still need to rely on its SoFIA 3G/3G-R APs to prop up is mobile device AP business and may miss the business opportunities from the 4G market, which is expected to grow rapidly in the second half of this year.Intel may face an even more problematic issue in 2016 as its 14nm SoFIA product line is already planned for late-2016 and could overlap with the 28nm one from early 2016 and affect each other's demand.Intel currently only has solutions that pair an independent XMM baseband with an Atom AP for its 4G product lineup, but the solutions are unattractive to players in China due to its high prices. Intel has been working on integrating two chips into an SoC for its SoFIA product line since the end of 2014 to improve the BOM, Digitimes Research noted.With the SoFIA 4G - which was originally scheduled for 2015 - being delayed until early 2016 and Intel only being able to provide baseband+AP solutions for 4G demand in 2015, the CPU giant may find it difficult to persuade clients to use its solutions for their 4G devices due to the high prices and its subsidies for using its solutions are unlikely to provide much persuasion.Intel's second-generation SoFIA 4G AP, based on a 14nm process, will become available in late-2016 and could put the first-generation SoFIA 4G AP based on a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) 28nm process, in an awkward position and cause the 28nm AP to have an over-short lifecycle. Although Intel may offer cheap prices for the 28nm SoFIA 4G AP and push the 14nm one to the high-end market sector to create a boundary, the CPU giant will still see its profit impacted and its marketing for the processors will also be limited.

US-based Cree will spend US$85 million to restructure its LED device business through reducing total production capacity for LED chips. The move is mainly due to negative impact price competition from China-based LED makers, according to Digitimes Research.Cree will reduce LED production capacity by merging two LED factories in North Carolina, and two LED factories in China, and aims to hike its utilization rate to 80-90% in fiscal 2016 (July 2015-June 2016), Digitimes Research indicated.Cree focuses LED production on high-power LED chips used in LED street lamps and commercial LED lighting products. However, with capacity expansion by China-based LED makers, mid-power LED chips are increasingly being adopted for LED street lamps, and mid- and low-power chips for commercial LED lighting, resulting in shrinking demand for high-power LED chips. To cope with the situation, Cree will increase outsourcing of low- and mid-power LED chips.

During a survey of southern China's white-box tablet supply chain recently, Digitimes Research found that Intel will not be able to supply its Cherry Trail-based solutions to white-box players until the end of the third quarter. Most white-box players will only be able to use Bay Trail-T CR solutions for their Windows 10 tablets, reducing these devices' attractiveness to consumers.Digitimes Research believes only specific white-box players that have landed orders from US channel retailers for the holiday season, will be able to profit by releasing ultra-cheap Windows 10 tablets using their advantages in economies of scale.Overall tablet shipments continue to decline in the second quarter and Windows tablets, which had strong performance in the first quarter due to subsidies from Wintel and dual-operating system (OS) designs, started experiencing weakening sales in the second quarter. Only large-size Windows 2-in-1 devices (mostly 10.1-inch) still see good demand in the quarter.Inexpensive Wi-Fi-only tablets and tablets with phone functionality are also suffering from decreasing shipments in the second quarter due to seasonality and competition from inexpensive large-size smartphones.However, the 10.1-inch tablet has become a new favorite of white-box players because they are optimistic about demand for large-size 2-in-1 products; 10.1-inch display prices have been dropping rapidly since early 2015 and Microsoft's newest OEM licensing gives 10.1-inch products the most favorable pricing and the least specification restrictions.Digitimes Research estimates that 10.1-inch models currently account for almost 50% of overall white-box Windows tablet shipments, boosting the size's share in overall tablet shipments to 15%.Although the tablet market is expected to benefit from Windows 10's release in the third quarter, white-box players will only be able to release Windows 10 tablets using the existing Bay Trail-T CR solution in the quarter because Intel's Cherry Trail reference design will not become available until the end of September and its other cheaper Cherry Trail solutions will come even later.To compensate from drawbacks in the hardware, white-box players are planning to offer their Bay Trail-T CR-based Windows 10 tablets at a cheaper price level and will push them mainly for the year-end holidays in the retail channel of Western countries.In addition to a 7-inch Android tablet, Alco Electronics' orders from Walmart for the year-end holidays in 2015 are expected to include a 10.1-inch Windows 10 2-in-1 device, designed by China-based Yidong. The 2-in-1 device is expected to ship one million units and be priced below US$149.

Panel makers aim to tackle the 8K market starting 2018 when Japan will offer various channel transmissions in 8K, and the World Cup is held in Russia. Demand will continue to grow around 2020 when major sporting events will be held in Japan, according to Digitimes Research.Makers such as BOE and Sharp have so far shown some of the most active development in 8K panels, despite that 4K TVs are expected to hold over just a 13% share of global LCD TV sales in 2015.4K TVs in the Japan market, however, currently hold over a 30% share of overall LCD TV sales in the nation, with 50-inch and above size units accounting for over 40%. The nation is at the forefront of pushing 4K transmissions and is expected to be one of the first to make 8K readily available.Sharp will play a major role in supplying 8K panels in the future and will use 10G facilities to produce the technology, while BOE aims to do so at its 10.5G fabs, with an emphasis on 98- and 82-inch units. LG Display meanwhile is currently looking to production of 55- and 98-inch units.Digitimes Research believes in addition to TV applications, 8K displays will also be used for public and industrial displays, art galleries and museums, public speaking areas, traffic control operations, specialized monitors and medical applications.

Combined revenues of South Korea's major display driver IC companies – Silicon Works, Lucid Display Technology (LDT), Technology Leaders and Innovators (TLI) and Clover Hitech – fell 6.1% to KRW313.7 billion (US$284 million) in 2014, down for a second straight year, according to Digitimes Research.Sales of Silicon Works' LCD driver IC (LDI) business also fell for the second straight year in 2014. Silicon Works' LDI revenues, which peaked at KRW378.9 billion in 2012, declined to KRW322.6 billion in 2013 and dropped further to KRW305.3 billion in 2014, said Digitimes Research. A slowdown in iPad sales growth led to the revenue decreases.Silicon Works' LDI revenues in 2014 lagged behind fellow Taiwan-based LCD driver IC firms Novatek Microelectronics and Himax Technologies, but were ahead of ILi Technology (Ilitek), FocalTech Systems and Raydium Semiconductor. In terms of operating margins, Silicon Works' ranking moved to the second position among the six vendors in 2014, Digitimes Research indicated.Silicon works may see its revenues expand as a result of its entry into the IC backend market, Digitimes Research noted. However, Silicon Works will likely suffer operating margin decreases despite the revenue growth.

The rapid expansion in demand for premium PC hardware from the enthusiast and overclocking segments has given hardware vendors a much needed opportunity to bolster declining sales in the mainstream consumer space. But while related players have all enjoyed some gains from their efforts to design and market products primarily for overclockers, the main winners so far have been the chip providers. In first-quarter 2015 the cost of the CPU and graphics card accounted for over 66% of the EUR1050 (US$1151) cost of a typical overclocking system, according to the latest quarterly report from HWinsights.In first-quarter 2015, the cost breakdown of a typical overclocking system was EUR330 (31%) for the CPU, EUR365 (35%) graphics card, EUR150 (14%) motherboard, EUR75 (7%) RAM, and EUR130 (12%) PSU, HWinsights noted.For high-end systems the cost of the CPU alone accounted for 42% of the total system price, making Intel, which enjoys an enthusiast PC market share of 78%, the major beneficiary of the overclocking boom."In the years we have been tracking the market, we have seen overclocking evolve from originally appealing to budget conscious consumers looking to squeeze out additional performance for their dollar, to the current situation where it represents a premium category that sits at the very top of vendors' price scales," said Pieter-Jan Plaisier, Director, HWBOT. "When leveraged effectively, targeting the overclocking market not only allows vendors to maximize their margins, it also has the effect of adjusting upwards consumer price expectations in other product segments, in particular gaming."A rising tide lifts all boatsThis effect of a premium product helping to push up prices for a vendor's other product lines was recently observed with the introduction of the GeForce GTX Titan series by Nvidia.With an MSRP of $999, the first Titan, released in February 2013, set a new benchmark for the most expensive single-GPU card on the market. As a result, Nvidia's next-generation high-end gaming product, the GeForce GTX 780 was generally regarded as offering a good price/performance ratio, despite the fact it was priced at US$649, compared to US$500 for the previous-generation GeForce GTX 680.HWinsights believes there is opportunity for vendors in other hardware categories to push the price envelope if they are willing to challenge consumer expectations with more value-added features and new innovations.However, to be successful vendors cannot simply expect the market to settle for higher numbers for existing features, HWinsights warned. Attempts by PSU vendors to woo enthusiasts with 1000W+ models have been largely ignored, the firm noted. Even at the top end of the charts where cost is typically not a concern, data still show a high number of users are still opting for more modestly priced 850W models, HWinsights said. HWinsights: NVIDIA single-GPU card pricing Series Launch MSRP (US$) Launch date GTX 280 649 Jun-08 GTX 285 399 Jan-09 GTX 480 499 Mar-10 GTX 580 499 Nov-10 GTX 680 500 Mar-12 Titan 999 Feb-13 GTX 780 649 May-13 GTX 780 Ti 699 Nov-13 Titan Black 999 Feb-14 GTX 980 549 Sep-14 Titan X 999 Mar-15 GTX 980 Ti 650 Jun-15 Source: HWinsights, compiled by Digitimes, June 2015

The Internet of Things (IoT) has brought multiple applications and new business models for the development of smart home, which in turn may also bring about a take-off for the smart home industry, according to Digitimes Research.Previously, most smart home applications, including audio/video entertainment, security surveillance or home automation, were implemented through vertically integrated business models. However, the rise of IoT applications will contribute to the formation of the DIY smart home market and expand the coverage to include energy saving and home care.Smart home services could also offer more value-added services by optimizing IoT applications at more affordable prices, Digitimes Research noted.However, current equipment, chips, operating platforms, wireless technology, and related services for smart homes vary from platform to platform, causing confusion among consumers when they are purchasing equipment, Digitimes Research commented.

The LCD monitor market saw average retail pricing fluctuate in May, which is expected to carry over into June. In terms of products launched, Dell has released U, UZ, P, E series high-end, mid-range and entry-level LCD monitors in the Japan market as of June, and 24- and 27-inch U series models featuring DisplayPort/HDMI dual interfaces.According to Digitimes Research, Dell's new product released signal that 24- and 27-inch units are likely to be the two major focal points for Dell's mid-range and high-end units with DisplayPort/HDMI dual interfaces.Dell is also moving away from 19-inch monitors with DisplayPort interface technology and instead is focusing on DVI/D-Sub Only that is also found in 17- and 20-inch monitors, said Digitimes Research.

Looking at the world's fabless IC design sector, there have been various acquisition and business consolidation cases this year. The world's semiconductor industry is undergoing structural change due to the rises of South Korea and Taiwan, and China has also invested a great deal in this field already. Aiming for the global development of Japan's system LSI industry, with support by Development Bank of Japan, Socionext has merged with Fujitsu Semiconductor and Panasonic System LSI business and operates independently. For developing diverse system-on-chip (SoC) solutions, Socionext also appointed Mr. Yasuo Nishiguchi, the former CEO of Kyocera Corporation, to take the leadership. In a recent interview, he explained the company's vision and overall outlook for the SoC market in addition to the development of digital TV applications.Despite its just started operation in March this year, Socionext is a brand new Fabless IC design company with development focus on SoC solutions. Mr. Nishiguchi leads a group of executives and senior managers participating in COMPUTEX 2015. Besides the fabulous designed exhibition booth demonstrating Socionext up-to-date products, Mr. Nishiguchi also visited various customers, suppliers and news media to understand more business potential of Taiwan and explore the future cooperation with Taiwan OEM/ODM customers.In COMPUTEX, due to growing demands for 4K Ultra High Definition TV segment, Socionext has established its focus on applications such as image processing, sound effect, Google TV integration and WiGig wireless data communication solutions with the lowest power consumption on the market. The company's products highlight the All-in-one SoC solutions based on its high performance image processing engines, and are taking a leading step in producing solutions for UHD solutions, HDMI interface and versatile image conversion and transformation technologies as digital TV opportunities from Japan in particular unfold. Mr. Nishiguchi expresses the determination to improve the performance and functionality of digital TV products and services in order to provide new value to people beyond the mainly narrow thinking of cost and size of display panel only. In addition, advances in resolution are progressing from the conventional full HD to 4K and then to 8K in the area of TV broadcasting and web contents. Even audio is no exception, with 22.2 multichannel surround audio scheduled to be adopted in the next generation of broadcasting system.In light of this company's developments in All-in-one SoC series product lines, there is an outstanding conceptual demonstration station taking place in the middle of Socionext's booth for showing the newer generation of image processing engine called "PRO 5" chip. It shows thirty-six 4K quality video streams simultaneously in one 60-inch screen with a powerful interactive user interface control for aiming high end digital signage applications. This is a very impressive live demonstration about the future image processing capability from Socionext R&D works. Meanwhile, there are different innovative product ideas to be presented together with many partners to provide optimum solutions and services to end customers.Mr. Nishiguchi has been working in semiconductor industry for most of his career. Since 1975 he started with Kyocera and now taking the responsibility of Socionext set out for a new startup. His non-stop efforts to pursuit the technology excellence achieves the strengthening of corporate core competence successfully. These strategies also leverage the synergy to maximize customers' value and win the market. Socionext will utilize the same strategy to offer customizable solutions leveraging its engineering expertise in imaging and networking technologies. He also depicted, Taiwan electronics manufacturing service vendors own the superior manufacturing capability with a bunch of hard working engineers and ready react instantly toward the rapidly changing market. Therefore, Mr. Nishiguchi strong presented, to cooperate with Taiwanese companies, will come together to form a competitive edge and have chance to win the market.From the market study and survey, Mr. Nishiguchi discovered more than 60% of TV in Taiwan manufactured by OEM/ODM vendors. About the 4K TV sector, however, how to integrate the smarter ideas and new innovative solutions into digital TV applications will be the next key driving force of market development. This is why Socionext increases the visit to Taiwan and continuous brings the new idea to discuss with Taiwan vendors. With latest technology and rich design resources accumulated over many years, Socionext is able to provide OEM/ODM customers sophisticated solutions to enhance the value of their products.Mr. Nishiguchi ever taught in Doshisha University as a MBA professor. He studied Taiwan ODM/OEM supplier chain and market, he figured the global brands only place orders to Taiwan but never graft their technology or ideas at the same time. But this time, Socionext is willing to transplant the whole ideas including technology and applications to Taiwan including placing manufacturing orders. That means Taiwan will be Socionext's real partner not just a factory. Socionext will head for a bright future with Taiwan. Mr. Nishiguchi emphasized and delivered a strong message to Taiwan: Socionext is not only selling chips to Taiwan but also trying to co-develop products with OEM/ODM vendors through the advanced technology and creative product ideas. Socionext is willing to invest its own company engineering resources and fully support the co-developed projects from quality and cost prospective to meet the market requirements.Mr. Yasuo Nishiguchi, Socionext CEO

We are constantly bombarded with electromagnetic waves of all kinds of radio frequencies (RF), many of them have been encoded with specific information, whether it is a voice, a tone, or various digital data streams. Electronics devices such as wireless router (Access Point), cordless phone, baby monitor and garage gate remote control are all counted on radio frequency wireless technology.Not only home market but also the public service sectors like Electronic Toll Collection (ETC), the system by collecting tolls automatically through accounts of registered car owners without requiring them to stop, are engaged to new emerging RF applications.AMICCOM Electronics Corporation (AMICCOM), founded in November 2005 and listed in Taiwan Over-the-Counter GreTai Securities Market in May 2013, is an expert in RF SoC sector. Peter Chen, product marketing manager, highlighted there are three major product lines divided by different frequency ranges and features. They are 2.4GHz, sub-1GHz and LNB RF chips.In 2.4GHz product line mainly are focus on the applications including wireless mouse deices, wireless earphone and other PC peripherals, wireless toys and baby monitor systems. AMICCOM RF ICs enjoy a very good market share in China market. Taking baby monitor as an example, the benefits of granted FCC and other safety compliance certification help AMICCOM staying the dominant market position in China white box market in Dongguan and Shenzhen area. Once the chips have been designed in the specification, the vendors won't change it because significant time and money investment to get new safety certification again and again.Competition among this frequency range is fierce, and most of the fabless chipmakers are facing pressure to upgrade their wireless technology and product quality, shorten lead time and competitive pricing rates. Hence, AMICCOM is continuing to focus on the complexity of consumer IC designs including the combination of audio and RF IC together.Apart from 2.4GHz tight competition market, low-noise block downconverter (LNB), which is the receiving device mounted on satellite dishes used for satellite TV reception to collect the radio waves from the dish, is a very niche market for satellite communication system. AMICCOM is one of few suppliers who can offer LNB Switch Matrix IC to Taiwan satellite EMS vendors.China government tenders strengthen the growth momentum of RF chipsPC peripheral segment contributes a good chip volume for the company except big profit earnings. The sub-1GHz segment is becoming a cash cow for AMICCOM. This is because several mainstream applications in China city development projects leverage the benefits from RF technologies. Some AMICCOM's cooperated system integrators and partners joined together and successfully won China ETC System government tenders by using AMICCOM RF SoC products. The solution is achieving low power consumption and low voltage drive for battery operation with a very good link budget. There is one most impressive feature which is 4mA Ultra low Rx receiving current. This specification is only one third power consumption of other competitor's products.AMICCOM will continue developing products suited for the growing China market and aim to expand to different region of cities across China. Peter mentioned the new development of design-in phase toward China smart grid tender competition. This solution is aiming automatic meter reading, which is a technology of automatically collecting consumption, diagnostic, and status data from energy metering devices such as gas or electricity and transferring that data to a central database for billing. It will be a new potential business opportunity for the next 12 months.Other upcoming and booming applications are automotive electronics solutions using RF technologies. Peter presented themselves as an RF IC provider and designed a series of RF IC chips aiming automotive market, especially car alarm system in automotive aftermarket sector. He highlighted there are third party developers have already built solutions using AMICCOM technology for this application. For example, the multifunction RF control to find the parking location of the car and equip with features of pre-starting up the engine. This design is specially fitting the requirement in the winter time of Russia area.In Eurpoe, the remote sensing and control system for the seat heating pads are one of the applications to be used in the automobile aftermarket. It is also a good potential for other areas. AMICCOM is seeking more versatile applications in automotive aftermarket using RF technology.ESL system drives new emerging solutionsThe physical retail stores have been stressing out about competition from online stores. Retailers tried introduce different electronic technologies to maintain the competence in the market. An electronic shelf label (ESL) system is a good example to display this innovation approach. ESL implemented by retailers enhanced the capability of displaying product pricing on shelves. Typically, the ESL modules are attached to the front edge of retail shelving. These modules use E-paper to show the current product price to the customer.AMICCOM supported this project through 3rd party POS(Point of Sales) system integrators and one Taiwan E-paper supplier. E-paper is currently trending in the ESL market as it provides clear display and supports full graphic imaging. Integrated with AMICCOM RF technology, the wireless communication network has been built and allowed the price display to be automatically updated whenever a product price is changed. Meanwhile, dynamic pricing is helping retailers to fluctuate pricing to match demand, online competition, inventory levels, shelf-life of items, and to create promotions.The demands of automated ESL systems got attention from industry. AMICCOM strength in this field is mainly from RF IC products equipped with higher data transmitting speed and ultra low power consumption and time to market support. These unique capabilities are maintaining very high competitive strength in industry.Effective supply chain, strong partnership and solid RF technology form AMICCOM successful factorsAMICCOM realized that the only product to survive in the market is to improve their core competence in order to design complex IC, which can meet the rapid change in demand. Hence, AMICOMM started to focus on the complexity of new generation SoC ICs.Considering the red ocean competition in low data speed rate and low power segments, the new product roadmap will target more product portfolios toward high data speed and low power solutions aiming both 2.4G and 5.8GHz range. And the 5.8GHz SoC ICs will be ready soon.To create a sustainable competitive advantage, R&D investment is essential. In AMICCOM, half of the employees are R&D engineers, which show their dedication of designing innovative and functional SoC products. The headquarter is located at HsinChu Science Park. And another two FAE offices have been setup at Shenzhen and Shanghai to support customers in China.A fabless RF chipmaker whoever provides total solutions to satisfy the significant needs of clients would be a winner. Effective supply chain management and a strong relationship with suppliers can shorten the distance between development teams and customers. The supply chain network of AMICCOM is complete and solid. The strong relationship with foundries allowed them to fabricate outstanding and sophisticated SoC products that meet international standards. Through solid IC product development and strong presence in China and Taiwan RF market for years, AMICCOM is expecting more cooperation projects in North America and Europe market.