Following several months of aggressive inventory build-up in the wake of the US trade ban, Huawei has slowed down the pace of orders for Taiwanese chip suppliers in the fourth quarter, as it conducts year-end stock-taking. But Huawei's order momentum is expected to resume in first-quarter 2020. The US ban apparently has not dampened the Chinese vendor's ambition to dethrone Samsung and ascend the pinnacle of the global handset market. The armwrestling between the two vendors is not just about shipment numbers; they showcased their technological prowess by unveiling their respective trendsetting foldable phones earlier this year. Now hinge makers are eyeing opportunities from foldable phones, but they still have to tackle problems with the complicated hinge design of foldable phones. But in the meantime, Samsung needs to fix the security issues of its phones' facial recognition functions. The Korean giant reportedly is mulling adopting ToF 3D sensing solutions for its Galaxy Note 11 to be launched in second-half 2020.
IC designers expect Huawei to resume order momentum in 1H20: Taiwan-based IC design houses have seen orders from Huawei slow down recently, but remain upbeat that orders from the Chinese vendor will start picking up in the first half of 2020, according to industry sources.
Hinge makers expect sales boost from foldable smartphones in 2H20: Taiwan-based hinge makers are expected to significantly benefit from foldable smartphones slated for launch in the second half of 2020, according to sources from the related supply chain.
Samsung reportedly mulling using ToF 3D sensing solutions for Galaxy Note 11: Samsung Electronics is mulling using ToF-based 3D sensing technology for facial recognition for its upcoming Galaxy Note 11 slated for the second half of 2020, instead of in-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensors used in Galaxy S10 and Note 10 lineups that have been hit by security issues recently, according to industry sources.
