(GLOBE NEWSWIRE, April 17, TMT2024) -- Today's highlights: Apple will study the possibility of building a manufacturing plant in Indonesia, Huawei's Pura 70 series will begin blind approval, Microsoft's Surface design team leader will announce his retirement, Samsung electronics technicians will jump ship to a competitor, and AMD will unveil the world's first commercial desktop AI platform.
Apple will study the possibility of building a manufacturing plant in Indonesia
Apple CEO Tim Cook arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Tuesday after a visit to Vietnam, where he met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and will open an academy for Apple developers in Bali. "We talked about the aspirations of the country's manufacturing sector, which is something we're going to look at," Cook said. "Apple does not have a manufacturing plant in Indonesia, but it has established four Apple Developer Academies.
Apple talks with an Indian supplier to produce camera components
Apple is in talks with India's two giants, the Molugapa Group and the Tata Group's Titan Corporation, to assemble and produce sub-assemblies for the iPhone camera module. Apple is expected to identify and announce this important partnership within five to six months. The camera module is one of the core components of the iPhone. Although Apple has successfully assembled a number of iPhones in India, it has not been able to find a local supplier of camera modules.
Apple accounted for 36% of shipments, accounting for 56% of OLED mobile phone revenue
According to the latest report from DSCC, a screen supply chain consulting company, the shipments of smartphones with OLED screens in the second half of 2023 increased by 41% compared to the first half of 2023, so OLED smartphone shipments for the whole year increased by 12% year-on-year. Among them, in 2023, Apple will lead the way with 36% of OLED mobile phone shipments and 56% of OLED mobile phone revenue. It is estimated that in 2024, the average selling price of OLED panels will further decline as brands will seek lower-cost suppliers.
The Huawei Pura 70 series began to accept blind designation
Huawei has confirmed that the new imaging flagship model will be named the Pura series, and the new device will most likely be the Pura 70 series. Yu Chengdong said: "Pura 70 can be regarded as P70, and there will be good news in two days. According to channel sources, Huawei will provide Pura 70, Pura 70 Pro, Pura 70 Pro+ and Pura 70 Art four models, which have now opened offline distribution, and the whole system provides 12GB large memory. The Pura 70 experience machine has not yet arrived, and the specific shelf time is not yet clear. A store staff said: "At present, blind determination is acceptable, and the specific listing and arrival time are uncertain." ”
The head of Microsoft's Surface design team has announced his retirement
Ralf Groene, a heavyweight in Microsoft's hardware design space and head of the Surface design team, has announced his retirement. Groene has played a key role in Microsoft's journey and is one of the key drivers of Microsoft's Surface PC family. The design concept began in 2012 when the original Surface RT tablet was introduced, and has become one of the hallmarks of the entire Surface family of devices.
Samsung electronics technicians jump ship to competitors
Samsung Electronics, once a giant in the electronics industry with its decision-making skills and hard-working corporate culture, is now looking at Apple and TSMC from behind. Samsung's stagnation also seems to reflect the current state of South Korea's economy. In the competition for promotion, directors are looking for short-term results, and there is a lack of culture to make front-line technicians calm down and challenge R&D. Samsung is also suffering from the "big business disease". Some engineers abandoned Samsung and switched to a competitor, SK hynix. Samsung's elites gathered, too afraid of failure, and Samsung, which misjudged the AI boom, has been shaken internally, and the former memory king is no longer calm.
Samsung will produce the latest generation of semiconductors in the United States two years earlier than TSMC
Samsung Electronics will produce the latest generation of semiconductors in the U.S. two years earlier than rival TSMC, further boosting U.S. President Joe Biden's efforts to bring advanced chip production to U.S. soil. The South Korean chipmaker will produce 2-nanometer microchips at a new fab under construction in Taylor, Texas. This will be part of a $40 billion investment that will include microprocessor manufacturing, advanced chip packaging and research and development.
Samsung unveiled its first LPDDR5X DRAM that supports 10.7Gbps
Samsung announced that it has developed its first LPDDR5X DRAM that supports up to 10.7 gigabits per second (Gbps), leveraging 12-nanometer (nm) process technology to achieve the smallest chip size of Samsung's existing LPDDR. Samsung's 10.7Gbps LPDDR5X not only improves performance by more than 25% and capacity by more than 30% compared to Samsung's previous generation, but also expands the capacity of mobile DRAM to a single package of 32GB. The 10.7Gbps LPDDR5X is an ideal solution for future AI on the device side, and mass production will begin in the second half of this year.
AMD unveils the world's first commercial desktop AI platform
AMD has released a series of new chips for AI PCs to expand its share of the lucrative AI PC market. Its latest Ryzen PRO 8040 series is built for business notebooks and mobile workstations, while the AMD Ryzen PRO 8000 series is a desktop processor for enterprise users. Among them, the Ryzen PRO 8000 series is the world's first commercial desktop AI platform. The chips are expected to be rolled out on HP and Lenovo's platforms starting in the second quarter of 2024.
Kioxia plans to launch in Tokyo as early as October
Kioxia Holdings plans to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as early as October, though some executives want to restart merger talks with Western Digital. The NAND flash memory pioneer is prioritizing a separate listing to capitalize on the surge in domestic chip-related stocks. Kioxia may reconsider its deal with Western Digital after the IPO. Last year, merger talks between Kioxia and Western Digital broke down, in part because of opposition from SK hynix. SK hynix, an indirect shareholder of Kioxia, said the deal undervalued its stake.
Amazon Prime members reach 180 million in the United States
Amazon's Prime subscription service hit a new high of 180 million U.S. shoppers in March, up 8% from a year earlier, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. U.S. consumers pay Amazon $140 per year or $15 per month for a Prime subscription, which includes shipping discounts and an ad-supported Prime video streaming service. The company has been tracking Amazon affiliates since 2014.
Take-Two宣布裁员约5%
Video game developer Take-Two Interactive Software will lay off about 5% of its workforce and cancel several games in development with the aim of saving about $165 million a year. The plan, which has been approved by the board of directors, also calls for "efficiencies" across the business and improved profit margins. As of March 2023, it has 11,580 full-time employees worldwide. Based on this calculation, the layoffs will affect approximately 580 employees.
The value of Trump's media equity shrank by $3 billion
Shares of Trump's social media companies have cooled, and more than $3 billion of his windfall in the first three weeks of trading has gone up in smoke. Truth Social's share price has fallen around 60% from its recent peak. Shortly after trading began at the end of last month, the company had a market capitalization of about $9 billion. The company closed down 18% at $26.61 on Monday, with a market capitalization of about $3.6 billion. Truth Social plans to roll out its live TV streaming platform in phases, with Truth Social's Content Delivery Network (CDN) for streaming live TV on Android, iOS, and web apps in the first phase.
Vodafone Group appoints CEO of Vodafone Commercial
British telecommunications giant Vodafone has appointed Marika Auramo as CEO of Vodafone Business Corp., effective July 1. Prior to joining Vodafone, she served as Chief Commercial Officer for EMEA at SAP.
Exyte announced the acquisition of Kinetics, a provider of installation services and equipment
Exyte, a global leader in the design, engineering and delivery of high-tech facilities, announced plans to acquire Kinetics Group, a leading global provider of installation services, equipment and technical facility management. Exyte has entered into an agreement with investment firm Quadriga Capital to acquire the transaction, and the details of the transaction and purchase price will be kept confidential. Kinetics is focused on providing solutions for the biopharmaceutical and semiconductor industries, with revenues of more than €500 million in 2023. With the acquisition of Kinetics, Exyte will enter the field of technical facility management. Kinetics will be integrated into Exyte's Technology & Services (T&S) business unit. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals.
Global semiconductor sales increased 16.3% year-on-year in February
According to data released by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), global semiconductor sales in February 2024 increased by 16.3% year-on-year to $46.17 billion. The increase is the highest since May 2022, with a record one year and nine months. The inventory adjustment in the supply chain has come to an end, and semiconductor demand is recovering. By region, sales in the Americas decreased by 3.9% from the previous month to $12.14 billion. Europe fell 2.3% from the previous month to $4.32 billion. Japan fell 2.5% from the previous month to $3.57 billion. China fell 4.3 percent from the previous month to $14.13 billion.
Japan will introduce new regulations to regulate tech giants
The Japanese government plans to amend its antitrust law in the near future to increase penalties for various anti-competitive practices, with fines of up to 20% of sales, compared to the current cap of 6% of sales. Japan is following the lead of the European Union with new regulations that require mobile platform operators to open up third-party app stores and payment systems, dismantle existing barriers to small developers and competitors, and further promote the prosperity of the digital market.