(May 13, TMT2024) -- Today's highlights: Meizu named its first model; Xiaomi and JD.com comprehensively deepen strategic cooperation; Apple's executive team may usher in a major change; Apple is close to striking a deal with OpenAI; Microsoft's iOS App Store will be launched in July; Arm plans to develop artificial intelligence chips; Amazon plans to invest 1.2 billion euros in France.
Meizu named its first model
According to the official website of Meizu Unbounded Zhixing, Meizu's first model will be named "Meizu MX". The model will use the Flyme Auto full-case intelligent vehicle machine system. In November last year, the Meizu brand announced its official entry into the automotive market. The car will be based on the SEA architecture and Geely's Industry 4.0 manufacturing capabilities. Meizu also announced the launch of the "Unbounded Intelligent Mobility Open Platform" to share the core capabilities of Flyme Auto with other vehicles, and this year there will be Flyme Auto version 2.0.
Xiaomi and JD.com have comprehensively deepened their strategic cooperation
JD.com announced that it has reached a strategic cooperation with Xiaomi, and the two sides have clarified Xiaomi's omni-channel sales target of 200 billion in JD.com in the next three years, and will jointly promote the sales growth of multi-category Xiaomi smart hardware products. In addition, according to the agreement, JD.com and Xiaomi will continue to deepen cooperation in the fields of retail, logistics, science and technology, and finance, and will further expand cooperation in the fields of industry, production and development, health, and insurance.
The OpenHarmony Developer Conference is scheduled for May 25
The Open Atom Open Source Foundation announced that the OpenHarmony Developer Conference 2024 will be held on May 25, which will focus on the new version of open-source Harmony. The organizer of this developer conference is the OpenHarmony Project Group Working Committee, and the conference will hold 1 main forum + 6 technical sub-forums to jointly focus on the new version of OpenHarmony, gain insight into the new trends of OpenHarmony, and discuss the infinite possibilities of OpenHarmony ecological development.
Apple's executive team may usher in a major change
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple's top management team is currently made up of veterans who have served for many years, and as their tenure draws to a close, the company's top management is bound to usher in a major change. Among them, the most likely successor to Cook as Apple's CEO is John Ternus, 49, who currently serves as Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering. Tenus joined Apple in 2001 and has made many outstanding achievements in the field of hardware engineering, including the first generation of AirPods and successive iPads. In April 2021, Tenus was promoted to Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, reporting directly to Cook, where he is responsible for all of Apple's hardware engineering. Apple also needs to find new leaders for its key divisions.
Apple is close to striking a deal with OpenAI
According to people familiar with the matter, Apple is close to reaching an agreement with OpenAI to use the latter's technology on the iPhone. The two sides have been working on the final terms of the agreement to use ChatGPT's features in Apple's iOS 18. Apple has also held talks with Google about licensing the latter's Gemini chatbot. These consultations have not yet reached an agreement, but they are still ongoing. Apple plans to release a slew of new AI features next month, and if a deal is reached with OpenAI, Apple will be able to offer a popular chatbot.
OpenAI will announce product updates
OpenAI officially announced that it will announce the product update in the form of a live broadcast on May 13, US time. However, the company also said that it will not release GPT-5 at that time, nor will it release a search engine product. After the above news came out, Google's stock price reacted positively. It was previously reported that OpenAI plans to release an AI-powered search engine product to compete with search engine supremacy Google and AI search startup Perplexity.
Microsoft's iOS App Store went live in July
Microsoft announced that the Microsoft iOS App Store will be officially launched in July, hoping to replace the Apple App Store as a user app download channel. Sarah Bond, president of Microsoft's Xbox business, said the store is browser-based rather than an app, so it is not affected by the closed ecosystem store policy. For the first time, the store will feature Microsoft's own games, offering discounts on in-game items related to games like Candy Crush Saga. Microsoft's move is not unrelated to the European Union's Digital Markets Act, which requires Apple to allow third-party apps to be sideloaded on iPhones in order to break Apple's monopoly on the App Store.
Microsoft was awarded $242 million in damages for patent infringement
On May 10, a federal jury in Delaware found Microsoft to infringe a patent of IPA Technologies and ordered Microsoft to pay it $242 million in damages. The jury found that Microsoft's Cortana voice assistant software infringed IPA's patent rights in computer communications software. In response, a Microsoft spokesperson said that the verdict would be appealed. It is worth mentioning that the IPA has also sued Google and Amazon for similar reasons. Among them, Amazon won the case in 2021, while the lawsuit against Google is still ongoing.
Arm plans to develop artificial intelligence chips
Arm plans to develop AI chips and aims to launch the first products in 2025. Arm will set up an AI chip division with the goal of manufacturing prototypes by spring 2025, with mass production to be handled by contract manufacturers, which is expected to begin in the fall of 2025. Arm will bear the initial development costs, which are expected to reach hundreds of billions of yen, and SoftBank will contribute to it. Once the mass production system is established, Arm's AI chip business may be spun off and brought under SoftBank's umbrella. SoftBank holds a 90% stake in Arm.
SoftBank will invest 10 trillion yen in the "AI revolution."
The "AI revolution" proposed by Masayoshi Son, chairman and president of Japan's SoftBank Group, has begun. SoftBank Group plans to expand its business into industries such as data centers, robotics, and power generation using AI semiconductors as a breakthrough. The investment is expected to reach up to 10 trillion yen.
Amazon plans to invest 1.2 billion euros in France
The French presidential palace said before the start of the annual "Choose France" investment summit that Amazon will announce a new investment of 1.2 billion euros in France. Accenture will announce plans to create new jobs in artificial intelligence.
Google will hold a developer conference
Google's developer conference this year will be held on May 14 at 1 p.m. ET. It is speculated that Google will incorporate generative AI into its search engine to allow users to conduct conversational searches. A developer preview of Android 15 was released last month, and Google will be further introducing the new features at the conference, possibly with deeper Gemini integration. Google may also release a new version of the AI assistant Pixie at the conference, which may replace the original Google Assistant.
SpaceX has launched 13 more satellites that can be directly connected to mobile phones
At 12:30 on May 10, Beijing time, SpaceX launched another 20 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, 13 of which can be directly connected to mobile phones. So far, the total number of Starlink satellites has reached 6,393, of which the number directly connected to mobile phones has doubled to 25. This is the 163rd batch of Starlink launch missions in history, and it is also the 49th space launch and the 33rd Starlink launch of SpaceX in 2024, with a total of 743 Starlink satellites launched. In addition, Musk said on X that the fourth test flight of SpaceX Starship will take place in about 3 to 5 weeks.
Naver考虑出售Line运营商LY Corp股份
South Korean internet giant NAVER said it was in talks with SoftBank and was open to selling all of its shares, including a stake in LY Corporation's parent company, A holdings. In November last year, NAVER Cloud was hacked, resulting in the leakage of users' personal information on LY's chat app LINE, which shares part of the system with NAVER. On March 5 and April 16 of this year, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications issued two administrative directives to LY, requiring it to improve its management mechanism, including replanning its capital relationship with NAVER. Currently, NAVER and SoftBank each hold a 50% stake in A Holdings.
Japan's NTT docomo will establish a new company to oversee its overseas business
NTT docomo, a Japanese telecommunications company, announced that it will establish a new company to oversee its overseas business. NTT docomo will develop Web 3.0, a next-generation Internet technology, and a low-cost open RAN service that combines the machines of several equipment vendors. Against the backdrop of sluggish revenue from its mobile communications business in Japan, NTT docomo will explore new revenue streams overseas. The new company will be called NTT DOCOMO GLOBAL and will be led by Hiroki Kuriyama, Vice President in charge of international business at NTT Docomo.
Vivo led the Indonesian smartphone market in the first quarter
According to Counterpoint's latest report, Indonesian smartphone shipments increased by 4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024, with Chinese brands shining brightly. According to the brand market share ranking, vivo mobile phones accounted for 19.2% of the market share, a year-on-year increase of 16%; Xiaomi mobile phones accounted for 18.6% of the market share, a year-on-year increase of 55%; OPPO mobile phones accounted for 17.0% of the market share, down 23% year-on-year; Samsung mobile phones accounted for 16.7% of the market share, down 5% year-on-year; realme mobile phones accounted for 9.8% of the market share, down 14% year-on-year; Other mobile phones accounted for 18.5% of the market share, up 14% year-on-year.
Global semiconductor revenue increased 15.2% year-over-year in the first quarter
According to data released by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), global semiconductor revenue in the first quarter of 2024 will be $137.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 15.2% and a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 5.7%. By region, revenue in China increased 27.4% year-over-year and revenue in North America increased 26.3% year-over-year. Asia-Pacific grew by 11.1% over the same period; Europe and Japan contracted by 6.8% and 9.3%, respectively. SIA expects double-digit year-over-year growth in Q2-Q4 2024.