US chipmaker Analog Devices Inc (ADI) could begin shipping new micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) motion-sensing chips to Taiwanese and Chinese customers for mobile phones by the middle of this year, a company official said in Taipei yesterday.
The uptake in motion-sensing chips for mobile phones has accelerated, especially in China, after Apple Inc started using MEMS chips for screen rotation on the iPhone in its debut about two years ago.
ADI intends to ship new MEMS chips to customers in Taiwan and China by the summer featuring new functions including intelligent liquid-crystal-display (LCD) backlighting, which automatically turns the screen on or off by sensing the motion of mobile users, said Stephen Wu (吳彥彬), a marketing manager at ADI’s micromachined products division.
Wu declined to give names of customers.
ADI makes its MEMS products at its factories in Norwood, Massachusetts, and farms out part of its production to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker.
ADI yesterday said it would consolidate the remaining fabs in the US after concluding the consolidation of its 6-inch and 8-inch fabs in Ireland to maximize current and future profitability and to capitalize on the opportunities that are expected to emerge once the economic downturn has ended.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
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