Qualcomm Inc says it expects its customers to launch wearable devices equipped with its chips later this year, although the company does not have dedicated chips for such devices now.
However, the world’s top mobile phone chip supplier is hoping to catch up with Taiwanese rival MediaTek Inc (聯發科), which already tapped into the fledgling market six months ago.
“Qualcomm has all the technologies needed,” Qualcomm CDMA Technologies Taiwan president Eddie Chang (張力行) said yesterday on the sidelines of a press conference. “This year, you will see wearable devices carrying Qualcomm chips.”
He declined to reveal details about Qualcomm’s wearables programs, but said the company may consider making chips specifically designed for wearable devices if the market reached a large scale.
Last month, market researcher International Data Corp forecast global shipments of wearable devices would more than triple from last year to more than 19 million units this year. The market would expand at a compound annual growth rate of 78.4 percent during the next few years to 111.9 million units in 2018, IDC said.
In November last year, MediaTek said Hong Kong-based Omate had adopted its dual-core MT6572 handset chip for its TrueSmart smartwatch.
Last month, the company said it planned to ship a new low-power chip, dubbed Aster, designed for wearable devices later this quarter, while unveiling the new chip at a product launch in Beijing.
Last month, MediaTek president Hsieh Ching-jiang (謝清江) told investors that the company had secured orders from smartphone customers and watch manufacturers.
Meanwhile, Chang said more 64-bit processors from different companies would be commercialized this year.
The 64-bit processor has become a hot topic and a new standard for high-end smartphones after Apple Inc’s iPhone 5S adopted a 64-bit processor, speeding its data processing by 50 percent over previous iPhone models.
Qualcomm launched its new 64-bit Snapdragon 810 and Snapdragon 808 processors last month, which are to be manufactured on 20-nanometer technology by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電).
End products equipped with the company’s latest 64-bit processors are expected to be available in the first half of next year, Qualcomm said.
MediaTek has said it would launch its first 64-bit processor by the end of this year.
On Ireland’s blustery western seaboard, researchers are gleefully flying giant kites — not for fun, but in the hope of generating renewable electricity and sparking a “revolution” in wind energy. “We use a kite to capture the wind and a generator at the bottom of it that captures the power,” said Padraic Doherty of Kitepower, the Dutch firm behind the venture. At its test site in operation since September 2023 near the small town of Bangor Erris, the team transports the vast 60-square-meter kite from a hangar across the lunar-like bogland to a generator. The kite is then attached by a
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
Leading Taiwanese bicycle brands Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達工業) on Sunday said that they have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The US announced at the beginning of this month that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on imported goods made in Taiwan, effective on Thursday last week. The tariff would be added to other pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy levy, which would bring the overall tariff on Taiwan-made bicycles to between 25.5 percent and 31 percent. However, Giant did not seem too perturbed by the
TARIFF CONCERNS: Semiconductor suppliers are tempering expectations for the traditionally strong third quarter, citing US tariff uncertainty and a stronger NT dollar Several Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers are taking a cautious view of the third quarter — typically a peak season for the industry — citing uncertainty over US tariffs and the stronger New Taiwan dollar. Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科技) said that customers accelerated orders in the first half of the year to avoid potential tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump’s administration. As a result, it anticipates weaker-than-usual peak-season demand in the third quarter. The US tariff plan, announced on April 2, initially proposed a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese goods. Its implementation was postponed by 90 days to July 9, then
RSS