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.
Sweeping policy changes under US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr are having a chilling effect on vaccine makers as anti-vaccine rhetoric has turned into concrete changes in inoculation schedules and recommendations, investors and executives said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has in the past year upended vaccine recommendations, with the country last month ending its longstanding guidance that all children receive inoculations against flu, hepatitis A and other diseases. The unprecedented changes have led to diminished vaccine usage, hurt the investment case for some biotechs, and created a drag that would likely dent revenues and
Global semiconductor stocks advanced yesterday, as comments by Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) at Davos, Switzerland, helped reinforce investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI). Samsung Electronics Co gained as much as 5 percent to an all-time high, helping drive South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI above 5,000 for the first time. That came after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose more than 3 percent to a fresh record on Wednesday, with a boost from Nvidia. The gains came amid broad risk-on trade after US President Donald Trump withdrew his threat of tariffs on some European nations over backing for Greenland. Huang further
CULPRITS: Factors that affected the slip included falling global crude oil prices, wait-and-see consumer attitudes due to US tariffs and a different Lunar New Year holiday schedule Taiwan’s retail sales ended a nine-year growth streak last year, slipping 0.2 percent from a year earlier as uncertainty over US tariff policies affected demand for durable goods, data released on Friday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. Last year’s retail sales totaled NT$4.84 trillion (US$153.27 billion), down about NT$9.5 billion, or 0.2 percent, from 2024. Despite the decline, the figure was still the second-highest annual sales total on record. Ministry statistics department deputy head Chen Yu-fang (陳玉芳) said sales of cars, motorcycles and related products, which accounted for 17.4 percent of total retail rales last year, fell NT$68.1 billion, or
HSBC Bank Taiwan Ltd (匯豐台灣商銀) and the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enhance cooperation on the suspicious transaction analysis mechanism. This landmark agreement makes HSBC the first foreign bank in Taiwan to establish such a partnership with the High Prosecutors Office, underscoring its commitment to active anti-fraud initiatives, financial inclusion, and the “Treating Customers Fairly” principle. Through this deep public-private collaboration, both parties aim to co-create a secure financial ecosystem via early warning detection and precise fraud prevention technologies. At the signing ceremony, HSBC Taiwan CEO and head of banking Adam Chen (陳志堅)
RSS