Samsung Electronics Co, the world’s largest maker of mobile devices using Google Inc’s Android software, is to release its first smartphone using the Tizen operating system about a year later than planned.
The Samsung Z will be available in Russia in the third quarter before expanding to other markets, the South Korean company said in a statement yesterday. The device will have a 4.8-inch screen and will be on show at the Tizen developer conference in San Francisco today.
Tizen, which is being developed with companies including Intel Corp and Vodafone Group PLC, is an open-source alternative to Android, the most popular smartphone operating system. Asia’s biggest technology company previously said its first phone using the platform would be released by the end of September last year, as it seeks to spark consumer demand amid slowing shipment growth and competition from cheaper Chinese producers.
“Samsung is trying to do anything to fill in the gaps in the third quarter, but I don’t think the Tizen phone will give a big boost to Samsung’s overall smartphone sales,” Lee Do-hoon, an analyst at CIMB Group Holdings Bhd in Seoul, said by telephone. “The release of the new phone is nothing more than symbolic as it’s at a very early stage.”
Samsung shares rose 0.8 percent to 1,455,000 won at the close of trade in Seoul. The stock has gained 6.1 percent this year after a 9.9 percent decline last year.
The new device enters a smartphone market where global growth is expected to slow to 6.2 percent in 2018 from 19 percent this year, research firm International Data Corp (IDC) said in February.
Samsung shipped 316 million smartphones last year, more than double the 153 million iPhones of second-ranked Apple Inc, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from IDC.
The Samsung Z in black and gold will feature a high-definition screen, a 2.3 gigahertz quad-core processor and a fingerprint sensor, the company said. The company unveiled two wristwatches using Tizen in February.
Samsung plans to offer a special promotional program through the Tizen application store when the device goes on sale as it seeks to attract more developers to build software.
The company’s mobile-phone business, which accounted for 76 percent of operating income in the first quarter, posted the lowest sales in five quarters as Chinese producers gain in emerging markets with cheaper, feature-packed devices.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Standard Chartered Taiwan on March 26 announced that it has partnered with international fintech firm FinIQ to build an “Automated Structured Products Pricing Platform.” The bank is also introducing products from global issuers including Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Barclays PLC and BNP Paribas SA. The new platform enables an end-to-end process whereby it finds the most competitive pricing across multiple issuers in a matter of minutes, followed by automated documentation and transaction execution, which significantly shortens time-to-market and delivers a superior wealth management experience. Standard Chartered Bank Taiwan CEO Anthony Yu (游天立) said: “Standard Chartered is increasingly leveraging its wealth management
RSS