UK chip designer ARM Holdings PLC yesterday launched a new microprocessor ahead of the annual Computex PC show in Taipei, targeting the 580 million mid-range mobile device market over the next two years.
ARM’s Cortex-A12 central processing unit (CPU), one of the new microprocessors for mid-range mobile devices introduced yesterday, will be made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the US-based GlobalFoundries Inc, using 28-nanometer process technology, ARM said.
TSMC will also make ARM’s new graphics processing unit (GPU), dubbed the Mali-T622, which is also designed for mid-range devices, ARM said.
“Mid-range devices are really going to explode. We have product designs ready to hit this marketplace,” ARM chief marketing officer and executive vice president Ian Drew said. “This US$200 and US$350 phone is going to be the magic growth over the next two years.”
In 2015, mid-range mobile device shipments are forecast to grow 2.5-fold from last year to 580 million units, Drew said.
ARM expects the Cortex-A12 chip to be used in mobile devices by the middle of next year. The new Cortex-A12 delivers a 40 percent performance improvement over the previous-generation Cortex-A9 chip, ARM said.
Unlisted VIA Telecom Inc (威睿電通), one of lead partners of ARM’s mid-range processors, yesterday said it plans to ship its first quad-core handset chip that integrates the power-efficient Cortex-A12 CPU by the end of next year in smartphones with a price tag of between US$300 and US$400.
“We believe chips based on ARM’s Cortex-A12 design will be the mainstream in the future,” VIA chief executive officer Ker Zhang (張可) said yesterday on the sidelines of ARM’s product launch.
In the second half of this year, VIA Telecom will continue to ship handset chips based on ARM’s Cortex A-7 and Cortex A-9 CPU’s, Zhang said. VIA telecom is a subsidiary of local chip designer VIA Technologies Inc (威盛).
ARM partner MediaTek Inc (聯發科) last week unveiled a new quad-core application processor, integrating ARM’s Cortex-A7 CPU design, for tablets.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
RSS