Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is exploring new business opportunities in technologies related to low Earth orbit (LEO) and smart car connectivity, the company said yesterday.
Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) last week said that an LEO satellite from Hon Hai might be seen in the sky next year, as the company aims to create more value and higher returns for its shareholders, while the firm told yesterday’s forum that Microelectronics Technology Inc (台揚科技), a 5G equipment and satellite component supplier that it fully owns via its subsidiaries, has tapped into the LEO satellite receiver market.
At the NExT Forum, organized by the Hon Hai Research Institute (鴻海研究院), industry experts discussed the development of 5G and 6G (B5G) technologies, as well as opportunities that lie beyond, focusing on LEO supply chains and their link to the fulfillment of autonomous vehicles.
Photo: CNA
Numerous applications rely on having full coverage of B5G, LEO and low-latency networks with high-reliability design, research institute chairman Wu Jen-ming (吳仁銘) said.
National Space Organization Director-General Wu Jong-shine (吳宗信) said that a large-scale company such as Hon Hai should tap into space travel and space colonies, adding that such businesses would drive growth over the next 20 to 30 years.
To meet growing demand for full Internet coverage, especially in rural areas, existing 5G networks can be integrated with 6G technology or LEO satellite technology, Wu said.
There are four LEO satellite projects globally: SpaceX’s Starlink, the UK and India’s Oneweb, Amazon.com Inc’s Project Kuiper and Canada’s Telesat, he said.
By the end of the year, Starlink is to take the lead with 3,400 satellites launched, he said.
Some local networking companies and precision machinery companies have joined Starlink’s supply chain, supplying ground equipment for satellites, he added.
Wu said he is upbeat about business opportunities related to LEO satellites, as there are expected to be 50,000 satellites in the sky by 2030, with 77.5 percent of them being LEO satellites.
The ground equipment segment in 2020 comprised a significant portion of the global space economy, contributing US$135.3 billion, data compiled by Bryce Space and Technology and Euroconsult showed.
The global space economy is expected to expand to US$1 trillion by 2040 from US$371 billion in 2020, Wu said.
The satellite industry accounted for 74 percent of the global space economy in 2020, he said, citing data from Bryce Space and Technology and Euroconsult.
The research institute, which was established in January last year, directs the exploration of next-generation telecommunications and semiconductor technologies. It has focused on 5G-related technologies, satellite payload technologies and the ability to deploy satellite receiving stations.
STEADY: Prices are to rebound following inventory rebuilding demand, TrendForce said, with Samsung Electronics Co further trimming capacity as it slashes DDR4 lines The contract prices of DRAM chips are to rise by as much as 18 percent sequentially this quarter — the first price upticks in about eight quarters — driven mainly by inventory rebuilding demand for DRAM chips used in mobile devices and PCs, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) projected yesterday. The price rebound is led by a quarterly increase of mobile DRAM chips, which are to climb between 13 percent and 18 percent quarter-on-quarter this quarter, which has not been seen since the fourth quarter of 2021, the Taipei-based market researcher predicted. Likewise, the price of mainstream PC DDR4 DRAM is expected to bounce
SOLID FOUNDATION: Given its decades of expertise in megatronics, manufacturing and robotics, Japan has the wherewithal to create its own AI, Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp plans to help build an artificial intelligence (AI) tech-related ecosystem in Japan to meet demand in a country eager to gain an edge in this emerging technology. The US company will seek to partner with Japanese research organizations, companies and start-ups to build factories for AI, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday during opening remarks in a meeting with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura. The company is to set up an AI research laboratory, and invest in local start-ups and educate the public on using AI, Huang said. Huang earlier this week met with Japanese Prime
A Hong Kong court postponed a court hearing on troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande Group’s (恆大集團) winding-up petition scheduled for yesterday until Jan. 29. Evergrande is trying to win support from its creditors for a plan to restructure more than US$300 billion in debt to stave off liquidation. The company’s lawyer told the court it was requesting an adjournment to “refine” its new debt restructuring plan. The Hong Kong High Court has postponed the hearing over Evergrande’s potential liquidation several times. Judge Linda Chan (陳靜芬) had said in October that yesterday’s hearing would be the last before a decision is handed down. Chan
Huawei Technologies Co (華為) is among a field of “very formidable” competitors to Nvidia Corp in the race to produce the best artificial intelligence (AI) chips, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday. Huawei, Intel Corp and an expanding group of semiconductor start-ups pose a stiff challenge to Nvidia’s dominant position in the market for AI accelerators, Huang told reporters in Singapore. Shenzhen-based Huawei has grown into China’s chip tech champion and returned to the spotlight this year with an advanced made-in-China smartphone processor. “We have a lot of competitors, in China and outside China,” Huang said. “Most of our competitors
RSS