According to a recent study released by Compass Intelligence (CompassIntel.com), a leading market research consulting firm in the information technology and communications field, NXP Semiconductors has been named one of the world's top three artificial intelligence (AI) chip companies. The selection list covers the world's leading companies in terms of mobile devices, Internet of Things (IoT) and emerging technologies. NXP and NVIDIA and Intel are among the top three AI chip companies that lead AI innovation. NXP is The world’s leading automotive electronics and artificial intelligence IoT chip company, with more than 60 years of leading experience and technology, continues to promote continuous innovation in the artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, automated driving and end-to-end security markets. This award, NXP’s Its AI innovation, product portfolio breadth and scale, market leadership, market coverage and growth potential, and many other comprehensive indicators (economic impact, market resilience, etc.) are among the best. 'Every year we rely on the comprehensive Compass Intelligence framework. Modeling process and metrics-driven market intelligence to rigorously evaluate each of the IoT and AI areas The company, in order to determine the industry leader. 'Compass Intelligence senior consultant and consultant Nadine Manjaro representation.' We are honored to NXP as a leader in promoting innovative AI, included in the top three. '
In markets around the world, NXP's innovation and leadership in the field of artificial intelligence are also widely recognized. NXP will be committed to leading China in the field of artificial intelligence Internet of Things with leading technology and continuous innovation to establish global leadership.
2. High performance of chip business helped Samsung to record profit in the first quarter
Tencent Technology Samsung Electronics released the company’s first quarter earnings report on Thursday. The financial report showed that Samsung Electronics’ first-quarter revenue was 60.5 won, benefiting from continued strength of its chip business and a strong rebound in smart phone business. The 50.5 trillion won increased 19.82%; operating profit was 15.64 trillion won (about 14.4 billion US dollars), a record high; net profit was 11.6 trillion won (about 10.7 billion US dollars), an increase of 52.11%.
I. Revenue growth rate
Samsung Electronics’ first-quarter revenue was 60.5 won, which was an increase of 19.82% from 50.5 trillion won for the same period last year. The company had expected its first-quarter revenue to grow 18.69% year-on-year, from 50.5 trillion won in the same period last year. 60 trillion won.
Although Samsung Electronics maintained a relatively high growth rate, it was lower than the 23.7% in the previous quarter and 29.7% in the third quarter of last year.
Second, operating profit hit a record high
Samsung Electronics’ operating profit in the first quarter hit a record of 15.6 trillion won for the company, an increase of 58.03% from the same period of last year. The company had predicted in its financial report released earlier this month that the company’s operating profit in the first quarter would be expected to reach 15.6 trillion won. (About US$14.6 billion), an increase of 57.58% from 9.89 trillion won for the same period of last year
Third, the rapid growth of net profit
Samsung Electronics' net profit in the first quarter reached 11.6 trillion won (approximately 10.7 billion US dollars), an increase of 52.11% from 7.6 trillion won in the same period of last year. In the past six quarters, Samsung Electronics was boosted by a significant increase in chip business performance. The year-on-year growth of electronic net profit has remained at above 45%.
Fourth, mobile phone business operating profit continues to grow rapidly
The first-quarter operating profit of Samsung Electronics including mobile phone business IT and mobile division was 3.77 trillion won, an increase of 82% from 2.07 trillion won in the same period of last year. The company stated that the operating profit of mobile phone business increased significantly year-on-year, thanks to advances. Galaxy S9 was released, and the previous generation Galaxy S8 continued to perform perfectly. Samsung Electronics released the Galaxy S9 in March this year, which was earlier than the time to market for the previous generation Galaxy S8. Samsung Electronics earlier this month suggested that the Galaxy S9 was shipped. The volume has exceeded 10 million.
However, industry observers are still skeptical that Samsung Electronics’ mobile phone business will continue to shine in the future, because the company’s share of the Chinese and Indian markets is constantly eroded by Chinese manufacturers.
V. Decline in operating profit of home appliance business
Samsung Electronics’ operating profit for the consumer electronics business in the first quarter was 280 billion won, down from 401 billion won in the same period of last year. The company said that the operating profit of consumer appliance business declined year-on-year, mainly because the company reduced its mid- to low-end product line. Quantity, put energy into high-end products.
VI. Strong performance in chip business
Samsung Electronics currently controls approximately two-thirds of the global DRAM memory chip market. The chip company's operating profit in the first quarter reached 11.6 trillion won, higher than the 6.31 trillion won in the same period of last year; revenue reached 20.78 trillion won. Operating profit reached 55.6%. According to data provided by InSpectrum Tech, the agreement price of the 32GB DRAM server module in the first quarter was up 5.6% from the previous quarter, and the agreement price of the second 128GB MLC NAND flash memory chip was down by 11%.
Samsung Electronics said that due to the recovery of server processor and mobile phone industry demand, the company's chip business will continue to grow in the second quarter. The company said that the current demand for server DRAM chips in China and the United States is very strong. Tencent Technology
3.Qualcomm attends Shangtang Artificial Intelligence Summit: Accelerate terminal-side artificial intelligence implementation
Original title: Qualcomm participated in the Shangtang artificial intelligence summit: Working with ecosystem partners to accelerate the realization of terminal artificial intelligence
In the micro-message news, creAIte was created with wisdom. The 2018 Shang Tang artificial intelligence summit was held in Beijing. Qualcomm, as an important global strategic partner of Shangtang Technology, was the only chip-side partner participating in the event. Ecosystem partners shared the breakthrough and exploration in the field of terminal artificial intelligence.
Around mobile terminals and Internet of Things (IoT) products, Qualcomm and Shangtang Technology have maintained in-depth cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence. They will study machine-learning models and algorithms of Shangtang Technology, and provide Qualcomm artificial intelligence engines capable of providing advanced heterogeneous computing capabilities. The combination of AI Engine (AIE) promotes the popularization and development of terminal-side artificial intelligence, including innovations in applications such as face unlocking and video real-time style conversion.
Sun Gang, vice president of product marketing and sales at Qualcomm Technologies, stated: 'Business Tang Technology is a very important partner in the artificial intelligence field of Qualcomm Technologies. Relying on Shang Tang's innovative AI algorithm, combined with strong processing supported by Qualcomm artificial intelligence engine AI Engine. Performance, the cooperation between the two parties has helped a number of smart terminal manufacturers to launch a new terminal-side AI applications.
At present, both parties not only support smart phone manufacturers to launch AI use cases on smart phones, but also displayed the latest results of the cooperation between the two companies during this year's MWC - real-time video style conversion. It can collect real-time video from cameras and process them through models. A special stylized effect video. The artificial intelligence algorithm of Shang Tang Technology and the AIE integrated in Qualcomm's mobile platform support the algorithm's balance between computing power and power consumption, ensuring a richer video color after stylization. , The details are more obvious, full of sense of hierarchy and three-dimensional, while ensuring the real-time and smoothness of the converted video.
In addition, Qualcomm's cooperation with Shangtang Technology has also been extended to IoT products. Both parties have migrated algorithms such as facial recognition to the newly launched Qualcomm Vision Intelligence Platform (Qualcomm Vision Intelligence Platform) that integrates Qualcomm AIE. The terminal can also use the powerful computing power of the visual intelligence platform to implement camera processing and machine learning on the terminal side.
Qualcomm believes that the efficient operation of terminal-side artificial intelligence involves multiple processing capabilities, and the complexity of many algorithm combinations cannot be solved in the best way by a single artificial intelligence kernel. In contrast, the power consumption of artificial intelligence users experience The performance conditions are different, so we need programmable heterogeneous computing. Qualcomm AIE's heterogeneous computing solutions provide developers with a wider range of choices, for different types of functions, based on different types of data, in different calculation accuracy At the level, it supports a large number of convolutional or recurrent neural networks.
Currently, Qualcomm is promoting the development of artificial intelligence through extensive ecosystem cooperation. Many global leading OEM manufacturers, developers and cloud ecosystem vendors have adopted or announced support for Qualcomm AIE to optimize and accelerate artificial intelligence applications. Many leading ecosystem partners, including Shang Tang Technology, have conducted a large number of algorithm and model optimizations for Xiaolong platform to enable its application to run efficiently on Xiaolong platform. Qualcomm AIE can adapt to various third-party applications. The algorithm allows developers and OEMs to perform rich and differentiated development.
4.United Kingdom United States, Europe, Japan Companies invest USD 1.4 billion in AI
Sina Technology News Beijing time on April 26 morning news, the United States of technology giants, European telecommunications companies, Japanese venture capital companies and the British government have joined forces in the UK's artificial intelligence industry invested billions of pounds (about 1.4 billion USD).
The agreement includes a total of 300 million pounds of private financing, 300 million pounds of new government spending, and the UK’s earlier announced 400 million pounds investment.
'Artificial intelligence provides unlimited opportunities for the development of new, efficient and ready-to-use products and services.' British Commerce Secretary Gregg Clarke said in an email on Thursday.
In terms of prioritizing the development of artificial intelligence, the United Kingdom, like many other countries, places the development of emerging high technologies at the core of the country’s future development. For example, China set a goal last year: To become the world’s leader in artificial intelligence by 2030. .
Anthony Phillips, the North American Trade Commissioner and Consul General in New York, said in an interview before the announcement that the United Kingdom is not competitive with China in terms of total financial support or some government-run artificial intelligence projects. Despite this, he said, Britain may explore the most cutting-edge fields such as ethics, safety and supervision.
The European Commission said on Wednesday that by 2020, the United Kingdom will need to invest at least 2 billion euros ($24 billion) for research on artificial intelligence, and that the same amount of investment should be guaranteed each year.
As part of the UK government’s plan, Canadian venture capital firm Chrysalix will set up an office in the UK and will invest 110 million pounds in the development of artificial intelligence and robotics. Global Brain, which has invested in a similar business, will establish a European headquarters in the United Kingdom and In the next five years, it will invest 35 million pounds in technology startups.
Microsoft, International Business Machines Corporation and Facebook, together with consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and pharmaceutical company Pfizer, have not publicly made investment commitments.
As part of the transaction, Cambridge University has agreed to open its artificial-intelligence supercomputer worth £10 million and use it for commercial purposes. The government stated that it will fund 1,000 PhDs for artificial intelligence and related topics, as well as for British high schools. Train 8000 new computer science teachers.
Cambridge University has also invested £9 million in a new Ethical Data and Innovation Center at the Allen Turing Institute, which will study principles and codes of conduct for AI security and ethical use of machine learning. Rolls-Royce Holdings The company will jointly carry out these projects with the Institute.
Phillipson said: 'If we want to maximize the use of innovation opportunities in these areas, we need to find the right balance between innovation and regulation. ' He also added that the Alan Turing Institute's new moral data and innovation The center will advise regulators on how to achieve this balance. He also mentioned the results of a study commissioned by a government-appointed committee (led by Wendy Hall, a renowned computer scientist at the University of Southampton): 2035 In the year, the artificial intelligence industry may increase the UK's economic output by 654 billion pounds. (Black Nile) Sina Technology
5.STMicroelectronics' net income in the first quarter of 2018 was US$2.23 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.2%
STMicroelectronics, Inc., a global leader in semiconductors across multiple electronic applications, announced its first quarter earnings report as of March 31, 2018.
In the first quarter, ST’s net income totaled 2.23 billion U.S. dollars, gross margin was 39.9%, net profit was 239 million U.S. dollars, and diluted earnings per share was 0.26 U.S. dollars.
Carlo Bozotti, president and chief executive officer of STMicroelectronics, stated: 'At the beginning of 2018, all our product divisions and regional companies achieved double-digit year-on-year growth in sales revenue again.'
From a month-on-month basis, sales revenue and gross profit margin in the first quarter were higher than the middle range of the company's guidance target range. Although the smart phone market was not expected to be adversely affected by seasonal factors, due to our adoption in the field of smart driving and the Internet of Things With application-centric strategies, the automotive and industrial markets performed better than seasonal performance.
'Net income increased by 22.2% year-on-year, gross profit margin was 39.9%, an increase of 220 basis points year-on-year; operating profit margin was 12.1%, an increase of 480 basis points year-on-year. To support our growth plan, capital expenditures were high in the first quarter and free cash flow was higher. The year-on-year increase of 53% reached $95 million. At the end of the quarter, the net financial position remained stable at $522 million.
Financial Summary (Unit: Million US Dollars)
First quarter review
In the first quarter, net revenue fell by 9.8% from the previous quarter, which was 20 basis points higher than the median of the company's guidance. From a quarter-on-quarter perspective, revenue from microcontrollers and digital IC products (MDG) increased by 1.3%. The Automotive Products and Discrete Devices Division ( ADG) revenue was reduced by 0.5%, and sales of smart driving and IoT products were better than seasonality. Analog Devices, MEMS and Sensors Division (AMS) revenue decreased by 27.4%, mainly due to the seasonal adverse effects of smart phone applications. Negative impact on the company's imaging business.
Compared with the same period of last year, net income increased by 22.2% in the first quarter, and all product divisions achieved double-digit revenue growth. Specifically, the revenue of microcontrollers and digital IC products (MDG) increased by 26.6%, which mainly benefited from Strong growth in microcontroller sales; Analog Devices, MEMS and Sensors Division (AMS) revenue growth of 26.5%, mainly due to the significant increase in sales revenue of imaging products, growth in analog devices and MEMS revenue; Automotive Products and Discrete Devices Division (ADG) ) Income increased by 15.4% to double-digit growth.
In terms of sales to regions, revenue in Europe, the Middle East and Africa increased by 8.4% from the previous quarter, 1.8% in the Americas, and 18.2% in the Asia Pacific region. In terms of the year-on-year, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Americas Increased by 24.5%, 22.4% and 12.7% respectively.
Gross profit in the first quarter was US$888 million, with a gross margin of 39.9%, which was 40 basis points higher than the median of the company’s guidance. Affected by normal price pressures and exchange rates, gross margin dropped by 80 basis points QoQ, however, the optimized product portfolio The increase in manufacturing efficiency partially offsets the normal price pressure and the negative impact of exchange rates. From a year-on-year perspective, gross margin increased by 220 basis points, mainly due to higher manufacturing efficiency and product mix optimization. However, normal price pressure and deduction hedge The negative impact of foreign exchange factors on the net value of hedged investments offset some of the growth. • R&D and sales management combined spending totaled US$614 million, compared to US$590 million in the previous quarter. R&D and sales management spending increased by US$48 million year-on-year. The reason is the negative impact of exchange rate deductions on hedged net income and inflation factors.
In the first quarter, other income and expenditure items recorded a net profit of 16 million U.S. dollars, which was 18 million U.S. dollars and 17 million U.S. dollars in the same period last year and the same period last year.
The first quarter impaired reorganization expenditure was US$21 million, which was US$20 million and US$5 million respectively in the previous quarter and the same period last year, mainly related to the basic completion of the set-top box business restructuring plan announced in January 2016.
In the first quarter, operating profit was US$269 million, accounting for 12.1% of net revenue, compared to US$411 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, accounting for 16.7% of net revenue, and US$132 million in the first quarter of 2017, accounting for 7.3% of net revenue. On a year-on-year basis, all product divisions improved their operating performance due to increased revenues and improved gross margins: MDG's operating margin improved from 10.3% to 19.5%; ADG's operating margin doubled, from 5.5% to 11.0%; AMS operations The profit rate increased from 7.6% to 9.8%.
First-quarter net profit was US$239 million, and diluted earnings per share was US$0.26. In the fourth quarter of 2017, net profit was US$308 million, US$0.34 per share; although the quarter-on-quarter ratio decreased, the year-on-year increase was significant. Net profit for the first quarter of 2017 For $108 million, the diluted earnings per share was $0.12.
Cash flow and balance sheet summary
In the first quarter of 2018, capital expenditures after deduction of securities sales amounted to US$ 351 million, compared with US$ 407 million in the previous quarter and US$ 219 million in the same period last year.
In the first quarter of 2018, free cash flow (1) was $95 million, which was a substantial increase from the $62 million in the same period last year.
As of the end of the quarter, inventory was 1.43 billion US dollars. In the first quarter of 2018, inventory turnover was 3.7 weeks or 97 days.
In the first quarter, the company had distributed cash dividends totaling 54 million U.S. dollars.
As of March 31, 2018, the net financial position of the company (1) was 522 million U.S. dollars; As of December 31, 2017, the company’s net financial position was 489 million U.S. dollars. As of March 31, 2018, the company’s financial resources totaled 22.3 million. Billion U.S. dollars, with total liabilities of 1.71 billion U.S. dollars, and total equity, including non-controlling interests, was 5.77 billion U.S. dollars.
(1) Non-US GAAP
Business Outlook for the Second Quarter of 2018
The company expects revenue growth of approximately 1.5% QoQ in the second quarter of 2018, up and down 3.5%. The gross profit margin in the second quarter is expected to be approximately 40.0%, and will fluctuate by two percentage points.
Mr. Bozotti said: 'Despite weak demand for smart phones in the first half of 2018, we expect revenue in the second quarter and first half will increase by 17.5% and 19.8% respectively year-on-year, reaching the intermediate level of the company's guiding target range, thanks to Sales revenue from automotive, industrial and internet of things products continues to outperform seasonal sales trends.
'We are optimistic that market demand will increase steadily in the second half of this year. There are a lot of backlogs in all our product divisions, all regions, and end markets including smartphones.'
The outlook for the second quarter is based in part on the exchange rate of the dollar against the euro in the second quarter of 2018, which is approximately $1.21 = 1.00 euros, including the impact of the current hedging contract. The closing date for the second quarter is June 30, 2018.