Set micronet messages, Recently, the list of unconditional approval of operator concentration cases published in the official website of the Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce in the second quarter of 2018 shows that the newly established joint venture case of Ningde Times New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and Dongfeng Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd. has been approved. And this is only another fruit in many cases of cooperation between the Ningde era and the whole vehicle.
Holding hands with Dongfeng for the third time
The relationship between Ningde era and Dongfeng is quite deep. In December 2016, it signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Dongfeng. The agreement stipulates that the two sides will jointly build a cooperation platform in the field of new energy automobile industry, forming mutual support, complementary advantages, coordinated development and mutual benefit. A win-win cooperation situation.
In addition, in October 2017, Dongfeng announced its participation in the Ningde era. This shareholding is obviously a step closer to the previously established strategic agreement.
The establishment of the joint venture company indicates that Dongfeng is no longer a simple shareholding model, but begins to explore a path to deepen cooperation and enhance the battery core technology capabilities.
According to relevant experts, the battery must be built on and off. After the cooperation between the OEM and the battery manufacturer, they can complement each other in product design and R&D routes.
Zero-cooperation and open up a new business model
Ningde era as a new leader in batteries, the news of cooperation with the vehicle continues, showing zero cooperation on the one hand to create a new business model, on the other hand has changed the traditional zero relationship.
In May of last year, SAIC Group stated that it will establish two joint ventures through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Shanghai Automotive Group Investment Management Co., Ltd. and Ningde Times, namely, Times Automotive Power Battery Co., Ltd. and SAIC Era Power Battery System Co., Ltd. The joint venture company, the two complement each other and penetrate the entire industry chain.
In October last year, Changan announced a new energy strategy, arbitrarily 100 billion in the new energy field, and announced a specific distribution plan. Through this distribution plan, it can be seen that Changan Automobile will invest heavily in the entire industry chain, among which The investment in the battery field is as high as 30 billion yuan. According to reports, this includes the participation in the Ningde era.
In addition to cooperation with the above-mentioned manufacturers, the Ningde era has cooperated with domestic mainstream automakers such as BAIC and Geely. The battery 'friend circle' built in Ningde era is expanding.
Industry chain to the high end
After the implementation of the double-points policy, OEMs need to plan for the future to capture the core industry chain of electric vehicles.
According to the analysis of Zhongtai Securities, the implementation of the double-point system indicates that the new energy vehicle market has gradually shifted from policy promotion to market-driven. Moreover, the industrial chain as a whole has turned to high-end development, and the design of lithium batteries and materials in the whole vehicle is in technology. Higher requirements are put forward in terms of cost.
Therefore, the above cooperation is not so much for now, but rather for paying for the future. From the industry, the pressure of new energy currently faced by any automobile factory is very huge, and it is necessary to constantly pay attention to the mastery of key technologies and core resources. And through joint ventures, it can not only extend the industrial chain, but also have more voice.
Moreover, the competition in the new energy market has risen from the point-to-point competition of enterprises, technologies, products and services to the integration of the industrial chain and the ability of ecosystem construction, chain and chain competition. If there is no component enterprise Strong support, vehicle manufacturers can not win such market competition.
Such a new business model will also be unstoppable.
2. Since 2020, Apple will no longer use Intel 5G baseband chips, and MediaTek will benefit from it.
Sina Technology News Beijing time on July 5 evening news, foreign media today quoted people familiar with the news, from 2020 Apple iPhone will no longer use Intel's 5G Modem chip.
Informed sources said that Apple has informed Intel that the iPhone will no longer use Intel's baseband chips in the future. It is expected that Apple's decision will be implemented from 2020, and will not affect the iPhone in 2019.
As we all know, Intel is developing the 'Sunny Peak' chipset, which integrates 5G Modem, WiFi and Bluetooth. Moreover, this chipset is also largely developed for Apple. Intel executives also hope to win Apple in the future. This big customer. But after receiving the notice from Apple, Intel has reassigned the team members to other 5G related projects.
Although the 'Sunny Peak' chipset was abandoned by Apple, Intel executives believe that it can be improved in the future and may be used on the iPhone in 2022.
It's unclear why Apple gave up 'Sunny Peak', but according to Apple's internal documents, there are many factors that have led to this result. First, the introduction of the WiGig Wi-Fi standard has brought a new look to mobile devices. Unpredictable challenges.
Although the 'Sunny Peak' chipset is deprecated, it does not mean that Intel will withdraw from the Apple supply chain. Currently, Intel and Qualcomm jointly provide Modem chips for Apple. It is reported that Apple will adjust the baseband order ratio, used by the iPhone this year. 70% of the baseband chip will be provided by Intel. In 2019, Qualcomm baseband chips will be completely abandoned. It is widely expected that 5G will not be widely popular before 2020. Usually, Apple will not adopt the new standard first. Apple is moving at its own 5G. The implementation of the strategy has put a lot of effort into it, and Intel executives attribute the company's 'outs' to multiple factors, including the introduction of the faster WiGig (802.11ad) wireless standard, which brings new and unanticipated The challenge.
Some media reports said that Intel has not given up the hope of vying for Apple's modem chip orders. It is said that it still hopes to provide 5G chips for Apple products released in 2022.
As the legal proceedings between Apple and Qualcomm continue, the iPhone will have limited choice of 5G baseband chips in the future. In addition to Intel, MediaTek will be left. MediaTek recently released a new 5G Modem, which is reported to be MediaTek. Also plans to provide WiFi chips for Apple's HomePod smart speakers, which will pave the way for MediaTek to provide 5G baseband chips for Apple.
It is worth mentioning that after talking with Qualcomm until the courts intervened, Apple is also considered to be actively developing modem chips on its own. However, iOS devices will continue to use third-party chips until the internal solution matures.
Recently there have been rumors that Intel supplies about 70% of LTE chips for the Apple 2018 product line, and the rest comes from Qualcomm.
But what worries Intel most is that Apple's Mac product line is gradually getting out of the company's chips. There are rumors that Apple is developing a self-developed custom chip that is expected to be used on the Mac.
3.5G commercial sprint
The pace of 5G commercial is getting closer and closer. The first terminal to present its power is a smart phone. However, for ordinary users, 5G and 4G are only faster network speeds, and mobile phone manufacturers directly sell 5G mobile phones. Operators can purchase new mobile phone tariff packages. But the specific application of this is only the last step. Now Intel, Qualcomm, Huawei and other vendors are competing for the industry chain.
Since the end of 2017, chip manufacturers have rushed to run 5G chips. Qualcomm, Intel, Huawei, and MediaTek have released 3GPP baseband chips for 3GPP standards. It is expected that terminals equipped with these chips will be available in 2019. Among them, terminals include Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, millet and other brands of 5G mobile phones, as well as PC, commercial equipment, etc.
The chips in the mobile phone mainly include RF chips, baseband modems and core application processors. The main manufacturers of RF chips are Skyworks, Qorvo, TriQuint, etc. The core application processor is the most common CPU and GPU, such as Qualcomm's Xiaolong series, there is still no manufacturer in this field to shake the position of Qualcomm; and the baseband modem, the most critical manufacturers include Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung, HiSilicon and Spreadtrum.
However, the gradual release of the modem does not mean that the 5G picture has been fully realized. Intel University of Technology and Intel's wireless technology and standard chief technical expert Wu Geng told the 21st Century Business Herald: 'In fact, now 5G is only the overall level of new generation technology. A starting point, not an end point. '
5G baseband chip '比武'
The main scene of 5G communication is still mobile phone. Although the planning prospect of IoT IoT is very large, it is worth looking forward to, but the large-scale application that is first landed is definitely a mobile terminal. Among them, the chip is the key of smart phone terminal.
The global pattern of mobile phone chips is very clear. At present, the United States is in an unassailable position on core chips such as processors. It represents Qualcomm, Intel, and Apple. Korea is unique in storage and has a strong market share, such as Samsung, Sea. Lux. Europe has core technologies in the upstream industry of chips, such as ASML in the Netherlands. Taiwan relies on the advantages of industrial subduction belts, and has owned more than two global chips and industrial chain companies such as MediaTek and TSMC.
Now the mainland has made some achievements in the processor, such as Huawei's Hess Kirin series; in the baseband chip market share is also in the top five in the world. But integrated RF chip, memory chip, core processor, baseband chip, etc., mainland technology The level is still in the world's third-rate. However, the opportunity worth grasping is that China attaches great importance to the 5G standard, and it must be the largest market for 5G technology application. The application scenarios of major cities and regions are the most complex and most industrial.
The chips in the mobile phone mainly include memory chips and various processors. The processors mainly include RF chips, baseband modems and core application processors. The market size of RF chips is currently about 20 billion US dollars, which is equivalent to the market size of baseband chips. The entire storage chip, including various storage markets, is about 80 billion US dollars. The potential of the RF chip market can not be underestimated. From the current market share, RF chips are mainly controlled by European and American manufacturers. For example, BAW in RF chips. The filter market, dominated by Avago and Qorvo, accounts for more than 95% of the market. The terminal power amplifier market is dominated by Skyworks, Qorvo, Murata.
However, at present, Intel, Qualcomm, Huawei, MediaTek's four giants released 5G chips are baseband chips. In October 2017, Qualcomm released the first 5G modem 骁龙X50 supporting 28GHz millimeter wave, which only supports 28GHz millimeter wave; In November, Intel also released its first 5G modem XMM8060, which not only supports 28GHz millimeter wave, but also supports sub-6GHz low frequency band. Huawei released Baron 5G01 and the first 3GPP based on this chip in February 2018. Standard 5G commercial terminal CPE, Baron 5G01 and Sub chips support Sub-6GHz and millimeter wave. However, for mobile 5G chips, Huawei plans to launch in 2019; latecomer MediaTek launched the first 5G baseband in June 2018. Chip M70.
Technical difficulties are still
However, in the process of mass production of chips, there are still many problems. Yao Jiayang said that there are five main technical difficulties in mass production of 5G chips. The first is that they must be compatible with 3G/4G downwards. The second is spectrum. The extent of support; the third is whether the mastery of millimeter wave technology (above 28 GHz) is high enough; the fourth is whether the built-in DSP capability of the 5G baseband chip is sufficient to support a larger amount of data calculation; the fifth is the chip itself. Size, power performance (including the efficiency of the operation is sufficient, this will also involve the heat dissipation of the system design).
Zou Ning, director of communications technology policy and standards at Intel China, told the 21st Century Business Herald: 'The 5G standard is very complicated. There are many models now. There have been 6 models in the past, plus 5GNR is 7-mode, chip design complexity. It will be very high. This is a big challenge. In addition, many supported frequency bands, because we as terminal chip manufacturers, we need to launch a general-purpose chip that needs to be supported in various regions of the world, so we need to support frequencies in different countries and regions. Including the low frequency, intermediate frequency, 3.5GHz, 4.9GHz Chinese frequency band, also includes high frequency, such as 28GHz, 39GHz frequency band in the United States, South Korea, Japan. The frequency band support is also more complicated, between different modes, the frequency band There are various switches to be made. '
In addition, Wu Geng added: 'There is also carrier aggregation, the total number of it is huge, and our wireless front-end needs to be arranged and combined to support all possibilities.'
In addition to strengthening their technical capabilities, it can be seen that manufacturers are constantly increasing their allies. For example, Intel United Ziguang jointly launched the 5G strategy in February this year. The two companies cooperated to target high-end 5G mobile phone chips, which will be jointly developed for the Chinese market. The new 5G smartphone platform of Intel 5G modem is planned to be launched in parallel with the deployment of 5G mobile network in 2019. MediaTek has recently entered the Jaguar wave, and the two companies have cooperated to develop 5G and millimeter wave related technologies and products. The general agreement with OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi and other mobile phone manufacturers signed a subscription agreement. Recently, Huawei and China Unicom signed a 5G strategic cooperation.
Then, in the fierce commercial sprint stage, which manufacturer will win? Yao Jiayang, an analyst at Tuoba Industrial Research Institute, analyzed the 21st Century Business Reporter: 'Huawei has launched the CPE version in the 5G chip field, but in terms of mobile chips, Still behind Qualcomm and Intel. However, because Huawei has a considerable degree of voice in the 3GPP field, the attitude of the 5G standard is quite positive. Even if it is behind in the 5G mobile chip field, we believe that it will be between 2019 and 2020. Huawei should have the opportunity to catch up with Intel and Qualcomm. As for Intel, its 4G LTE chip has already entered the Apple supply chain experience, and notebook manufacturers are also interested in carrying 5G chips. Intel can take advantage of the notebook industry. In addition to the existing solutions of 5G baseband chips, Qualcomm also has a fairly complete layout in analog front ends, such as antennas, amplifiers and filters. Therefore, Qualcomm has further introduced module solutions for 5G mobile products. Competitor. '
At the same time, he also said: 'Considering that OEMs and ODMs of end systems may not be willing to be limited by a single supplier, Qualcomm will be the primary supplier, but other competitors such as Intel are still in the 5G market. There are many opportunities. '21st Century Business Herald
4. MOSFET is out of stock, picking up the single row to the end of the year, brewing the next wave of price increases
Global MOSFET production capacity is lacking, ODM/OEM factory and system factory customers grab capacity, Taiwan factory Dazhong, Fuding, Nixon, Jieli and other third quarter orders are full, orders can be seen until the end of the year, is brewing the next wave of prices Rising up.
Due to the increased demand for industrial and automotive electronics, MOSFETs are turning to high-end MOSFETs and IGBT-related applications. Foreign companies are gradually withdrawing from the low-power MOSFET market, including: Italian, Infineon and other international IDM manufacturers have already had MOSFET capacity in the second half of the year. After being booked, coupled with the current lack of 8-inch wafer foundry capacity, the formation of MOSFETs, fingerprint recognition, power management chips and other preemptive capacity, which led to downstream system manufacturers and ODM / OEM plants to transfer to Taiwan, each under In the first half of the year, the visibility of orders increased greatly, and orders were in short supply.
In particular, Dazhong is the most directly benefited. Due to the tight production capacity of 8-inch low-voltage MOSFETs, the second quarter revenue was flat to a slight growth. The industry expects that the MOSFET out-of-stock situation will be difficult to improve in the short term. The company continues to adjust its product mix and strive for the camp. The gains and profits have been maximized, and it is expected that prices will rise again in August. Together with the recent stock price boost, the record high since the listing.
The industry expects that the current MOSFET out-of-stock situation, supply tightness may continue until the first half of 2019, mainly due to limited market supply capacity, and the demand for MOSFETs in automotive and industrial applications is rising, which is conducive to the development of the market. The industry pointed out that large multinational peers Products that focus on higher-end, higher gross margins, such as IGBTs for automotive and industrial applications, silicon carbide MOSFETs, and super-junction MOSFETs, have increased the delivery time of distributor MOSFETs and IGBTs to more than six months.
Foreign capacity expansion is still far from enough to meet current demand, and mainly for future vehicle use, industrial orders, some older product lines and traditional applications have received product suspension notice, therefore, expected Taiwan's MOSFET supply chain By taking advantage of the market share of traditional applications such as computers and laptops, it will benefit from the tighter industrial demand in the near future.
5.Qualcomm and Baidu DuerOS let wireless Bluetooth headsets 'understand' users
On July 4th, at the Baidu AI Developer Conference held in Beijing, Baidu officially released DuerOS3.0. At the Baidu Smart Life Forum held in the same period, Baidu and Qualcomm jointly demonstrated the small Bluetooth+DuerOS3 jointly created by the two parties. 0 version of the Bluetooth audio product solution.
The Qualcomm QCC5100 series of Baidu DuerOS Bluetooth audio products will support the design of wireless Bluetooth headsets with a range of AI functions, including: wake up Bluetooth headsets with 'small degrees'; natural language communication with Bluetooth headsets; Interactively activate various non-touch voice services and resources provided by Baidu, such as navigation, music, audio programs, news, telephone and information consultation. The cooperation between the two parties will help the industry launch a wireless Bluetooth headset that supports voice wake-up function, allowing users to Call the voice assistant with very low power consumption anytime, anywhere, and enjoy the top quality sound, a true wireless experience.
Hou Mingjuan, vice president of Qualcomm Marketing, was invited to attend the event and delivered a keynote speech. She said: 'Bluetooth headphones with high-quality sound, smart speakers have become a demand for many consumers.
Qualcomm cooperates with Baidu to combine Bluetooth headsets, smart speakers and other products with conversational AI technology to meet consumers' demand for wireless, low-power, high-performance intelligent audio products.
The QCC5100 series is Qualcomm's new low-power Bluetooth system-on-chip (SoC), introduced at CES this year, to help manufacturers develop a new generation of feature-rich compact wireless earbuds, ear-worn devices and headsets to satisfy consumers. High quality sound, long battery life and long playback time in wireless audio equipment. Its integrated low power, high performance quad core processing, support for Qualcomm TrueWireless stereo, Qualcomm aptX HD audio, integrated hybrid active noise reduction (ANC), and Support voice UI and DuerOS voice assistant, allowing users to enjoy a stable, high quality, truly wireless listening experience in a variety of mobile use scenarios.
In addition, the Qualcomm Intelligent Audio Platform supports high-performance CPU and DSP processing, pre-integrated with a range of high-performance Wi-Fi and Bluetooth solutions, industry-leading voice acquisition technology, breakthrough noise suppression algorithms and powerful voice activation Features, and the industry-leading audio codec delivers top-quality sound quality that helps OEMs create truly optimized smart speakers across different product levels and categories.
Qualcomm and Baidu have been cooperating in smart voice for a long time, and hope to bring innovative artificial intelligence voice experience to users. At the end of last year, the two parties announced at the 2nd Xiaolong Technology Summit that they jointly optimized Baidu based on the Xiaolong mobile platform. DuerOS conversational AI system solution on smartphone.
6.3D imaging/sensing quickly introduced into consumer electronics, see $18.5 billion in the 2023 market
Starting with the iPhone X introduced by Apple in 2017, camera modules and optical components designed with structured light, and NIR global Shutter sensors have become 3D sensing technology for consumer products. The new technology standards, all major mobile phone manufacturers are actively introducing this technology into their own products. Therefore, it is expected that the relevant market scale will continue to expand, and it is expected to reach a market size of 18.5 billion US dollars by 2023.
Recently, market research firm Yole Développement released the 3D imaging and sensor industry report for 2018. Pierre Cambou, principal analyst of Yole technology and market, pointed out that although the realization of point source and Flood Illumination VCSEL technology brings high cost. , but this is also the biggest technical surprise for the ultra-high price of the iPhone X.
Yole's report states that the global market for 3D imaging and sensing is expected to increase from $2.1 billion in 2017 to $18.5 billion in 2023. During this period, the market's annual growth rate will reach 44%. The technology will also grow by more than 10% in consumer products, automotive, industrial and other high-end markets. With the advancement of miniaturized semiconductors, 3D imaging and sensors will be used in a variety of different fields, in 2018. The trend will continue. Global image sensors, VCSELs, optical glass and related semiconductor packaging companies will benefit.
In the consumer electronics industry, such as Oppo, Xiaomi, Huawei and other smart phone manufacturers have also proposed various 3D sensing strategies in response to this trend. Once the Android vendor's supply chain is in place, the 3D sensing import rate is estimated to be 2018. 13.5%, increased to 55% in 2023.
However, since the application of the mobile phone on the AR/VR is not yet mature, the 3D camera import rate of the main lens will be limited. In the short term, the introduction of the technology will be dominated by the previous lens. It is worth noting that the technology will also expand. To areas other than mobile phones, especially consumer robots or high-end markets such as medical and industrial. New Electronics