Chinese smartphone brands Archives - Gizmochina

Chinese brands to bring back ToF cameras in new flagship phones: Report

Sean — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 10:16:06 +0000

A new report has revealed that upcoming flagship smartphones from China based vendors will re-adopt ToF camera sensors (Time of Flight). The news arrives as even Apple gears up to include new ToF based LiDAR sensors on its 2021 iPhone Pro lineup.

HONOR 50 Pro

According to a DigiTimes report, industry sources close to the matter have revealed that Chinese brands are raising orders for components and lenses related to the ToF cameras. An example being Honor, which recently adopted ToF sensors on its flagship Honor 50 Pro series through Taiwan based supply chain. The suppliers include GaAs foundries Win Semiconductors, Advanced Wireless Semiconductor (AWSC), and others that will also supply Apple with 3D face ID sensors and ToF LiDAR scanners for iPhones.

Furthermore, the source added that certain Huawei P50 series smartphone models will also adopt ToF cameras as well. On the other hand, major smartphone maker, Samsung Electronics, might not be bringing back ToF cameras in its new premium grade flagship handsets and is unlikely to release a smartphone that features this camera this year.

3D ToF sensing technology on OPPO R17 Pro

Although, the source believes that the Taiwanese suppliers are expected to see robust orders in the second half of this year, partly due to strong sales of 5G PA devices and VSCEL chips for new iPhones and flagship smartphones from China based vendors.

Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Vivo to use UTG in foldable smartphones arriving in H2 2021

Sean — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 10:11:25 +0000

Major smartphone brands in China will apparently shift to UTG (Ultra Thin Glass) for their upcoming foldable handsets. These OEMs will opt for these panels as voer windows on flexible phones launching in H2 2021.

As per a report from TheElec, the Chinese brands will be following Samsung in shifting away from polyimide films to glasses for the cover window that is used on the flexible display panels on foldable smartphones. While the original Galaxy Fold that launched in 2019 featured polyimide, its successor and every subsequent foldable models like the Galaxy Z Flip that launched last year now sported UTG panels.

As of right now, every foldable handset from Chinese brands has arrived with polyimide films so far. This includes the likes of the Huawei Mate X2 and Xiaomi Mi MIX Fold, which launched earlier this year. But now, foldable smartphones launching in the second half of this year by Chinese vendors will use UTG panels. Reportedly, the from Xiaomi will launch later this year and will feature an 8.01 inch screen from Samsung Display on the inside that is covered with UTG.

Similarly, Vivo is also gearing up for the launch of its own foldable smartphone in the fourth quarter of this year that will sport an 8 inch display on the inside as well. It will also arrive with UTG for the flexible panel that is made by Samsung Display. Other notable brands include Honor and even Google, which is rumored to launch a 7.6 inch inward folding smartphone.

Smartphone brands in China are working on their own 5G chips: Report

Sean — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 07:02:45 +0000

While Qualcomm and MediaTek are the two primary chip suppliers of smartphone based chipsets, a growing number of Chinese OEMs are working on launching their own proprietary mobile processors.

According to a DigiTimes report, this includes smartphone makers from China like Oppo and Xiaomi, who are working on developing their own 5G SoC. Furthermore, the news also arrives amid a major global ship shortage that has affected various industries across the world. This has even caused companies to struggle to supply semiconductors for their products. Notably, NOR flash chip makers stated that more of their clients are now willing to strike long term supply contracts as well.

Similarly, the demand from MCU clients is also strong in the backend firms. For those unaware, Oppo and Xiaomi are expected to announce their in house sub 6GHz 5G processors sometime between late 2021 and early 2022. This would have both firms join the ranks of other fabless chip makers (firms that design their own chips bt contract production to other companies).

Another vendor that is also working on their own chips includes Unisoc, which will be competing with rival chip makers, Qualcomm and MediaTek, as per sources close to the matter. Talking about the back end firms, companies like SE Technology, Greatek Electronics, Lingsen Precision Industries and Orient Semiconductor Electronics (OSE) are still seeing robust demand for MCUs that are used in a wide array of consumer electronic products, medical care, and even automotive electronics as well.

China smartphone makers spark new hardware specs competition

Sean — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 09:45:30 +0000

China based smartphone makers have sparked another round of hardware specification competition. The news arrives as the companies are raising efforts in expanding their presence in the global market.

Xioami Mi 10

According to DigiTimes report, Xiaomi is currently focusing on developing new smartphones equipped with multiple lenses to improve the photographic performance of its offerings, as per a source. At the moment, about 70 percent of new smartphones from the Chinese tech giant feature up to four camera lenses, with the company aiming at ramping up the shipment ratio of its mid to high end models as well.

The source also added that other brands are also aiming at adopting a similar strategy of offering multiple camera lenses on their smartphone offerings in the mid to entry level segments. Similarly, Oppo has also recently announced that it would be building a new research and development center in Xian, China. This site will develop new technologies and new smartphone series as well. At the moment, the company has its research and development centers in Shenzhen, Dongguan, Xian, and Chengdu in China, and even one in India.

Oppo A55 5G

Furthermore, Oppo has also shipped about 120 million smartphones across the globe last year and seeks to raise its shipments this year. For those unaware, the company is also the world’s fifth largest global smartphone maker in the rankings of 2020, in terms of shipments, behind other giants like Samsung Electronics, Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi.

Profitability of Chinese Smartphone Manufacturers have improved greatly in 2016

Jed John Ikoba — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 11:24:39 +0000

Wondering why the US market is regarded as one of the most lucrative markets in the world, ask Apple. Perhaps having a stronghold in one of the world’s most lucrative markets has helped the tech company gain so much growth globally.

A new report by Canaccord Genuity reveals the US company grabbed a large chunk of the smartphone market last year.Specifically, the report claims Apple captured 92% of the profits accruing to the smartphone industry in Q4 2016. This is even when the company phone sales accounted for only 18% of sales in the market. It may surprise you to know that this is the seventh straight quarter during Apple is raking in over 91% of the entire smartphone industry’s profit. Even in some quarters, the market leader had accrued more than 100% in some cases.

Unfortunately, we cannot understand the parameters used by the analytic firm to draw up their analysis because the report only captured six major smartphone manufacturers and of the six, only four were profitable. Samsung was only able to grab a small piece of the pie (9%) while Sony and Blackberry only got less than 1%. LG and Microsoft completed the list.

Curiously, there are no Chinese phone manufacturers on the list. There is no disputing tht China is one of the largest, fastest growing smartphone markets in the world. Brands such as Huawei, OPPO, Vivo and even Gionee has been making solid performance in phone shipments globally and should perhaps have been on the list.

According to the Secretary General of the Chinese Mobile phone league, Huawei, OPPO and Vivo achieved profitability in 2016 greatly improved over the result of the previous year. Others such as Meizu are expected to achieve profit this year also. But while we accuse the report of being biased, it is instructive to note that despite the growth of the Chinese brand, their profitability is uncomparable to the sort of figure Apple posts due to the pricey nature of their iPhones.

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Ninety Percent of Phones Sold in China Are from Domestic Manufacturers

Jed John Ikoba — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 05:10:51 +0000

With a population running into over a billion persons, the Chinese market is one of the markets in Asia with lots of potentials and prospects for startups and other business. The sheer size of the country means products could get sold only within the country and companies will declare profits even without shipping outside. But the Chinese smartphone brands seem to be at the forefront of making an aggressive foray into lucrative markets overseas. This they do while keeping a firm grip on their own domestic market.

A recent report by the China Academy of Information and Communication showing the statistics of phones shipped in China indicates that last year (2016), a total of 559.7 million mobile phones were shipped in China. This figure represents an 8% increase from the previous year. SUprisingly, the number of new model releases was 1,446 which is down by 3.3 % year-over-year (YOY). This then means the OEMs actually sold more of their older models and not necessarily new phones.

Of the total 559.7 million mobile phones shipped last year, local smartphone makers shipped 497.8 million units in 2016, up 16.1% YOY. The figure accounts for 88.9% of the domestic mobile phone shipments, higher than 85.0% achieved one year ago. Also, the market share of 4G and smart devices continues to grow stably. A total of 519.4 million or 92.8% of total shipments in China support 4G networks, representing a YOY increase of 18%.

According to research, the growth of the domestic smartphone market is based on the growth of local companies like OPPO and Vivo which contributed a huge role to the surge in shipments from domestic companies. OPPO and Vivo stimulated sales of their products via extensive offline retail outlets as well as using innovative designs on their smartphones. Both OPPO and Vivo were revealed to have captured the top two spots in the Chinese smartphone market, raking in 17% and 16% shares respectively in Q3 2016.

The amazing thing is that apart from capturing the domestic market, Chinese smartphone brands are rapidly expanding overseas, taking on markets in Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Africa. Last year alone, Chinese brands grabbed a chunk off the $10-billion USD Indian smartphone market by capturing 50% of the market, thus slicing off from the shares of market leaders like Samsung. The Chinese brands are even more poised to do more exploits this year. Brands like Xiaomi are restructuring to enable them to capture more of the market shares which they once controlled, so the competition will even be higher than last year.

(source)

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