Foxconn, the contract manufacturer of Apple’s iPhone models, has been forced to shut down its production facility in Shenzhen as the government has ordered lockdown because of new cases of COVID-19.

Because of this new lockdown and shutdown of the factory, there could be some delay in shipments of some Apple devices for which Foxconn is responsible for production, which also includes some iPhone models.

The whole city of Shenzhen in China has been placed under lockdown for one week and everything is closed for the 17.5 million residents of the city, including bus and subway system of transportation.

Everything that is not considered essential has been shut down for a week, including the Foxconn factory. The company said that its Shenzhen operations would be suspended until further notice and added that it will now depend on backup plans to prevent disruptions.

Multiple Chinese provinces and cities have tightened restrictions, a move which is in line with Beijing’s zero-tolerance goal of suppressing contagion as quickly as possible.

If the new COVID-19 cases keep rising in China, then the lockdown period could be increased, disrupting production and supply chains, leading to a shortage of chips and components needed to make devices. Some reports indicate that the total number of COVID cases in China this year has already topped the numbers seen throughout 2021.

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Recently, the internationally renowned New York City-based architectural firm, Ennead Architects, announced the firm has successfully got the tender to be in charge of the design and construction of the Xiaomi Group Shenzhen International Headquarters.

Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Xiaomi brand, this HQ construction project, codenamed the “Xiaomi Rubik’s Cube”, will be a graceful architectural fusion between technology and our environmental nature, as the HQ will be integrated into one of Xiaomi’s flagship concept stores, blended in with shorelines of the blooming Shenzhen port city.

As announced in the event, the “Xiaomi Rubik’s Cube” will cover 46 thousand square meters of land, with the cube having 360 degrees illuminating LED panels on its 4 sides, which are namely, its North, South, East and West sides.

Ennead Architects’ member and head architect of the project, Peter Schubert mentioned that the idea of the design came from how the Xiaomi brand is perceived by the public: a tech giant that catches the eye of many and sends waves across the industry. He mentions that the Xiaomi community culture resembles a Rubik’s cube in the sense that problems can be solved in many ways, and you will always get the desired result in the end. 

The unique design of the HQ “Xiaomi Rubik’s Cube” also reflects Xiaomi’s boldness to stand out in the industry, its resilience to always push innovation forward, and its willingness to cooperate with other smartphone manufacturers and suppliers as well, and in the end, it wants to become a leader in the smartphone space.

The Xiaomi Group has invested 7.76 billion RMB to construct its Shenzhen International Headquarters, and throughout 2020 towards 2024, the estimated business revenue would be 51 billion RMB, whereas the surrounding businesses of the HQ are estimated to have an economic growth of 600 million RMB.

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(Via)

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Huawei is apparently planning to build a new fab manufacturing plant in China. The new site will be built in partnership with SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp) and will cost tens of billions of dollars.

The news arrives from Media reports in China, which claim that the smartphone and telecommunications based giant will be setting up a new fab site in Shenzhen. For those unaware, SMIC is China’s largest wafer fab and contract chipmaker. Thus, Huawei will leverage SMIC’s expertise in semiconductor production technology along with its own chip designing capabilities. Notably, the brand also sought TSMC‘s supply chain for cooperation to help grow its semiconductor proficiency via funding.

Additionally, the report also stated (Via HuaweiCentral) that “Recently, Huawei has come to us to help build a fab in the mainland.” It further added that the company’s primary focus at the moment is to acquire an ample amount of equipment and plant resources to reach mass production levels. So, Huawei has reached out to members of the “TSMC Alliance.” This, in turn, would help accelerate setting up its fab while also shortening the time to enter mass production.

Interestingly, the company is even looking for partners to promote its semiconductor production plans. As of right now, the investment amount for this major project is still unknown, although, the company is expected to receive official support as well. For those unaware, US sanctions had cut off Huawei from its primary chip supplier TSMC, so it arrives as no surprise that the company plans to build its own chip plant.

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Honor has just officially announced that it has opened its global headquarters in Shenzhen, China. The company shared the news earlier today (30th August 2021) as various centers for R&D also move in to the new location.

The brand made the announcement on its official Weibo account, a Chinese microblogging website, which also shared images of the new global headquarters. Furthermore, the Chinese smartphone maker also stated that the new site will house high quality hardware facilities, along with sophisticated laboratory equipment and a  diverse office atmosphere that would help the company and its team grow. As of right now, the research and developments centers from regions like Beijing, Xi’an, Nanjing, and others have moved to the new location as well.

The company added that the brand new atmosphere will also enable Honor to offer the ultimate product experience to its customers through technological innovation. For those unaware, the headquarters is located in the Futian District in Shenzhen and has a total size of 350,000 square meters and a total area of 39,000 square meters. Notably, it is also just 12 kilometers away from the headquarters of Huawei, its former parent company.

Back in November 2020, the company had sold Honor to ensure its survival and since then the brand has operated independently from Huawei. Now, the opening of a new global headquarters marks an important step towards its efforts to grow further in its home country and even the overseas market as well.

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SMIC, China’s largest chip maker, has entered into an agreement with Shenzhen government to build a new wafer fabrication plant in the country. The news arrives as the world suffers from a major semiconductor shortage.

According to a SCMP report, the new SMIC Shenzhen plant will be using mature chip making technologies of 28nm processes and above. This plant is set to have a goal of producing 40,000 12 inch wafers per month. The announcement arrived earlier this week, with the production at the new factory expected to begin in 2022. Furthermore, the SMIC and the Shenzhen government backed investment fund will invest a total of 2.35 billion US Dollars in the plant.

The Chinese chip maker will hold a stake of 55 percent stake in the facility while the Shenzhen fund will hold a 23 percent share. As per an official statement from the company, “By seizing the opportunity in Shenzhen to develop the integrated circuit industry, the project can meet growing market and customer needs, and promote our development.” Notably, the plans to build the new plant arrives amid a global shortage of chips that has affected various industries across the world.

Additionally, the move from the chip maker and the local government is also in line with China’s efforts to become self sufficient in semiconductor technology, especially in regard with 28nm process with the next two years. This technology is positioned between the low to mid and mid to high end chips and is widely used in mature products like smart TVs and other smart gadgets as well.

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Huawei is planning on selling its budget smartphone brand unit Honor for a 100 billion Yuan (roughly 15.2 billion US Dollars) deal which will include the Digital China Group, and the local government of the brand’s home town, Shenzhen.

Previously, we had provided a closer look at the Digital China Group, which was just a potential buyer of the Chinese tech giant’s Honor subsidiary. Now, a new report from Reuters has arrived, which states that the company is planning on selling its subbrand for a large sum to the local government and others. For those unaware, Huawei had apparently been looking into selling its Honor unit as it has been facing various supply constraints due to US sanctions. It has lost its chip supply and having a budget oriented line would put further strain on its already dwindling chip inventory as well.

This report also arrives amid the US Presidency, which has had a change in leadership. Although, Huawei is clearly not hoping for any imminent changes in policy that would be favorable to its position. In other words, the security risk allegations might still persist despite Joe Biden taking over. The transaction is said to be “all cash” and will include almost every asset, branding, research and development capabilities, and even supply chain management as well.

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While this hasn’t been officially been announced, sources believe that the company might unveil this news by Sunday (15th November 2020). As per sources, the Digital China Group will be among the top two shareholders of Honor with a near 15 percent stake in Honor Terminal Co Ltd, which was previously fully owned by Huawei. The transaction will have Digital China finance the bulk of the deal through bank loans, which will further be supplemented by at least three investment firms that are backed by the government of financial technology hub Shenzhen. These firms would each hold about 10 to 15 percent of the shares.

After the deal goes through, Honor still plans on retaining most of its management and over 7,000 employees and workforce. Furthermore, it plans on going public within the next three years as per a source. At the moment, Honor has declined from commenting on the matter, while Huawei, Digital China, and the Shenzhen government have yet to respond on the matter.

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Earlier today (21st August 2020), LG Display officially announced that it has provided 55 inch transparent OLED display panels to subway trains of Beijing and Shenzhen in China.

These new transparent OLED screens are used to display information to the commuters that ride the subway. The displays have a 38 percent transparency and have a Full HD resolution. LG stated that it would be working to provide similar solutions to other subway networks from across the globe as well.

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Unfortunately, it is unknown just how many of such displays the South Korean tech giant has equipped on the subway trains. Furthermore, the company has also announced that it would be doubling the output of transparent OLED panels since it believes that the new generation of displays can be used in various commercial sectors like large shop windows, on the exteriors of buildings, and other exhibition spaces as well.

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Shenzhen, China has recently opened two new metro lines which have added 78km to the existing network and brought in 51 new stations as well. However, what’s interesting about this is that one of the stations is on Line 10 has been named Huawei, after the Chinese tech giant.

The Huawei Metro station is located right next to the company’s headquarter at the Longgang District in Shenzhen, and falls between the Gangtou and Bei’er Road stations. Many commuters used their Huawei or Honor smartphones to commemorate the name of the station which is related to their preferred or even favorite brand. Images have revealed people showcasing their devices next to the Metro station’s signs.

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For those unaware, Shenzhen has one of the largest metro systems in the world, with a total length of 382.1 kilometers. Unfortunately, the exact reason as to why the station was named after the popular smartphone maker is still unknown, but it could be indicative of the positive relationship between the company and the government.

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Earlier today (17th August 2020), Guo Ping, Huawei Rotating Chairman said in a conference that the global 5G userbase has crossed 100 million users, with over 92 operators working to develop 5G commercial networks. With success on the commercial side, the focus is now expected to shift towards industrial applications.

Notably, the press conference commemorated Shenzhen becoming the first mainland city to be covered with the latest generation of telecom network. According to Guo Ping, there are three things to build a smart city. The first being city operation and management network that can”see, use, and think.” The senior official believes that the future would bring more sophisticated services through smart decisions being made by a command system. This system would provide real time feedback regarding the city’s data while utilizing 5G based smart connections.

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Secondly, the network would also expand to include a data system that operates in offices, bureaus, industries, and other professional fields. In other words, bring data interconnection between different industries that can be operated and managed by one network. Lastly, a big role in the development of smart city’s would include AI integration. Artificial intelligence and its applications could help boost the capabilities of so various workplaces across different industries and bring a smart overhaul to the pre existing systems.

At the moment, Chinese tech giants like Xiaomi and ZTE led the boost in 5G stocks with their telecom equipment which helped make Shenzhen become a first city to be covered with 5G networks. Xiaomi jumped 8.2 percent today and is currently heading for its biggest gain in almost six weeks. According to experts, “The upward tech cycle brought by 5G will probably last for between two and three years.”

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Vivo, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, is building a new high rise office in Shenzhen, China. This new project will be its future headquarters and has already had the company shell out over 180 million US Dollars.

The 32 storey Vivo headquarters is scheduled to be completed in 2025 and is designed by US architectural firm NBBJ. This is the same firm that had previously designed Samsung Electronic‘s Silicon Valley campus and even the Amazon Spheres in Seattle. After its completion, the building will also house the company’s flagship store, with indoor gardens at every level, a spiraling exterior with self-shading glass, and can house 5,800 employees.

The move is in line with the construction boom from China’s technology sector. as Vivo joins brands like Tencent Holdings and ByteDance with major investments in new office spaces. Tencent has already spent 1.2 billion US Dollars on campus, while Vivo has paid 1.3 billion Yuan (roughly 182 million US Dollars) on the site of its headquarters alone.

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Similarly, ByteDance has also recently acquired land worth 1.1 billion Yuan for future construction in the city’s Downtown area. According to a few economists, the building boom is a signal of an overheated economy that precedes a crash. Although, NBBJ argues that the Chinese tech giants are just seeking space to settle in before a potential future global expansion wave.

Robert Mankin, NBBJ official, said that “What we’ve seen now is part of a natural life cycle of these companies where they’ve outgrown their current facilities, and they need new ones to operationally support their growing global reach. It’s increasingly rare in the US for companies to build their individual headquarters campus, and you still see it in Asia.”

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(Via)

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This morning, a photo was leaked in Meizu’s forum showing what appeared to be the venue for the launch of the Meizu MX 4. However, it was immediately deleted which caused many to doubt its veracity.

The photo shows the a door with a sign saying “The Launch for Meizu’s next flagship phone” and a giant “4” painted on the wall. Now, a Weibo user revealed that although the photo is real, it actually just an advertisement for the MX4’s launch. The photo was taken in the IBOBI Center in Shenzhen.

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A photo of the venue for the launch of Meizu’s newest phone was posted in Meizu’s forum today. The photo shows that the launch may take place in the IBOBI Center in Shenzhen, not in Beijing like last year. There is no official confirmation on whether or not it will take place in Shenzhen. Readers can clearly see a “4” written on the wall by the door and that they are still setting the place up. We can expect some updates about the MX4 soon.

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