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MWC 2018 has concluded and major smartphone vendors at the event have unveiled their smartphone lineup for this year, revealing the development trends in smartphone technology and specifications. According to WitsView, a division of TrendForce, full-screen smartphones will become the trend in market this year. The pursuit of narrower bezels and notch designs has emerged, bringing about solutions of under-display fingerprint sensor and applications combining camera modules and facial recognition.
Apple’s launch of iPhone X has led to a wave of 3D sensing technology, bringing its key component—vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL)—into the spotlight. However, the number of VCSEL suppliers with mass production capacity is very limited due to technical barriers, leading to short supply of VCSELs and thus delaying Android camp’s plan to follow suit. TrendForce estimates the penetration rate of 3D sensing in smartphones will grow from 2.1% in 2017 to 13.1% in 2018, while Apple remains the major adopter.
The prices of most LED package products in the Chinese market remained stable in February 2018, and some of the products saw slight price drop as suppliers tried to clear inventory, says LEDinside, a division of TrendForce.
Micron and Intel announced on January 8, 2018 that they will discontinue their partnership on NAND Flash development after completing the development of the third generation of 3D-NAND Flash. Micron and Intel are currently developing the second generation (64-layer), and the third generation is expected to reach 96-layer. This means that, for development of products greater than 96-layer, the two will part ways formally. This decision will not bring significant impact in near term on their businesses in terms of manufacturing process technology improvements and product planning. They will also have more opportunities to seek new partners after parting ways. According to DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, Intel and Tsinghua Unigroup are now discussing over further collaboration in product offerings and sales.
During 4Q17, the yield rates of suppliers’ respective 3D-NAND processes climbed steadily, while smartphones remained the major demand contributor in peak season, according to DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. As the result, only contract prices of eMMC and UFS products went up by 0-5% QoQ in 4Q17, but other major application markets such as PCs, tablets, and servers together with data centers showed slowing growth momentum. Their contract prices were either flat or fell by a small margin, and the market shifted toward an equilibrium of supply and demand.
