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A Donald Trump campaign sign remains atop a pile of gravel in Harrisburg, Penn, where Foxconn said in 2013 it'd build a $30 million factory. It didn't happen, but more promises have returned. "Foxconn is going to spend a tremendous amount of money on building a massive plant," Trump said, "and probably more than one."
Washington Post
There are now more than 700 million iPhones currently in use worldwide, according to an estimate from BMO Capital Markets analyst Tim Long. He believes the nearly three-quarters of a billion iPhones currently in use includes more than 200 million second-hand iPhones that consumers bought used.
Fortune
One of the inventors of the lithium-ion battery used by laptops, phones, and tablets has announced the next generation of battery technology: a solid-state battery that offers three times the energy density of today's batteries and is safer to boot.
PC World
One of a handful of startups aiming to attack Broadcom's dominance in Ethernet switching emerges from stealth mode this week. Nephos spun out of Taiwan's Mediatek and will push packaging technology from TSMC to a new level.
EE Times
In an attempt to regain its mojo, Toshiba will double down on traditional products that are seen as part of promising growth segments.
Nikkei Electronics Asia
Evan Blass is back with information on the Galaxy S8. According to Blass, the device will now release on April 28th. This sets the date back by one week. Reasons for the delay include alleged quality control and production delays for the Snapdragon 835, on both Samsung and Qualcomm's ends. Blass isn't sure about the exact reason though, only that the rumored release will now take place a week later.
WCCF Tech
Industry watchers predicted SK Hynix may join hands with Taiwanese company Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, to acquire Toshiba's chip business. Foxconn's Chairman Terry Gou has been "very serious" about bidding for Toshiba's memory chip business.
Korea Herald
Under the terms of the deal, Cypress will sell a subsidiary that owns the fab to a startup foundry, SkyWater Technology Foundry, backed by a Minnesota-based holding company. SkyWater will operate the fab, manufacturing wafers for Cypress and for other chip firms, Cypress said.
EE Times
Apple is developing a new camera with "3D sensing and modeling capabilities" that could "reinvent the user experience" to be included in a redesigned iPhone expected to launch later this year, according to new research from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo seen by Business Insider.
Business Insider
We are hearing that Intel is still struggling with defect/yield issues with this advanced process for High Volume Manufacturing (HVM) release and have not locked down the complete process of records (PORs) to date. While the production ramp target at Fab 28 is 2H17, there are concerns that this ramp could be delayed by 2-3 months.
Barron's
"We don't expect many projects on our latest high-end chip," Mediatek Co-Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Ju told reporters in a press briefing Monday at the Mobile World Congress here. "For now, we think less than 10 smartphone models will adopt this high-end X30 chip."
Nikkei Electronics Asia
Despite a turbulent past, Windows PCs with ARM are making a grand return later this year, but only with Qualcomm chips. Another big ARM chipmaker, MediaTek, is sitting out the opportunity to put its ARM-based chips in Windows PCs because the company sees it as a limited opportunity.
PC World
Lattice Semiconductor has moved a step closer to being acquired by an investment firm backed by China's central government, announcing Tuesday (Feb. 28) that its shareholders have approved the terms of the $1.3 billion deal.
EE Times
Nexperia has been officially launched as an independent supplier of discrete, logic, and MOSFET devices.
electronic design
Xiaomi has managed to secure itself a decent shipment of Snapdragon 835 chipsets for use in the company's upcoming high-end smartphone, Mi6.
WCCF Tech
Intel split the Cyclone 10 into the performance-oriented GX and low-power optimized LP series. The GX series uses TSMC's 20nm process and is geared for a number of uses in the industrial, automotive, and broadcast markets. These include machine vision, robotics, infotainment, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, and audiovisual applications.
Tom's Hardware Guide
Despite the rumors that Samsung was hogging all the Snapdragon 835s for itself, Sony has brought a device with Qualcomm's top-of-the-line 2017 SoC to MWC.
Ars Technica
According to industry sources, SK Hynix is planning to triple its investment in foundry business this year. To this end, SK Hynix recently organized a task force at its M8 foundry plant located in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.
BusinessKorea
Samsung will sell modified versions of the Galaxy Note 7 in emerging markets, including India and Vietnam, according to Hankyung, which claims the move is designed to help Samsung minimise losses and avoid a potential environmental fine.
Independent
Intel's modems aren't as good as Qualcomm's, but the company scored a major victory last year when some of its modems began shipping in some models of Apple's iPhone 7.
Ars Technica
Seeking Alpha
China's state-backed Tsinghua Unigroup is pushing for an initial public offering of its mobile chip unit, Unigroup Spreadtrum RDA, in 2018, sources told Nikkei Asian Review.
Nikkei Electronics Asia
Most of the hand-wringing over the fate of Moore's Law focuses on the ever-shrinking silicon transistor. But increasingly researchers are concerned with another critical part of the infrastructure: the copper wires that connect individual transistors to form complex circuits.
IEEE Spectrum
The South Korea tech giant's reputation among the general public in the US fell 42 positions after the Note 7 debacle, while Amazon maintained its top spot for the second straight year.
ZDNet
How will this affect Samsung's businesses? For the time being, they seem to flourish or flounder no matter who the company's titular leader is.
Fortune
Toshiba wants to pick the preferred bidder or bidders for a majority stake in its chip unit by the end of May and will hold the first round of bids next month, a source with knowledge of the plan said.
Reuters
Toshiba has asked potential bidders for its memory chip business to peg the operations' value at JPY2 trillion (US$17.6 billion) or more, aiming to maximize income from the sale of its crown jewel.
Nikkei Electronics Asia
Toshiba is looking to raise at least JPY1 trillion (US$8.8 billion) from the sale of its memory chip business and will aim to complete the transaction by March 2018, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Bloomberg
Despite the calamities surrounding Samsung's heir apparent Lee Jae-Yong right now, the shareholders of Harman International have voted to approve the company's merger with Samsung Electronics.
AndroidHeadlines
SoftBank, the owner of Sprint, is "open to all options" including an acquisition of rival T-Mobile USA, according to its chief executive, amid expectations that US president Donald Trump will be more receptive to megadeals.
The Financial Times
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