As opposed to multi-level cell (MLC) and triple-level cell (TLC) memory, single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash enables high-speed reads and writes as well as excellent reliability and therefore meets the requirements for high performance and high durability imposed by IoT devices, automotive electronics and emerging embedded applications. However, amid fierce market competition, the ability to maintain a cost advantage continues to play an instrumental role in a product's success. Memory manufacturers have been leveraging progress in miniaturization of semiconductor integrated circuits to help them keep costs down and stay ahead of the competition.

In incorporating AI-based systems, enterprises must first determine the real purpose of adopting them and should noy use them merely as a tool for data presentation, otherwise the systems may become a "disaster" for backend data users, according to Kevin Tu, senior director at Macronix International.

The automotive industry is steering toward a future of self-driving cars, where vehicles can be controlled via smartphones, drive autonomously from the parking lot to pick up their owners, communicate with their surroundings over vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks, and avoid roads with traffic congestions or accidents. In line with the megatrend of digitization, the automotive industry is incorporating a massive quantity of electronic control units (ECUs) and software systems in today's automobiles.

The technology industry is attaching great importance to Internet of Things (IoT) developments with major market research institutions predicting explosive growth in the coming years. The number of connected IoT devices worldwide is expected to top 20 billion units in 2020. The astoundingly large quantity of IoT devices also brings public concerns over their vulnerability in terms of information security. Take high-profile smart home applications, for example. They address different challenges with innovative technologies combining smart devices, IoT gateways and cloud service platforms. However, as information leaks and negligence become growingly common, developments of these applications have been hindered. As such, information security is instrumental to the rise of IoT.

While tech innovations have kept driving medical innovations, Taiwan can move to build smart medicine ecosystems by applying 5G and AI technologies to promote new-generation telecare and man-machine collaborative diagnosis services, develop precision medicine and new pharmaceuticals, and provide new-generation medical service systems and smart hospital facilities.

IoT applications will see brand-new development after 5G technologies and applications enter commercial runs in 2019, and all IoT devices must feature low power consumption and high stability to secure smooth operations in diverse environments. In line with the trend, Taiwan's memory supplier Macronix International has rolled out the cutting-edge 1.2V MX25S SPI NOR series to meet the market demand, according to the firm's senior marketing manager HJ Kuo.

Macronix International Co., Ltd. (TSE: 2337), a leading integrated device manufacturer in the non-volatile memory (NVM) market, today announced the introduction of an ultra-low-voltage SPI NOR flash MX25S working at 1.2V, marking a new milestone in its process technology and low power consumption product offerings. This addition to the Macronix product portfolio allows cost savings and layout simplicity, and represents an important step in the company's expansion into the smart healthcare application and wearable device market segments.

Prices of memory chips, including dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and all types of flash memory, have rallied throughout 2017, buoying the business value of five of the top 10 semiconductor companies that design and manufacture chips. American and Korean players have long dominated the memory market and none of them is willing to start a price war. Accordingly, memory prices will likely continue to trend upward as the 2018 market outlook remains positive.

According to Digitimes Research, the global production capacity of 3D NAND flash in 2017 is expected to show a whopping 118% increase from 2016 and the yearly growth in 2018 is also likely to top 64%. Although memory vendors from Korea, Japan and the US are scrambling to join the game, due to slow improvement in production yield, the worldwide flash memory market is still experiencing a supply shortage and rising costs as the limited supply cannot keep up with the demand.

Macronix, the world-leading non-volatile memory (NVM) solution manufacturer, today unveiled its new-generation 12 pin-count bus interface called OctaBus. This breakthrough design delivers the high speed, high efficiency features of Macronix OctaFlash products, while incorporating OctaRAM into the same data I/O bus, reducing the pin count to 12, thus enabling simplicity in system design while optimizing PCB space, resulting in significant cost savings and at the same time dramatically improving performance.