Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
An interview with Mozilla interim CEO Laura Chambers about Firefox’s 20th birthday, growth due to the EU’s DMA, privacy, the Google search deal, AI, and more
Exactly 20 years ago, Mozilla started shipping version 1.0 of its Firefox browser. At the time, you could download it or buy a CD-ROM with a guidebook from Mozilla (or maybe get it on one of those free CDs that would come with many magazines at the time). Born out of the ashes of Netscape, Firefox would go on to gain well over 30% of global market share. But that was followed by a period of stagnation, and after the arrival of the faster and lighter Google Chrome, Firefox slowly but surely lost market share. It didn’t help that Mozilla, at the time, seemingly prioritized everything but its browser, all while its mobile browser initiatives never quite took off.
Despite everything, Firefox is still going strong, and it is a better browser today than it ever was. Now, Mozilla, which recently said that it wants to refocus on the browser, needs to figure out how to get it back on a growth path.
“What I love about Firefox is that it really provides users with an alternative choice of a browser that is just genuinely designed for them,” she said. “We have, from its very inception and throughout, really wanted to create a browser that prioritizes people over profit, prioritizes privacy over anything else, and to have that option, the choice.”
Reuters:
Source: the US ordered TSMC to halt shipments of 7nm or more advanced chips that power AI accelerator and GPUs to Chinese customers starting on November 11 — The U.S. ordered Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers …
NEW YORK/SINGAPORE, Nov 9 (Reuters) – The U.S. ordered Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW)
, opens new tab to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers that are often used in artificial intelligence applications starting Monday, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Department of Commerce sent a letter to TSMC imposing export restrictions on certain sophisticated chips, of 7 nanometer or more advanced designs, destined for China that power AI accelerator and graphics processing units (GPU), the person said.
Zak Killian / HotHardware:
Intel’s Robert Hallock admits “our wounds with Arrow Lake not hitting the performance we projected were self-inflicted” and promises fixes for performance gains — Speaking plainly, Intel’s recently-launched Core Ultra 200 desktop CPUs, code-named “Arrow Lake” …
Nikkei Asia:
Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association: Taiwan’s chip production is on track to increase 22% YoY to a record ~$165B in 2024, driven by generative AI demand
Nokia Bell Labs ja Cambridge Future Tech ovat perustaneet yhdessä OmniBuds Ltd -nimisen yrityksen kaupallistamaan maailman ensimmäisen tekoälyyn ja koneoppimiseen perustuvan, korvassa pidettävän terveydentilan seuranta-alustan. OmniBuds-niminen laite on suunniteltu seuraamaan elintärkeitä mittareita, kuten sydämen ja hengityksen rytmiä sekä käyttäjän fyysistä aktiivisuutta reaaliajassa.
Teknologiateollisuus kertoi tänään suhdannekatsauksessaan, että elektroniikka- ja sähköteollisuus on lähes 10 prosenttia viimevuotista alemmalla tasolla. Viime vuonna alan yritysten liikevaihto laski viisi prosenttia noin 20 miljardiin euroon eli lasku näyttää jatkuvan.
Elektroniikka- ja sähköteollisuuden yhteenlaskettu tuotannon määrä oli kuluvan vuoden tammi–elokuussa kahdeksan prosenttia pienempi kuin viime vuoden vastaavalla ajanjaksolla. Uusien tilausten että tilauskannan arvo nousivat heinä–syyskuussa edelliseen neljännekseen verrattuna, mutta toisaalta alalle ovat olleet viime vuosina tyypillisiä voimakkaat tilausvaihtelut vuosineljännesten välillä.
Taiwanilainen puolijohdevalmistaja TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) on ilmoittanut aloittavansa uuden sukupolven 2 nanometrin sirujen tuotannon vuoden 2025 viimeisellä neljänneksellä. Tämä merkitsee merkittävää edistysaskelta puolijohdeteknologiassa, sillä uudet 2nm-sirut tuovat huomattavia parannuksia suorituskykyyn ja energiatehokkuuteen.
2nm-prosessi, joka tunnetaan nimellä N2, otetaan käyttöön yhtiön Fab 20 -tehtaassa Hsinchussa, Taiwanissa, jonka kapasiteetti on 30 000 piikiekkoa kuukaudessa. Pian tämän jälkeen Kaohsiungissa sijaitseva Fab 22 -tehdas aloittaa tuotantonsa vuoden 2026 ensimmäisellä neljänneksellä samalla kuukausikapasiteetilla.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Lumikai projects India’s gaming market to grow from $3.8B in 2024 to $9.2B in 2029; the number of gamers in India reached 591M in 2024, up from 568M in 2023
India’s game market could grow from $3.8 billion in 2024 to $9.2 billion by 2029, according to a report by Lumikai.
That represents a 20% compound annual growth rate. Lumikai, a venture capital fund in India focused on games, also said that India’s $3.8 billion gaming market is about 30% of its broader $12.5 billion new media market.
Gaming is India’s the fastest-growing new media segment, and it is just shy of the $3.9 billion video and over-the-top media market (based on the fiscal year periods ending March 31). Overall, the new media market is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 16%, said Salone Sehgal, founding general partner at Lumikai, in an interview with GamesBeat.
Such growth is similar to China’s growth in gaming a couple of decades ago, making India the next hot market that game investors should follow, Sehgal said. Aditya Deshpande, senior investment associate at Lumikai, said in an interview with GamesBeat. believes that gaming is in the process of surpassing India’s vaunted Bollywood film industry.
Jowi Morales / Tom’s Hardware:
LG Display shows off a stretchable display prototype that can expand by up to 50%, more than doubling the previous record of 20% elongation — This stretchable display unlocks an infinite number of possibilities. — LG Display, one of the global leaders in display technologies …
Emma Roth / The Verge:
iOS 18.2 public beta introduces Share Item Location, letting users share a link with the location of AirTags or Find My accessories with airlines and others — Apple will now let you share the location of a lost AirTag with other people. The Find My feature, called Share Item Location …
Financial Times:
Sources: Elon Musk’s US government advisory role will let him push for his acolytes and allies to fill roles that cut regulation and protect his companies
The European electronics industry risks falling behind
Editor: Dennis Dahlgren
Key segments of the EU’s electronics manufacturing industry are set to decline – undermining Europe’s security, industrial resiliency, and global competitiveness. https://evertiq.com/news/55877
A recent analysis by IPC reveals Europe’s increasing reliance on foreign regions for electronics manufacturing in critical and strategic sectors such as aerospace and defence. Even with the adoption of the European Chips Act, the report – Securing EU’s Electronics Ecosystem – shows that the EU’s market share in critical electronics components other than chips, such as PCBs, electronic manufacturing services EMS, and advanced packaging, will fall to 15% by 2035. Evertiq has previously reported on the challenging situation the European industry is facing – especially the PCB industry.
Over the previous two decades, the PCB industry in Europe has seen a severe decline, one could even call it an erosion. In passing the Chips Act, the EU made a strategic, but narrowly crafted commitment to the electronics industry – but rebuilding a robust and sustainable European electronics ecosystem requires revitalising and expanding electronics production beyond chips.
Milloin taantuma loppuu? Milloin markkinat piristyvät? ETN puhui Mouser Electronicsin EMEA-alueen markkinoinnin johtajan, Graham Maggsin kanssa. Maggsin mietteet löytyvät pian ilmestyvästä ETNdigi-erikoislehdestä.
Mouser on aiemmin arvioinut, että käänne kasvuun tapahtuu kolmannella neljänneksellä tai ensi vuoden alussa. Nyt kaikki puhuvat pitkittyneestä taantumasta. Mitä on tapahtunut?
Tämän päivän markkinoiden ennustaminen on edelleen haastavaa. Vuonna 2024 olemme nähneet maailmantalouden, jota leimaavat mielenkiintoiset ylä- ja alamäet. Ennustettu 3,2 prosentin kasvu vuodelle 2024 ei ehkä täytä odotuksia, mutta Kansainvälinen valuuttarahasto (IMF) odottaa hieman suurempaa, 3,3 prosentin kasvua vuonna 2025. Ne, jotka osoittavat kestävyyttä, investoivat strategisesti ja ovat avoimia uusille mahdollisuuksille, saavat positiivisia tuloksia.
Saksa näyttää kamppailevan huomattavasti. Liittyykö tämä tiettyihin aloihin (autoteollisuus, teollisuuselektroniikka) vai onko se yleisempää?
Auto- ja teollisuussektorin vaikutus Saksaan on monimutkainen vuorovaikutus.
Tekoäly on yksi tänään alkaneiden Electronica-messujen pääteemoista ja se näkyy myös uusien tuotteiden vyöryssä. Kalifornialainen Alif Semiconductor esittelee messuilla evaluointikorttia, jolla ensimmäistä kertaa tuodaan laitetason tekoälykuormille optimoitu kiihdytin mukaan vähävirtaiselle Bluetooth-piirille.
Huhtikuussa julkistettu Balletto-ohjainperhe saa nyt lisää tukea DK-B1-kehityskortin muodossa. Se on suunniteltu nopeaan prototyyppien rakentamiseen tuotteille, jotka vaativat äärimäisen vähävirtaista Bluetooth Low Energy- tai 802.15.4-yhteyttä. Balletto-mikro-ohjain sisältää DSP-moottorin ja NPU-yksikön (neural processing unit) AI/ML-tehtäviän tehokkaaseen laitteistokiihdytykseen.
Virtualisointiyritys VMware ilmoitti, että sen VMware Fusion ja VMware Workstation -hypervisorit ovat nyt ilmaiseksi kenen tahansa käytettävissä, Bleeping Computer uutisoi.
Ramish Zafar / Wccftech:
AMD says it will lay off ~4% of its global staff to align “resources with our largest growth opportunities”; SEC filing: AMD had 26,000 employees at 2023′s end — According to a spokesperson, chip designer Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., is laying off a portion of its global workforce.
Tästä piti tulla viihdealan uusi kuningas, mutta sitten kupla puhkesi rumasti – asiantuntijalta karu arvio seuraavasta käänteestä
Richard Lewisin mukaan esportsin nykyiset ja seuraavat uhkakuvat ovat kaikkien silmien edessä. Muutos on väistämätön.
Läntisen Euroopan ammattielektroniikan messutapahtuma Electronica järjestettiin Münchenissä puolijohdetekniikoihin keskittyvän Semicon Europan kanssa. Tapahtumassa oli 3 480 näytteilleasettajaa ja neljän päivän aikana tapahtumaan tutustui lähes 80 000 messuvierasta.
Münchenin joka toinen vuosi järjestettävä Electronica esittelee itsensä maailmanlaajuisena elektroniikkabisneksen alustana, mutta silti alkuperäisen Euroopan tapahtuman lisäksi tapahtuma järjestetään myös Aasia, josta suurin osa alan elektroniikasta nykyisin valmistetaan. Silti Electronica 2024 osoitti jälleen vaikuttavuutensa 18 messuhallillaan, 3480 osastollaan 59 maasta ja 80 000 kävijällään noin 100 maasta.
Viime viikolla järjestettyjen Electronica-messujen pääjohtajapaneelissa puolijohdepomot pohtivat alan tilaa ja suurimpia riskejä. Suurimmiksi riskeiksi pääjohtajat arvioivat toimitusketjujen mahdolliset ongelmat.
Financial Times:
Chinese smartphone manufacturers are ramping up their efforts in Europe to grab marketshare from Apple and Samsung with tech such as foldable devices
Chinese smartphone manufacturers are intensifying efforts to gain a stronger foothold in Europe and sell higher-margin premium devices, with one of the world’s fastest-growing brands aiming to more than double its market share on the continent in the next three years.
Shenzhen-based Realme, which has increased European sales by 275 per cent from 2020 to last year, according to analysts, says it is targeting a market share of more than 10 per cent in the next three to five years, up from 4 per cent.
Currently the continent’s fourth biggest supplier, the handset maker became the fastest ever to reach 100mn global phone shipments in 2021 and the fifth fastest to reach 200mn last year, despite a slowdown in the smartphone market, according to research from Tech Insights and Counterpoint Research.
“If Realme can achieve success in the European market then our whole brand will be massively elevated and it will help our sales globally,” said Francis Wong, head of product marketing at the company. “Our whole strategy is to start from the low end and work our way up.”
However, he cautioned that marketing costs involved in selling to European customers loyal to Apple and Samsung were more than 10 times higher than in India, the company‘s first major market when it became an independent entity in 2018.
European consumers are less aware of Chinese brands and less concerned about value for money, meaning the company’s growth had so far been slower on the continent than in other markets, where it has doubled, tripled or quadrupled sales in just a few years, he added.
“We are used to that kind of rapid growth. So after coming to Europe, we found that this market is not as easy as we imagined,” said Wong.
Apple and Samsung still dominate in Europe, especially at the premium end, according to figures from Counterpoint. They accounted for 94 per cent of phones sold over $700 in the second quarter of this year. The last external challenger to claim close to 10 per cent of the European premium market was Huawei, which grew its share of sales rapidly until it was gradually pushed out by US sanctions and bans in some countries on the use of the company’s equipment in 5G networks from 2020.
Realme began life as an offshoot of Oppo
But this year, Chinese smartphone makers say they are making renewed efforts to boost European sales, spotting an opportunity to win market share with new technologies such as foldable devices, advanced cameras and superfast chargers.
“We’ve seen Europe show a very open attitude towards embracing both foldables and flips . . . this is really a game-changer,” said Tony Ran, Europe president for Shenzhen-based Honor, adding that the continent was the company’s most important market outside China.
In the second quarter, Honor overtook Samsung to become the number one seller of foldable smartphones in western Europe, having entered the top five sellers in terms of overall European market share the previous quarter.
“For western Europe, they . . . invest a lot of money to build that brand awareness . . . but they don’t see a lot of positive returns,” said Will Wong, an analyst at IDC.
Smartphone makers argue that the prestige of making it in a developed market like Europe could help them in other high-end markets such as Japan, Australia and the US, potentially convincing operators to sell Chinese phones in those regions.
“Once we can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”
Nikkei Asia:
TechInsights: China’s chip self-sufficiency rate rose from ~14% in 2014 to 23% in 2023 and is expected to hit 27% in 2027, as China rushes to boost chip supply
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft unveils the $349 Windows 365 Link, a mini PC for its Windows 365 cloud service running a “super hardened version of Windows”, shipping in April 2025 — Microsoft is planning to launch a new purpose-built miniature PC for its Windows 365 cloud service next year.
Maailman supertietokoneet on jälleen laitettu paremmuusjärjestykseen. Listalla Suomen LUMI oli sijalla kahdeksan. AMD:n EPYC-prosessorit ja Instinct-sarjan GPU-kiihdyttimet ovat kiistatta tämän hetken paras yhdistelmä, kun haetaan parasta mahdollista suorituskykyä.
Listan uusi ykkönen on Kalifornian Lawrence Livermore National Laboratoryn uusi järjestelmä El Capitan. Sen teho on 1742 eksaflopsia. Järjestelmässä on yhteensä 11 039 616 CPU- ja GPU-ydintä, ja se perustuu AMD:n neljännen sukupolven EPYC-prosessoreihin, joissa on 24 ydintä ja 1,8 GHz kellotaajuus, sekä AMD Instinct MI300A -kiihdyttimiin. El Capitan käyttää tiedonsiirrossa Cray Slingshot 11 -verkkoa ja saavuttaa energiatehokkuudessa lukeman 58,89 gigaflopsia/watti, mikä nosti koneen myös GREEN500-listan sijalle 18.
Toiselle sijalle putosi Oak Ridge National Laboratoryn Frontier-järjestelmä. Sen suorituskykyä on onnistuttu edellismittauksesta hieman nostaan ja nyt teho kirjataan lukemin 1353 eksaflopsia sekunnissa. Frontierin laskentaytimien kokonaismäärä on myös kasvanut edellisen listan vajaasta 8,7 miljoonasta ytimestä 9 066 176 ytimeen. Myös Frontier käyttää tiedonsiirrossa Cray Slingshot 11 -verkkoa.
Top500-listan ensimmäinen Intelin prosessoreita käyttävä järjestelmä on Argonnen tutkimuslaitoksen Aurora-järjestelmä, jonka teho on 1012 eksaflopsia.Kone pohjaa HPE Cray EX -runkoon ja Intel Exascale Compute -korttiin, joka käyttää Intel Xeon CPU Max -sarjan prosessoreja ja Intel Data Center GPU Max -sarjan kiihdyttimiä. Data siirtyy tässäkin järjestelmässä Crayn Slingshot-11-verkon välityksellä.
Juuri ennen CSC:n LUMI-konetta listan seitsemäntenä on ensimmäinen Nvidian prosessoreihin perustuva järjestelmä. Sveitsin kansallisen superlaskentakeskuksen Alps-järjestelmässä on Nvidian Grace72C_ ja GH800-prosessoreita.
CJ Haddad / CNBC:
After a report that Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” is considering a free tax-filing app, Intuit shares closed down 5.1% and H&R Block down 8.2% — The stock prices for H&R Block and Intuit fell after a report Tuesday said Trump’s government efficiency team is considering creating a free tax-filing app.
Rest of World:
GSMA: 4.6B people are now connected to mobile internet, or 57% of the world; mobile subscriber growth fell to 160M in 2023, from 200M per year from 2015 to 2021
57% of the population is already connected to mobile internet.
In Pakistan, Nigeria, and Mexico, the rate of new mobile internet subscriber growth is slowing.
The remaining populations will be harder, and more expensive, to get online.
When Facebook hit 1 billion users in 2012, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that when it comes to getting another billion users, “The big thing is obviously going to be mobile.” In an interview at the time, Zuckerberg told Bloomberg, “As more phones become smartphones, it’s just this massive opportunity.”
Clearly, he was correct. A recent survey from Global System for Mobile Communications Association Intelligence (GSMA), the research wing of a U.K.-based organization that represents mobile operators around the world, found that 4.6 billion people across the globe are now connected to mobile internet — or roughly 57% of the world’s population.
Now, the rate of new mobile internet subscriber growth is slowing. From 2015 to 2021, the survey consistently found over 200 million coming online through mobile devices around the world each year. But in the last two years, that number has dropped to 160 million. Rest of World analysis of that data found that a number of developing countries are plateauing in the number of mobile internet subscribers. That suggests that in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Mexico, the easiest populations to get online have already logged on, and getting the rest of the population on mobile internet will continue to be a challenge. GSMA collects data by surveying a nationally representative sample of people in each country, and then it correlates the results with similar studies.
Financial Times:
Similarweb: Bluesky app usage in the US and UK grew ~300% to 3.5M DAUs after Nov. 5; Threads now has 1.5x Bluesky’s DAUs in the US, down from 5x before Nov. 5
Meta’s Threads is losing ground to social media start-up Bluesky in capitalising on the exodus of users from Elon Musk’s X following Donald Trump’s election.
Since election day, app usage of Bluesky in the US and UK skyrocketed by almost 300 per cent to 3.5mn daily users, according to data from research group Similarweb. The site was boosted as academics, journalists and left-leaning politicians abandoned X, whose billionaire owner is a prominent supporter of the president-elect.
Prior to November 5, Threads had five times more daily active users in the US than Bluesky, which has just 20 full-time staff and was initially funded by Twitter when Jack Dorsey was its chief executive. Now, Threads is only 1.5 times larger than its rival, Similarweb said.
Bluesky’s growth in the US and UK comes after Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg chose to deliberately reduce the prominence of political content across its apps, including Facebook and Instagram.
That move was widely interpreted as an attempt to rise about the partisan fray and avoid being dragged into debates over free speech. Trump, who has long castigated social media platforms for allegedly censoring conservative voices, previously labelled Meta “an enemy of the people” and threatened Zuckerberg with jail were he to return to office. Last month, Trump said he liked Zuckerberg “much better now” because he was “staying out of the election”.
This contrasts with X, which under Musk’s ownership, has cut back content moderation to allow more freewheeling content to proliferate.
Since its launch in July last year, Threads has prioritised engaging content from accounts that users did not follow, a model closer to that of its photo app Instagram. However, Meta on Thursday backtracked on that choice.
This week, it also swiftly rolled out the ability for users to curate “custom feeds” around topics or people they want to follow, mimicking existing Bluesky capabilities, after testing the feature for only five days.
The moves sparked speculation that Meta was trying to curb Bluesky’s rise.
Bloomberg:
Gamers who prefer playing together are fueling demand for esports hotels across China; research firm Niko Partners says China has more than 21,000 such hotels
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Profiles of Teresa Ribera, Henna Virkkunen, and Ekaterina Zaharieva, the three incoming EU commissioners in charge of key tech policy areas into 2029
The European Union looks to have clinched political agreement on the team of 26 commissioners who will be implementing President Ursula von der Leyen’s policy plan for the next five years. A final vote is still pending next week, but on Thursday, Politico’s Brussels Playbook newsletter reported a deal in the European Parliament on the appointments, suggesting it’s “now all but guaranteed” that the next European Commission will kick off on December 1.
We’ve picked out three commissioner-designates to watch for tech policy moves as the next Commission takes up its five-year mandate, which runs into 2029, with responsibilities across areas like digital infrastructure and tech investment, support for startups, and enforcing the bloc’s laws on Big Tech.
Big Tech will be watching Teresa Ribera Rodríguez closely. Once confirmed in post, the Spanish center-left politician is set for a major EVP role in the incoming Commission heading up a climate brief-cum-economic transformation EVP role. But she’ll also be taking over competition enforcement from Margrethe Vestager — a portfolio that’s given the likes of Apple, Amazon, Google, and Meta plenty of headaches over the years.
This combined strategic portfolio makes her the most powerful figure in the incoming Commission — on paper, at least.
The EU has put a fresh focus on trying to rein in platform power in recent years, thanks to the bloc’s flagship Digital Markets Act (DMA), a popular competition reform that came into force this March. It responds to Big Tech’s market-shaping muscle by applying a set of upfront rules on how they can operate key platforms, doing things like banning self-preferencing and requiring openness and interoperability, which the EU hopes will result in fairer dealing for competitors and tech users.
As EU competition chief, Ribera Rodríguez is set to wield major decision-making power in tech. She will inherit a clutch of active DMA investigations, including advanced probes of Apple and Meta, where the EU has already said it suspects breaches but isn’t expected to decide the cases until next year. Google’s self-preferencing is also under investigation. Other DMA probes could follow on the seven designated gatekeepers, with Reuters reporting that Amazon will face a probe next year.
Washington Post:
Sources: Marc Andreessen, Travis Kalanick, and others are involved in Department of Government Efficiency; Andreessen is acting as a networker for recruitment — The Tesla executive and the former presidential candidate are meeting with staff and interviewing experts as they plan for massive federal cuts.
Aya Wagatsuma / Bloomberg:
Shares of Japan’s Fujikura, which specializes in fiber optic cables for data centers, are up 400%+ in 2024 due to the AI boom, leading the Nikkei 225 index
Steven Overly / Politico:
Q&A with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on what happens to the $50B CHIPS program under the Trump administration, the future of AI safety, China, and more — With a massive legacy program hanging in the balance, the Commerce secretary wants to get billions in microchip money out the door in the next two months.
With a massive legacy program hanging in the balance, the Commerce secretary wants to get billions in microchip money out the door in the next two months.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is on an urgent mission: get as much high-tech spending out the door before Donald Trump takes office.
The Biden administration is aiming to commit nearly every unspent dollar in its $50 billion microchip-subsidy program before President-elect Donald Trump takes over in January, an effort that would effectively cement a massive industrial legacy before the GOP can reverse course.
“I’d like to have really almost all of the money obligated by the time we leave,” Raimondo said in an interview with POLITICO. “That’s the goal, and I certainly want to have all the major announcements done as it relates to the big, leading-edge companies.”
The effort to spend her department’s full CHIPS Act budget would put a capstone on a signature Biden economic policy.
It also speaks to the urgency facing a host of Biden’s historic raft of spending programs, many of which could be vulnerable to a Republican White House and Congress eager to pare back the most ambitious Democratic spending packages.
The Chips money alone is a massive undertaking. Congress allocated $50 billion in subsidies for semiconductor manufacturing and R&D. So far only two companies have received binding awards from the Department of Commerce’s manufacturing program. To hit her target, Raimondo still needs to nail down contracts with Intel, Micron, Samsung and SK hynix — multibillion-dollar deals that have, at times, been rocky and required renegotiations.
Raimondo said she recently directed staff to work through the weekend — and even made personal calls to tech CEOs — to speed the talks along.
The forthcoming change in administration is “a clear deadline” that “focuses the mind,” Raimondo said, but added she’s not overly concerned about budget-conscious Republicans clawing back money from the program next year, despite their threats to do so.
The CHIPS and Science Act passed both chambers of Congress with bipartisan support, and Raimondo said she expects that will withstand Trump’s arrival.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WITH THE $50 BILLION CHIPS PROGRAM: “I’m driving my team really hard right now. Worked all weekend. I’d like to have almost all of the money obligated by the time we leave. That’s the goal. And I certainly want to have all the major announcements done as it relates to the big leading edge companies. … I also would like to have all of that research and development money out the door by the time we leave as well.”
WHETHER THE GOP CAN ROLL BACK THE MONEY: “I don’t worry terribly about any of the chips money being rolled back, as you say. I mean, the Commerce Department is somewhat unique in so far as everything we’ve done and are doing is bipartisan. And the CHIPS Act is a national security program and still has great bipartisan support to this day. In fact, it was, you know, started in some ways in the Trump administration. [Former Commerce] Secretary Wilbur Ross and [former Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo sent a letter to TSMC to ask them to come here. The broadband is bipartisan. Our workforce work is bipartisan. So, look, anything’s possible, but I don’t worry too much about that.”
THE FUTURE OF AI SAFETY (and the summit that kicks off in San Francisco today): “I don’t think you can overestimate how significant this is. First of all, AI is the defining technology of our generation and is a huge game changer. And this [AI Safety Institute Summit] convening that I’m having this week in San Francisco is the first of its kind in the U.S. It’s the third global meeting in the past year, but it’s the first one the U.S. is hosting and leading, and we are going to be establishing a U.S. government task force on testing of AI models to manage national security capabilities. We’re going to be announcing new goals for the AI safety network. But mostly what I want to accomplish is getting the world’s leading scientists and technical experts together from countries all over the world on behalf of their government…
David Pan / Bloomberg:
A profile of Chris Maurice, the CEO of US stablecoin startup Yellow Card, which operates in 20 African countries and has traded $3B+ worth of crypto in 2024 — Cryptocurrencies that track the dollar are becoming a popular workaround for companies stymied by currency shortages on the continent.
OnePlussan tilaama ja OnePollin toteuttama kyselytutkimus paljasti suomalaisten kuluttajien kasvavan kiinnostuksen älypuhelinten tekoälyominaisuuksia kohtaan. Yleisin syy vaihtaa puhelin uudempaan on kuitenkin heikko akunkesto.
Tutkimukseen osallistui tuhat suomalaista älypuhelimen käyttäjää, joista 45 prosenttia piti tekoälyominaisuuksia tärkeinä osana älypuhelinta. Kyselyssä suosituimmiksi tekoälyominaisuuksiksi nousivat reaaliaikaiset käännökset, jotka saivat kannatusta 39 prosentilta vastaajista. Toiseksi suosituimpia olivat tekoälypohjaiset valokuvatyökalut, kuten esineiden ja ihmisten poistaminen kuvasta, joita arvosti 38 prosenttia vastaajista. Automatisoidut toiminnot (35 prosenttia) ja tekoälypohjaiset hakutoiminnot (31 prosenttia) keräsivät myös paljon kiinnostusta.
Tutkimus toi esiin myös suomalaisten yleisimmät ongelmat älypuhelinten käytössä. Yleisimmät haasteet olivat akun nopea kuluminen, jonka koki ongelmaksi 35 prosenttia vastaajista, sekä näytön heikko näkyvyys kirkkaassa auringonpaisteessa (25 prosenttia). Muita usein mainittuja ongelmia olivat sovellusten kaatumiset (15 prosenttia), hidas suorituskyky (14 prosenttia) ja latauksen hitaus (12 prosenttia).
Bloomberg:
Sources: Qualcomm’s interest in an Intel acquisition has cooled; CEO Cristiano Amon says “right now, at this time, we have not identified any large acquisition” — – A deal would likely have been one of the largest ever in tech — Qualcomm “hasn’t identified large acquisition,” CEO said
Qualcomm’s Takeover Interest in Intel Is Said to Cool
A deal would likely have been one of the largest ever in tech
Qualcomm “hasn’t identified large acquisition,” CEO said
Euroopassa osakekurssit laskivat tiistaina kaupankäynnin alettua. Niitä painoivat etenkin autovalmistajien osakkeet, jotka laskivat Yhdysvaltain tulevan presidentin Donald Trumpin kaavailemat tullit. https://yle.fi/a/74-20127259
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Ofcom: adults in the UK are now spending an average of 4 hours and 20 minutes daily online across devices, a jump from 3 hours and 41 minutes in 2023
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1,017 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/16815-kingston-on-selkeaesti-suosituin-ssd-toimittaja
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/16814-erikoinen-selkkaus-kaikki-eivaet-halua-ostaa-siruja-supermarketista
Tomi Engdahl says:
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
An interview with Mozilla interim CEO Laura Chambers about Firefox’s 20th birthday, growth due to the EU’s DMA, privacy, the Google search deal, AI, and more
As Firefox turns 20, Mozilla ponders how to restore it to its former glory
https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/09/as-firefox-turns-20-mozilla-ponders-how-to-restore-it-to-its-former-glory/
Exactly 20 years ago, Mozilla started shipping version 1.0 of its Firefox browser. At the time, you could download it or buy a CD-ROM with a guidebook from Mozilla (or maybe get it on one of those free CDs that would come with many magazines at the time). Born out of the ashes of Netscape, Firefox would go on to gain well over 30% of global market share. But that was followed by a period of stagnation, and after the arrival of the faster and lighter Google Chrome, Firefox slowly but surely lost market share. It didn’t help that Mozilla, at the time, seemingly prioritized everything but its browser, all while its mobile browser initiatives never quite took off.
Despite everything, Firefox is still going strong, and it is a better browser today than it ever was. Now, Mozilla, which recently said that it wants to refocus on the browser, needs to figure out how to get it back on a growth path.
“What I love about Firefox is that it really provides users with an alternative choice of a browser that is just genuinely designed for them,” she said. “We have, from its very inception and throughout, really wanted to create a browser that prioritizes people over profit, prioritizes privacy over anything else, and to have that option, the choice.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Reuters:
Source: the US ordered TSMC to halt shipments of 7nm or more advanced chips that power AI accelerator and GPUs to Chinese customers starting on November 11 — The U.S. ordered Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers …
Exclusive: US ordered TSMC to halt shipments to China of chips used in AI applications
https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-ordered-tsmc-halt-shipments-china-chips-used-ai-applications-source-says-2024-11-10/
NEW YORK/SINGAPORE, Nov 9 (Reuters) – The U.S. ordered Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW)
, opens new tab to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers that are often used in artificial intelligence applications starting Monday, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Department of Commerce sent a letter to TSMC imposing export restrictions on certain sophisticated chips, of 7 nanometer or more advanced designs, destined for China that power AI accelerator and graphics processing units (GPU), the person said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Zak Killian / HotHardware:
Intel’s Robert Hallock admits “our wounds with Arrow Lake not hitting the performance we projected were self-inflicted” and promises fixes for performance gains — Speaking plainly, Intel’s recently-launched Core Ultra 200 desktop CPUs, code-named “Arrow Lake” …
Exclusive: Intel Exec Promises Arrow Lake Fixes For Major Performance Gains
https://hothardware.com/news/exclusive-intel-promises-arrow-lake-fixes
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nikkei Asia:
Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association: Taiwan’s chip production is on track to increase 22% YoY to a record ~$165B in 2024, driven by generative AI demand
Taiwan chip output to hit record $165bn on AI demand
TSMC exec predicts cooperation with U.S. to continue under second Trump term
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/Taiwan-chip-output-to-hit-record-165bn-on-AI-demand
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ben Holland / Bloomberg:
Analysis: US private data center construction spending grew to nearly $30B/year, over 2x the amount in late 2022; global spending is on track to hit $250B/year
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-08/ai-takeoff-turns-data-centers-into-america-s-new-building-boom
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/16818-nokia-bell-labs-tuo-tekoaelyn-korvaan
Nokia Bell Labs ja Cambridge Future Tech ovat perustaneet yhdessä OmniBuds Ltd -nimisen yrityksen kaupallistamaan maailman ensimmäisen tekoälyyn ja koneoppimiseen perustuvan, korvassa pidettävän terveydentilan seuranta-alustan. OmniBuds-niminen laite on suunniteltu seuraamaan elintärkeitä mittareita, kuten sydämen ja hengityksen rytmiä sekä käyttäjän fyysistä aktiivisuutta reaaliajassa.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/16812-elektroniikka-kutistuu-myoes-taenae-vuonna
Teknologiateollisuus kertoi tänään suhdannekatsauksessaan, että elektroniikka- ja sähköteollisuus on lähes 10 prosenttia viimevuotista alemmalla tasolla. Viime vuonna alan yritysten liikevaihto laski viisi prosenttia noin 20 miljardiin euroon eli lasku näyttää jatkuvan.
Elektroniikka- ja sähköteollisuuden yhteenlaskettu tuotannon määrä oli kuluvan vuoden tammi–elokuussa kahdeksan prosenttia pienempi kuin viime vuoden vastaavalla ajanjaksolla. Uusien tilausten että tilauskannan arvo nousivat heinä–syyskuussa edelliseen neljännekseen verrattuna, mutta toisaalta alalle ovat olleet viime vuosina tyypillisiä voimakkaat tilausvaihtelut vuosineljännesten välillä.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TSMC aloittaa 2 nanometrin sirujen tuotannon loppuvuodesta 2025
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/16819-tsmc-aloittaa-2-nanometrin-sirujen-tuotannon-loppuvuodesta-2025
Taiwanilainen puolijohdevalmistaja TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) on ilmoittanut aloittavansa uuden sukupolven 2 nanometrin sirujen tuotannon vuoden 2025 viimeisellä neljänneksellä. Tämä merkitsee merkittävää edistysaskelta puolijohdeteknologiassa, sillä uudet 2nm-sirut tuovat huomattavia parannuksia suorituskykyyn ja energiatehokkuuteen.
2nm-prosessi, joka tunnetaan nimellä N2, otetaan käyttöön yhtiön Fab 20 -tehtaassa Hsinchussa, Taiwanissa, jonka kapasiteetti on 30 000 piikiekkoa kuukaudessa. Pian tämän jälkeen Kaohsiungissa sijaitseva Fab 22 -tehdas aloittaa tuotantonsa vuoden 2026 ensimmäisellä neljänneksellä samalla kuukausikapasiteetilla.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/16820-nokialta-puoli-miljoonaa-wi-fi-reititintae-etelae-afrikkaan
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2024/11/11/huominen-electronica-2024-hakee-ammattivakea-tanaan-ceo-paneeli/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Lumikai projects India’s gaming market to grow from $3.8B in 2024 to $9.2B in 2029; the number of gamers in India reached 591M in 2024, up from 568M in 2023
India’s game market could grow from $3.8B to $9.2B by 2029 | Lumikai
https://venturebeat.com/games/indias-game-market-could-grow-from-3-8b-to-9-2b-by-2029-lumikai/
India’s game market could grow from $3.8 billion in 2024 to $9.2 billion by 2029, according to a report by Lumikai.
That represents a 20% compound annual growth rate. Lumikai, a venture capital fund in India focused on games, also said that India’s $3.8 billion gaming market is about 30% of its broader $12.5 billion new media market.
Gaming is India’s the fastest-growing new media segment, and it is just shy of the $3.9 billion video and over-the-top media market (based on the fiscal year periods ending March 31). Overall, the new media market is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 16%, said Salone Sehgal, founding general partner at Lumikai, in an interview with GamesBeat.
Such growth is similar to China’s growth in gaming a couple of decades ago, making India the next hot market that game investors should follow, Sehgal said. Aditya Deshpande, senior investment associate at Lumikai, said in an interview with GamesBeat. believes that gaming is in the process of surpassing India’s vaunted Bollywood film industry.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jowi Morales / Tom’s Hardware:
LG Display shows off a stretchable display prototype that can expand by up to 50%, more than doubling the previous record of 20% elongation — This stretchable display unlocks an infinite number of possibilities. — LG Display, one of the global leaders in display technologies …
LG’s new stretchable display can grow by 50%, bendy panels can be deformed into new form factors
https://www.tomshardware.com/monitors/lgs-new-stretchable-display-can-grow-by-50-percent-bendy-panels-can-be-deformed-into-new-form-factors
Tomi Engdahl says:
Emma Roth / The Verge:
iOS 18.2 public beta introduces Share Item Location, letting users share a link with the location of AirTags or Find My accessories with airlines and others — Apple will now let you share the location of a lost AirTag with other people. The Find My feature, called Share Item Location …
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/11/24293654/apple-ios-18-2-share-airtag-locations
Tomi Engdahl says:
Financial Times:
Sources: Elon Musk’s US government advisory role will let him push for his acolytes and allies to fill roles that cut regulation and protect his companies
Who’s who in the Musk ‘A-team’ vying to shape Trump 2.0
https://www.ft.com/content/d207c4a9-0e6d-4ece-a44d-abf890316b5a
Tomi Engdahl says:
Posted on 27th September 2024 | Modified on 27th September 2024
Electronics production shows decline or slow growth
Electronics production in the major developed countries has been showing slow growth or declines in 2024.
https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/electronics-production-shows-slow-growth-2024-09/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The European electronics industry risks falling behind
Editor: Dennis Dahlgren
Key segments of the EU’s electronics manufacturing industry are set to decline – undermining Europe’s security, industrial resiliency, and global competitiveness.
https://evertiq.com/news/55877
A recent analysis by IPC reveals Europe’s increasing reliance on foreign regions for electronics manufacturing in critical and strategic sectors such as aerospace and defence. Even with the adoption of the European Chips Act, the report – Securing EU’s Electronics Ecosystem – shows that the EU’s market share in critical electronics components other than chips, such as PCBs, electronic manufacturing services EMS, and advanced packaging, will fall to 15% by 2035. Evertiq has previously reported on the challenging situation the European industry is facing – especially the PCB industry.
Over the previous two decades, the PCB industry in Europe has seen a severe decline, one could even call it an erosion. In passing the Chips Act, the EU made a strategic, but narrowly crafted commitment to the electronics industry – but rebuilding a robust and sustainable European electronics ecosystem requires revitalising and expanding electronics production beyond chips.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/opinion/16826-milloin-markkina-kaeaentyy-kasvuun
Milloin taantuma loppuu? Milloin markkinat piristyvät? ETN puhui Mouser Electronicsin EMEA-alueen markkinoinnin johtajan, Graham Maggsin kanssa. Maggsin mietteet löytyvät pian ilmestyvästä ETNdigi-erikoislehdestä.
Mouser on aiemmin arvioinut, että käänne kasvuun tapahtuu kolmannella neljänneksellä tai ensi vuoden alussa. Nyt kaikki puhuvat pitkittyneestä taantumasta. Mitä on tapahtunut?
Tämän päivän markkinoiden ennustaminen on edelleen haastavaa. Vuonna 2024 olemme nähneet maailmantalouden, jota leimaavat mielenkiintoiset ylä- ja alamäet. Ennustettu 3,2 prosentin kasvu vuodelle 2024 ei ehkä täytä odotuksia, mutta Kansainvälinen valuuttarahasto (IMF) odottaa hieman suurempaa, 3,3 prosentin kasvua vuonna 2025. Ne, jotka osoittavat kestävyyttä, investoivat strategisesti ja ovat avoimia uusille mahdollisuuksille, saavat positiivisia tuloksia.
Saksa näyttää kamppailevan huomattavasti. Liittyykö tämä tiettyihin aloihin (autoteollisuus, teollisuuselektroniikka) vai onko se yleisempää?
Auto- ja teollisuussektorin vaikutus Saksaan on monimutkainen vuorovaikutus.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/16824-neuroprosessori-ensimmaeistae-kertaa-bluetooth-sirulle
Tekoäly on yksi tänään alkaneiden Electronica-messujen pääteemoista ja se näkyy myös uusien tuotteiden vyöryssä. Kalifornialainen Alif Semiconductor esittelee messuilla evaluointikorttia, jolla ensimmäistä kertaa tuodaan laitetason tekoälykuormille optimoitu kiihdytin mukaan vähävirtaiselle Bluetooth-piirille.
Huhtikuussa julkistettu Balletto-ohjainperhe saa nyt lisää tukea DK-B1-kehityskortin muodossa. Se on suunniteltu nopeaan prototyyppien rakentamiseen tuotteille, jotka vaativat äärimäisen vähävirtaista Bluetooth Low Energy- tai 802.15.4-yhteyttä. Balletto-mikro-ohjain sisältää DSP-moottorin ja NPU-yksikön (neural processing unit) AI/ML-tehtäviän tehokkaaseen laitteistokiihdytykseen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Yrityskaupan seuraus: nämä tärkeät ohjelmat jaetaan nyt kaikille ilmaiseksi
Suvi Korhonen12.11.202408:54Yritysjärjestelmät
Broadcomin ostettua VMwaren yhtiön strategiassa on nähty suuria muutoksia
https://www.tivi.fi/uutiset/yrityskaupan-seuraus-nama-tarkeat-ohjelmat-jaetaan-nyt-kaikille-ilmaiseksi/59d4b71a-b5a4-4f3a-b407-72bdfbd4d159
Virtualisointiyritys VMware ilmoitti, että sen VMware Fusion ja VMware Workstation -hypervisorit ovat nyt ilmaiseksi kenen tahansa käytettävissä, Bleeping Computer uutisoi.
Tomi Engdahl says:
VMware makes Workstation and Fusion free for everyone
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/vmware-makes-workstation-and-fusion-free-for-everyone/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ramish Zafar / Wccftech:
AMD says it will lay off ~4% of its global staff to align “resources with our largest growth opportunities”; SEC filing: AMD had 26,000 employees at 2023′s end — According to a spokesperson, chip designer Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., is laying off a portion of its global workforce.
AMD Confirms Laying Off 4% Of Its Employees To Align Resources With “Largest Growth Opportunities”
https://wccftech.com/amd-confirms-laying-off-4-of-its-employees-to-align-resources-with-largest-growth-opportunities/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Open Source has been in trouble for some time…
Amid lawsuits, mounting security threats, and developer discontent, some are finding new ways to support the open-source software ecosystem.
Open-Source Software Is in Crisis Here are three ways to help it flourish into the future
https://spectrum.ieee.org/open-source-crisis?share_id=8509193&socialux=facebook&utm_campaign=RebelMouse&utm_content=IEEE+Spectrum&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0md9d9olTU2D3uCeUR5IcFMd8NyiH1Rr9lN-XppGk3sbN7PFy9TxV0Rm4_aem_MwAOC9PQpDYzwfIQPk7Qwg
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tästä piti tulla viihdealan uusi kuningas, mutta sitten kupla puhkesi rumasti – asiantuntijalta karu arvio seuraavasta käänteestä
Richard Lewisin mukaan esportsin nykyiset ja seuraavat uhkakuvat ovat kaikkien silmien edessä. Muutos on väistämätön.
Tästä piti tulla viihdealan uusi kuningas, mutta sitten kupla puhkesi rumasti – asiantuntijalta karu arvio seuraavasta käänteestä
https://www.is.fi/digitoday/esports/art-2000010787611.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://wccftech.com/tsmc-forbidden-to-manufacture-2nm-chips-outside-taiwan-raising-concerns-future-tsmc-us-ambitions/
Tomi Engdahl says:
“All subscription models are from Satan and there is a special place in hell for those people in charge that went for this business model”: Are music software subscriptions really as bad as some people say?
https://www.musicradar.com/music-tech/plugins/all-subscription-models-are-from-satan-and-there-is-a-special-place-in-hell-for-those-people-in-charge-that-went-for-this-business-model-are-music-software-subscriptions-really-as-bad-as-some-people-say
Tomi Engdahl says:
Elisa ja Nokia kokeilivat ensimmäisenä Euroopassa ennätyksellistä 100 gigabitin valokuitunopeutta – näin nopeammat yhteydet ovat tulossa saataville
https://mobiili.fi/2024/11/05/elisa-ja-nokia-kokeilivat-ensimmaisena-euroopassa-ennatyksellista-100-gigabitin-valokuitunopeutta-nain-nopeammat-yhteydet-ovat-tulossa-saataville/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Electronica 2024 keräsi 80 000 kävijää
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2024/11/16/huominen-electronica-2024-hakee-ammattivakea-tanaan-ceo-paneeli/
Läntisen Euroopan ammattielektroniikan messutapahtuma Electronica järjestettiin Münchenissä puolijohdetekniikoihin keskittyvän Semicon Europan kanssa. Tapahtumassa oli 3 480 näytteilleasettajaa ja neljän päivän aikana tapahtumaan tutustui lähes 80 000 messuvierasta.
Münchenin joka toinen vuosi järjestettävä Electronica esittelee itsensä maailmanlaajuisena elektroniikkabisneksen alustana, mutta silti alkuperäisen Euroopan tapahtuman lisäksi tapahtuma järjestetään myös Aasia, josta suurin osa alan elektroniikasta nykyisin valmistetaan. Silti Electronica 2024 osoitti jälleen vaikuttavuutensa 18 messuhallillaan, 3480 osastollaan 59 maasta ja 80 000 kävijällään noin 100 maasta.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kiina ja Trump mietityttävät puolijohdepomoja
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/16849-kiina-ja-trump-mietityttaevaet-puolijohdepomoja
Viime viikolla järjestettyjen Electronica-messujen pääjohtajapaneelissa puolijohdepomot pohtivat alan tilaa ja suurimpia riskejä. Suurimmiksi riskeiksi pääjohtajat arvioivat toimitusketjujen mahdolliset ongelmat.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Financial Times:
Chinese smartphone manufacturers are ramping up their efforts in Europe to grab marketshare from Apple and Samsung with tech such as foldable devices
China’s smartphone makers head upmarket in European push
Realme, Oppo and Honor are looking to challenge Samsung and Apple on the continent with fancier handsets
https://www.ft.com/content/a982abf2-9564-4a8c-b8df-9e614ecd2151
Chinese smartphone manufacturers are intensifying efforts to gain a stronger foothold in Europe and sell higher-margin premium devices, with one of the world’s fastest-growing brands aiming to more than double its market share on the continent in the next three years.
Shenzhen-based Realme, which has increased European sales by 275 per cent from 2020 to last year, according to analysts, says it is targeting a market share of more than 10 per cent in the next three to five years, up from 4 per cent.
Currently the continent’s fourth biggest supplier, the handset maker became the fastest ever to reach 100mn global phone shipments in 2021 and the fifth fastest to reach 200mn last year, despite a slowdown in the smartphone market, according to research from Tech Insights and Counterpoint Research.
“If Realme can achieve success in the European market then our whole brand will be massively elevated and it will help our sales globally,” said Francis Wong, head of product marketing at the company. “Our whole strategy is to start from the low end and work our way up.”
However, he cautioned that marketing costs involved in selling to European customers loyal to Apple and Samsung were more than 10 times higher than in India, the company‘s first major market when it became an independent entity in 2018.
European consumers are less aware of Chinese brands and less concerned about value for money, meaning the company’s growth had so far been slower on the continent than in other markets, where it has doubled, tripled or quadrupled sales in just a few years, he added.
“We are used to that kind of rapid growth. So after coming to Europe, we found that this market is not as easy as we imagined,” said Wong.
Apple and Samsung still dominate in Europe, especially at the premium end, according to figures from Counterpoint. They accounted for 94 per cent of phones sold over $700 in the second quarter of this year. The last external challenger to claim close to 10 per cent of the European premium market was Huawei, which grew its share of sales rapidly until it was gradually pushed out by US sanctions and bans in some countries on the use of the company’s equipment in 5G networks from 2020.
Realme began life as an offshoot of Oppo
But this year, Chinese smartphone makers say they are making renewed efforts to boost European sales, spotting an opportunity to win market share with new technologies such as foldable devices, advanced cameras and superfast chargers.
“We’ve seen Europe show a very open attitude towards embracing both foldables and flips . . . this is really a game-changer,” said Tony Ran, Europe president for Shenzhen-based Honor, adding that the continent was the company’s most important market outside China.
In the second quarter, Honor overtook Samsung to become the number one seller of foldable smartphones in western Europe, having entered the top five sellers in terms of overall European market share the previous quarter.
“For western Europe, they . . . invest a lot of money to build that brand awareness . . . but they don’t see a lot of positive returns,” said Will Wong, an analyst at IDC.
Smartphone makers argue that the prestige of making it in a developed market like Europe could help them in other high-end markets such as Japan, Australia and the US, potentially convincing operators to sell Chinese phones in those regions.
“Once we can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nikkei Asia:
TechInsights: China’s chip self-sufficiency rate rose from ~14% in 2014 to 23% in 2023 and is expected to hit 27% in 2027, as China rushes to boost chip supply
China rushes to boost domestic chip supply ahead of Trump’s return
U.S. tech rivalry spurs advancements in Chinese semiconductor industry
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/China-rushes-to-boost-domestic-chip-supply-ahead-of-Trump-s-return
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft unveils the $349 Windows 365 Link, a mini PC for its Windows 365 cloud service running a “super hardened version of Windows”, shipping in April 2025 — Microsoft is planning to launch a new purpose-built miniature PC for its Windows 365 cloud service next year.
Windows 365 Link is a $349 mini PC that streams Windows from the cloud
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/19/24299789/microsoft-windows-365-link-device-cloud-pc
Tomi Engdahl says:
AMD on kiistatta ykkönen supertietokoneissa
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/16860-amd-on-kiistatta-ykkoenen-supertietokoneissa
Maailman supertietokoneet on jälleen laitettu paremmuusjärjestykseen. Listalla Suomen LUMI oli sijalla kahdeksan. AMD:n EPYC-prosessorit ja Instinct-sarjan GPU-kiihdyttimet ovat kiistatta tämän hetken paras yhdistelmä, kun haetaan parasta mahdollista suorituskykyä.
Listan uusi ykkönen on Kalifornian Lawrence Livermore National Laboratoryn uusi järjestelmä El Capitan. Sen teho on 1742 eksaflopsia. Järjestelmässä on yhteensä 11 039 616 CPU- ja GPU-ydintä, ja se perustuu AMD:n neljännen sukupolven EPYC-prosessoreihin, joissa on 24 ydintä ja 1,8 GHz kellotaajuus, sekä AMD Instinct MI300A -kiihdyttimiin. El Capitan käyttää tiedonsiirrossa Cray Slingshot 11 -verkkoa ja saavuttaa energiatehokkuudessa lukeman 58,89 gigaflopsia/watti, mikä nosti koneen myös GREEN500-listan sijalle 18.
Toiselle sijalle putosi Oak Ridge National Laboratoryn Frontier-järjestelmä. Sen suorituskykyä on onnistuttu edellismittauksesta hieman nostaan ja nyt teho kirjataan lukemin 1353 eksaflopsia sekunnissa. Frontierin laskentaytimien kokonaismäärä on myös kasvanut edellisen listan vajaasta 8,7 miljoonasta ytimestä 9 066 176 ytimeen. Myös Frontier käyttää tiedonsiirrossa Cray Slingshot 11 -verkkoa.
Top500-listan ensimmäinen Intelin prosessoreita käyttävä järjestelmä on Argonnen tutkimuslaitoksen Aurora-järjestelmä, jonka teho on 1012 eksaflopsia.Kone pohjaa HPE Cray EX -runkoon ja Intel Exascale Compute -korttiin, joka käyttää Intel Xeon CPU Max -sarjan prosessoreja ja Intel Data Center GPU Max -sarjan kiihdyttimiä. Data siirtyy tässäkin järjestelmässä Crayn Slingshot-11-verkon välityksellä.
Juuri ennen CSC:n LUMI-konetta listan seitsemäntenä on ensimmäinen Nvidian prosessoreihin perustuva järjestelmä. Sveitsin kansallisen superlaskentakeskuksen Alps-järjestelmässä on Nvidian Grace72C_ ja GH800-prosessoreita.
Tomi Engdahl says:
CJ Haddad / CNBC:
After a report that Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” is considering a free tax-filing app, Intuit shares closed down 5.1% and H&R Block down 8.2% — The stock prices for H&R Block and Intuit fell after a report Tuesday said Trump’s government efficiency team is considering creating a free tax-filing app.
Intuit, H&R Block shares fall after report that Trump government efficiency team is considering tax-filing app
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/19/hr-block-intuit-stocks-fall-following-trump-tax-filing-app-report.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rest of World:
GSMA: 4.6B people are now connected to mobile internet, or 57% of the world; mobile subscriber growth fell to 160M in 2023, from 200M per year from 2015 to 2021
New data shows the number of new mobile internet users is stalling
What happened to the “next billion” internet users? They’re already online.
https://restofworld.org/2024/mobile-internet-users-growth-rate/
57% of the population is already connected to mobile internet.
In Pakistan, Nigeria, and Mexico, the rate of new mobile internet subscriber growth is slowing.
The remaining populations will be harder, and more expensive, to get online.
When Facebook hit 1 billion users in 2012, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that when it comes to getting another billion users, “The big thing is obviously going to be mobile.” In an interview at the time, Zuckerberg told Bloomberg, “As more phones become smartphones, it’s just this massive opportunity.”
Clearly, he was correct. A recent survey from Global System for Mobile Communications Association Intelligence (GSMA), the research wing of a U.K.-based organization that represents mobile operators around the world, found that 4.6 billion people across the globe are now connected to mobile internet — or roughly 57% of the world’s population.
Now, the rate of new mobile internet subscriber growth is slowing. From 2015 to 2021, the survey consistently found over 200 million coming online through mobile devices around the world each year. But in the last two years, that number has dropped to 160 million. Rest of World analysis of that data found that a number of developing countries are plateauing in the number of mobile internet subscribers. That suggests that in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Mexico, the easiest populations to get online have already logged on, and getting the rest of the population on mobile internet will continue to be a challenge. GSMA collects data by surveying a nationally representative sample of people in each country, and then it correlates the results with similar studies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.edn.com/a-holiday-shopping-guide-for-engineers-2024-edition/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Financial Times:
Similarweb: Bluesky app usage in the US and UK grew ~300% to 3.5M DAUs after Nov. 5; Threads now has 1.5x Bluesky’s DAUs in the US, down from 5x before Nov. 5
Meta loses ground to Bluesky as users abandon Elon Musk’s X
Social media giant’s Threads app makes changes as smaller competitor to X surges
https://www.ft.com/content/e1b52147-c171-4902-8bce-204ba0905912
Meta’s Threads is losing ground to social media start-up Bluesky in capitalising on the exodus of users from Elon Musk’s X following Donald Trump’s election.
Since election day, app usage of Bluesky in the US and UK skyrocketed by almost 300 per cent to 3.5mn daily users, according to data from research group Similarweb. The site was boosted as academics, journalists and left-leaning politicians abandoned X, whose billionaire owner is a prominent supporter of the president-elect.
Prior to November 5, Threads had five times more daily active users in the US than Bluesky, which has just 20 full-time staff and was initially funded by Twitter when Jack Dorsey was its chief executive. Now, Threads is only 1.5 times larger than its rival, Similarweb said.
Bluesky’s growth in the US and UK comes after Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg chose to deliberately reduce the prominence of political content across its apps, including Facebook and Instagram.
That move was widely interpreted as an attempt to rise about the partisan fray and avoid being dragged into debates over free speech. Trump, who has long castigated social media platforms for allegedly censoring conservative voices, previously labelled Meta “an enemy of the people” and threatened Zuckerberg with jail were he to return to office. Last month, Trump said he liked Zuckerberg “much better now” because he was “staying out of the election”.
This contrasts with X, which under Musk’s ownership, has cut back content moderation to allow more freewheeling content to proliferate.
Since its launch in July last year, Threads has prioritised engaging content from accounts that users did not follow, a model closer to that of its photo app Instagram. However, Meta on Thursday backtracked on that choice.
This week, it also swiftly rolled out the ability for users to curate “custom feeds” around topics or people they want to follow, mimicking existing Bluesky capabilities, after testing the feature for only five days.
The moves sparked speculation that Meta was trying to curb Bluesky’s rise.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bloomberg:
Gamers who prefer playing together are fueling demand for esports hotels across China; research firm Niko Partners says China has more than 21,000 such hotels
Diehard Gamers Are Fueling Demand for Esports Hotels in China
With bunkbeds, 24/7 tech support and state-of-the-art consoles, China’s 21,000 esports hotels cater to gamers who prefer to play together.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-22/china-gamers-playing-league-of-legends-pubg-drive-demand-for-esports-hotels
Tomi Engdahl says:
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Profiles of Teresa Ribera, Henna Virkkunen, and Ekaterina Zaharieva, the three incoming EU commissioners in charge of key tech policy areas into 2029
Meet three incoming EU lawmakers in charge of key tech policy areas
https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/23/meet-three-incoming-eu-lawmakers-in-charge-of-key-tech-policy-areas/
The European Union looks to have clinched political agreement on the team of 26 commissioners who will be implementing President Ursula von der Leyen’s policy plan for the next five years. A final vote is still pending next week, but on Thursday, Politico’s Brussels Playbook newsletter reported a deal in the European Parliament on the appointments, suggesting it’s “now all but guaranteed” that the next European Commission will kick off on December 1.
We’ve picked out three commissioner-designates to watch for tech policy moves as the next Commission takes up its five-year mandate, which runs into 2029, with responsibilities across areas like digital infrastructure and tech investment, support for startups, and enforcing the bloc’s laws on Big Tech.
Big Tech will be watching Teresa Ribera Rodríguez closely. Once confirmed in post, the Spanish center-left politician is set for a major EVP role in the incoming Commission heading up a climate brief-cum-economic transformation EVP role. But she’ll also be taking over competition enforcement from Margrethe Vestager — a portfolio that’s given the likes of Apple, Amazon, Google, and Meta plenty of headaches over the years.
This combined strategic portfolio makes her the most powerful figure in the incoming Commission — on paper, at least.
The EU has put a fresh focus on trying to rein in platform power in recent years, thanks to the bloc’s flagship Digital Markets Act (DMA), a popular competition reform that came into force this March. It responds to Big Tech’s market-shaping muscle by applying a set of upfront rules on how they can operate key platforms, doing things like banning self-preferencing and requiring openness and interoperability, which the EU hopes will result in fairer dealing for competitors and tech users.
As EU competition chief, Ribera Rodríguez is set to wield major decision-making power in tech. She will inherit a clutch of active DMA investigations, including advanced probes of Apple and Meta, where the EU has already said it suspects breaches but isn’t expected to decide the cases until next year. Google’s self-preferencing is also under investigation. Other DMA probes could follow on the seven designated gatekeepers, with Reuters reporting that Amazon will face a probe next year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New York Times:
Sources: Intel, the biggest recipient of money under the CHIPS Act, will see its funding drop to less than $8B from the $8.5B that was announced earlier in 2024
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/24/business/washington-curtails-intel-grant.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Washington Post:
Sources: Marc Andreessen, Travis Kalanick, and others are involved in Department of Government Efficiency; Andreessen is acting as a networker for recruitment — The Tesla executive and the former presidential candidate are meeting with staff and interviewing experts as they plan for massive federal cuts.
Musk and Ramaswamy race to build a ‘DOGE’ team for war with Washington
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/11/24/musk-ramaswamy-doge-trump/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzMyNDI0NDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzMzODA2Nzk5LCJpYXQiOjE3MzI0MjQ0MDAsImp0aSI6IjQ3ZmY1ZDBhLWIwMjEtNGUxMC04YzEzLTIyZTNiZDUxNmY2OCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9idXNpbmVzcy8yMDI0LzExLzI0L211c2stcmFtYXN3YW15LWRvZ2UtdHJ1bXAvIn0.Yk_jKsBmM9JFSb4fps1EMuYfb9cxaGDtUIixqEzJnKg
The Tesla executive and the former presidential candidate are meeting with staff and interviewing experts as they plan for massive federal cuts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Aya Wagatsuma / Bloomberg:
Shares of Japan’s Fujikura, which specializes in fiber optic cables for data centers, are up 400%+ in 2024 due to the AI boom, leading the Nikkei 225 index
AI Boom Makes 139-Year-Old Cable Company Japan’s Hottest Stock
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-24/ai-boom-makes-139-year-old-cable-maker-japan-s-hottest-stock
Fujikura has benefited from surging demand for data centers
Company will be added to the MSCI global indexes on Nov. 25
Tomi Engdahl says:
Steven Overly / Politico:
Q&A with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on what happens to the $50B CHIPS program under the Trump administration, the future of AI safety, China, and more — With a massive legacy program hanging in the balance, the Commerce secretary wants to get billions in microchip money out the door in the next two months.
Raimondo’s urgent mission: Leave no cash for Trump
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/20/raimondo-commerce-trump-legacy-00190538
With a massive legacy program hanging in the balance, the Commerce secretary wants to get billions in microchip money out the door in the next two months.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is on an urgent mission: get as much high-tech spending out the door before Donald Trump takes office.
The Biden administration is aiming to commit nearly every unspent dollar in its $50 billion microchip-subsidy program before President-elect Donald Trump takes over in January, an effort that would effectively cement a massive industrial legacy before the GOP can reverse course.
“I’d like to have really almost all of the money obligated by the time we leave,” Raimondo said in an interview with POLITICO. “That’s the goal, and I certainly want to have all the major announcements done as it relates to the big, leading-edge companies.”
The effort to spend her department’s full CHIPS Act budget would put a capstone on a signature Biden economic policy.
It also speaks to the urgency facing a host of Biden’s historic raft of spending programs, many of which could be vulnerable to a Republican White House and Congress eager to pare back the most ambitious Democratic spending packages.
The Chips money alone is a massive undertaking. Congress allocated $50 billion in subsidies for semiconductor manufacturing and R&D. So far only two companies have received binding awards from the Department of Commerce’s manufacturing program. To hit her target, Raimondo still needs to nail down contracts with Intel, Micron, Samsung and SK hynix — multibillion-dollar deals that have, at times, been rocky and required renegotiations.
Raimondo said she recently directed staff to work through the weekend — and even made personal calls to tech CEOs — to speed the talks along.
The forthcoming change in administration is “a clear deadline” that “focuses the mind,” Raimondo said, but added she’s not overly concerned about budget-conscious Republicans clawing back money from the program next year, despite their threats to do so.
The CHIPS and Science Act passed both chambers of Congress with bipartisan support, and Raimondo said she expects that will withstand Trump’s arrival.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WITH THE $50 BILLION CHIPS PROGRAM: “I’m driving my team really hard right now. Worked all weekend. I’d like to have almost all of the money obligated by the time we leave. That’s the goal. And I certainly want to have all the major announcements done as it relates to the big leading edge companies. … I also would like to have all of that research and development money out the door by the time we leave as well.”
WHETHER THE GOP CAN ROLL BACK THE MONEY: “I don’t worry terribly about any of the chips money being rolled back, as you say. I mean, the Commerce Department is somewhat unique in so far as everything we’ve done and are doing is bipartisan. And the CHIPS Act is a national security program and still has great bipartisan support to this day. In fact, it was, you know, started in some ways in the Trump administration. [Former Commerce] Secretary Wilbur Ross and [former Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo sent a letter to TSMC to ask them to come here. The broadband is bipartisan. Our workforce work is bipartisan. So, look, anything’s possible, but I don’t worry too much about that.”
THE FUTURE OF AI SAFETY (and the summit that kicks off in San Francisco today): “I don’t think you can overestimate how significant this is. First of all, AI is the defining technology of our generation and is a huge game changer. And this [AI Safety Institute Summit] convening that I’m having this week in San Francisco is the first of its kind in the U.S. It’s the third global meeting in the past year, but it’s the first one the U.S. is hosting and leading, and we are going to be establishing a U.S. government task force on testing of AI models to manage national security capabilities. We’re going to be announcing new goals for the AI safety network. But mostly what I want to accomplish is getting the world’s leading scientists and technical experts together from countries all over the world on behalf of their government…
Tomi Engdahl says:
David Pan / Bloomberg:
A profile of Chris Maurice, the CEO of US stablecoin startup Yellow Card, which operates in 20 African countries and has traded $3B+ worth of crypto in 2024 — Cryptocurrencies that track the dollar are becoming a popular workaround for companies stymied by currency shortages on the continent.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-11-20/yellow-card-is-the-crypto-startup-behind-africa-s-stablecoin-boom?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTczMjQzMDM4MywiZXhwIjoxNzMzMDM1MTgzLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTTjlSU1lUMEcxS1cwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIwNEFGQkMxQkYyMTA0NUVEODg3MzQxQkQwQzIyNzRBMCJ9.P30L9mUi_S_I-LqGxy_p0EyyDvSRST_c7UWG8iIXlu0
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tekoälyä halutaan, mutta syy uuden puhelimen hankintaan on vanha tuttu
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/16884-tekoaelyae-halutaan-mutta-syy-uuden-puhelimen-hankintaan-on-vanha-tuttu
OnePlussan tilaama ja OnePollin toteuttama kyselytutkimus paljasti suomalaisten kuluttajien kasvavan kiinnostuksen älypuhelinten tekoälyominaisuuksia kohtaan. Yleisin syy vaihtaa puhelin uudempaan on kuitenkin heikko akunkesto.
Tutkimukseen osallistui tuhat suomalaista älypuhelimen käyttäjää, joista 45 prosenttia piti tekoälyominaisuuksia tärkeinä osana älypuhelinta. Kyselyssä suosituimmiksi tekoälyominaisuuksiksi nousivat reaaliaikaiset käännökset, jotka saivat kannatusta 39 prosentilta vastaajista. Toiseksi suosituimpia olivat tekoälypohjaiset valokuvatyökalut, kuten esineiden ja ihmisten poistaminen kuvasta, joita arvosti 38 prosenttia vastaajista. Automatisoidut toiminnot (35 prosenttia) ja tekoälypohjaiset hakutoiminnot (31 prosenttia) keräsivät myös paljon kiinnostusta.
Tutkimus toi esiin myös suomalaisten yleisimmät ongelmat älypuhelinten käytössä. Yleisimmät haasteet olivat akun nopea kuluminen, jonka koki ongelmaksi 35 prosenttia vastaajista, sekä näytön heikko näkyvyys kirkkaassa auringonpaisteessa (25 prosenttia). Muita usein mainittuja ongelmia olivat sovellusten kaatumiset (15 prosenttia), hidas suorituskyky (14 prosenttia) ja latauksen hitaus (12 prosenttia).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bloomberg:
Sources: Qualcomm’s interest in an Intel acquisition has cooled; CEO Cristiano Amon says “right now, at this time, we have not identified any large acquisition” — – A deal would likely have been one of the largest ever in tech — Qualcomm “hasn’t identified large acquisition,” CEO said
Qualcomm’s Takeover Interest in Intel Is Said to Cool
A deal would likely have been one of the largest ever in tech
Qualcomm “hasn’t identified large acquisition,” CEO said
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-26/qualcomm-s-takeover-interest-in-intel-is-said-to-cool
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bloomberg:
Sources: Xiaomi prepares its own mobile chip for its smartphones, to reduce reliance on Qualcomm and MediaTek, with mass production expected to begin in 2025
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-26/xiaomi-readies-own-mobile-chip-pressuring-mediatek-and-qualcomm
Tomi Engdahl says:
Euroopassa osakekurssit laskivat tiistaina kaupankäynnin alettua. Niitä painoivat etenkin autovalmistajien osakkeet, jotka laskivat Yhdysvaltain tulevan presidentin Donald Trumpin kaavailemat tullit.
https://yle.fi/a/74-20127259
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Ofcom: adults in the UK are now spending an average of 4 hours and 20 minutes daily online across devices, a jump from 3 hours and 41 minutes in 2023
Time spent online by adults in the UK jumped by nearly an hour in 2024 says Ofcom
https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/27/time-spent-online-by-adults-in-the-uk-jumped-by-nearly-an-hour-in-2024-says-ofcom/