Ahead of MediaTek’s official launch of Dimensity 9400, which takes place on October 9^th, rumors have been circulating that Samsung may feature the chip in its Galaxy S25 next year. Now the first smartphone equipped with the chip has surfaced. According to the reports by Gizmochina, Wccftech and mydrivers, Vivo X200 series will reportedly be the first smartphone powered by the Dimensity 9400 chipset.

It is worth noting that Dimensity 9400 will be reportedly be manufactured with TSMC’s 3nm, according to Wccftech. This will also mark the first 3nm chip in the Android ecosystem, mydriver notes.

For more details, Vivo is anticipated to unveil the Vivo X200 series on October 14th, which includes the Vivo X200, Vivo X200 Pro Mini, and Vivo X200 Pro. According to Gizmochina, all the models will be powered by Dimensity 9400.

Dimensity 9400, by introducing the Arm Cortex-X925 super-large core, is said to offer a 36% performance increase and a 41% improvement in AI performance if compared to Cortex-X4, Gizmochina notes.

While MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 is said to excel in performance, there have been rumors suggesting that the unit price of the SoC has increased by 20%, which could force smartphone manufacturers to adjust the prices of their flagship models, Wccftech notes.

However, as the start price of X200, which is the base model of Vivo’s latest lineup, has been revealed to be 3,999 Yuan (around USD 570) per unit, the aforementioned concern has been eased, Wccftech indicates.

Recent reports indicate that MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 is priced 20% lower than Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, which enhance the likelihood for Samsung to adopt the chip in its upcoming S25 to reduce the cost.

Read more

• [News] MediaTek Ventures into AI Accelerators, Aiming to Release Dimensity 9400 in October
• [News] MediaTek Sets Dimensity 9400 Launch Date, Ahead of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4

(Photo credit: Vivo)

Following speculations that the highly-anticipated Apple Intelligence will be launched along with the release of iOS 18.1 in late October, Chinese tech giant Huawei is now said to launch the country’s domestic mobile operating system, HarmonyOS Next, on Tuesday, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.

Starting today, HarmonyOS Next will be available on Huawei’s Mate 60 series, the Mate X5 foldable smartphone, and the 13.2-inch MatePad Pro tablet, the report notes, suggesting that the home-grown mobile operating system of China is positioned as an alternative to Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.

It is worth noting that Huawei is promoting HarmonyOS Next as a fully independent operating system, which no longer supports Android-based applications, the South China Morning Post states.

HarmonyOS Next had made its debut among local developers earlier in January, the report states. In September, Chairman of Huawei’s consumer business group Richard Yu touted the system, saying that Huawei “covered the path of over a decade of foreign operating system ecosystem development in just one year.”

According to the report, Huawei rallied China’s app developers last month in preparation for the launch. Chinese tech giants like Baidu, JD.com, Meituan, and Tencent Holdings all gathered at the occasion. Citing information provided by Huawei, the report notes that over 10,000 apps and native services have been developed for HarmonyOS Next.

Huawei initially introduced HarmonyOS in August 2019 as an alternative to Android, shortly after the U.S. government placed the company on a trade blacklist in May of the same year, restricting its access to U.S. technologies without approval from Washington.

According to the report, HarmonyOS saw a surge in domestic adoption last year, fueled by Huawei’s re-entry into the 5G smartphone market with the launch of its Mate 60 series.

After the official release of HarmonyOS Next, the new Rotating CEO for the company, Sabrina Meng, will also oversee the launch of Huawei’s upcoming flagship 5G smartphone series, the Mate 70, slated for the fourth quarter, the report notes.

Read more

• [News] Huawei Rumored to Launch New High-End AI Chip, Potentially Rivaling NVIDIA’s H100
• [News] Huawei’s HarmonyOS Project Ready to Hit the Road with Increasing Participation from Chinese Enterprises

(Photo credit: Huawei)

While Apple launched iPhone 16 on September 10^th, the smartphone giant has not set up a specific date for the release of Apple Intelligence. Now, according to the latest report by Bloomberg, iPhone buyers would have to wait a few more weeks, as Apple Intelligence is expected to arrive on October 28^th.

The long-awaited function will be arriving then as part of the iOS 18.1 operating system, Bloomberg suggests.

The market had previously anticipated that the AI platform would be released in mid-October, according to another report by MoneyDJ. However, as Apple would like to take a more cautious approach to ensure that all major issues have been addressed, and that the increased traffic on its AI cloud servers can be adequately supported, the company has postponed the schedule a bit.

According to a previous report by Reuters, Apple Intelligence will first launch for U.S. English users, with other localized English versions set to follow in December. Additional language versions, including Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish, are anticipated for next year. However, it is worth noting that Apple has not yet announced an AI partner in China for the iPhone 16 series.

According to Apple’s official website, Apple Intelligence will only support devices with the built-in M1 or newer processors (such as iPad Air, iPad Pro, and Mac), as well as the 2023 iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro, but not the entry-level iPhone 15. Additionally, it is expected to be compatible with the upcoming iPhone SE, according to The Verge.

For more details, the report by Bloomberg notes that the initial release of Apple Intelligence will feature notification summaries, with later updates such as iOS 18.2 set to introduce ChatGPT integration and support for Genmoji custom emojis.

In March next year, iOS 18.4 will bring other enhancements to the Siri digital assistant, allowing it to manage applications with greater precision and utilize personal information to respond to inquiries, the report notes. Moreover, additional features following iOS 18.1 may include automated email filing in the Mail app and an Image Playground app for creating custom images, according to Bloomberg.

Read more

• [News] iPhone 16 “Supercycle” in Doubt? Concerns Rise Over Slow Rollout with its AI Platform
• [News] Apple Officially Debuts iPhone 16 with AI Features, but Yet to Announce an AI partner in China

(Photo credit: Apple)

Chinese tech giant Huawei has appointed a new Rotating CEO for the company. After Eric Xu ended his tenure on September 30^th, Sabrina Meng assumes the position of Rotating and Acting Chair of Huawei from October 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025, according to the company’s press release.

During her term, Meng will serve in the company’s top leadership position and head the Board of Directors and its Executive Committee, the press release states.

It is worth noting that Meng is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, who is also the company’s director. According to a report by the Economic Daily News, Meng served as Huawei’s rotating chairperson for the first time on April 19, 2023, and this marks her second term in this role.

Economic Daily News notes that the rotating chairperson system is Huawei’s unique management model. According to the report, Huawei implemented the rotating COO (Chief Operating Officer) system in 2004, which later evolved into the rotating chairperson system in 2018.

Currently, Huawei has three rotating chairpersons: Eric Xu, Ken Hu and Sabrina Meng, with rotations occurring every six months, Economic Daily News notes.

Citing remarks from analysts, the report suggests that the rotating system allows the company’s leadership to examine its strategy and operations from different perspectives, which may help to avoid biases and rigidity in personal decision-making. However, some argue that the system may lead to ambiguity in accountability, as the six-month term may be too short to implement a strategy from beginning to end.

According to the information shown on Huawei’s website, Sabrina Meng joined Huawei in 1993 and has held positions including Director of the International Accounting Dept, CFO of Huawei Hong Kong, and President of the Accounting Mgmt Dept. She now serves as Deputy Chairwoman of the Board, and Rotating Chairwoman and CFO of Huawei.

Meng was arrested and detained in Canada in 2018, reportedly at the request of the U.S. for alleged bank fraud. After three years of detention, she returned to China in September, 2021, after reaching a deal with U.S. prosecutors to resolve the case, easing the tension between the two global superpowers, according to a report by Reuters.

Huawei has been making strides in the development of AI chips in recent years. To rival U.S. AI giant NVIDIA, the tech conglomerate is said to initiate sampling of its latest AI accelerator, Ascend 910C, to large Chinese server companies and internet firms. Ascend 910B, which the company claims to rival NVIDIA’s A100, has been popular among multiple industries across the country for AI model training.

Read more

• [News] Huawei Reportedly Begins Sampling of Ascend 910C to Rival NVIDIA
• [News] China Reportedly Advises Local Companies to Avoid NVIDIA’s H20, Benefiting Huawei and Cambricon

(Photo credit: Huawei)

Earlier in August, Foxconn announced the plan to expand its overseas investments, with the total amounting to roughly USD 840 million. Now the expansion plan seems to be more materialized, as the Taiwanese tech giant is reportedly evaluating an investment of around USD 1 billion to set up a smartphone display module assembly unit in Tamil Nadu, India, according to a report by The Economic Times, cited by Taiwanese media the Economic Daily News.

The blueprint, if it comes to fruition, would mark Foxconn’s first panel module assembly plant in India, which targets to supply Apple for its iPhone production, The Economic Times notes. Sources cited by the report note that Foxconn aims to have the facility “up and running as soon as possible,” though there has yet to be any specific timeline.

India has emerged as a crucial destination for tech giants seeking to diversify their supply chains away from China amid rising geopolitical tensions with the West. A previous report by BBC reveals that Google is set to manufacture Pixel smartphones at an existing Foxconn facility in India, which is also located in Tamil Nadu.

The new panel assembly business, therefore, is seen as a strategic move to streamline related processes for Foxconn.

In terms of the scale of the assembly unit, The Economic Times suggests that Foxconn has secured approximately 500,000 square feet at the ESR Oragadam Industrial & Logistics Park, adjacent to its smartphone assembly facility near Chennai in southern India.

It is worth noting that according to The Economic Times, Foxconn’s facility is expected to allow other contract manufacturers, such as Pegatron or Tata Electronics, to use the components locally produced, instead of importing pre-assembled modules from China.

Foxconn did not respond to The Economic Times’ request for comment on the 24^th.

An industry consultant cited by the report noted that having a manufacturer assemble panel modules in India matters a lot for the country, as India currently relies heavily on imports for its panel demand, which would further increase the total cost and supply chain complexity.

According to the report, around 60% to 65% of panel module imports come from China, followed by South Korea, which accounts for 20% to 25% of the imports.

In India, the largest smartphone panel module assemblers are TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology and India’s TXD. CSOT has been assembling panel modules for Samsung and Xiaomi, while TXD supplies Vivo and Oppo, the report says.

Read more

• [News] Apple Reportedly Doubles iPhone Production in India, while Foxconn Holds 67% Share
• [News] Foxconn Expands Investment in the U.S., Mexico, India, and Europe, Approaching USD 840 Million

(Photo credit: Foxconn)