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Apple and Broadcom Announce 5G USA Component Manufacturing Partnership

Today Apple announced a new multiyear, multibillion-dollar agreement with Broadcom, a leading U.S. technology and advanced manufacturing company. Through this collaboration, Broadcom will develop 5G radio frequency components - including FBAR filters - and cutting-edge wireless connectivity components. The FBAR filters will be designed and built in several key American manufacturing and technology hubs, including Fort Collins, Colorado, where Broadcom has a major facility.

"We're thrilled to make commitments that harness the ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit of American manufacturing," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "All of Apple's products depend on technology engineered and built here in the United States, and we'll continue to deepen our investments in the U.S. economy because we have an unshakable belief in America's future."

VR/AR Shipments Expected to Drop to 7.45 Million in 2023, with Rapid Rebound Projected by 2025

TrendForce forecasts a global downturn in AR and VR device shipments for 2023, predicting a shipment total of roughly 7.45 million units—an 18.2% YoY decrease. VR devices are expected to shoulder the majority of this decline, with projected shipments hovering around 6.67 million units. This dip is primarily attributed to weaker-than-expected sales of newly released high-end devices. Consequently, manufacturers are likely to pivot their sales strategies, shifting their focus to more cost-effective offerings. Conversely, shipments of AR devices are expected to remain stable, with projected shipments exceeding 780,000 units. While Apple's latest offerings could stimulate some demand, the high price tags attached to these units continue to pose a significant barrier to broader market growth.

Two key factors emerge when examining the impending decline in shipments in the VR sector. Firstly, brands may have been overly optimistic regarding the sales of their top-tier products. Despite these premium devices offering enhanced features courtesy of advanced hardware and software, consumers are showing reluctance to shoulder the associated higher costs. Instead, they seem to be gravitating towards more budget-friendly models this year. Secondly, the shortage of appealing, new, cost-effective models in the market is exacerbating the downturn. Meta Quest 2 continues to maintain its status as this year's market-leading VR product as the release of Meta Quest 3 has been pushed back to 2024.

Alleged Apple Mixed Reality Headset Material Cost Leaks Out

Self-described mixed reality nerd, Brad Lynch, has tweeted out several interesting details about Apple's yet-to-be announced VR/AR headset. He has managed to compile information from several sources - mostly reports produced by hardware analysts based in China. His summation of the leaked info states: "The Apple HMD's Bill of Materials (BoM) cost to be about $1500-1600 (USD). This is about double the reported BoM for the (Meta) Quest Pro (which was 800 dollars including the controllers and charging pad)."

Minsheng Electronics's article suggests that 400,000 - 500,000 headset units are set for production in the second half of this year. An operating system with the codename "rOS" is reportedly clashing with Apple's traditional iOS mobile platform, but the author does not provide further information about these compatibility issues. The headset's operating system is supposedly capable of supporting a wide range of games, productivity applications and methods of video communication.

Beats Launches the Studio Buds + ANC TWS Earbuds

Beats today announces Beats Studio Buds +, an incredible addition to the Studio Buds lineup delivering balanced sound and enhanced features for both iOS and Android users. Now available in a gorgeous transparent look, Studio Buds + boast major improvements to Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), Transparency, call performance and battery life to deliver an exceptional true wireless experience. Beats Studio Buds + are available to order starting today in three stunning colors, Black/Gold, Ivory and Transparent, for $169.99 (US).

"As our fastest-selling product ever since its launch, Beats Studio Buds are beloved earphones for so many people around the world and we're thrilled to be taking them to the next level," said Oliver Schusser, Vice President of Beats and Apple Music. "With beautiful new colors to choose from and vast improvements to Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency, call performance and battery life, Beats Studio Buds + deliver an unmatched combination of fashion and function for both iOS and Android consumers."

Foxconn to Build New Factories in South India with $500 Million First Phase Investment

Foxconn has commited to $500 million of investments into new operations within Telangana, a southern state located in India. The region's IT minister, K. T. Rama Rao, broke the news earlier today and declared that the Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer will be building new factory facilities - with the first example breaking ground in Kongara Kalan (a village to the south of Hyderabad) this morning.

The minister estimates that the "first phase" of new Foxconn manufacturing plants will help generate 25,000 "direct jobs" across the state of Telangana. Reuters has previously reported that Foxconn has been granted a new contract for the manufacture of next generation AirPods - Apple is a key client for the company, and executives have pushed for a shift in production locations due to problems encountered in China. Foxconn's move into India is observed as a strategic decision - facilities are less likely to get shutdown (due to health restrictions) and the country is not getting hit with advanced semiconductor sanctions.

Apple M3 Pro Chip to Pack Entry-Level Configuration of 12 CPU Cores and 18 GPU Cores on TSMC 3 nm Technology

Thanks to the latest release of the Power On newsletter from Mark Gurman, we have additional information about Apple's upcoming M3 Pro chip. Currently in testing and reported on by an App Store developer, Apple is looking to upgrade the microarchitecture of the forthcoming chip and add additional cores to the system for more performance. As the report notes, the entry-level M3 Pro chip currently in testing will have 12 CPU cores, six for efficiency and six for performance tasks, with 18 graphics cores, all manufactured on TSMC's 3 nm node. The current baseline for M2 Pro is 10 CPU cores, where four are dedicated to efficiency, and six are dedicated to performance. The current generation entry-level M2 Pro also features a 16-core GPU, which is two cores fewer than the upcoming model.

Generally, the M3 Pro chip will boost integrated memory across the board, as the sample spotted in testing shows 36 GB of memory. The M2 Pro offered 32 GB in that memory tier, so a four GB increase is inbound there. Presumably, the 16 GB version (if it exists) and 64 GB version will also get memory bumps by going the M3 Pro route. Of course, we have to wait for more information as these chips become more widely available to developers.

Apple Ending Support for Thunderbolt Display and 1st Gen iPad Air

Apple hardware hoarders do exist - a friend told me that he'd only just replaced a 2013 vintage 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro this month - these folks continue to enjoy repairs or miscellaneous services at Apple Stores and authorized service providers on some products. Unfortunately there is potential bad news for preservationist owners of the original Thunderbolt Display and the first generation iPad Air tablet - a leaked internal memo suggests that Apple has decided to add these two antiques to their end-of-life (EOL) device list, according to MacRumors. Apple's Thunderbolt Display was released back in the summer of 2011, the company boasted that its fancy 27-inch 1440p monitor was the world's first display with Thunderbolt I/O technology (at the time), the asking price was $999. Alongside its requisite Thunderbolt I/O port (designed to connect to compatible Mac Notebooks), the monitor had a number of other spiffy features including an in-built 720p webcam, three USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 800 port and a Gigabit Ethernet port.

Apple stopped making the Thunderbolt Display in 2016, and customers had to wait another six years for a successor to turn up - the Studio Display launched alongside the Mac Studio in March 2022. The original (1st gen) iPad Air was released on November 1 in 2013. It was the first entry in the iPad tablet family to feature a thinner design - its standard (non-Air) predecessors were a bit chunkier in comparison. It was discontinued in March of 2016, and Apple has so far released five generations of iPad Air products - last year's model debuted with the ARM-based M1 chipset.

Apple and Google Join Forces on New Industry Standard Against Unwanted Bluetooth Tracking

Apple announced a joint partnership with Google in submitting a new industry specification to curtail unwanted tracking via Bluetooth location-tracking devices currently on the market. The new standard would provide tracker detection across both iOS and Android, regardless of the brand of the tracker being used. The proposal addresses the concerns surrounding the ease in which a person can be tracked by a sneaky location-tracker stuck to their person, possession, or vehicle by bad-faith actors using the technology to stalk individuals. Apple has previous released updates to their Find My service which will alert the victim if they are being tracked by an unknown AirTag, but this tech relies on the person having an iPhone. Third party detection apps exist on Android, but they're far from perfect and aren't currently officially supported by any of the parent companies making Bluetooth location trackers.

The proposal has received industry wide support from other manufacturers such as Samsung, Tile, Chipolo, eufy Security, and Pebblebee. Advocacy groups such as The National Network to End Domestic Violence and the Center for Democracy & Technology have also contributed to the specification draft. The draft has been submitted via the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) with a three month review and comment period open to interested parties that would like to weigh in on the proposed specification. After this period Apple and Google will work to address concerns and feedback before putting the specification into production by the end of 2023, unifying a tracking alerts system on all future versions of iOS and Android.

Bad Week for MacOS Security: Two New Malware Threats Identified

As market share of Apple's ARM based Mac computers has increased, so too have efforts to compromise them by previously uninterested hacker groups. A recent string of malware created specifically for macOS has shown that these groups are turning their gaze toward the generally well protected Mac ecosystem. One of these new malware threats, discovered by Jamf Threat Labs and dubbed 'RustBucket,' acts as a simple third-party PDF viewer. The application itself does nothing malicious until a specific PDF is opened which includes an encoded key that triggers a connection to be made between the attacker's server and the victim's Mac, and a small malicious payload to be downloaded. The initial payload begins running system recon commands to determine the machine information, and then downloads a third stage payload which gives the attackers further access to the underlying operating system. All stages after the user opens the PDF are run silently in the background. The PDF viewer used as the catalyst for this hack does require manually overriding Apple's Gatekeeper as it carries no signature, so the obvious step to mitigate this attack is to not use third-party apps or services aside from those curated on Apple's App Store.

The second macOS malware of the week was discovered by Cyble Research and Intelligence Labs (CRIL) being offered for a paltry $1,000 USD per month on a Telegram channel, with the malware going by the name "Atomic macOS Stealer" or "AMOS." This malware has capabilities to scrape keychain passwords, system information, files from the desktop and documents folders, the macOS user password, browser auto-fills, passwords, cookies, wallets, and stored credit card info. The malware is especially adapted to go after cryptowallets with Cyble citing examples such as Electrum, Binance, Exodus, Atomic, and Coinomi. Cyble notes that they've seen the malware receiving active development to improve its capabilities and the threat actors even offering management software and web panels for keeping track of victimized machines, all with a logging system that dumps to Telegram. The current attack vector is a simple Golang.dmg file which installs the malware, so this does appear to require direct machine access. However once installed, "AMOS" does its handiwork without detection and sends a compressed file off to the attacker's server with all the information it collected.

Apple Scrubs Bitcoin Manifesto Doc From Latest macOS Beta

Earlier on in April keen-eyed users of macOS uncovered the presence of a strange document hidden deep within Apple's operating system directories. It turns out that this Easter egg was a digital copy of the original Bitcoin whitepaper, it is speculated that Apple engineers have been running a long term prank by stashing the manifesto inside of every released version of macOS since 2018 - which indicates that Mojave was the starting point. According to yesterday's 9to5Mac-published article the cryptocurrency whitepaper (said to be authored by mysterious figure Satoshi Nakamoto) has been removed from the latest macOS Ventura build - 13.4 beta 3 (made available to developers).

The initial discovery of the manifesto received significant press coverage, and it seems that Apple has chosen to send in the cleanup crew at some point in the weeks since then. The file was sat alongside miscellaneous assets in a folder relating to an Image Capture application. The internal tool "VirtualScanner.app" has also been removed from the latest macOS beta build. The 9to5Mac piece posits that Apple's engineers never intended to include the prototype image and document scanner app in any finalized operating system releases - hence the burying of the program's assets deep inside system files.

Revenue Decline of Global Top 10 IC Design Houses Expanded to Nearly 10% in 4Q22

The global economy has faced increased inflation risks and downstream inventory corrections in 2H22, which have affected IC design houses faster than wafer foundries, as they are far more sensitive and responsive to market reversals. TrendForce reports that adverse factors such as weak overall consumption, restrictions from China, and the slowdown of corporate IT spending and CSP demand have impacted the revenue performance of the world's top 10 IC design houses in 4Q22, leading to a QoQ decline of 9.2%, or approximately US$33.96 billion.

TrendForce predicts that the revenue of these top 10 companies keep declining—though with a slight convergence—into 1Q23, owing to ongoing inventory corrections across the entire supply chain as well as Q1 being the traditional off-season for consumer demand. Demand will continue to be weak despite new product launches and inventory replenishment in the supply chain.

Reports Suggest MacBook Air Models Rocking M3 Chipset Incoming, But Delayed Beyond WWDC 2023

Conflicting reports are flying around about Apple's next generation MacBook Air lineup, mostly surrounding suggestions of a firm release date or debut reveal at WWDC 2023. 9to5Mac claims that its insider sources have pointed to a new range of M3 chipset powered MacBook Air extra thin laptops offered up in two different screen sizes: 13-inch and 15-inch. An insider claimed last month that Apple's upcoming laptop lineup was in an advanced stage of production, and was far along enough to warrant an "imminent" launch window. A Taiwanese publication has presented new evidence this week, and it posits that Apple could drop M3 chipset-based laptops from announcement presentations organized for this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, which is set to take place from June 5 to 9.

According to the financial section of Taiwan's UDN news site, Apple's key decision makers could be in favor of fielding laptops based on its current generation M2 SoC, instead of an entry-level M3-based range, due to delays and changes in priority for the N3B node at TSMC foundries. This is seen as an odd move given reports from earlier this month of Apple requesting a reduction in factory output for its M2 chips, following a slump in demand. Apple could be changing its strategy with regards to the alleged surplus of M2 silicon - the article theorizes that the company will spend more time fitting the older generation chipsets into a new range of laptops and desktop computers. An M3-based product line could be delayed into late 2023, and it is alleged that TSMC has been instructed to concentrate mostly on manufacturing Apple's Bionix A17 mobile chipset via the cutting edge 3 nm FinFet technology process (N3B) - earmarked to debut on the iPhone 15 Pro in autumn 2023.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 GPU Could be 50% More Powerful Than Current Gen Adreno 740

An online tipster, posting on the Chinese blog site Weibo, has let slip that Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile chipset is touted to pack some hefty graphical capabilities. The suggested Adreno "750" smartphone and tablet GPU is touted to offer a 50% increase over the present generation Adreno 740 - as featured on the recently released and cutting-edge Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. The current generation top-of-the-range Snapdragon is no slouch when it comes to graphics benchmarks, where it outperforms Apple's prime contender - the Bionic A16 SoC.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC is expected to launch in the last quarter of 2023, but details of the flagship devices that it will power are non-existent at the time of writing. The tipster suggests that Qualcomm has decided to remain on TSMC's 4 nm process for its next generation mobile chipset - perhaps an all too safe decision when you consider that Apple has upped the stakes with the approach of its Bionic A17 SoC. It has been reported that the Cupertino, California-based company has chosen to fabricate via TSMC's 3 nm process, although the Taiwanese foundry is said to be struggling with its N3 production line. The engineers at Qualcomm's San Diego headquarters are alleged to be experimenting with increased clock speeds running on the next gen Adreno GPU - as high as 1.0 GHz - in order to eke out as much performance as possible, in anticipation of besting the Bionic A17 in graphics benchmarks. The tipster theorizes that Qualcomm will still have a hard time matching Apple in terms of pure CPU throughput, so the consolation prize will lie with a superior GPU getting rigged onto the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

Arm-based PCs to Nearly Double Market Share by 2027, Says Report

Personal computers (PCs) based on Arm architecture will grow in popularity and their market share will almost double from 14% now to 25% by 2027, according to Counterpoint Research's latest projections. The ability of Arm-based hardware to run Mac OS has allowed Apple to capture 90% of the Arm-based notebook computer market. However, the full support of Windows and Office365 and the speed of native Arm-based app adoption are also critical factors in determining the Arm SoC penetration rate in PCs. Once these factors are addressed, Arm-based PCs will become a viable option for both daily users and businesses.

As more existing PC OEMs/ODMs and smartphone manufacturers enter the market, they will bring their expertise in Arm-based hardware and software, which will further boost the popularity of Arm-based PCs. The availability of more native Arm-based apps will also increase user comfort and familiarity with the platform. Overall, the trend towards Arm-based PCs is expected to continue and their market share will likely increase significantly in the coming years.

Samsung Display Invests $3.1 Billion into OLED Production in South Korea

Samsung Electronics has announced that its sub-division, Samsung Display, is planning to invest $3.1 billion until 2026 in Asan, South Korea to manufacture advanced organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panels. The country's ministry stated that Samsung's next generation of OLED display panels will be integrated into tablets and laptops. There are already rumors swirling that Apple has contracted with Samsung Display to produce parts for a refresh of the MacBook Pro range that is set to debut at some point before 2026.

Industry insiders are claiming that the substantial investment into the company's Asan, South Chungcheong factory will help fulfil orders placed by Apple for iPad and MacBook OLED displays - the North American company has not officially confirmed an adoption of that type of screen technology for these product ranges. Samsung is likely trying to secure a long term relationship with the Silicon Valley behemoth, and at the same time outmaneuver its competitors in South Korea as well as those in neighboring nations. It has been reported that domestic rival LG is currently unable to take on new orders, as its display factories are functioning at maximum production capacities.

Apple Reportedly Halted M2 Chip Production as Mac Shipments Tanked

Reports from supply chain partners suggests that Apple cut off production of their current generation M2 SoC lineup in the months of January and February following significantly decreased demand for Mac computers containing the chips. The details trace back to partners in Outsourced Semiconductor Package Test, or OSAT, which is many different companies in the supply chain that contribute to assembly and testing of the final packaged SoC. OSAT partners claim they received zero M2 wafers from TSMC during both months, and that shipments have only resumed at half of the previous capacity in the month of March. The breadth of this shutdown touched many different suppliers, from the packaging facilities in Korea, to the solder ball suppliers in Taiwan, the TIM suppliers in Germany, and die underfill material suppliers from Japan. Many of these parts can be specific to the type of chip being produced, as M2 features a different packaging method to Apple's normal A-Series mobile SoCs; a lack of M2 silicon led to a full shutdown of this supply chain. An industry insider for Amcona states, "It is impossible to do other packaging work on the M2 line, the so-called 'Apple line' installed in Amcona chip packs."

In their Q1 2023 earnings conference Apple reported a sharp revenue drop in Mac sales from $10.85B down to $7.74B. "The PC market is facing a very challenging situation," stated Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, "I think we have an advantage with silicon but it will be very difficult in the short term." Apple began production of M2 well over a year ago when demand for Apple silicon equipped MacBooks was still sky high, and likely had large reserves of finished chips and machines stockpiled for the launch of M2 Pro and M2 Max in January. With demand dipping up to the launch of the new MacBook models it would certainly justify slowing down production, but outright halting it for multiple months suggests demand far undershot Apple's expectation.

Apple's Mixed Reality Headset Faces Another Delay, Predicted to not Debut at WWDC 2023

Apple's yet to be announced hybrid VR/AR headset is facing another setback and industry insiders are reckoning that the first iteration of the device will not be unveiled at the WWDC 2023 keynote - starting June 5. An industry analyst has been posting their theories via social media, and based on insider information believes that Apple is delaying production of the hybrid headset to late 2023. Ming-Chi Kuo's proposes this situation: "Apple isn't very optimistic about the AR/MR headset announcement recreating the astounding "iPhone moment," the mass production schedule for assembly has been pushed back by another 1-2 months to mid-to-late 3Q23. The delay also adds uncertainty to whether the new device will appear at WWDC 2023, as the market widely expects. Furthermore, due to the delay in mass production for assembly, the shipment forecast this year is only 200,000 to 300,000 units, lower than the market consensus of 500,000 units or more."

Internal hands-on sessions at Apple HQ have apparently brought to light major user issues with the mixed reality headset, and that feedback has caused a loss in confidence in launching the product in a "ready enough" state, especially in time for summer. Kuo concludes his theory: "The main concerns for Apple not being very optimistic regarding the market feedback to the AR/MR headset announcement include the economic downturn, compromises on some hardware specifications for mass production (such as weight), the readiness of the ecosystem and applications, a high selling price (USD 3,000-4,000 or even higher)."

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference Returns June 5, 2023

Apple today announced it will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in an online format from June 5 through 9, 2023, with an opportunity for developers and students to celebrate in person at a special experience at Apple Park on opening day. Free for all developers, WWDC23 will spotlight the latest iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS advancements. As part of Apple's ongoing commitment to helping developers create innovative apps, the event will also provide them with unique access to Apple engineers, as well as insight into new technologies and tools to help them realize their visions.

"WWDC is one of our favorite times of the year at Apple because it's an opportunity to connect with the talented developers from around the globe who make this community so extraordinary," said Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "WWDC23 is going to be our biggest and most exciting yet, and we can't wait to see many of you online and in person at this very special event!"

NewQ Launches its 16-in-1 USB-C Docking Station with Triple 4K Monitor Support

NewQ, an innovative manufacturer of quality and affordable electronic accessories and consumer technology products, has today announced the launch of its new 16-in-1 USB-C Docking Station. Providing users with 150 W power delivery, 16 commonly used ports to meet most needs, super-fast file transfer and support for triple 4K monitors in both Windows, MAC OS and Steam OS. Whether for home, business or even gaming, this is an ultra-capable and portable device which can hugely improve productivity. The NewQ DisplayLink 16-in-1 USB-C Docking Station is currently on offer for RRP $199.99 (Now on offer at just $129.99 - 35 percent discount) on Amazon US.

Using the DisplayLink technology, the docking station can extend up to three 4K@60 Hz monitors quickly and easily. Of particular interest to Mac Users, this docking station can overcome the traditional limitations of Apple's M1 and M2 chips, which can save a huge amount of money compared to upgrading the laptop. Some docking stations can lift the restrictions of an extended display by using proprietary display drivers. Two types of this technology are both DisplayLink and InstantView, which can both achieve this by converting USB signals into display signals. However, a clear advantage of DisplayLink is that it can expand two monitors at 4K 60 Hz resolutions, whereas InstantMotion can only achieve one at 4K 30 Hz, and one at 1080p 60 Hz. In everyday use, a 4K resolution with a 60 Hz refresh rate will be noticeably smoother and clearer than a 30 Hz one such as when viewing a hi-res video. Likewise a 4K resolution provides far more definition than a 1080p one. It can also greatly improve productivity when using a larger monitor as you view more windows simultaneously.

Apple A17 Bionic SoC Performance Targets Could be Lowered

Apple's engineering team is rumored to be adjusting performance targets set for its next generation mobile SoC - the A17 Bionic - due to issues at the TSMC foundry. The cutting edge 3 nm process is proving difficult to handle, according to industry tipsters on Twitter. The leaks point to the A17 Bionic's overall performance goals being lowered by 20%, mainly due to the TSMC N3B node not meeting production targets. The factory is apparently lowering its yield and execution targets due to ongoing problems with FinFET limitations.

The leakers have recently revealed more up-to-date A17 Bionic's Geekbench 6 scores, with single thread performance at 3019, and multi-thread at 7860. Various publications have been hyping the mobile SoC's single thread performance as matching that of desktop CPUs from Intel and AMD, more specifically 13th-gen Core i7 and 'high-end' Ryzen models. Naturally the A17 Bionic cannot compete with these CPUs in terms of multi-thread performance.

Slower Growth for AR/VR Headset Shipments in 2023 but Strong Growth Forecast Through 2027, According to IDC

On the heels of a weaker than expected 2022, International Data Corporation (IDC) has lowered its forecast for augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) headsets in 2023. Global shipments are now expected to reach 10.1 million units this year, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Augmented and Virtual Reality Headset Tracker. Despite the revised outlook, total AR/VR headset shipments are expected to grow 14% in 2023 and accelerate over the 2023-2027 forecast period with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.6%.

Apple CEO Approved Fast Track of Mixed Reality Headset, Ignored Design Team's Preferred Schedule

Apple CEO Tim Cook has reportedly set an ambitious end of the year launch window for the company's mixed reality headset. Operations Chief Jeff Williams has also pushed in favor of a late 2023 debut of the much delayed VR/AR hybrid product. According to anonymous insider sources who have divulged juicy details to the Financial Times, the decision to launch in 2023 has caused an internal clash with the Apple Design team at its Cupertino, California headquarters.

The Apple Park design team has called for additional development time, this would push the headset's launch back by several years. Insiders claim that the design team would prefer to have more time to refine the product's aesthetics and functionality, with emphasis on creating a sleek and more lightweight visor. Doubts about the efficacy of the headset's proposed internal technology were also expressed, the designers would prefer to delay until Augmented Reality development reaches a satisfying level of maturity.

Global Smartphone Production Fell by 15.5% YoY to 301 Million Units for 4Q22 Due to Underwhelming Busy Season

Smartphone brands hoped that the promotional activities related to the year-end holiday season or initiated by e-commerce companies would lead to a significant reduction in channel inventory near the end of 2022. However, the recent downturn of the global economy continued to impact consumer confidence in 4Q22, so smartphone sales were lower than expected and thereby dragged down the speed of inventory consumption. Moreover, the labor shortage problem at Foxconn's electronics assembly base in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou affected Apple's efforts to raise iPhone production in 4Q22. According to TrendForce's latest research, quarterly global smartphone production totaled around 301 million for 4Q22, reflecting a QoQ growth of 4% and a YoY decline of 15.5%.

Earlier in 1H22, China's enforcement of its zero-COVID policy and the Russia-Ukraine military conflict caused the demand for consumer electronics to plunge. Later in 2H22, the global economy experienced a decline that was worse than expected as factors such as high inflation, food shortages, and rising energy prices came into play. As a result, consumer demand was further weakened. Besides these negative factors, the high level of channel inventory was also a major reason as to why smartphone brands suffered a drop in annual device production. Based on TrendForce's calculation, annual global smartphone production fell by 10.6% YoY to 1.192 billion units for 2022. This YoY decline was larger than one recorded for the year when the COVID-19 pandemic first emerged.

Server DRAM Will Overtake Mobile DRAM in Supply in 2023 and Comprise 37.6% of Annual Total DRAM Bit Output, Says TrendForce

Since 2022, DRAM suppliers have been adjusting their product mixes so as to assign more wafer input to server DRAM products while scaling back the wafer input for mobile DRAM products. This trend is driven by two reasons. First, the demand outlook is bright for the server DRAM segment. Second, the mobile DRAM segment was in significant oversupply during 2022. Moving into 2023, the projections on the growth of smartphone shipments and the increase in the average DRAM content of smartphones remain quite conservative. Therefore, DRAM suppliers intend to keep expanding the share of server DRAM in their product mixes. According to TrendForce's analysis on the distribution of the DRAM industry's total bit output for 2023, server DRAM is estimated to comprise around 37.6%, whereas mobile DRAM is estimated to comprise around 36.8%. Hence, server DRAM will formally surpass mobile DRAM in terms of the portion of the overall supply within this year.

JLab Launches the Go Wireless Keyboard

JLab is turning up the volume on the overlooked work-from-home category by expanding its signature innovation to its new Work Collection of keyboards, mice, webcams and microphones in the UK. They are currently available on Amazon UK with high street retailers also expected to stock very soon.

Studies have cited that the shift to remote work during the pandemic has brought a heightened level of productivity among office workers, and a recent Gallup State of the Workforce study found with 70% of workers would prefer a hybrid office arrangement in the future. To satisfy the diverse and evolving needs of the work-from-home contingent to a neglected category, JLab's new computer peripherals include mice and keyboards that seamlessly switch between three devices further evolving to today's evolving work-life blending. The new Work Collection is available in three product categories, GO, JBuds, and Epic. Further launches in these categories are expected throughout the year in the UK.
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