#consumer_electronics

It can be used in power tools and electric vehicles Toshiba has unveiled a prototype lithium-ion battery that uses a low-nickel, cobalt-free, high-potential cathode and a niobium titanium oxide (NTO) anode. The prototype has a capacity of 1.5 Ah and supports fast charging. The Japanese electronics maker said the battery cathode can suppress the formation of gas resulting from the decomposition of the electrolyte. This battery can be used in power tools, electric vehicles and high-voltage industrial installations. [caption id="attachment_85726" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Toshiba[/caption] Toshiba introduced a high-voltage lithium battery with very fast charging “In tests, the battery demonstrates high voltage of more than 3 V, fast charging to 80% capacity in 5 minutes, high energy performance and excellent service life characteristics even at a temperature of 60 C,” Toshiba said. The battery can also maintain its original capacity for more than 6,000 charge/discharge cycles. “The company is committed to developing larger modules for automobiles,” Toshiba said. “The company will continue to improve the technology for commercialization in 2028.”

In December, Xiaomi will double the production of its first electric car, the SU7. Several sources immediately revealed new details about Xiaomi cars. The company is reportedly working on three new models. Two of them will be electric cars, codenamed Modena and Le Mans, but the third model, codenamed Kunlun, will be a hybrid – Xiaomi has already published a number of vacancies for hybrid powertrain development engineers. [caption id="attachment_85525" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Xiaomi[/caption] This news did not go unnoticed by Xiaomi fans - fan renderings of possible new models have already appeared on the Internet. Along the way, the Chinese are wondering what body types the new products will have. There is no doubt that Xiaomi will have a crossover or SUV. But fans are also eager to see a pickup truck, a minivan, and even a small truck. Xiaomi is preparing three new car models, one of them will be a hybrid [caption id="attachment_85526" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Xiaomi[/caption] As for the current SU7 model, the company has planned to produce 300 units in December - double the number in November. In the meantime, production processes are being debugged - not everything is going smoothly with them: either the conveyor will stop, or spare parts for it will not be delivered on time. At the same time, the company is finalizing the firmware of the infotainment system. After the official premiere, Xiaomi SU7 will appear in the company’s retail stores in China, and the space in them will be reorganized so that some of the solutions in the smart home ecosystem will most likely be simply removed.

Previously it was believed that Qualcomm would split orders Qualcomm does not seem to want to produce the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 SoC at Samsung factories. [caption id="attachment_85303" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Samsung[/caption] Samsung will not receive orders from Qualcomm again. Previously, the company said that it was interested in diversifying production, hinting that against the backdrop of Samsung's success in mastering new technological processes, the company could again begin ordering flagship platforms from the Korean giant. Now it is reported that Qualcomm has decided to give all orders for Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 again only to TSMC. Qualcomm has reportedly decided not to rely on Samsung due to its inconsistent die yield and conservative expansion strategy, whatever that means. However, the launch of mass production of Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is still quite far away, so Qualcomm boards may well change.

Huawei denies everything The Bloomberg resource published a large article describing how the Chinese government in various ways helps Huawei not only stay afloat under US sanctions, but also actively develop. [caption id="attachment_85236" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Huawei[/caption] For example, journalists discovered a network of enterprises supported by an investment fund of the Shenzhen city government, the purpose of which is to help Huawei create a self-sufficient chip network. The group includes companies specializing in optics, developers of equipment for the production of semiconductors, and even manufacturers of chemical products. China is also sponsoring a $30 billion project to help Huawei build its own chip factories. [caption id="attachment_85237" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Huawei[/caption] The Chinese government actively supports and subsidizes Huawei At the center of the network of state-owned enterprises that are assisting Huawei is an investment fund run by the Shenzhen municipal government. The Shenzhen Major Industry Investment Group fund itself was created in 2019 after the first US sanctions and received direct instructions to support China's chip production efforts and, in particular, Huawei. Separately, Bloomberg says that the Chinese government actually forced the announcement of the Mate 60 Pro smartphone ahead of schedule because it wanted to time the announcement to coincide with the visit of US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to the country. In general, the government actively subsidizes Huawei. According to SemiAnalysis analysts, the scale of subsidies is huge They will build apartment buildings, help with land and will not charge income taxes It is important to note that Huawei denies government assistance, saying that this is all speculation and speculation based on information on the Internet.

But there are many reasons Samsung has increased its costs for the purchase of single-chip systems for smartphones several times in recent years. [caption id="attachment_85214" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Samsung[/caption] According to insider Revegnus, in the first three quarters of this year, Samsung spent almost $7 billion on this area, which is 10.4% more than in the same period last year. The growth is not very significant, however, for the entire 2021, only $4.8 billion was spent on these same tasks, for 2020 - 4.3 billion, and in 2019 the amount was only 2.3 billion. But even Samsung budget phones now have normal performance. Of course, a significant part of the growth is due to the constant rise in price of the flagship SoC Snapdragon 8. Let us recall that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 allegedly cost $160 at the start. In addition, we must add inflation and, in general, rising prices for semiconductor products. Part of the increase in costs may be due to the fact that inexpensive Samsung devices have finally begun to receive completely normal platforms, and not SoCs that are head and shoulders inferior to competitors in the same price range. It is also worth saying that rising platform costs are an additional incentive for Samsung to further develop its own Exynos SoCs. Insider Revegnus was the first to publish a photo of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 before its release, reported on the AMD GPU in the Exynos 1480 SoC, and also described the characteristics of the Exynos 2400, which were then confirmed in Geekbench software.

On average by 25% Samsung is going to raise prices for image sensors for mobile devices. [caption id="attachment_85089" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Samsung[/caption] System LSI is the world's second largest manufacturer of image sensors for mobile cameras, after Sony. Therefore, increasing prices for ISOCELL sensors will affect many manufacturers. Samsung will significantly increase the prices of its ISOCELL image sensors for smartphones Moreover, prices will be raised significantly: on average by 25%, and in some cases the increase will exceed 30%. Apparently, this will primarily affect sensors with a resolution of 32 megapixels and higher, that is, mid-budget and top-end models. Next year, the smartphone market is expected to return to growth, and Samsung apparently wants to make money on it in this way. At the same time, other market players may well follow the example of the Korean giant.

Probably from 2024 or 2025 Samsung may abandon the Exynos brand, replacing it with another. [caption id="attachment_84961" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Samsung[/caption] According to insider OreXda, who previously announced the formation of the Samsung MX department before the company's official announcement, the Exynos brand will be replaced by Dream Chip. It's also worth noting that Revegnus has previously said that the Exynos 2400 will likely be Samsung's last Exynos-branded SoC. Will Samsung finally abandon the Exynos brand? The new name was apparently chosen as Samsung was assembling a Dream Team to develop a completely new single-chip system for its future flagship smartphones. It is now believed that this will be Exynos 2500. More precisely, if the new data is correct, then the platform that would have been called Exynos 2500 will now be called differently. The departure from the Exynos brand itself is quite logical, given the reputation of these platforms that has formed in recent years. [Updated] Samsung has commented on the rumors. It turned out they were only partly true. The name Dream Chip (or simply Dream) actually exists as an internal project name. Probably a project to develop Exynos 2500. But at the same time, the Korean giant is not going to give up the Exynos brand.

Apple retains another 15% In the US market, Apple is the undisputed leader, occupying just over half of the market. But the level of loyalty demonstrated by the people of South Korea is unimaginable to the Cupertino giant. Samsung holds 84% ​​of the smartphone market in the country, according to Counterpoint Research. [caption id="attachment_81923" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Samsung[/caption] Samsung occupies 84% ​​of the South Korean market Apple is in second place there with a share of 15%. This means that all other brands combined account for only 1% of sales, which may be a unique case. Interestingly, just a few weeks ago Samsung occupied 86%, and lost 2 percentage points with the launch of the iPhone 15 in the country. Analysts say that foldable Galaxy Z smartphones are very popular in South Korea, which allows Samsung to earn more from each device sold. A user survey showed that 32% of those who switched from Samsung to iPhone cited performance as the reason. Another 31% switched due to the image of the American brand. In addition, many people changed their phone because of the camera.