Weekly News 022

Contents:

1.?11.9mln AI Phones Shipped in China in Q1 2024, holding 25% of Global Market, Canalys says.

2. Onsemi will invest up to $2 billion in a Czech semiconductor plant.

3. Amazon Commits Another €10 Billion to German Cloud, Logistics.

4.?NIO is confident its affordable Firefly EVs will remain competitive despite EU tariffs.

5. The first PV-storage-charging-swapping solution was built in Shanghai.

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1.?11.9mln AI Phones Shipped in China in Q1 2024, holding 25% of Global Market, Canalys says.

China was one of the earliest adopters of AI smartphones, with manufacturers like Xiaomi and Vivo launching new products with AI functions in Q4 2023, Canalys wrote in a report titled "AI Phones Attractiveness to Chinese Consumers." As the local phone makers stole a march on their overseas rivals and leveraged a shift towards a high-end market structure, the Chinese market saw 11.9 million AI phone shipments, accounting for 25% of global AI phone shipments in Q1 2024.

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A report?published at the end of May by Canalys indicates that 16% of global smartphone sales in 2024 are expected to be AI phones, and this figure is projected to?rise to 54% by 2028.

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On a regional level, smartphone buyers in China and India have a stronger inclination toward the latest innovation. These are areas where people care about the latest tech, and it's not just a question of AI—people care a lot more about the specs.

Comment:?

As AI phones emerge as the next major growth track in smartphone advancement, Chinese brands like Honor, OPPO, and Vivo have all entered the AI field since 2023. These pioneer manufacturers formulated and announced their AI strategies earlier this year.

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2.?Onsemi will invest up to $2 billion in a Czech semiconductor plant.

U.S. chipmaker Onsemi said on Wednesday that it will invest up to $2 billion to boost its semiconductor output in the Czech Republic. This will expand?the company's European capacity as the European Union seeks self-sufficiency in critical supplies.

The brownfield project would be the largest one-off direct foreign investment in the Czech Republic.

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Pending approval of state aid, Onsemi will expand its operations in the eastern town of Roznov pod Radhostem to house the full production chain for silicon carbide semiconductors, including final chip modules used in the automotive and renewables sectors.

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The investment follows similar moves by STMicroelectronics in Italy —also for silicon carbide chips—and by Intel and TSMC in Germany.

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"The site would produce the company’s intelligent power semiconductors essential for improving the energy efficiency of applications in electric vehicles, renewable energy, and AI data centers," an Onsemi statement said.

Comment:

ON Semiconductor already has a production base in Roznov, Czech Republic, and is responsible for silicon crystal growth, silicon/silicon carbide polishing, epitaxial wafers, and silicon chip manufacturing. The current monthly capacity exceeds 250,000 wafers, and the annual yields will be over one billion power devices.

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3.?Amazon Commits Another?€10 Billion to German Cloud, Logistics.

Amazon.com Inc., the world’s largest provider of cloud computing services and data storage, said it will invest an additional?€10 billion ($10.7 billion) into its cloud infrastructure and logistics network in Germany as the technology giant expands its network of data centers globally.

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The latest plans include?€8.8 billion to build and maintain its cloud infrastructure for the AWS cloud computing business in the Frankfurt region by 2026, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The commitment is in addition to the company’s plans to spend?€7.8 billion by 2040 to build a sovereign cloud business in the country.

Comment:

This announcement brings Amazon's total planned investment in Germany to?€17.8 billion. In May, reports disclosed that AWS considered investing billions of euros to expand its data centers in Italy.

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4.?NIO is confident its affordable Firefly EVs will remain competitive despite EU tariffs.

With additional tariffs expected on imported Chinese EVs, NIO says its affordable Firefly brand will still be competitive in the EU. Although it may impact sales, NIO’s CEO William Li is still confident in the EV maker’s expansion plans. Li assured the new brand could still make its mark in Europe even with additional tariffs during an event on Wednesday.

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NIO announced plans to enter the mass-market EV market in 2021. However, it wasn’t until January 2023 that NIO publicly confirmed the Firefly brand existed.

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According to NIO president Qin Lihong, Firefly EVs will be priced between $13,800 (100,000 yuan) and $27,500 (200,000 yuan). At the time, NIO’s president said the affordable EVs would launch in the EU in the third quarter of 2024.

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In an interview last month, Qin explained that although the brand was ready, the launch was delayed until Q2 2025.

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Li added, “Even if we are going to be hit with so many tariffs, we still have a chance; we are still competitive, but of course, it will affect some sales and profits.”

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If the volume reaches around 100,000 units, NIO may consider producing the EVs in Europe. “It’s something that has to be done to go global,” Li explained.

Comment:?

Earlier this month, local media reported that NIO was shifting plans and would accelerate Firefly’s launch in China first. According to the report, NIO’s affordable Firefly EVs are expected to debut in China by the end of the year, ahead of the EU in the first half of 2025.

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5.?The first PV-storage-charging-swapping solution was built in Shanghai.

Shanghai recently inaugurated and used an integrated charging station for two-wheeled and four-wheeled electric vehicles. This station combines photovoltaic, energy storage, battery swapping, and charging functions.

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The station features intelligent charging piles, smart charging and swapping cabinets for two-wheeled vehicles, and photovoltaic and energy storage equipment, providing a safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly charging solution for electric vehicles.

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Regarding costs, the station offers a reasonable pricing strategy. The charging fee for the two-wheeled vehicle cabinets is RMB 1 for 5 hours, while the swapping fee is RMB 29 for 10 swaps. The charging fees for four-wheeled vehicles vary according to the time of day, aligning with standard market prices.

Comment:

The "photovoltaic-storage-charging" integrated system is a small, self-sufficient power system composed of distributed photovoltaics, electricity charges, distribution facilities, monitoring, and protection devices, also known as a microgrid. Electric vehicle charging stations have long faced land resource shortages or grid connection issues. The advent of the integrated system addresses the problem of limited land and power capacity resources and?achieves local energy production and load balancing through energy storage and optimized configuration.

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