Apart from these details, no other major specifications were revealed about the phone. However, today at Appuals, we are sharing complete renders, specifications, and European pricing of the upcoming HONOR 90 Smart.

HONOR 90 Smart 5G Renders, Specifications and Price:

At the front, the HONOR 90 Smart will utilize a 6.8-inch TFT LCD flat panel with a centrally placed punch hole. The display will support resolutions of 1080×2412 pixels, a 90Hz refresh rate, provide a peak brightness of 850 nits, and offer support for 16.7 million colors.

Under the hood, the HONOR 90 Smart will be equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity 6020 processor. The device will operate on the older Android 13 OS with the MagicOS 7.2 skin. A side-mounted fingerprint scanner will secure the phone. The handset will feature an unusually large 5330mAh capacity battery, supporting 35W wired charging.

At the back, the phone will feature a triple camera setup comprising a 108MP main camera with an f/1.75 aperture, a 2MP ultra-wide-angle lens with an f/2.4 aperture, and a 2MP depth lens with an f/2.4 aperture. For selfies, it will utilize an 8MP lens with an f/2.0 aperture.

The device will lack microSD card slot. Other connectivity features include Dual Nano-SIM, USB Type-C port, 3.5mm headphone jack, Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 5GHz, GPS, and GLONASS. The phone will have flat sides and measure 166.7mm x 76.5mm x 8.24mm, weighing 199g. Lastly, regarding price, the HONOR 90 Smart will start at EUR 249 for the base 4GB+128GB storage option.

The post Exclusive: HONOR 90 Smart 5G Renders, Specs and Price Leaked appeared first on Appuals.

POCO C61 Renders, Specifications and Price:

POCO C61 will share specifications and design elements with the Redmi A3, which was launched a month ago. It can be said that the POCO C61 is essentially a rebranded Redmi A3, a strategy that is not surprising, given POCO’s history of rebranding Redmi phones.

POCO C61 will be powered by the MediaTek Helio G36 processor. The phone will feature a 6.71-inch LCD panel on the front, boasting a resolution of 1650 x 720 pixels, a 90Hz refresh rate, a 180Hz touch sampling rate, and a peak brightness of 500nits. The display will be protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

In the camera department, it will be equipped with an 8MP primary camera and a 0.08MP auxiliary lens, accompanied by an LED flash. The front will host a 5MP camera that supports screen flash.

The device will come with a 5000mAh battery supporting 10W charging via a USB-C port and will feature a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. It will offer dual SIM slots and a dedicated SD card slot. The dimensions of the POCO C61 will be 168.3mm x 76.3mm x 8.32mm. Additional features include a 3.5mm headphone jack, a single speaker, Bluetooth 5.3, and Wi-Fi 5.

Regarding pricing, the POCO C61 with a 4GB+64GB configuration will be priced at INR 7,499, and the 6GB+128GB option will be available for INR 8,499 in India. There may also be additional bank discounts and offers available.

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Realme Narzo 70 Pro 5G Storage and Color Options:

According to our source, the Realme Narzo 70 Pro 5G will launch in India with two color options and two storage configurations. The base version will feature 8GB of RAM and 128GB of ROM, while the top variant will offer 8GB of RAM and 256GB of ROM. The phone will be available in Glass Green and Glass Gold color variants.

Realme Narzo 70 Pro 5G Expected Specifications:

According to reports, the phone will feature a flat AMOLED display with a center punch hole for the selfie camera. The panel will boast FHD+ resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and up to 2000nits of brightness.

Under the hood, the phone will utilize the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 processor, which was also employed in its predecessor, the Realme Narzo 60 Pro 5G. On the software front, it will run on the latest Android 14 with Realme UI 5.0 on top. It will have fewer pre-installed apps and will support the Air Gesture feature.

The back of the phone will showcase a unique dual-tone glass design. In terms of optics, it will feature a triple camera setup with a 50MP Sony IMX890 primary camera with OIS support. The handset will be powered by a 5000mAh battery and will support 67W SUPERVOOC charging via a USB-C port. Price-wise, the Realme Narzo 70 Pro 5G is expected to fall within the INR 20k segment in India.

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Today, ahead of the official launch, we at Appuals are exclusively sharing the renders of the upcoming Vivo V40 SE 5G alongside its full specs and pricing. The device will be launching globally soon.

Vivo V40 SE 5G Renders, Specifications and Price:

Starting from the front, the device showcases a flat display with a wallpaper exhibiting the UEFA EURO 2024 partnership. The phone will feature a 6.67″ AMOLED display boasting a resolution of 2400×1080 pixels or FHD+ and 120Hz refresh rate.

It will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 processor, coupled with LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.2 ROM. It will operate on latest Android 14 OS with Funtouch OS 14 on top. The handset will also support 8GB of virtual expandable RAM. It will be equipped with a 5000mAh battery and will support 44W FlashCharge wired charging.

On the back, the phone will sport a camera setup consisting of a 50MP Main lens, an 8MP Ultra Wide Angle lens, and a 2MP lens likely dedicated to Portrait or Macro shots. For selfies, it will feature a 16MP front camera. Security-wise, it will incorporate an in-display optical fingerprint sensor.

Vivo V40 SE will feature an IP54 protection rating. It will support MicroSD for expanding storage up to 1TB. Other connectivity options include Dual SIM support, Wi-Fi 5GHz, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C 2.0, and GPS. Lastly, in terms of pricing, the variant with 8GB+256GB storage configuration will fall within the EUR 250 – EUR 300 range.

The post EXCLUSIVE: Vivo V40 SE 5G Renders, Specs & Price Leaked appeared first on Appuals.

Find Your Phone Even When it’s Off

With Android 15’s offline tracking feature, Google plans to build a tracking network similar to Apple’s Find My which relies on “Bluetooth beacons.” Bluetooth beacons are short signals transmitted by devices after short intervals that nearby devices can pick. This means that with billions of Android devices globally, a network like this could create a precise location grid.

However, locating a powered-off device isn’t easy and to overcome this challenge Google’s idea is to pre-record these signals and store them in the Bluetooth controller’s memory before the phone goes down. Even in a no-power state, the Bluetooth controller can continue transmitting these identification signals allowing you to track your location at all times.

Which Devices Could Debut With Offline Tracking?

Tracking offline devices requires specific hardware which means that not all devices will be compatible with it. According to reports, the update to Find My Device could potentially roll out to Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro while older models like the Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel Fold will potentially lack this feature. The official debut of the offline tracking capability is expected with the Google Pixel 9 which will be coming later this year.

This would make sense as the feature would to some level rely on the upgraded Find My Device network announced back at Google I/O 2023 which is still in the works. Despite Google stating “it would arrive later this summer” they had to push back the release as Google and Apple collaborated to come up with a solution to unwanted locating tracking.

Although Google already offers unknown tracker alerts that can detect Bluetooth trackers, including AirTags, iOS doesn’t have something similar. As of yet, Apple devices can detect AirTags but are unable to detect trackers that aren’t a part of Apple’s Find My network.

Even with Android 15 bringing the API and the Pixel 9 series potentially having the required hardware, we still need the upgraded Find My Device network to be widely available for the feature to work effectively.

A Major Improvement to Current Tracking Systems

Thanks to iOS 15’s Find My feature, iPhones hold a slight edge over Android allowing users to find their lost iPhone even when switched off. While Samsung Galaxy devices offer a similar feature to SmartThings Find, it still lacks the offline tracking capability users have been waiting for. However, Google’s plan to introduce a feature to track devices without any internet connection can level the field.

The post Android 15 Will Allow You To Find Devices Even When Powered Off appeared first on Appuals.

Samsung Memory Business’ Worst Year Since 2009

For context, 2023 wasn’t the best year for Samsung’s DRAM business. The chipmaker’s largest profit-generating segment, semiconductors, was under pressure for most of the year—losses of over 4.58 trillion, 4.36 trillion, and 3 trillion won were recorded in the first three quarters of the year, respectively. The fourth quarter was the least damaging, with ~ only 14% losses recorded. These were the worst numbers that the company had seen since 2009.

While Samsung saw a mind-boggling 95% decline in profitability in 2023, the statistics above and the decreasing loss pattern tend to provide a solid basis for understanding the general trend—recovery is slow but imminent.

Samsung is the largest memory chipmaker in the world, but in a volatile industry, the company needs to keep investing. Looking at the past 15 months, this has come off as draining money into a pithole. Still, according to research firm Omdia, Samsung may end up finally recovering to similar levels to last year in the second half of 2024.

Memory Semiconductor’s Recovery Trend; Might Recoup Profits in H2 2024

Samsung’s wafer production numbers for the first half of 2024 accumulated to about 1.575 million units, 75% of the 2.1 million units it produced in the same quarter last year. However, this 25% gap is expected to close to about 0% as the predicted forecast numbers are 1.785 million units, the same as those of Q2 2023.

This upward trend will likely not stop here, as production will ramp up to 1.965 million units in Q3 2024, this time overtaking the production numbers of the third quarter of last year, which were 1.77 million units, marking an 11% improvement. For the last three months of 2024, the quarterly projection is expected to cross the 2 million barrier, this time marking a 41% rise from that of Q4 2023, which came at about 1.425 million units.

HBM & AI Chips Will Be the Main Profit Drivers

Samsung will now be looking to recover lost profits. It will do this by selectively focusing on its memory business. For example, it will pour more resources into its HBM chips, which will, in turn, improve profit margins. This is why a report from SeDaily points out that production will increase, but only along specific lines.

The Hwaseong 15, Pyeongtaek facility, which produces HBM products, is seeing increased production numbers, but others, like the Hwaseong 13 line, which makes image sensors, are still looking at numbers worse than that of the same period last year.

This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.

The post Samsung Memory Chip Business is Expected to Make a Comeback This Year, Profit Recovery Forecasted in H2 2024 appeared first on Appuals.

A Cheaper Samsung Foldable May Push the Company Back to #1, But a “Budget” Foldable is ~$1,000

This week, a report by the research firm DSCC pointed out that Huawei foldables’ shipments have massively exploded in the first quarter of 2024, so much so that the sales numbers indicate a 100% rise from the same period last year. This means that the company is now selling close to double the number of foldables than that it had in 2023.

These numbers from Huawei show an upward trend. The company will soon surpass 40% of the market share in the foldable segment, overtaking the leader, Samsung. Already, in the last quarter of 2023, Huawei imported a large number of Husqada and Zhaolide bearings. With that, they had also ramped up the purchase of BOE panels to improve manufacturing numbers.

Samsung’s Z Fold & Flip 5 Isn’t Selling Well

Samsung has another problem to address, and that is the slow sales figures this year. Compared to what the numbers represent for the past few years, this time, Samsung didn’t grow well in the last quarter. The sales in Q4 2023 dropped by more than half compared to Q4 2022, and the market reception, especially in a large market like China, wasn’t good.

To counter this issue and boost sales, Samsung is eyeing a budget foldable for this year, presumably launching alongside the Z6 series later this year. However, there is little to no reliable inside information on the spec sheet for the phone. However, there has been evidence for the cheaper “Z Fold 6 FE” in production.

Last month, a leak by WinFuture spotted three codenames for Samsung’s upcoming foldables—B6 (Flip 6), Q6 (Fold 6), and Q6A (Fold 6 FE). If true, a cheaper foldable could really be the key for Samsung to come back on top.

At this point, we aren’t sure of what cuts would be made to push down the costs, but there have been rumblings that the screen size and the overall feel wouldn’t be sacrificed. Instead, the internals and features like the S Pen would be cut down.

Samsung itself hasn’t commented on the matter, so take this news with a grain of salt. This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.

The post Samsung’s “Budget” Z Fold 6 FE Might Be the Key to Counter Huawei’s Dominance in the Foldable Segment appeared first on Appuals.

Apple’s A18 Pro May Miss Out on the LPDDR6 Upgrade this Year

Apple Silicon’s next generation of flagship mobile APs, presumably titled A18 Pro (to be used in iPhone 16 Pros), may skip this upgrade and stick to LPDDR5T. According to Korean news outlets, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 may be the first mobile SoC ever to support LPDDR6 in commercial smartphones.

With these SoCs, the main hurdle lies in the foundries’ partners, as they are the ones who make the final call on sourcing the right set of memory modules that suit their plans. This is why Vivo’s X100 Pro, which was released earlier last November, was rumored to come with LPDDR5T, but it, too, skipped the upgrade and settled with LPDDR5X.

Since Apple may not incorporate LPDDR6, Qualcomm’s 8 Gen 4 may add another advantage to its tally. This time, the Android SoC manufacturer may keep it close to the industry leader, Apple, which has been at the top for almost 11 consecutive years.

The LPDDR6 DRAM Modules Will Be Finalized By the 2nd Half of 2024

Samsung and Sk Hynix, two of the world’s leading DRAM manufacturers, are ramping up the production of these LPDDR6 modules. According to Ajunews, the International Semiconductor Standards Organization (JEDEC) will finalize these modules by the second half of this year, so it is safe to assume that the chances of it being incorporated into Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 are slim.

The same source also pointed out that LPDDR7 may debut in NVIDIA’s upcoming set of RTX 5000 series and AMD’s RDNA4 GPUs.

This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.

via: Ajunews

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Downswing in “Annual” Revenue for the World’s Leading Foundries

While the fourth quarter of 2023 did show upward trends in the revenue generated by the top 10 foundries, the YoY results unsurprisingly deviated from this pattern. The annual results showed a 13.6% decline in revenue, totaling $111.54 billion.

Analysts at TrendForce have pointed out that the reasons for this downward spiral go beyond the slowing economy. For one, the foundries had to deal with full inventories across the supply chain. Also, one of the largest consumer markets in the world, China, saw a slow recovery.

AI to Pull Back Revenue Numbers This Year

In 2024, it is predicted that the industry will see a massive rise, up to about 12%, mainly thanks to the rise of AI applications worldwide. This would then place the cumulative revenue for the Top 10 foundries at around $125.24 billion.

TSMC Widens the Gap Between #2, IFS Pushed Back Out of the Top 10

These recent findings show that the Top 10 foundries in the world capture 88.8% of the market, and TSMC alone gets more than 60%, making it the undisputed leader in the industry. IFS, which recently claimed to overthrow TSMC as the world’s leading foundry, has now dropped out of the Top 10.

IFS, which recently announced its 14A process node and 18A CPUs, has seen a decline in revenue in the last quarter of 2024. This is mainly attributed to the shift in older and newer processes, but with the company’s own projections, they aim to climb up to at least the Top 5 in the next six years.

For TSMC, shipments improved by 14% to $19.66 billion, and revenue generated from processes thinner than 7nm increased from 59% to 67%. Again, with increasing orders and the rise of AI applications this year, TSMC is expected to be the primary beneficiary of this change in trend.

China’s SMIC saw a quarterly increase of 3.6%, with revenue coming in at $1.68 billion. Also, with IFS out of the Top 10, Nexchip climbs back into the rankings.

This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.

via: TrendForce

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Companies are Looking for Other Options in the Mobile AP Segment, but It Probably Won’t Affect MTK or QC’s Standing

Part of the reason we have been seeing a steady decline in the performance metrics of mid-range smartphones and an increase in prices for flagships is merely these hikes. This is why companies like Samsung prefer to stick to Exynos. Revegnus on X also points out that “I believe Samsung raised the price of the S24 Ultra this time to minimize the impact of future Qualcomm chip price increases and to prepare in advance.“

Competition is rising in the semiconductor sector, which is mainly fueled by the rise of AI applications. However, both of these have a considerable standing in the mobile application chip market. MediaTek, for instance, accounted for 33%, and Qualcomm stands second with 28%, as of Q3 2023 [Counterpoint, 2024].

The Reasons For These Price Hikes Aren’t Just Limited to Increased Profit Margins

Analysts have predicted various reasons why chip designers are increasing their prices. For one, the world’s largest chipmaker, TSMC, has seen an increase of 30% in electricity billing from the Taiwanese government. On the other hand, Qualcomm is also spending a lot of resources on its in-house Nuvia-based chip solutions. Not to mention how Nuvia itself was acquired by Qualcomm not long ago for a whopping $1.4 billion.

Moreover, as foundries continue to fab thinner nodes, they will eventually need to hike prices to stay competitive; otherwise, they’ll simply fall behind the competition. Qualcomm and MediaTek, both in particular, have been following the industry leader, Apple Silicon, in fabricating the most efficient and best-performing chips in the mobile segment.

It remains to be seen how companies react moving forward. Most might look towards Exynos for its mid-range offerings. Still, others, like Samsung, which are more prominent clients and have struck out a multi-year deal, may eventually squeeze out a favorable deal, but again, it is highly unlikely that we’ll see the same price for flagship phones as we used to before one or two years.

This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.

via: Revegnus

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