Connect with us

Published

on

Workers assembles smartphones at Dixon Technologies factory in Uttar Pradesh, India, on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. 

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

India wants to be among the world’s top five semiconductor producers in the next five years, said Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister of electronics and information technology, railways and communications. 

The chip industry “is a very complex market, and global value chains and global supply chains are extremely complex in the current context,” Vaishnaw said on CNBC’s Street Signs Asia on Friday. “We think in the next five years, we would be among the top five semiconductor nations in the world.”

As of December, Taiwan holds about 46% of global semiconductor foundry capacity, followed by China (26%), South Korea (12%), the U.S. (6%) and Japan (2%), according to market intelligence firm TrendForce.

India will stand to benefit as more companies look to reduce reliance on China as U.S.-China tensions show no signs of ending soon. 

He said India sees itself as a “trusted value chain partner” for electronic device manufacturers, industrial and defense electronics, power electronics — “practically every electronics manufacturer, which requires semiconductors to be designed… and manufactured.”

“Some people call it ‘friendshoring.’ I call it ‘trust shoring’ because there is a global trust in India,” Vaishnaw said.

On Thursday, U.S. chip giant Qualcomm opened a new design center in Chennai. The facility will focus on wireless technology design and create 1,600 jobs in the country. 

“We started investing in India before it was popular. We have been building a presence in India for more than a decade now,” Qualcomm CEO told CNBC affiliate CNBC TV-18. “A lot of our chips are designed in India, and that presence in India is also creating opportunities for a number of Indian companies.”

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three semiconductor plants. One of those plants is a joint venture between Tata Electronics and Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. PSMC Chairman Frank Huang told the Economic Times the goal is to create India’s first semiconductor chip by 2026

“Made in India chips manufactured in India will help create a strong and significant presence for India in global value chains — it will make India a semicon hub for the world,” Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in a press release.

India expects to be among 'top five semiconductor nations' in next five years: Minister

Vaishnaw seemed unfazed when asked about investors expressing concern that India is still behind in its semiconductor manufacturing game and has plenty of catching up to do.

The minister predicted that the global semiconductor sector will be worth a trillion dollars within the next seven years. due to a large talent pool and the country’s focus on ramping up its manufacturing capabilities. 

“This kind of growth will require close to a million more semiconductor engineers. Where is the talent pool? Where is that ecosystem for handling the complexity of this magnitude? It’s there in India,” he said.

“This is absolutely the right time to be in the semiconductor industry and we’ve very rapidly gained the confidence of the entire global industry,” the minister added.

Apple supplier Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, announced in November that it plans to invest more than $1.5 billion in India to fulfill its “operational needs.”

“Globally, all the companies look at India as a natural destination for the next investment decision,” Vaishnaw claimed, confirming recent reports that the government is reviewing semiconductor proposals totaling to $21 billion. 

Continue Reading

Technology

Bitcoin bounces back above $95,000 as investors eye $100,000 milestone heading into Thanksgiving holiday

Published

on

By

Bitcoin bounces back above ,000 as investors eye 0,000 milestone heading into Thanksgiving holiday

Bitcoin on Wednesday climbed back above $95,000, recovering slightly from a pullback this week that knocked it from record levels.

The price of the flagship cryptocurrency was last higher by 5% at $95,886.00, according to Coin Metrics, while ether jumped more than 7% to $3,555.82. The broader crypto market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 index, gained 5%.

Although bitcoin is widely viewed as a store of value and a digital alternative to gold, the cryptocurrency often trades in tandem with the stock market. On Wednesday, however, it decoupled with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which was lower by 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 dropped as well.

Coinbase was up more than 2% as bitcoin lifted it along with other crypto stocks. Robinhood – which offers crypto trading and is viewed as a beneficiary of a more crypto-friendly environment in the incoming Trump administration, gained 4%. MicroStrategy, which trades as a proxy for bitcoin, advanced 7%.

Bitcoin has been regularly hitting records since the Nov. 5 election, up about 38% in that time. On Friday, it rose as high as $99,849.99 before testing the $90,000 support level this week.

“The bitcoin bull market has legs,” Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital, said in a report Wednesday. “There will be corrections and hiccups, which is normal. There could even some twilight regulatory or law enforcement actions from the outgoing Biden administration that jitter markets. But a combination of increasing institutional, corporate, and potentially nation-state adoption, a new U.S. administration that is shaping up to be extremely pro-bitcoin, and solid positioning and network data all point to higher over the near and medium term.”

Fairlead Strategies’ Katie Stockton told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday that, at current levels, bitcoin investors are in “unchartered territory in terms of where there’s resistance – which, of course, there is none.” Meanwhile, support is around $74,000. Bitcoin reached $92,000 for the first time ever just two weeks ago, on Nov. 13.

“Bitcoin does tend to stair step both to the downside and to the upside, meaning that it sees these very sharp run ups and then consolidates,” she said. “People should … be willing to give bitcoin, and the cryptocurrencies in general, more room — because of the volatility there and also because of the long-term potential.”

Bitcoin is up 124% for the year and is still widely expected to reach the $100,000 milestone before the year is over. Ether, the outperformer since the election, is trailing bitcoin on a year-to-date basis with a 55% gain.

Continue Reading

Technology

Generative AI’s hype has yet to lead to a must-have gadget for the holiday season

Published

on

By

Generative AI's hype has yet to lead to a must-have gadget for the holiday season

Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses

Meta

Shoppers looking for gadgets and gizmos powered by generative AI technology to gift to their loved ones won’t have many options to choose from this holiday season.

Generative artificial intelligence has taken Silicon Valley by storm since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot in November 2022. Although startups have raised billions to build new GenAI tools and tech giants have bought millions of Nvidia processors to train AI models, few companies have delivered new hardware built with the new-age tech as its focal point.

There was a lot of optimism over the potential of GenAI gadgets at the CES trade show in January, said Paul Gagnon, vice president for analyst firm Circana. In particular, products from high-profile startups such as Humane and Rabbit, which were marketed as being able to translate, answer questions, take voice memos and set alarms, were drawing buzz, Gagnon said.

But many of these new GenAI devices didn’t work as well as people expected, with reviewers saying that the gadgets were too slow and too prone to failure.

“As we’ve gone through the year, and those kinds of promises — which I’ll be honest, were pretty nebulous to start with — there’s been a bit of a struggle with communicating that to consumers,” Gagnon said.

A key reason GenAI hardware hasn’t had a breakthrough is that current devices are “compute restrained,” meaning they require more powerful silicon chips and related components to perform better, particularly when compared with smartphones, said Ben Bajarin, CEO of Creative Strategies, a market research firm.

Additionally, consumers may find current GenAI devices too expensive, and they may be confused about what the devices can actually do, he said.

GenAI devices, such as the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, also typically require a smartphone connection for an accompanying app as well as strong internet access, because a bad internet connection can lead to performance delays that frustrate people, Bajarin said.

While companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Dell and Lenovo have also heavily marketed new lineups of personal computers capable of performing GenAI tasks, consumers have yet to perk up to the sales pitch, said Ryan Reith, an IDC program vice president for mobile devices.

“I don’t think that there’s actually a need for consumers to go out and get one of these more expensive PCs,” Reith said, noting that people may be confused about why they need beefier computers when they can already access tools such as ChatGPT through their current PCs. 

The reality is that while GenAI has captivated Silicon Valley, it’s still “inning zero” in regard to widespread adoption, Bajarin said.

“Even though I can rattle off all these productivity stats of how people are using AI today, it’s a very small number of people,” he said. “This is not mainstream.”

It may not be until 2025 that consumers see a “big explosion” in GenAI computers, smartphones and new gadgets, said Steve Koenig, vice president of research at the Consumer Technology Association, which produces CES.

Despite Silicon Valley not having a breakout year for GenAI hardware, here are a few GenAI devices early adopters can buy.

Ray-Ban Meta glasses

Rabbit r1

The Rabbit r1 is a $200 gizmo that looks like an orange, miniaturized tablet with a playful aesthetic that’s more Nintendo Switch than Apple iPad. 

Outfitted with a camera and dual mics, the r1 can record audio clips and set timers or perform more advanced tasks, such as helping users recall details from past conversations, search results and voice recordings. After the device began shipping in March, reviewers criticized the r1 for stumbling at various tasks and failing to outshine smartphones that can do many of the same functions. 

The startup “has used that feedback to rapidly make very significant improvements to the user experience” and has released scores of updates to improve, Rabbit CEO Jesse Lyu told CNBC in a statement.

Despite the harsh reviews, Rabbit has “sold more than 100,000 r1 devices when we originally expected to sell only 3,000” and the company is “seeing a return rate of less than 5%, which is very solid for a first-generation product,” Lyu said. 

Rabbit is currently running a deal that gives shoppers free shipping, or $15 off, if they order an r1 by Dec. 4.

Bee

Former Apple designers launch $699 Humane Ai Pin as smartphone replacement

Continue Reading

Technology

Just Eat Takeaway to delist from London Stock Exchange in blow to UK market

Published

on

By

Just Eat Takeaway to delist from London Stock Exchange in blow to UK market

Just Eat Takeaway said it was delisting its shares from the London Stock Exchange due to the “low liquidity and trading volumes” of its shares on the exchange.

Mike Kemp | In Pictures | Getty Images

Just Eat Takeaway will delist from the London Stock Exchange next month, in a blow to the U.K.’s ambitions to attract more high-growth tech firms to its stock market.

After completing a review of optimal listing venues, the Anglo-Dutch food delivery firm said Wednesday that it intends to delist from London’s stock exchange, making Amsterdam Just Eat Takeaway.com’s sole trading venue.

Explaining its decision, Just Eat Takeaway said it was delisting its shares from the LSE in a bid to “reduce the administrative burden, complexity and costs associated with the disclosure and regulatory requirements of maintaining the LSE listing, and in the context of low liquidity and trading volumes.”

Just Eat Takeaway shares slipped 1.5% following the delisting announcement.

It has requested that the LSE and the Financial Conduct Authority, the U.K.’s markets watchdog, cancel its listing, so that it can remain primarily listed on the Amsterdam exchange.

The delisting will become effective from 8 a.m London time on Dec. 27, while Dec. 24 will mark the last date of trading of Just Eat Takeaway’s shares on the LSE.

Earlier this month, Just Eat Takeaway.com said it would sell its GrubHub arm to New York-based online takeout startup Wonder for $650 million — a huge discount compared to the $7.3 billion the firm paid for the U.S. food delivery app.

Continue Reading

Trending