supply

Taiwan pub steadily criticizes Intel's Ultrabook

A Taipei-based technology news site has been publishing a steady stream of flak centered on Intel's Ultrabook laptop strategy. Intel counters, however, that this is little more than rumor and speculation.

Over the last week or so, DigiTimes has been offering up almost a daily dose of grievances, seemingly emanating from that region's suppliers, including ODMs (original design manufacturers) and OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).

For example, on its front door as of Tuesday night PT, the publication has three articles critical of Intel's Ultrabook strategy.

The Ultrabook is defined roughly as an ultraportable laptop under 0.8 … Read more

Get informed with MediaInfo

Media files come in numerous different formats these days, and it's not always easy to get a quick look at their characteristics. MediaInfo is a simple utility that can provide users with metadata about their audio and video files, including codecs, and frames per second.

The program's interface is plain and easy to navigate, with menus across the top and buttons down the left side. You can select either an individual file or a whole folder of files to view. There are eight different views to choose from--Basic, Sheet, Tree, Text, HTML, XML, MPEG-7, and PBCore 1.2--each … Read more

Apple supply chain sees smooth sailing ahead

Apple's manufacturing partners expect their relationships with the iPhone maker to remain strong, even though there's a new CEO at the company.

In a statement yesterday, Taiwan-based manufacturer, Hon Hai Precision Industry, said that it expects its relationship with Apple to become even closer under the new leadership. That sentiment was echoed by DigiTimes sources at Apple suppliers, who said that they don't anticipate any order changes to come about.

Earlier this week, Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO of Apple. In a resignation letter to the board, Jobs recommended his chief operating officer Tim Cook assume … Read more

Apple's iPad will only get more popular, analyst says

Market researcher IHS-iSuppli said the iPad will continue to gain market share and spelled out the secrets of its success more than a year and a half after Apple introduced the groundbreaking product.

Steve Jobs--who resigned from Apple as CEO today--introduced the iPad in January of 2010 and its been a nonstop success ever since. Apple is set to increase shipments of the iPad "capitalizing on its shrewd strategy, as well as its competitors' stumbles," iSuppli said in a research note today. This alone will cause the global tablet market to expand.

Global media tablet shipments now are … Read more

iPhone, iPad boost chip sales for wireless devices

The demand for smartphones and tablets is causing manufacturers to spend more on chips for wireless devices than for traditional computers, says a report out yesterday from IHS iSuppli.

As the tech industry shifts more of its emphasis from PCs to mobile gadgets, the wireless segment is poised to become the leading market for chip buying starting this year.

Manufacturers will buy $55.4 billion of semiconductors for wireless devices this year, a jump of 10.7 percent from 2010, according to IHS. But spending on chips for computers will reach $53.1 billion this year, a gain of just … Read more

iSuppli: iPad leads in U.S. brand satisfaction

iPad leads in brand satisfaction among U.S. consumers, though a relatively obscure tablet maker came in a close second, according to IHS iSuppli.

Rivals face a steep challenge in the U.S. because consumers are fixated on Apple's tablet to the detriment of other brands, according to the "U.S. Tablet Consumer Preference" study released today by iSuppli.

"Apple's competitors in the tablet market already are facing major challenges in offering products that can match the iPad's combination of optimized hardware, software, operating system, applications, content and app store," Rhoda Alexander, an … Read more

Study: Tablets powering mobile broadband growth

Tablets--largely consisting of Apple's iPad--have become the main engine of growth for mobile broadband devices, according to a study released today by IHS iSuppli.

The firm estimates that 157.9 million mobile broadband devices, which consist of products including tablets, notebooks, Netbook computers, and electronic readers, will be sold this year. That's up nearly 60 percent from the 100.1 million units sold in 2010.

The consistently high rate of growth can be traced back to the burgeoning tablet market. In particular, consumers have snapped up the iPad with increasing frequency--Apple sold 9.25 million such devices in … Read more

Add2PSU beefs up your desktop power supply

It's easier than you might think to max out your desktop power supply, particularly if you have an off-the-shelf system with a large case and a low-wattage PSU. Even if you don't hit the maximum supported wattage rating, with enough extra drives and internal fans, you can all of a sudden find yourself without the necessary internal power leads for that lighting kit you've been eyeing. Here's where Add2PSU can come in handy.

Initially designed by David Lorentzen to add power to a home server, Add2PSU is a small circuit board that lets you daisy-chain desktop power supplies. Lorentzen says he has been awarded patent pending status on the device, and he hopes to have his online store running by the end of August, at which point he will sell the Add2PSU for $19.95.… Read more

Windows 8 to spawn new breed of low-cost laptops

The pairing of Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 with processors from companies like Qualcomm and Nvidia is expected to spawn a new kind of low-cost laptop, according to IHS-iSuppli, possibly threatening Intel's overwhelming dominance in laptops.

"After more than 30 years of domination by a single microarchitecture--Intel Corp.'s X86--the PC microprocessor...market finally is set for some real competition," Matthew Wilkins, an analyst at IHS-iSuppli, wrote in a research note today.

This will happen as shipments of ARM processors soar in the coming years, eventually shipping in about one out of every four laptops in 2015, … Read more

AMD loses sizable market share to Intel in quarter

Advanced Micro Devices lost a considerable share of the chip market to Intel in the first quarter, as the latter rebounded easily from a chipset glitch, according to a report today from IHS iSuppli.

AMD accounted for 10.1 percent of global microprocessor revenue in the first quarter of this year, falling from the 11.8 percent share during from the same period last year and down from 10.9 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the report.

AMD's loss was pretty much Intel's gain. Intel during the first three months of this year claimed 82.6 … Read more