A Counterpoint team of analysts also attended the meet and interacted with a whole spectrum of officials from the location value chain, besides witnessing live demonstrations of products and services integrating HERE’s offerings, and keynotes from HERE executives, like Bart Sweerman, Gino Ferru, Remco Timmer and Severin Bredahl-Banovic.

Here is an exclusive interview with HERE VP and GM Severin Bredahl-Banovic on his thoughts on HERE Directions 2023 and beyond.

Some highlights from the keynotes:

• HERE’s vision of location intelligence spans from automotive to different industry verticals and end consumers.
• In mobility, it is powering L3+ automated driving with AI-powered digital cockpit UX and location-aware intelligent fleet management.
• Across industries, it is about logistics, indoor maps, fleet optimization and accurate intermodal and efficient multi-modal location experiences with sustainability goals in mind.
• HERE showcased the full range of its content, services portfolio, tools and platform.
• HERE gave a glimpse of the unprecedented scale of its location solutions:
  • 180 million vehicles globally across 50+ brands with HERE solutions
  • 40 million+ powered by HERE’s real-time data and services
  • 34 million+ equipped with HERE Automated Driving maps, up from 22 million a year ago
  • 21 OEMs using HERE ISA maps
  • 1,300+ enterprise customers using HERE maps, location content and services
  • 550,000 direct developers on the platform
  • 153 billion API calls per month

• To efficiently scale further, HERE earlier this year unveiled UniMap, a new flexible, modular architecture built from the ground up, with automated map-making capabilities powered by AI/ML integrated with HERE data and services. The dynamic data is refreshed in less than 60 seconds.
• UniMap consists of more than 800 location-centric attributes across 200 categories.
• UniMap thus is able to power a multitude of experiences, from scalable automated driving, in-vehicle digital UX, and EV services (charging, routing, etc) to custom private maps.
• Private maps are the most interesting capability of UniMap, allowing customers to customize their maps by adding private layers and attributes at scale.

Customers and Partners Showcase

• HERE showcased numerous key partnerships and customer wins in 2023.
• On the transport and logistics, and supply chain sides, some of these include Uber, Amazon, SiemensHealth, Descartes, Leogistics, DHL and Holcim.
• On the automotive side, these include wins in BMW Digital Cockpit + HD Maps, Lotus Eletre EV with an almost full stack from EV services to navigation, Mercedes Benz L3+ cars in Europe and US, and NIO.
• On the stage, BMW Group’s Head of Automated Driving Stephan Durach talked about the next phase of the industry in terms of Software Defined Vehicle (SDV), like BMW’s NEUE KlASSE powered by HERE solutions.

• Daimler Truck’s Andreas Mink highlighted that the era of L3+ automated trucks is upon us as fleets are beginning to face a dearth of truck drivers alongside meeting goals like efficiency and sustainability. HERE is closely working with them to enable highly automated solutions to address these challenges and goals.
• China’s hottest EV startup NIO’s executive Mirko Reuter talked about NIO’s advanced architecture being completely driven by software and fully upgradeable with a full scale of sensors and advanced compute NVIDIA Drive Orin, which features 68 billion transistors and HERE’s HD maps for advanced SDV experiences.
• Also on the stage was Lisa Åbom, the CEO of an interesting company, NIRA Dynamics, who highlighted the importance of sensor data extraction from the cars and how critical it is for safety in the coming automated driving era.

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) GM Michael Kopenec showcased AWS’ symbiotic relationship with HERE to provide real-time visibility of the entire supply chain leveraging HERE solutions in AWS cloud and power customers such as PostNL and Geome.

• what3words CCO Clare Jones talked about redefining the address system with HERE as a premier partner to integrate its solutions into leading OEMs such as JLR, Mercedes-Benz AG and more.

Wrapping up

• With its new UniMap, HERE is taking map, location data and services integration to a new level for mobility applications.
• The breadth and depth of HERE’s location platform capabilities match its scale and large number of partners and customers.
• HERE has been traditionally strong in the automotive sector and now is driving and riding the digital transformation wave as vehicles become connected, automated, smart and electric.
• In the industrial and enterprise sector, HERE has showcased its influence by working with leading players, from Amazon and Uber to DHL, Salesforce and Mitsubishi.
• Consumer is one area where HERE has been used indirectly but would like to build on the momentum to compete at the same scale as Google or beautiful customizations from Mapbox for app developers among others.

The post HERE Directions 2023: UniMap Powering New Era of Location Experiences Enabling Deeper Partner & Customer Relationships appeared first on Counterpoint.

For the last over 10 years, I have been working in front of the PC either at home, office or while traveling, but my search for an optimum lightweight wireless headset with top-notch active noise cancellation (ANC) continues. I have used multiple wired ANC headsets from Plantronics to Sennheiser for my desktop PC or laptop at home for years. While they have performed well, most of them are USB-Type A and their wires often become entangled, besides limiting their movement and lifespan.

Since carrying these headsets during a business trip is not only impractical but now also leads to incompatibility issues with the new wave of USB Type-C-only laptops, I have been mostly relying on the TWS headsets from Apple, Samsung, Sony, OnePlus and Nothing. Though they do a decent job, most of them have average battery life and hit-or-miss ANC capabilities, and sometimes they pop out without permission.

However, a month ago, our test lab received the Evolve2 65 Flex, Jabra’s latest addition to its portfolio of professional wireless headsets, and it has left us thoroughly impressed! It addresses most of the needs of the hybrid workstyle.

Foldable, lightweight and comfortable design

The Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex sports a unique fold-and-go Danish design, which makes it very easy to carry the headset across multiple hybrid work modes. Further, to complement the foldable design, the headset weighs a mere 136 gm. It is made from high-quality PC/PC-ABS material, making it lighter, durable, flexible and rugged at the same time. As a result, the overall form factor is very compact.

The unique adjustable and collapsible headband design has layers of perforated foam, making it softer on the head. This along with rotating earcups with ultra-soft leatherette cushions helps the headset provide hours of comfortable usage. Jabra calls this new pattern, choice of materials and perforated design “Air Comfort” technology. The proof point for me was using it for 20 hours straight on a flight to the US, with ultimate comfort. There was no ear or head pain, or sweating, or the headset slipping off my head even when I briefly dozed off.

Another striking design element is that the external microphone stick folds back into the headset, transforming it into a cool personal headset for consuming music or entertainment on the go.

The headset sports seven buttons on the earcups. Initially, I was confused about the alignment and functions of each button. However, after a week’s usage, these etched into my muscle memory and proved to be quite useful. The buttons cover functions including power on/off, Bluetooth pairing, switching between ANC and HearThrough, volume/pause/play, opening UC apps such as Microsoft Teams, call connect/disconnect, and mute/unmute/command voice assistant.

Premium audio, ANC and voice calls

The Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex sports two analog MEMS and four digital MEMS microphones. It also features unique algorithms to slice out the background noises with the help of an advanced chipset to deliver premium, stable and enterprise-grade voice calling with a hybrid ANC experience. The call quality is fantastic in any environment, whether a closed cabin, noisy subway or Uber taxi, and device type, whether a laptop, smartphone or tablet.

The different customizations and personalizations using Jabra’s Sound+ app make the sound and voice quality optimal for ANC, HearThrough, or ANC-off modes. The integrated 360° Busylight, which is visible from all angles, is a great feature to notify when one is on a call or busy working by acting as a “do-not-disturb” sign.

The headset is certified for leading UC platforms from Microsoft Teams, CISCO Webex, Zoom, Google Meet, Amazon Chime, and others. The headset that I have been using is a Microsoft Teams variant with a dedicated button and the experience optimized for Teams calls.

The Sound+ app also helps set up the personal assistant on the device for enabling commands at the press of a button, and it works flawlessly on both iOS and Android. Also, it is recommended to set up your sound profile under “MySound” to optimize the headset to match your hearing profile.

The Sound+ app is also useful in optimizing the sound or audio depending on the type of content, like music or movies. The music presets are great along with the ability to save custom equalizer settings. The headset sports custom 28mm speakers with a full audio frequency range from 20Hz to 20KHz. After a week of “burn-in”, the headset is great for listening to music, especially classical, gothic rock, vocals and ballads, offering a much clearer and fuller sound, almost as good as a $200 in-ear headset.

Longer battery life and stable connectivity

What stands out for me is that the Jabra Evovle2 65 Flex is a light, foldable and compact form factor, along with a tremendous battery life. I recently used the headset for 20 hours straight during a flight to the US, with a mix of movies and music. At the end of the flight, the battery dropped to only 63% despite a mix of ANC on/off modes. I charged the headset just once during my 10-day business trip and usage of close to 60 hours, which is about 30 hours of usage per charge, very close to Jabra’s claim of 32 hours per full charge. Further, the headset can be wirelessly charged with a beautiful bundled wireless charging dock stand. The overall charging time via USB Type-C is less than 90 minutes and slightly longer with the wireless charging dock.

The headset can connect with two Bluetooth-enabled devices at the same time, like a laptop and primary phone, or primary and secondary phones. In terms of overall pairing, the headset can pair and remember up to eight devices. The headset also features Google Fast Pair for quick pairing with Android phones.

Wrapping up

The Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex ticks all the right boxes, from compact, collapsible and comfortable design to premium audio and voice call experience with unparalleled battery life, making it one of the best UC and on-ear headset in the market. It is great for someone who travels a lot or uses headsets for long calls and doesn’t want to worry about charging or comfort. The headset comes at a premium price point of $500 or ₹45,000. I would highly recommend the headset as it offers tremendous value for money and sets new standards in the premium professional wireless headset space.

The post Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex Review: Unfolding Future of Hybrid Work with Personalized ANC, Comfort & Lightweight Foldable Design appeared first on Counterpoint.

Leading mobile computing SoC architecture company Arm globally unveiled its Total Compute Solutions 2023 (TCS23) platform at the Computex 2023 expo, being held in Taipei from May 30 to June 2. The latest generation of TCS will power the next-generation secure, intelligent (AI) and immersive (3D visual) experiences.

Arm commenced the TCS journey in 2021 with a focus on three key aspects of SoC design – Compute Performance, Security and Software (Developer Access). This complete package helps an SoC designer to integrate Arm IP offerings across CPU, GPU and System IP (Interconnect, SLCs, MMUs) to reduce complexity, costs and time to market.

TCS23 brings optimized physical IP, new GPU and advanced software tools

Arm continues to innovate across the stack, from its Physical/Pop IP, CoreLink System IP, ARMv9 architecture CPU cluster (Cortex-X4, -A720 and -A520) to new architecture-driven 5^th Gen GPU (Immortalis-G720), to power visual computing applications designed for 3nm nodes and supported by advanced software and toolsets.

Source: Arm 

CPU advancements

• The ARM v9.2 Cortex cluster aims to deliver a double-digit performance boost with Cortex-X4 (+15%) at less power (40% lower) compared to the previous generation on the same process node.
• Many of the future premium Android solutions will be powered by the advanced 3nm process node in the coming years, which will further benefit from the TCS23 and beyond cluster advancements.
• According to Counterpoint’s foundry tracker, almost a third of the foundry smartphone AP/SoC wafer revenues in 2024 will come from the 3nm process node

See here:

Arm also announced the taping out of the upcoming Cortex-X4 on the TSMC N3E process, an industry first.

• The new DynamicIQ Shared Unt (DSU-120) overall drives the demanding multi-threaded performance scaling across multiple computing devices, from smartphones and wearables to STBs to PCs, and for all premium, performance and efficiency use cases.
• Further, TCS23 is also designed to accelerate machine learning (ML) and AI workload performance ranging from 12%+ depending on the CPU core type.

System IP and GPU advancements

• The new innovations across the CoreLink CI-700 help reduce the silicon areas with a significant reduction in system interconnect latency.
• Arm is also promising optimizations to drive improved latency and bandwidth reduction. Almost 30% DRAM bandwidth/frame traffic reduction is expected, which translates to lower power, great for gaming workloads.
• These efficiency optimizations are possible with the new 5^th gen GPU architecture-based Immortalis-G720 featuring deferred vertex shading (DVS).
• Almost 4x AI and ML performance boost can be achieved as well by leveraging the new GPU.

Security and software advancements

• Arm continues to innovate on security across firmware, process and TEE.
• The Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) capability increases memory safety from unsafe coded apps which normally comprise almost 75% of Android vulnerabilities.
• Arm extends support for the Android Virtualization Framework (AVF) for secure execution of codes for 64-bit-based devices.
• Newer algorithms such as QARMA3 and enhancements for Pointer Authentication (PAC) and Branch Target Identification (BTI) reduce the overheads for maintaining security performance across the cluster.
• The 9 million app developers Arm enables continue to build applications for the 64-bit architecture. For example, the China ecosystem of app developers is 100% compliant with 64-bit.
• Arm NN and Arm Compute Library offer optimization for ML workloads on Armv9 architecture, which is being used by Google apps on Android with over 100 million active users already.

Roadmap, ecosystem traction and outlook

• Arm’s TCS24 will sport a Blackhawk premium core, Chaberton high-performance core, Hayes high-efficiency core and Krake GPU.

Source: Arm 

• Arm’s overall ecosystem is the broadest and deepest considering its leading position in low-power architecture.
• Arm’s partnerships for TCS23 have mainly targeted Android-based computing devices and future Windows on Arm PCs

Source: Arm, Counterpoint Analysis

• Arm’s tighter Google (Android) partnership is key to the development and success of TCS spanning from overall SoC-Android optimizations to building robust security features to AI/ML optimizations and more.
• MediaTek and TSMC remain the key fabless and fab partners for Arm and key drivers for TCS.
• MediaTek’s entry and growth in the premium smartphone segment is great news for Arm from the TCS adoption perspective.

See here:

• MediaTek’s Dimensity 9200/9200+ was a great showcase for TCS22. The upcoming Dimensity 9300 is touted to sport four Cortex-X4 and four Cortex-A720 cores leveraging the TCS23 platform.
• Arm has also seen great traction for TCS in the Chinese ecosystem of OEMs and app developers leveraging premium MediaTek solutions.
• Samsung is another great customer/partner for Arm. It continues to grapple with its overall Exynos SoC strategy and performance and it remains to be seen how it leverages TCS23 or TCS24 for its future roadmap.
• Unlike TSMC, the Samsung LSI is not on top of the list of announcements as a key Arm partner for Cortex-X4 tapeouts on its 3nm nodes. This casts some shadow on the adoption of TCS23 by Samsung Exynos or Google Tensor in near-to- mid term.
• While Qualcomm and Apple will benefit from the new Armv9.2 cluster and system IP enhancements, they have tons of proprietary CPU customizations and in-house GPU designs and AI engines to completely leverage TCS23.
• This is one of the reasons why there has been no direct endorsement from Qualcomm or Apple for the new clusters or overall TCS23 at launch.
• Arm-based PCs is another area that has potential for growth mainly driven by Apple, Qualcomm and MediaTek.

See here:

• The next two years are going to be super-crucial for Arm as it pivots to a newer licensing model. Licensing opportunities for chipsets, especially in smartphones and PCs, have been shrinking with more vertical integration at its licensees, so the pivot makes sense but will have to wait and see.

Overall, the end-to-end system optimization provided by TCS23 with enhancements across hardware and software unlocks performance and efficiencies to power future mobile computing experiences. Arm remains a linchpin and TCS a foundational platform for the industry to build on low-power but high-performance computing experiences.

Related Posts

1. Apple-led ARM computer sales resilient, as PC industry declines
2. Arm Laptops to Remain Resilient Amid Global PC Market Weakness
3. Arm-based PCs to Nearly Double Market Share by 2027
4. BoM Analysis: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Costs $469 to Make
5. COMPUTEX 2023: AI Solutions, Capabilities in Focus

The post Arm Platform TCS23 Sets Benchmark to Power Advanced, Holistic Mobile Computing Experiences appeared first on Counterpoint.

If we look at the entire IoT or location value chain, it spans from the endpoint/edge (possibly a device/sensor/gateway) to the network infrastructure, enabling connectivity between the edge and the software or API-driven cloud and analytics platforms. While connectivity is the glue, location also provides important context to the asset and the data emanating from the asset.

WATCH: Qualcomm Aware Platform Explained

Power of connectivity and location

We have extensively researched and talked about the IoT market and the importance of end-to-end control, from chipsets, modules, and devices to connectivity to the platforms, including both IoT and location. The IoT landscape, which has been fragmented, is now undergoing consolidation as there is a significant mismatch between the value being created and captured. However, the success in IoT lies in a player which can be integrated and offer end-to-end capabilities while also remaining open and flexible to work with different partners across the value chain at the same time. This should allow the player to create and capture maximum value opportunities for everyone and accelerate the digital transformation journeys of different companies.

Qualcomm has been the leading and largest “connectivity” chipset provider in the IoT and automotive segments, shipping hundreds of millions of chips every year. While connectivity and IoT are natural to Qualcomm, the San Diego-based systems company has also realized the importance of blending the power of location and connectivity. Therefore, Qualcomm has acquired its long-time partner Skyhook, a Boston-based company that has been a leader in the development of location technologies integrating into the devices, and PoLTE, a Dallas-based company focusing on cellular-based accurate positioning technology for mobile devices to IoT applications such as fleet management and asset tracking. Driving location-based intelligence right from the chipset via APIs reduces a lot of integration-related difficulties for companies trying to connect their assets to the cloud securely and seamlessly.

WATCH: Qualcomm Aware Platform Use Cases Demo

Qualcomm Aware SaaS platform – API-driven chip to cloud connectivity

With its important position in the IoT value chain and leveraging its location and connectivity expertise, Qualcomm recently launched Qualcomm Aware, an API-first platform offering secure and out-of-the-box chip-to-cloud integration. Qualcomm is doing this via an intelligent software on top of the chip to help solution makers optimize, configure, and transmit location and telemetry data from the edge to the cloud simply via APIs integrating with partner solutions.

Initial capabilities: Location data, connectivity management, security and more

The Qualcomm Aware solution can be tailored to specific verticals, applications or use cases. It comprises of following capabilities:

• Location data GNSS, cellular, Wi-Fi, hybrid location, geofencing, etc
• Power-optimized, configurable hardware and software components
• Security – edge to cloud, Silicon Root of Trust, provisioning, etc
• Connectivity management – cellular, roaming, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc
• Devices – With Qualcomm Aware low-power embedded chipsets

In our opinion, the platform for a particular use case, such as asset tracker, might offer the full solution to start with. But when the need to scale up arises, the platform will have to become more modular so that the end customers or system integrators have more options to choose from. For example, just leverage location APIs or with connectivity management or the off-the-shelf Qualcomm Aware partner devices or not.

Initially targeted use cases: Asset tracking

Since it blends location and connectivity well, asset tracking is the lowest-hanging opportunity for Qualcomm Aware.

Qualcomm has partnered with Quectel, Ikotek, Thundercomm, and others to build Qualcomm Aware-ready asset trackers to help customers kickstart with the offering as the previous-generation chipset-based devices cannot be upgraded to become Qualcomm Aware compatible. While the solution comes with bundled connectivity (via partner), Qualcomm does not aim to become an MVNO and step on its partners’ toes. For the mapping, routing and location data, Qualcomm is partnering with Mapbox and TomTom in this initial phase. Larger players such as HERE and Google are expected to be on the partnership roadmap eventually.

Therefore, transport and logistics is the initial target segment, followed by retail, manufacturing, construction and utilities.

Success will be in partnerships and moving to self-serve model

Qualcomm is thus expanding its capabilities and offerings to become a strong enabler with a platform play in this high-potential, fragmented but consolidating market. The timing of the launch might be questionable for many considering the ongoing consolidation, but we believe this is the best time to enter the market with a unique and highly scalable platform to invigorate this market, especially with a strong position in the edge market.

To be successful with a SaaS approach, being open and striking the right partnerships is paramount. It is great to see Qualcomm striking partnerships across the value chain, from module and device manufacturers, software and middleware players, and location and mapping vendors to system integrators and cloud players. Qualcomm will have to invest in and empower dedicated pre-sales, consulting and post-sales teams to make headway into these markets. Moving to a self-serve model would be critical to further scaling the SaaS business.

Key takeaways: Chip-to-cloud partner-driven IoT and location platform approach

• No vendor other than Qualcomm enjoys a strong position when it comes to the edge of the market.
• As intelligence moves to the edge, a secure edge-to-cloud connectivity offering can help simplify integration, portability and provisioning of IoT solutions, catalyzing the IoT ecosystem.
• Qualcomm Aware helps the company broaden its portfolio beyond hardware to a recurring and scalable software/services business, which investors and partners would welcome.
• Further, Qualcomm Aware can help crack the significant but complex and fragmented IoT market to make a play in the $700-billion connected intelligent edge opportunity.
• The platform’s future success will depend on how Qualcomm expands its partner ecosystem across verticals and geographies while also moving to a self-serve model.

The post Qualcomm Aware: Pivotal SaaS Play to Catalyze the Complex IoT Ecosystem appeared first on Counterpoint.

Digital transformation is a blue ocean opportunity for every company in the technology space, helping improve products, manpower and processes. Still in nascent stages, this transformation is inevitable across societies, industries, verticals and enterprises. Every entity will take this journey at different times, at a different pace and with different partners.

The evolution of software, semiconductors, connectivity and cloud technologies over the last two decades has been pivotal to this ongoing transformation. We have seen a plethora of companies proliferating, especially in devices, software-cloud and connectivity domains. The IoT market, as a result, has become fragmented when we look at these three key domains. This intense fragmentation, in turn, is causing a massive consolidation to generate scale and attain operational profitability.

Devices (Components, Devices & Management)

This segment of the value chain includes the companies offering chipsets, modules and devices equipped with sensors to the solutions such as device management.

Source: Counterpoint Research IoT Practice – Devices, December 2022

The chipset market has seen some consolidation (cellular) and fragmentation (because of LPWA – NB-IoT, LTE-M, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) cycles.

The IoT module market (analysis here) provides the key metrics here to understand the greenfield and brownfield IoT growth opportunities across applications such as automotive, smart meters, CPEs, asset tracking, telematics, sensors and cameras.

The overall number of players in this segment rose until 2021 but started seeing a big wave of consolidation in 2022 to capture more value with value-added services, software and integration of connectivity and cloud either via partnerships or vertical integration. We believe more consolidation is on the cards in 2023 when some module or device vendors will either exit or be acquired.

Telit Acquires Thales Digital Identity and Security (ex Gemalto) Module business (analysis here)

Semtech acquires Sierra Wireless (analysis here from Soumen Mandal)

Automotive NAD module market also has seen consolidation, with many established vendors (e.g. Telit, Sierra, Thales divesting their automotive module business with few players now dominating the market (analysis here)

In terms of devices, we are witnessing rising number of gateways, CPEs vendors to capitalize on 5G or Fiber connected home, premises or enterprise boom. We believe, this segment will undergo consolidation starting 2024. The other vertical devices market players such as smart meters, POS, cameras, industrial sensors, etc will see some consolidation as many will find it challenging to ride on the 5G wave over the next few years.

Connectivity (Data Plans & Management)

Source: Counterpoint Research IoT Practice – Connectivity, December 2022

The connectivity pie has been dominated by:

• Established integrated CSPs such as Verizon, AT&T, Tele2, Vodafone Idea, Airtel, Telefonica, Jio, China Mobile, China Telecom, NTT DOCOMO and T-Mobile.
• MVNEs/specialists such as KORE Wireless, Cisco Jasper, Tata Communications, 1NCE, Aeris Communications, Ericsson and Nokia.
• eSIM/SIM providers such as Giesecke+Devrient (+ Pod Group – A Giesecke+Devrient Company), Thales and Kigen.
• Others such as Alibaba Group, Amazon, Tencent and NTT are also offering some form of connectivity bundled with cloud and IoT platforms.

The connectivity management and managed services companies have also seen consolidation with every wave of cellular “G”, from CISCO-Jasper to Kore Wireless-Wyless and now the biggest news of 2022 – Ericsson exiting this space by offloading the IoT Accelerator platform and managed connectivity relationships to Aeris Communications.

Ericsson-Aeris Deal Reflects Broader IoT Market Trends (analysis here from Mohit Agrawal)

• Ericsson has been one of the earliest vendors focusing on managed IoT and eSIM connectivity. With its strong relationships with CSPs and enterprises, Ericsson built a platform to manage close to 100 million IoT devices (automotive formed a major chunk). The same has been the case with other similar players. The vision for the IoT Accelerator platform had been great but the capabilities and focus diluted over time.
• Further, the scale which Ericsson achieved was not enough to remain profitable. The overall cellular IoT market is close to 3 billion and is estimated to double in the next five years according to our forecasts.
• Ericsson also tried to expand its offerings with an eSIM management SM-DP+ RSP platform to complement its Entitlement Servers; a partnership with Thales Digital Identity and Security (ex Gemalto) as well (learn more about eSIM ecosystem)  and leveraging of tight relationships with CSPs. However, the timing was a bit unfortunate.
• This coincided with the 5G deployment wave (Ericsson’s key focus area), COVID-19 pandemic and tough macroeconomic climate, which put serious pressure on operational metrics and forced its hand to divest the platform to Aeris Communications.

We continue to believe that the market has tremendous room to grow, but to remain profitable, the companies will either need a greater scale or a more integrated approach to cross-sell other services to capture maximum value. So, the IoT market is still ripe for exits, consolidations and new bigger entrants.

Cloud (IoT platforms, data & applications)

This is the most interesting part of the value chain. It is here that most value is created & captured in an IoT solution. Our estimates put this value at more than half.

Source: Counterpoint Research IoT Practice – Cloud Platforms, December 2022

Significant numbers have been seen in the entry of players offering IoT platforms, from edge to the cloud, to ingest the data from the edge/endpoint devices/sensors at the edge or in the cloud, run analytics on the data and convert them into actionable insights via an app, GUI or digital twin.

We analyzed the world’s leading IoT platforms before the COVID-19 pandemic and highlighted which platform vendors were ahead or behind and how the industry was ripe for consolidation or exits.

Microsoft, Amazon, Huawei Lead Overall IoT Platform Landscape in Completeness; ClearBlade, FogHorn Emerge as Leading Edge-Focused IoT Platforms (analysis here)

Source: Counterpoint Research IoT Practice, May 2020

A lot has changed since then. The consolidation has already started in this space as many companies are finding their IoT businesses highly unprofitable due to projects not going beyond the POC stages, mounting costs, integration and interoperability issues, lack of platform vendor capabilities, change in focus of the end customer, or macroeconomic environments. Some of the casualties include:

• In by far the biggest exit in the cloud IoT platform space, Google decommissioned its Cloud IoT Core. We highlighted in a report how far is Google behind the established Microsoft Azure IoT, Amazon Web Services (AWS) IoT, PTC and upstarts such as ClearBlade, Losant and FogHorn Systems (now Johnson Controls).
• SAP gave up its Leonardo IoT & Connectivity 360 initiatives (having pledged $2.2 billion in investments in 2017 and onwards).
• IBM retired its Watson IoT platform after spending almost a decade building different components to complement its cloud and strong enterprise business offerings.
• FogHorn Systems, one of the fast-growing edge AI and IoT platform players with a strong footing in the industrial IoT segment, was acquired by Johnson Controls earlier this year. Johnson Controls looks to integrate the FogHorn capabilities into its OpenBlue suite of tailored, AI-powered service solutions such as remote diagnostics, predictive maintenance, compliance monitoring, and advanced risk assessments.
• Pelion (earlier Arm), now an independent company, also pivoted to become an IoT MVNO with more emphasis on connectivity.

Therefore, IoT platforms are the most fragmented IoT domains or part of the value chain. Some platforms have end-to-end capabilities from edge to cloud to applications, whereas some are specialists and will be acquired or exit in the coming years.

Conclusion

The IoT opportunity is significant but also challenging to capitalize if a vendor lacks capabilities, scale, right partnerships and focus to self- or co-create value.  The complexity and scale benefits are different for every application and vertical, and the vendors need to be prudent to prioritize and partner. The fragmented nature of the IoT ecosystem will see waves of consolidation and growth. As a IoT player always be ready to pivot or have an exit plan!

The post Fragmentation, Consolidation Mark Changing IoT Landscape appeared first on Counterpoint.

However, we believe 5G is a spectrum game and the success of a CSP’s 5G network lies in how efficiently it uses the multiple frequency bands on a single network for diverse use cases, application scenarios and delivering the 5G promise of greater capacity, higher throughputs and lower latency. For example, looking at the diverse spectrum available for a 5G network, the sub-3GHz FDD frequency bands provide symmetrical Uplink (UL) and Downlink (DL) with wider coverage, whereas the TDD frequency bands (like C-band 3.5GHz) offer larger bandwidth and higher capacity. Both of these can be supplemented with higher-order mmWave (26GHz and above) spectrum for high throughput and bandwidth but targeted hotspot coverage for applications such as FWA and private networks.

This drives a multi-fold increase in the network complexity as a CSP looks to leverage a broad set of spectrum resources across a heterogenous network to enable a diverse set of services, SLAs and target network KPIs.

Source: Huawei

Every CSP is looking to build such a robust, capable 5G network with its ecosystem partners. However, having followed the infrastructure market for years, one solution which stands out and is being successfully deployed to bring intelligence to this multi-band converging RAN is Huawei’s iHashBAND solution.

At Huawei’s 2022 Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF), which was held recently in Bangkok and was also attended by a team of Counterpoint analysts, the world’s leading cellular network infrastructure provider gave briefings on its latest innovations, solutions as well as adoption by CSPs in the 5G infrastructure space globally. Huawei showcased its iHashBAND solution at the summit which was one of the highlights of the show. This solution looks to optimally converge the multiple frequency bands (5G and 4G) onto a single-layer network solving one of the major pain points for CSPs migrating from 4G to 5G. This allows the CSPs to optimally use the performance differences between TDD and FDD spectrum bands to amplify the respective band strengths in terms of capacity versus coverage, thereby boosting spectral efficiencies. Having a single logical band approach through the convergence of multiple frequency bands deployed in a single network can drive home significant advantages for CSPs advancing towards “One 5G” implementation.

Source: Huawei

Huawei further enhances this by adding multiple 3GPP-compliant features, advanced software techniques and proprietary intelligent algorithms to leverage this multi-band convergence optimally. For instance, the solution incorporates the following capabilities:

Flexible Full-band Uplink-Downlink Decoupling

While 4G was more about content consumption, downloading and light uploading, in the 5G era, decoupling Uplink (L) and Downlink (DL) becomes a breakthrough feature. This allows operators to improve TDD UL and DL coverage, cell edge data throughputs and further time and frequency domain flexible multiplexing of multiple bands via Super Uplink (SUL). SUL allows FDD uplink spectra to supplement TDD bands enabling TDD and FDD spectrum coordination, boosting UL coverage.

Source: Huawei

SUL is an innovative capability with which a 100MHz SUL bandwidth can significantly boost the UL performance and throughputs (to 1Gbps+) by at least 5x. As a result, Huawei’s SUL is helping CSPs boost the overall UL user experience by 30%. SUL is enabling UL critical applications such as 4K live video broadcasts, HD video-conferencing, machine vision systems and cloud gaming, which was not possible at this scale and efficiency in a 4G network. Co-working with the ecosystem players, Huawei is ensuring that most of the 5G devices and CSPs support this feature. 5G NR devices with HiSilicon, MediaTek and UNISOC chipsets are already supporting the SUL feature.

Full-band Multi-beam 3D Coordinated Scheduling

Scheduling the data traffic by efficiently utilizing spatial multiplexing has been a key technology in driving capacity. However, coordinated scheduling using multiple antenna technology across multiple bands and distributing the data load optimally across multiple beams takes it a couple of steps further.

Source: Huawei

Huawei’s 3D coordinated scheduling for a beam load balancing and distribution across multiple bands is based on intelligently measuring and predicting load, traffic, interference, UE characteristics, position in the cell and other parameters. This intelligent optimization of UE pairing across multiple bands and beams can significantly boost spectral efficiency and cell capacity by 20%+. This is great for CSPs looking to boost capacity with intelligent traffic balancing, especially for 5G FWA applications, such as 4K/8K video, cloud gaming and VR streaming, requiring more bandwidth.

Intelligent Grid-based Coordination for Inter-frequency Measurement

Further, in a traditional coordination method, the inter-frequency measurement in a multi-band network could take seconds, resulting in a significant performance loss. As a result, base station intelligence capabilities within the IHashBAND solution, such as “smart prediction” of multi-band characteristics by a grid-based coordination technique, can reduce these inter-frequency measurements down to less than 200 msecs. This unlocks multiple advanced use cases such as fast carrier aggregation (CA), smart anchor selection, smart carrier selection, and intelligent NSA EN-DC carrier combination selection. This, in turn, promises to boost the overall network performance by 20-30% without any need for additional spectrum or other hardware resources.

Source: Huawei

As the success of 5G networks will depend on how CSPs can build a highly efficient and optimized multi-band single network, solutions such as Huawei’s IHashBAND offer a great option to achieve the same. Huawei’s IHashBAND enables the convergence of multiple bands from the legacy 4G FDD with 5G NR TDD spectrum into a single logical band backed by some intelligence and software techniques. This is beneficial for both intra-site as well as inter-site intelligent aggregation, boosting coverage and enabling better throughput experience as well as efficient carrier aggregation to have a consistent experience intelligently.

Therefore, it is imperative to move to an “intelligent” 5G base station that can function extremely well with greater spectral efficiency, capacity boosts and enhanced user experience.

Source: Huawei

The post Huawei iHashBAND 5G Solution Fosters Innovative, Intelligent Multi-band Convergence appeared first on Counterpoint.

These capabilities range from adding high-resolution imagery in advanced RAW formats to high-frame-rate videos:

• Rich 8K video and still images
• 4K/8K HDR, higher frame rates
• Advanced still/video bokeh, slow motion
• Higher-bit HEIC/RAW capture
• Accelerated computer vision features
• AI-powered photography
• Low-light and ultra-night mode capture
• Shutter speed, zoom, focus automation, multi-capture, panorama, macro- and micro-photography
• Image security engines
• Optimizations with image sensors
• Custom camera modules with advanced OIS, lens sets, multi-sensor systems
• Partnerships with industry-leading camera IP tech companies
• Deeper app integration, intuitive and feature-rich camera UI

However, most of these features are highly dependent on the underlying SoC and its capabilities such as advanced ISPs, AI, software algorithms, memory channels, optimizations and more. The underlying chipset capabilities are fundamental to unlocking advanced camera-related features and industry-first experiences.

Apple has done well with its iPhone 13 Pro series in imaging and videography capabilities thanks to the powerful A15 Bionic with a newly designed ISP. However, in the Android camp and amongst overall smartphones, Qualcomm’s latest flagship Snapdragon 8 & 8+ Gen 1 Mobile Platforms have set a very high benchmark for “industry first” camera innovations helping many OEMs strongly differentiate vs iPhone capabilities in premium market. These Snapdragon innovations and co-optimizations are helping Android OEMs differentiate and compete well with industry-leading smartphone camera experiences.

With the 4nm-based Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, Qualcomm has unveiled a new collection of premium camera features and technologies, called Snapdragon Sight. Snapdragon Sight is based on the first ever 18-bit Qualcomm Spectra ISP, a big jump from the 14-bit ISP in the previous generation. This means the Computer Vision ISP (CV-ISP) can capture 4096x more camera data at speeds of up to 3.2 gigapixels per second, capturing 240 12-megapixel photos in one second.

Source: Qualcomm

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 features “triple 18-bit ISPs” – an industry first – capable of capturing over a billion colors from three cameras simultaneously and up to 200MP sensors. The CV-ISP has several engines dedicated to providing hardware acceleration for multiple camera features:

• The Mega Multi-Frame (MMF) engine combines a burst of 30 18-bit images in night mode and captures 5x more details for high-quality low-light photos.
• The Ultrawide or Geometry Correction Engine (GCE) helps correct lens distortions, exposure compensation, chromatic aberrations, and rectification for corners in ultrawide angle 120/140-degree panoramic photos.
• The Depth From Stereo (DFS) Estimation engine helps with estimating the depth map from the stereo sensors, allowing the chip to add a bokeh effect to 4K videos accurately.
• The Dense Motion Map (DMM) engine leverages hybrid deep learning and semi-dense optical flow for removing ghosting artifacts in the combined video frames, which is the key to achieving high-quality HDR video.
• The Face Detection (FD) engine leverages AI/Deep Learning-based 3D face landmark detections to detect faces with 95% accuracy, allowing newer use cases such as gender, emotion, expression and gaze detection, avatar overlay, and geometric personalization. This is good news for AR, Metaverse, and IoT applications.
• The Super-Resolution Engine (SRE), for the first time, allows users to shoot in 8K HDR video capture @ 30 frames per second (FPS) and simultaneously capture 64MP photos, 4K computational HDR @ 120 FPS, 10bit HEIF, HEIC photo, and super-zoom for video. It also supports several video capture formats – HDR10+, HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision.

As a result, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has been the number one SoC choice for flagship models ranging from Android OEMs like Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, OnePlus, vivo, HONOR, realme, Sony, and ZTE. All these OEMs have worked hard with Qualcomm and ISVs to pick and position the best features from the wide menu available in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CV-ISP capabilities to design and offer a powerful set of camera features to users. This has helped several of them to dominate DxOMark’s smartphone camera rankings, the industry’s leading benchmark for different features.

Source: Counterpoint Research Smartphone Camera & SoC Analysis, DxOMark

Some examples of collaboration between OEMs, sensor suppliers, ISVs and Qualcomm to unlock premium camera capabilities from the CV-ISP engines from software to sensors:

Honor Magic4 Ultimate

• The HONOR Magic4 Ultimate powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 with 18-bit ISP and Mega Multi-Frame (MMF) engine enables 10-Bit HEIC photo capture for advanced photography experiences.
• Qualcomm Spectra ISP with Super-Resolution Engine (SRE) also supports high throughput for multithreading and parallel processing, enabling innovative user experiences such as advanced snapshot capturing capabilities while recording 4K videos.

Counterpoint’s Strategic Review of the flagship HONOR Magic4 Ultimate is here

Xiaomi 12 Pro

• Xiaomi has focused on leveraging the Super Resolution Engine (SRE) to offer 8K HDR and computational HDR10+ video capture, taking full advantage of the 3.2 Gigapixels pipeline.
• The Xiaomi 12 Pro features the 1/1.28” 50MP Sony IMX707 sensor, which is intimately optimized with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 thanks to the Qualcomm-Sony partnership to offer super-high-resolution details, sharpness, and uniform color.
• Xiaomi also leverages Sony DOL-HDR and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 dedicated ISP’s Mega Multi-Frame Engine and Dense Motion Map Engine (DMM) to capture several exposures simultaneously and improve low light and ghosting caused by moving objects.

OnePlus 10 Pro

• OnePlus 10 Pro features 10-bit HEIC photo capture and 8K video, 4K video @120fps, and Slo Mo capture using Snapdragon’s Super-Resolution Engine (SRE).
• OnePlus 10 Pro sports Sony IMX789 and 12-bit RAW shooting via the Hasselblad Pro mode to enable computational photography elements.
• OnePlus 10 Pro also leverages Ultrawide or Geometry Correction Engine (GCE) for supporting 150-degree ultrawide view and less distorted edges.

With the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, we see a new wave of flagships such as Xiaomi 12S series, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. Galaxy Z Flip 4, OnePlus 10T, Realme GT2, Moto Edge30 Ultra and so forth in H2 2022 to build unique camera experiences on many of the above capabilities. Watch this space for more reviews on these latest devices from the Counterpoint Labs.

Key Takeaways

The camera has become the key differentiating factor for most smartphone OEMs. They adopt a wide set of imaging, video and AI capabilities available in the chosen SoC to differentiate themselves from the competition. The chosen capabilities are then tuned well with the camera sensor and modules, and optimized via software algorithms. Despite using the common Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 platform, there are a plethora of capabilities that these different OEMs can leverage to compete and differentiate, making the platform and the entire stack very versatile.

Qualcomm is undoubtedly leading this space with its system-level SoC capabilities to drive premium innovations and deliver “industry-first” and advanced camera experiences. Further, OEMs also have been astute in striking key partnerships with imaging IP companies such as Dolby, Leica, Carl Zeiss and Hasselblad to differentiate on top of these cutting-edge features made available via the Snapdragon flagship chipsets. We don’t see this trend stopping anytime soon.

The post Snapdragon Pivotal to Enabling “Industry First” Flagship Smartphone Camera Experiences appeared first on Counterpoint.

However, 5G network architecture along with more spectrum (sub-6GHz and especially mmWave 24GHz-100Ghz bands) is further elevating mobile experiences and performance with substantial network capacity, Gigabit throughput speeds, as well as lower latency to enable the tactile internet. 5G mmWave is key to deliver the “true 5G” promise. Tracking how the 5G mmWave ecosystem is progressing from components, devices and the network perspective has become imperative for stakeholders to strategize and deliver the “true 5G” benefits. The following are trends in 5G mmWave progress globally:

1. Adoption of 5G mmWave Gaining Momentum.

The USA has been spearheading mmWave 5G deployments globally, with Australia, Japan picking up along with key operators across 40+ countries which now have access to 5G mmWave spectrum and are either in the pre-commercialization or commercialization stages. These includes key mobile markets such as India, Korea, Taiwan, China, Italy, and others which will see active 5G mmWave deployments over the next couple of years to complement the sub-6GHz deployments focusing on 5G coverage with the capacity, throughput, and low latency 5G mmWave spectrum offers.

The overall economics of the 5G mmWave deployments offer solid business case for mobile operators to invest in the spectrum and network deployment.

See here:

• 5G mmWave: Ecosystem & Economics Becoming Attractive
• 5G mmWave: Ecosystem, Economics Becoming Attractive (Part 2)

The leading smartphone manufacturers have been shipping 5G mmWave phones for the last three years. For example, three in four 5G smartphones selling in USA support 5G mmWave spectrum bands and capabilities. We estimate that cumulatively more than a billion 5G mmWave smartphones will ship over the next five years globally as the 5G mmWave coverage densifies.

2. Little correlation between smartphone pricing and the presence/absence of 5G mmWave

The cost delta for 5G mmWave+Sub-6GHz and 5G sub-6GHz-only phones has narrowed significantly. Initially there was a substantial cost premium to equip a smartphone with mmWave capability. This has now come down to a $10-$20 BoM cost premium and will likely decline further. But for phones in the price bands above $300, the cost delta has become relatively insignificant thanks to the way OEMs are structuring their product portfolios and margins to play with. We therefore expect that 5G mmWave will become a de-facto feature for premium to mainstream 5G smartphones in the next few years. The next phase will be the increasing use of 5G mmWave in even low-end devices. 5G mmWave deployments will likely become ubiquitous towards the end of the decade, just before the launch of 6G networks.

Component vendors such as Qualcomm and OEMs such as Apple, Samsung, Moto, Sharp, Fujitsu and OnePlus have been at the forefront of adding 5G mmWave capabilities to smartphones to support carriers’ 5G deployments. Now, when we look across global pricing, we see little differential between mmWave and non-mmWave devices. For example: Apple’s iPhone 13 128 GB launched in the USA as a 5G mmWave+sub-6GHz version and it is cheaper than the 5G sub-6Ghz-only version selling in other markets globally. We have seen this trend with Samsung and Google where there is little difference between the two versions and, if anything, the sub-6GHz-only version is more costly. Some of this is to do with commercial decisions and some to do with foreign exchange, but the net result is that there is little correlation between smartphone prices and the presence of or absence of 5G mmWave capability.

So, price differentiation between sub-6GHz-only devices and those that also support mmWave has become a non-issue. This is in part because relatively few countries have deployed mmWave, so models featuring mmWave have not competed side-by-side with non-mmWave devices. And furthermore, OEMs are smartly managing their portfolios on a global basis to neutralize cost differences with growing volume scale as seen in the below chart. The higher scale also allows OEMs to price the 5G mmWave SKUs without charging a significant premium.

5G mmWave thus is also going to be a “differentiating feature” for OEMs. OEMs will start adding 5G mmWave support in their smartphones in the markets where 5G mmWave network is going to roll out in the near future to position the smartphone model as “future proof” and be ready to deliver “true 5G” with good coverage. This is going to be like the current trend we are seeing among OEMs in markets (e.g., India, SEA, Europe) where 5G has not yet rolled out in the network, but almost all $300+ phones support 5G capabilities with more than 10 5G bands, marketed as “globally future proof”. This approach is likely to be extended to mmWave devices.

3. 5G mmWave Smartphones Awareness & Preference Growing

Trying to understand the consumers’ attitudes and preferences towards 5G mmWave phones, we ran a survey in the USA where consumers are not hesitant to opt or switch to a 5G mmWave phone and data plan. Key findings below:

• Sixty percent of the users checked while purchasing their 5G smartphone if it had 5G mmWave capabilities, which highlights the growing awareness of the technology.
• For those users that were using a 5G mmWave smartphone (17% of total), the number one reason for their purchase was to subscribe to the high-speed 5G mmWave plan.
• The above reasons for purchasing 5G mmWave smartphone also portray that the existing 5G mmWave users did not think about the price of the 5G mmWave smartphone while buying but the high-speed plan or just bought the phone which was a default option for the chosen plan were key.
• Further, the top two reasons for almost half or more of the users who bought 5G mmWave plan were that they either already owned a supporting 5G mmWave smartphone or best suited their heavy usage which also exemplifies the pricing of the device is not one of the reasons or barriers.
• The top three reasons for consumers who have not bought a 5G mmWave plan yet are: They are happy with their current 5G network based on their current data usage; their carrier is not offering the 5G mmWave service or their current handset is not compatible.
• However, 43% of the users plan to subscribe to 5G mmWave service next as they start seeing more of the “true 5G” benefits.

Key Takeaways:

• 5G mmWave is going to be the key for OEMs, carriers to deliver the “true 5G” promise from speeds, latency, and capacity perspectives.
• The cost differential between a mmWave+sub-6GHz and sub-6GHz only 5G smartphones is narrowing with growing scale, allowing OEMs to offset any extra costs through smart portfolio management.
• In many cases, 5G mmWave smartphone models are priced more cheaply than the sub-6GHz only version in other geographies
• This means there is no correlation between the 5G handset pricing if it is a 5G mmWave or a sub-6GHz-only smartphone.
• An increasing percentage of consumers are beginning to actively opt for 5G mmWave smartphones to enjoy the “true 5G” benefits and device or plan costs is not a barrier
• The percentage of consumers who are using 4G or 5G sub-6GHz-only plans but prefer to upgrade to a 5G mmWave service and smartphone is encouraging.
• Its up to the device OEMs and carriers to adopt 5G mmWave capability and coverage respectively as a differentiator and put their best foot forward in offering users the “true 5G” experience to deliver and capture maximum value.
• This will also help avoid any cognitive dissonance among users if the offering is not “true 5G” or “future proof” which could lead to churn.

Related Posts

1. 5G Spectrum Auction in India: Challenges, Opportunities, Private Networks, mmWave and More
2. 5G mmWave: Ecosystem & Economics Becoming Attractive (Part 1)
3. 5G mmWave: Ecosystem, Economics Becoming Attractive (Part 2)
4. BoM Analysis: JioPhone Next Costs $58 to Make, Lays Robust Foundation for 5G Shift
5. FWA to exceed 460 million subscriptions by 2030
6. Indonesia Gets Second 5G Operator but Spectrum Issues Remain
7. Podcast: 5G Smartphone Shipments to Double in 2021 Despite Component Shortages
8. T-Mobile Investing to Pull in 5G Applications
9. US October Spectrum Auction to be Crucial for AT&T, Dish

The post 5G mmWave: Ecosystem & Economics Already Attractive (Part 3) appeared first on Counterpoint.

It has been more than eight years since the first Apple Watch launched. With every iteration Apple has added new cutting edge technology and features in the form of advanced bio-sensors, software, algorithms to accurately track heart, respiratory, sensory, mobility-related and other important health and fitness indicators.

Apple released its latest “Health Report” showcasing the research-led innovation it is bringing to the health and fitness segment via its products such as Apple Watch and iOS ecosystem, making it a key driver to digitally transform the healthcare sector.

Apple Watch + Health Ecosystem, a “Gold Standard” in Healthcare Segment

Source: Apple Health Report 2022, Counterpoint analysis

• With healthcare a highly regulated vertical with a growing volume of sensitive data collected through sensors, analyzed and consumed by the user or medical practitioners, data privacy and security should be foundational for any digital platform.
• Privacy and security has been at the core of Apple’s platform and also from a positioning perspective. These elements help protect its user base while offering  differentiation from competition and attracting users to its ecosystem.
• With this at the core, Apple’s work on advanced health apps has progressed well; it is currently based on two key pillars:
  • Empowering users in their personal health journey– centralizing health data in one place, adding new features to track overall health intelligently and integration with third party apps, services and healthcare providers with proper consent and privacy controls
  • Supporting & collaborating with the health and medical ecosystem – working with universities, hospitals, researchers, and governments to be a conduit for physician-patient digital health data, analysis, discovery, tracking and diagnosis along with emergency, safety and healthy lifestyle initiatives
• Apple has been adding a variety of features to the Apple Watch and Apple Health platform over the years and has certainly taken the Apple Watch capabilities to a level where it closely qualifies as a meaningful healthcare device.
• While cardiac, heart and sports, fitness, and mobility tracking has been at the core of Apple’s Health platform, the company has also added other meaningful capabilities such as women’s health, sleep health, hearing health, timely reminders on handwashing, medication and mindfulness, among others.

Meaningful Apple Health Platform Capabilities

Source: Apple Health Report 2022, Counterpoint analysis

• Medical ID is another powerful feature  as the phone and watch becomes the best identity one carries and a critical identity and information tool in emergencies.
• Further adding gamification, trend analysis, goals and services such as Fitness+ brings a sense of community and competitiveness for users to be motivated to prioritize fitness and health. These are super sticky features for users and help them remain loyal to the Apple ecosystem.
• With the integration with third party applications, services via HealthKit leveraging the huge developer ecosystem, Apple has maximized its value proposition for users.
• Popular services such as Headspace, Calm, Nike Run Club, Strava, MyFitnessPal, Qardio, Ten Percent Happier, are some great examples of the ecosystem benefits and network effects for the Apple Watch & Health platform.

Apple’s Health Research Partnerships & Science-Led Innovations Catalysing “Digital Intelligent Healthcare”

• According to Counterpoint’s Model Level Sales & Installed Base Tracker, Apple has a strong base of close to 100 million Apple Watch users and more than 1 billion Apple iPhone users spread out globally, giving a great foundation for the research community to track, analyze and tackle not only global but region-specific health-related challenges at scale.
• This unprecedented scale and near real-time access to users and their health data, in a very privacy-centric way, has never been available. Apple has removed this major bottleneck with its technology leadership, scale and vision.
• As a next step, offering innovative tools such as ResearchKit & Apple Research app empowers researchers to advance their research, discover potential patterns and solutions to health problems quickly and efficiently.
• Apple’s Investigator Support Program is one such initiative to remove any research related hurdles – from seeding Apple Watches to collecting data to integrating data and studies across the globe.
• Some examples:
  • Apple’s first-of-its-kind Apple Heart Studyto detect irregular heart rhythms
  • Japan’s Keio Universitystudy on heart health
  • Heart Failure Studyat UHN, Canada exploring population-level indicators of heart failure
  • Mom Genes Fight Post-Partum Depressionat UNC to explore a genetic cause to post-partum depression
  • Mount Sinai Warrior Watch Studylooking at the psychological effects of COVID-19 on healthcare workers
  • Digital Mental HealthStudy at UCLA exploring greater insights into anxiety and depression
  • Autism & Beyond study by Duke Universityto better understand and identify risks for development in young children
  • Many third-party apps are leveraging tools such as Apple’s SensorKit and CareKit to innovate on top of the Apple Health platform. Examples are companies such as Butterfly IO+ (portable ultrasound), NightWare System (helping PTSD & trauma patients) and Stryker’s Triton AI (for post-partum care).

Key Health Tools From Apple Enabling Industry Innovation

Source: Apple Health Report 2022, Counterpoint analysis

Key Takeaways:

• Apple’s 2022 Health Report highlights that “Rome was not built in a Day” and that it’s health platform cannot be built alone. It has taken Apple almost a decade of innovation and partnerships to reach the current stage, which is still considered nascent. Having said that, no other player has been able to achieve this at scale and with a privacy-led value proposition.
• Technology companies such as Apple can have a key role in providing the technology empowering the entire ecosystem – users, developers, researchers and the public sector – to build an innovative and research-led digital healthcare platform.
• Apple has taken the lead to digitally transform the healthcare vertical and other players such as Google have their work cut out for them to build something as robust and with a higher level of privacy and trust.
• Apple can expand the portfolio of its offerings beyond iPads, iPhones and Apple Watch to drive further healthcare innovation with its design-thinking, research and platform leadership across hospitals, nursing, clinical, patient care and medicine.
• Technologies such as 5G, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality will play a key role for Apple to build even more pervasive, personal and immersive healthcare experiences
• Apple also has a greater revenue opportunity in the future to enter the trillion dollar health insurance markets – potentially as part of Apple One or Apple Care+ subscriptions, which would boost its Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). This should be a huge boost to Apple’s top and bottom lines and give further support to its market cap.

The post Thriving Apple Watch & Apple Health Ecosystem Advancing Digital Intelligent Healthcare appeared first on Counterpoint.

The Need for a Good Video Conferencing Camera is Growing

The major gripe, however, for professionals and creators, is that a good personal video camera for PCs has remained elusive. The average resolution for the camera in laptops is 720p HD or lower, lacking – clarity, resolution, proper framing, focusing, zoom, and decent performance in different lighting conditions. This warrants for every individual to invest in a quality web camera that can solve all of the above pain points and offer an optimized video conferencing and content creating experience.

We have been testing various cameras for personal and professional use, and, Jabra PanaCast 20 has proved to be a very capable and one of the best solutions available. After using the PanaCast 20 for almost eight weeks attached to a desktop PC and interchangeably with a laptop, it has left us impressed.

Jabra PanaCast 20 Design & Features

Impeccable Unibody Metal Design    

• The PanaCast 20 is a beautifully built and engineered video conferencing camera. It is housed in an all-metal casing which itself acts as a heat-sink for the under-the-hood powerful AI processor.
• PanaCast 20 weighs a mere 136gms.
• The striped, unibody design gives it a premium look and stands out compared to other plastic body cameras.
• The camera features a clip that helps fix the camera nicely on a monitor or a laptop even with thinner bezels.
• The in-built minimalistic privacy cover is a nice touch.
• The PanaCast connects to the PC via a USB 3.0 (Type C to A 1.8m) cable enabling higher speed video experience.
• The camera comes in a premium carry case making it ultra-portable to use in a hybrid environment.

 Premium & Intelligent Video Conferencing Experience

• The PanaCast 20 sports a 13MP, 1/3.2” camera sensor capable of delivering multiple resolutions from 4K Ultra-HD @30fps to 720p HD @30fps in different scenarios.
• PanaCast 20 camera’s Filed of View (FoV) is Horizontal: 90°, Vertical: 75°, Diagonal: 117°.
• The advanced camera sensor capabilities are further enhanced with an advanced “on-device” AI chip. The AI chip is fast, secure, and accurate unlocking the following features:
  • Intelligent 4K video: This offers a sharp, crystal clear stable streaming video at ultra-HD resolutions also includes Vivid HDR to enhance colors and contrasts.
  • Intelligent Zoom & Focusing: This is the flagship feature making the camera smarter and intuitive as it follows the users’ movements to perfectly zoom, frame, adjust pictures in real-time. PanaCast features up to 3x lossless digital zoom at 720p. This is super useful when we try to adjust the chair or move slightly, the camera auto-adjusts the frame as per the user’s face in the frame automatically. This helps reduce the cognitive load and effort by auto-adjusting helping maintain a high-quality video conferencing experience. There are also a couple of preset options available along with manual PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) controls for personalized custom focusing and framing.

• • Intelligent Lighting Optimization: This is another feature where the on-device AI does its magic coupled with a larger sensor to analyze the environment and automatically adjust the image in real-time to produce well-lit, sharper, and noiseless quality. Even if the rooms have poorly distributed light or a minimum amount of light.

• Picture-in-Picture Mode: The edge-AI processor combines two real-time video streams in the same video, displaying the second stream in a PIP window and the feature works across all the UC platforms. This is a very cool and meaningful use case where you want the camera to focus on a particular object (e.g., a whiteboard) which takes up the mainstream and the speaker’s face as a second stream shown in the PIP window.

• Audio: The PanaCast 20 features three MEMS microphones to provide enterprise-grade Noise cancellation. It also offers high sensitivity at -37dBFS to accurately capture sound pickup experience in 1-2m distance and offer a decent output. We have been using a microphone from the camera instead of the headphones and found decent performance. This is a great feature for users who don’t own good ANC/ENC headphones.
• Security & Privacy: Jabra has put security and privacy at the center of the design of its PanaCast series of products. The “on-device” AI chip offer edge-based security to process the data at the edge securely and no data leaves the camera. At the same time, the privacy cover helps protect privacy when the camera is not in use. We would love to have software-based control to slide the cover via the software or automatically cover the lens when the webcam is not in operation vs manually sliding the privacy cover which we may often forget.
• Software: Jabra has also made available a couple of software solutions – Jabra Direct (installed on PC) and Jabra Express (Web-based interface) to manage these products securely in terms of features, control, settings, and getting regular firmware updates to keep the device in the optimal conditions. The PanaCast 20 is certified for the leading UC platforms including Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, and more.

Wrapping Up

• Webcam has become our window to the world, hence, having the best representation of us on the video call has become very important.
• Finding really good high-resolution webcams has been elusive and investing in a good one is the need of the hour.
• Jabra PanaCast 20 is reinventing this segment by offering high-quality 4K video conferencing with AI-powered meaningful smart features such as Intelligent Zoom, Lighting, PiP in a premium and portable form factor.
• Having used it for more than two months, this is a great investment even though it commands a premium price, the Return on Investment is pretty high.

Related Posts

1. Jabra Elite Active 75t: Making Competition Break a Sweat
2. Jabra Evolve 65t Review: Helping Adapt to the New Normal

The post Jabra PanaCast 20 Review: Premium Personal Video Conferencing Experiences for the New Normal appeared first on Counterpoint.

These were some of the key trends at the show:

5G is Everywhere:

Almost every booth was showcasing products, software or services with and for 5G. We saw a sleuth of 5G chipsets, phones/foldables, IoT Modules, CPEs, Robots, Drones, RAN, edge servers, software solutions and cloud. Foldables were also talk of the town and so were XR glasses as the industry looks for newer form-factors to make communication, content creation, consumption more immersive.

Hot booths: Qualcomm, ZTE Corporation, Huawei, Vodafone Deutsche Telekom, Zyxel, Samsung Electronics, Telit, MediaTek, Quectel, TCL Communication, Vuzix Corporation

Analysis here:

OPPO Find X5 Series, 240W Fast Charging Solution, AR Glass, & More Showcased at MWC 2022 (counterpointresearch.com)

Huawei Expands its Connected Devices Ecosystem with an E-Ink Tablet, AIO PC & More at MWC 2022 (counterpointresearch.com)

TCL Demonstrates New Foldable Concepts, Latest Devices – Counterpoint Research

Chipsets: Compute & Connectivity:

Great announcements & discussions with Qualcomm, Arm, Sony Semicon (IL) on the rise of newer technologies(Wi-Fi 7 , Snapdragon Connect, Bluetooth Snapdragon Sound) and architectures (security & compute, accelerators for Auto, IoT, RAN, Datacenters). e.g. ARM demoing the Scalable Open Architecture for Embedded Edge (SOAFEE) to drive collaboration between i automakers, semiconductor suppliers, open-source and independent software vendors, and cloud technology leaders to deliver next-generation connected software-defined vehicles (SDV) experiences. Qualcomm announced its latest Wi-Fi7 solutions in terms of FastConnect 7800

Open RAN & vRAN:

The second hot topic across most of the telcos, infra vendors, and SIs. Open Interfaces, cloudification, intelligent automation of RAN and beyond, virtualizing network functions, need for accelerators across the network layers, and more! Rakuten Symphony’s acquisition of Robin.io was the biggest announcement as Rakuten encapsulates the IP behind RCP.

Hot booths: Rakuten, Robin.io, Mavenir, Parallel Wireless, Radisys Corporation, Vodafone, Qualcomm, and others

Analysis here:

Chip vendors showcase open RAN merchant silicon solutions at MWC-22 (counterpointresearch.com)

Private Networks:

This was the hottest topic as 5G infra kicks in and everyone in the value chain sees this as an opportunity to digitally transform the enterprises, industries and public sector applications with 5G.

Hot booths: Cisco, Samsung Electronics, Microsoft, AWS,

Analysis here:

MWC 2022 Highlights Growing Interest in Private 5G Networks – Counterpoint Research

eSIM:

The eSIM/iSIM is happening and fast. The eSIM Summit was fantastic with great discussions from Truphone, Kigen, Thales, KORE Wireless. Some great announcements on offerings, partnerships, demos from Kigen-Kore-Energy Web to Truphone-free eSIM to chip/module makers to Thales-Adaptive Connect, Amdocs, Ericsson & Nokia as well. Also, the trend of using SM-DP+ for IoT is catching on and so is eSIM driven Digital MNOs!

IoT:

While LPWAN (NB, LTE-M) have been proliferating driving plethora of IoT applications, the rollout of 5G is going to unlock multiple high bandwidth and low-latency use-cases as we saw number of 5G IoT modules and chipsets from Quectel, Thales, ZTE, Sierra Wireless, Telit and others. The key applications include automotive mobility, FWA CPEs, Robotics, Drones, XR devices and more.

Sustainability:

Great showcase and growing focus from infra vendors, MNOs, device OEMs & other players on driving sustainability from using AI to drive energy efficiencies to eco-rated devices to using discarded fishing nets to green packaging, etc.

Hot Companies: Orange, OPPO, Samsung Electronics, Apple. Telefonica Deutsche Telekom EcoAct Assurant and more..

Overall, the above themes are going to shape the technology landscape for the entire decade and the digitization, cloudification, automation trends will make the devices, infrastructure, systems and services more useful, intelligent and efficient.

Related Posts

1. Chip Vendors Showcase Open RAN Merchant Silicon Solutions at MWC-22
2. Huawei Expands its Connected Devices Ecosystem with an E-Ink Tablet, AIO PC & More at MWC 2022
3. MWC 2022 Highlights Growing Interest in Private 5G Networks
4. OPPO Find X5 Series, 240W Fast Charging Solution, AR Glass, & More Showcased at MWC 2022
5. Open RAN: Again A Hot Topic At MWC in 2022
6. TCL Demonstrates New Foldable Concepts, Latest Devices
7. The uphill battle for Intel commences with its first earnings of 2022

The post MWC 2022: 5G Open RAN, Private Networks, eSIM, Foldables & Sustainability Takes Center Stage appeared first on Counterpoint.

• ARM-based PCs, namely Snapdragon on Windows customer launches
• Metaverse – New XR related partnerships and offerings
• Wireless Fiber – FWA and Private Networks
• Mobility – ADAS/AD Automotive Solutions, Tier 1 partnerships and a growing OEM customer roster

The announcements in the Automotive space were the most significant and which we will cover here.

Over recent years CES has become one of the major “automotive technology ” shows attended by the majority of the automotive value chain players, CES 2022 also saw a series of announcements (virtual and physical) from component suppliers such as Qualcomm, NVIDIA, Intel, Tier-1s such as Bosch, Valeo, ZF, Magna, Location Platform providers such as HERE, TomTom, system integrators, software middleware, cloud providers such as Amazon, Google, Apex.AI, OEMs such as Volvo, BMW, GM, Hyundai MetaMobility, others, and new entrants such as Sony.

Qualcomm was one name that in previous years has been associated more with “mobile” rather than “mobility”. However, this has changed significantly over the last couple of years. Qualcomm’s automotive business is thriving; growing more than 80% YoY and touched almost a billion dollars in realized revenues last fiscal year ending September 2021. With more than $13 Billion of design wins in the pipeline, Qualcomm is yet to realize the full potential of the sector. New acquisitions (for example, Veoneer in 2021) will help Qualcomm build a multi-billion dollar automotive solutions business in the mid- to long-term.

Snapdragon Digital Chassis:

The entire automotive architecture is being redefined as the industry undergoes a “CASE”-centric transformation: (Connectivity, Autonomy, Services & Electrification). To capitalize on and catalyse this trend, Qualcomm has a built a highly scalable platform ‘Snapdragon Digital Chassis’  based on a set of technology solutions to power the future of mobility by making the car connected, intelligent, autonomous and safer. The platform emulates a zonal architecture. These solutions allow Tier-1 suppliers and OEMs to develop cutting-edge capabilities that are diverse, customizable, upgradeable and immersive.

Snapdragon Ride platform: Is a highly customizable and scalable platform of SoCs that cover elements of automation and vision perception combined with Veoneer’s Arriver software and toolkits. These empower automotive OEMs and tier-1s to develop powerful, efficient and safe L2+ ADAS/AD and other software capabilities; parking, driver monitoring, maps and so forth. At CES 2022, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon Ride Vision SoC based on a 4nm process node and integrated with the Arriver Vision stack to optimize the camera sensor system and combine data from other sensors and process it based on the driver policies and mobility algorithms to realize industry-leading ADAS/AD capabilities. With this launch, Qualcomm has expanded its offerings to cover the entire ADAS/AD stack directly or indirectly giving it the potential to offer system-level optimization to customers and to capture maximum value.

Snapdragon Cockpit: While ADAS/AD solutions are a few generations old, Qualcomm has been actively present in powering the digital cockpit for multiple auto OEMs over the years. As the digital cockpit in a car undergoes a major overhaul with bigger displays, higher-level OS powering infotainment, HD Maps, content services and so forth, it offers a great opportunity for Qualcomm to leverage and scale its capabilities in touch-screen based smart devices to power the next generation digital cockpits. Qualcomm announced at the show it is working with Volvo and Polestar to power the infotainment systems in their SUVs launching late 2022. Qualcomm is also powering Android-based infotainment systems in Honda’s upcoming car models launching in the USA in the second-half of 2022 and next year, globally, with the third-generation Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platform. These announcements are in addition to the design wins with BMW, Cadillac, GM and Hyundai. 

Qualcomm also extended its collaboration with Renault Group to adopt the entire Snapdragon Digital Chassis platform across all the capabilities from connectivity to cockpit to ADAS/AD.

Snapdragon Auto Connectivity:

Qualcomm already is the market leader when it comes to embedded telematics connectivity solutions from the major cellular modem to Wi-Fi, GNSS, Bluetooth and more. Qualcomm solutions are adopted by major NAD module players and Tier-1 TCU manufacturers supplying to automotive OEMs. With 5G being adopted in cars starting this year, Qualcomm will further widen its lead over other cellular connectivity solution providers in this segment.

Traction, Design Wins & Pipeline

Qualcomm has significant traction in the automotive industry to power the future of mobility with comprehensive, end-to-end, CASE-centric offerings which no other semiconductor provider possesses putting it in the driver’s seat. The growing customer roster which is not only wide but also deep, with multiple solutions being adopted. This gives Qualcomm a higher % share of the growing semiconductor and software Bill of Materials (BoM) cost per car sold.

The post Qualcomm in Driver's Seat To Shape The Future of Mobility appeared first on Counterpoint.

5G生态系统正在蓬勃发展。运营5G网络的运营商的不断增多，支持5G功能的智能设备渗透率不断提高，5G数据套餐的销量也随之走高，这些因素都使得5G的推广相较4G时代更快。在5G网络推出后的短短两年内，超过75个国家的近200个运营商已经运营了5G网络。而4G网络花了近四年时间才达到这一里程碑。全球5G智能手机在问世后9个季度出货量就达到5亿部，而4G智能手机达到这一目标用了大约16个季度。我们预测5G智能手机的出货量将在2021年超过5亿部，这也就意味着到今年年底，每两部新生产的智能手机中就有一部支持5G网络，意义十分重大。

5G的第二次浪潮

正是有了这些进展，移动通讯行业现在正进入第二次5G增长高潮。我们可以称之为 “真正5G”的推广。5G移动网络正在发生两大变化：

• 从5G NR NSA（非独立组网）到5G NR SA（独立组网）架构转变，这将会实现许多真正的5G用例、网络切片、以及推广更低延迟的移动网络。
• 在现有的sub-6GHz频谱上叠加更高带宽的5G毫米波频谱，来丰富频谱组合，以显著提高容量和吞吐量，同时降低每GB数据成本等优势。

虽然基础设施正在向5G NR 独立组网架构快速过渡，但毫米波频谱的应用仍处于早期阶段，这主要是因为各个地区可供使用的频谱不同。不过短期内毫米波依然会在世界主要地区展开。通信运营商（CSP）会更了解毫米波的经济性、投资回报率（ROI）和潜在可盈利使用案例，这将推动毫米波基础设施的铺设。

在此前的分析中(链接)，我们着重分析了5G生态系统是如何发展的，并且围绕毫米波的经济性，如何显著降低总拥有成本（TCO），如何帮助运营商提高投资回报率等话题展开了讨论。

贝尔实验室咨询团队根据真实的案例，进行了技术经济建模分析，来帮助运营商挖掘高潜力的用例，并预测使用毫米波后，手机业务将为运营商带来的每用户平均收入。贝尔实验室的研究是以欧洲市场为例。

机遇

以下是一个真实的商业案例：某英国运营商拥有30%的市场份额，通过在合适的场景中部署5G 毫米波，该运营商可以在未来五年内，每年多获取近130%或4200 PB的数据流量。这些场景包括：

1. 热点地区部署，如：交通枢纽、室内商场、体育场馆、户外场地等。
2. 家庭中的固定无线接入（FWA）场景，如：服务获取不足的家庭、社区、家庭办公室等。

上述大多数场景服务水平都相对较低，尤其是固定宽带接入、服务商选择、定价和服务满意度等方面。新冠疫情让我们看到了家庭对宽带服务日益增长的需求，随着世界各国逐渐开始恢复正常生活，公共场所的热点部署会变得非常重要。

成本效益

成本效益的关键是建立一个大容量、高吞吐量和高性价比的网络，在重要密集区域内让多个设备访问更多数据流量。这只能通过部署5G毫米波来实现。5G毫米波可以提供高达800MHz的带宽，而sub 6GHz的解决方案只能提供100MHz的带宽。这意味着每兆赫带宽可传输更多数据，相对于中频频谱的基础设施来说，5G毫米波降低了每GB的总体成本，可以抓住更多高密度热点地区的流量增长点。

商业案例

由于总体拥有成本（TCO）和每GB数据成本下降，5G毫米波是具有成本效益的。并且，从增量收入和投资回报率的角度来看，5G毫米波的商业案例也有很高的盈利性。毫米波可以在许多场景中补充4G、5G中频和固定宽带Wi-Fi的不足，这类场景主要实在体育场馆、购物中心，办公室等高密度场所中。

以智能手机为例，如果一个高密度热点地区有1,000-3,000个用户，在此情况下5G毫米波运行情况良好。当用户密度从1,000人增加到3,000人，5G 毫米波投资回报期将会缩短，其商业可行性也会同时提高。然而，贝尔实验室的研究还发现，当地区用户超过3,000个用户后，由于具有这种高密度的区域较少，其商业可行性增长率会趋于平缓。因此，5G 毫米波很好地补充了sub-6GHz网络的不足，更好地服务网络状况较差的室外室内区域，如商场、火车站和繁忙的街道等等。 研究显示，为办公室和企业场所提供稳定可控的连接，也是一个运营商潜在的盈利机会。

以在火车站为例，毫米波的部署这可以无缝地服务多个高吞吐量（包括下行和上行）使用场景，如视频安全监控、数据分析、物联网售票机、显示增强、自主ADV、联网广告牌和实时列车时刻表等。这些都是企业级的部署，可以帮助企业提升运营效率和节约成本，同时也可以为运营商提供重要收入。

对于这样的用例，运营商的投资回报期应该在三年以内。这使得5G毫米波更具吸引力。同时，在这些应用中，存在着跨越多使用场景的增量数据流量的需求，因此，运营商可能会收获更快的投资回报以及更多的变现机会。

贝尔实验室认为，欧洲的运营商预计未来五年内收入每年增加8%。该增长主要是通过为用户提供不限量的数据套餐来实现。不限量资费价格会高于传统数据套餐，但在服务不足的高密度地区、家庭、使用笔记本电脑的企业用户中，5G毫米波的价格却相对更为便宜，或至少与固定宽带计划相当。在一个典型的办公场所，笔记本电脑通常占总下载或上传量的95%。这也促使运营商、OEM厂商和生态系统需要让商务笔记本电脑支持5G毫米波功能，成为类似于Wi-Fi 6的默认配置。 厂商还需要在那些运营商正在部署或者将要部署5G毫米波 FWA网络的市场提供更多支持5G毫米波功能的消费级笔记本电脑。

利用这些机会，运营商可以在像英国这样的市场中，每年获取至少有超过3.55亿美元的收入。在美国、日本和韩国等市场，每用户平均收入增长潜力可能更大，在印度和巴西等服务渗透率低的市场，5G毫米波固定宽带也会为运营商带来更多的想象空间。

结论

在5G建设的第二波高潮中，使用5G毫米波技术的的网络将帮助运营商提供 “真正的5G “体验，获取更多的商业化机会。贝尔实验室的分析报告为运营商在智能手机、AR/VR和云游戏之外提供了新的思考方向。

考虑到5G毫米波频谱的特性，专注开发5G毫米波高密度地区的使用场景将是运营商应该采取的做法，来实现“真正5G”网络的承诺。

运营商战略考量不仅应该考虑加速5G毫米波宽带在服务覆盖较差的市场中部署，还应该考虑支持更多的用例并提供更多的服务。新的用例和服务需要可靠、安全、高性价比的移动通讯网络，提供更大的下行和上行吞吐量。

在公共、家庭或办公场所部署5G毫米波，在新的移动设备提供毫米波功能，运营商可以为用户提供更多的数据流量，并更加快速地收回投资成本。

在美国和欧洲等一些市场，5G毫米波为企业级客户提供了具有成本效益的宽带解决方案。在印度等市场，随着网络和技术规范的成熟，5G毫米波部署可以通过缩小“数字鸿沟”帮助企业和社会进行数字化转型。

Related Posts

1. 5G FWA CPE to Cross 1 Billion Mark in Cumulative Shipments by 2030
2. 5G Smartphones Account for 14% of Total US Smartphone Sales in Aug
3. 5G mmWave: Ecosystem & Economics Becoming Attractive (Part 1)
4. 6G Will Kickstart a TeraEconomy
5. Global Household Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) Subscribers to Cross Half a Billion Mark by 2030
6. H1 2021 Sees 5G Smartphone Shipment Share Zooming to 43.2% in Japan Market
7. Mid-tier Share in Global 5G Smartphone Shipments Grows to 37% in Q2 2021; vivo Leads
8. Mobile Allocated Key mmWave Bands at WRC-19
9. Podcast: Wi-Fi 6 to Drive Smart Home Connectivity by 2025
10. Wi-Fi 6E - A Viable Alternative to 5G NR for Low-latency Applications?
11. iPhone 12 Devices Top List of Best-selling 5G Smartphones in 3 out of 4 Key SEA Markets

The post 5G毫米波：生态系统和经济效益已更有吸引力（第二部分） appeared first on Counterpoint.

5G ecosystem is thriving. The number of operators rolling out 5G networks, increasing penetration of 5G chipset-based devices and growing attach rate to 5G data plans, all have come together to give 5G a faster adoption rate than 4G. Close to 200 operators across 75+ countries have gone live with 5G networks within just two years of the launch of the first 5G network. 4G took almost four years to cross this milestone. Close to half a billion 5G smartphones have been shipped globally in just nine quarters since the shipment of the first 5G smartphone. 4G smartphones took 16 quarters to reach the same milestone. We forecast 5G smartphone shipments to cross more than half a billion in 2021, which means almost one in two smartphones shipped by the end of this year would be 5G capable. This is significant.

The Second Wave of 5G

With all this traction, the mobile industry is now entering the second growth wave of 5G. We can call it “True 5G”. The 5G mobile networks are changing in two major ways:

• From 5G NR NSA (Non-Standalone) to 5G NR SA (Standalone) architecture, enabling many true 5G use cases, network slicing, lower latency network and so on.
• Expanding the spectrum portfolio by adding a higher-bandwidth 5G mmWave spectrum to the existing 5G sub-6GHz spectrum to enable significantly higher capacity, multiple Gigabit throughputs and lower cost per GB among other benefits.

While the transition to 5G NR SA is happening fast, the mmWave spectrum adoption is in the early stages as it is a function of spectrum availability across geographies, though it is becoming broadly available in key geographies in the near term. Further acceleration of the mmWave adoption will be driven by more clarity among Communication Service Providers (CSPs) around the mmWave economics, recuperating investments (ROI), and potentially lucrative use cases.

In the previous analysis (see here), we highlighted how the 5G ecosystem is growing and the unit economics around mmWave, and how it can reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) significantly to help accelerate the ROI for CSPs.

To further help CSPs understand the high-potential use cases and related ARPU to build upon the traditional smartphone data revenue via mmWave, Bell Labs Consulting conducted a detailed techno-economic modeling analysis based on real-world scenarios. Bell Labs has taken Europe as the market for this business case analysis.

Opportunities

As a real scenario case study, a CSP with a 30% share in a market such as the UK can capture nearly 130% more or 4200 PB in additional data traffic annually over the next five years by targeting 5G mmWave deployments in the following scenarios:

1. Hot Zone Deployment: Transportation hubs, indoor shopping malls, stadiums, outdoor venues
2. Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) in Households: Underserved home, communities, SOHOs
3. FWA in Enterprises: Offices, Small and Medium Businesses, etc.

Most of the above scenarios are highly underserved across markets when it comes to use cases usually associated with fixed broadband access, choice of service provider, pricing, and service satisfaction. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the growing demand for broadband in households, and as we began resuming normal lives after the pandemic, the hotspot deployments in public locations became important.

Cost Efficiencies

The key here is to capture the significant data traffic opportunity at important dense locations across different types of devices by building a high-capacity, high-throughput and cost-efficient network. This can be only driven by deploying a mmWave 5G solution, which offers as much as 800MHz bandwidth versus 100MHz bandwidth available for a sub-6GHz solution. This translates into more GBs served per MHz of bandwidth, reducing the overall cost per GB versus the continuous investments in mid-band spectrum-based infrastructure over the years to capture the incremental data traffic growth in high-density hotspot locations.

Business Case

From the TCO and per GB cost-savings perspective, mmWave 5G is cost-efficient. Additionally, from the incremental revenue capture and ROI perspective, the business case is even more lucrative. mmWave can complement the 4G, 5G mid-band and fixed broadband Wi-Fi in many scenarios, be it stadiums, shopping malls or offices.

For smartphone use cases, the business viability for 5G mmWave works well in scenarios with 1,000-3,000 subscribers per hot zone. As the subscriber density increases from 1,000 to 3,000, the business viability improves as the ROI period of the 5G mmWave business case reduces. However, the study also estimates that beyond 3,000 subscribers, the business viability flattens out due to a reduced number of hot zones featuring such user density. Therefore, the 5G mmWave nicely complements sub-6GHz to serve in underpenetrated, hard-to-reach and underserved outdoor and indoor segments such as malls, train stations and busy streets.  The provision of managed connectivity for office and enterprise premises also looks like a lucrative new opportunity for operators, according to the study.

Consider the deployment of an mmWave hotspot at a train station as an example. This could seamlessly and adequately serve multiple high-throughput (downlink and uplink) use cases, like video security surveillance, analytics, IoT ticketing machines, AR workforce, autonomous ADVs, connected billboards and real-time train arrival tracking. This type of deployment with respect to the investment for enterprise-grade connectivity, driving operational efficiencies and savings, can offer a significant revenue opportunity for the CSP.

For such a use case, a CSP should look at a payback period of just under three years for its investments. This makes 5G mmWave an attractive business case for such targeted applications where there is a latent need with incremental data traffic across multiple use cases and, therefore, a significant monetization opportunity with a faster ROI.

Bell Labs quantifies the revenue boost for a CSP in Europe as an 8% increase in the top line annually in five years. This is possible by serving the users with unlimited data plans at a relatively higher price point than the traditional smartphone data plans but cheaper or on a par with the fixed broadband plans in underserved high-density locations or homes or business users with laptops. The laptops usually contribute to more than 95% of the total download or upload data traffic in a typical office space. This also drives the need for CSPs, OEMs and the ecosystem to have 5G mmWave support in a business laptop as a de-facto specification similar to Wi-Fi 6. It also warrants making available more 5G mmWave-capable consumer-grade laptops in key markets where CSPs are deploying or planning to deploy 5G mmWave FWA networks.

Capitalizing on these opportunities, the CSP is staring at a minimum revenue potential of over $355 million annually in a market such as the UK. This ARPU opportunity could be even higher in markets such as the US, Japan and South Korea, and high-scale 5G FWA mmWave options in underpenetrated markets such as India and Brazil.

Conclusion

In this second wave of the 5G era, 5G mmWave-based networks will help CSPs deliver “true 5G” experiences as well as capture the monetization opportunities not available before. The above analysis provides a direction for CSPs on the immediate, low-hanging and high-impact use cases beyond smartphones, AR/VR and cloud gaming.

Considering the characteristics as well as capabilities of the 5G mmWave spectrum, developing targeted 5G mmWave hot zones will be the right approach for CSPs in this second wave to help scale the network and realize the true 5G promise.

These key strategic considerations should not only accelerate the penetration of 5G mmWave-grade broadband in existing underserved markets but also support newer use cases and services requiring reliable, secure, cost-efficient and faster downlink and uplink throughputs.

Scaling these deployments across public, household or enterprise premises and newer devices, the different use cases will help operators capture the incremental data traffic and boost the top line with relatively faster ROI.

In some markets such as the US and Europe, 5G mmWave offers cost-effective broadband choices to the target organizations. In markets such as India, it could help in enterprise and social digital transformation while also presenting a case to bridge the digital divide as the network and technology specifications mature.

Related Posts

1. 5G FWA CPE to Cross 1 Billion Mark in Cumulative Shipments by 2030
2. 5G MEC - Deployment Options and Challenges for Mobile Operators
3. 5G Smartphones Account for 14% of Total US Smartphone Sales in Aug
4. 5G mmWave: Ecosystem & Economics Becoming Attractive (Part 1)
5. 6G Will Kickstart a TeraEconomy
6. Global Household Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) Subscribers to Cross Half a Billion Mark by 2030
7. H1 2021 Sees 5G Smartphone Shipment Share Zooming to 43.2% in Japan Market
8. Mid-tier Share in Global 5G Smartphone Shipments Grows to 37% in Q2 2021; vivo Leads
9. Mobile Allocated Key mmWave Bands at WRC-19
10. Podcast: Wi-Fi 6 to Drive Smart Home Connectivity by 2025
11. Wi-Fi 6E - A Viable Alternative to 5G NR for Low-latency Applications?
12. iPhone 12 Devices Top List of Best-selling 5G Smartphones in 3 out of 4 Key SEA Markets

The post 5G mmWave: Ecosystem, Economics Becoming Attractive (Part 2) appeared first on Counterpoint.

Short-Term Performance & Outlook: Apple remains the foundation, Cloud & Components business bright spots

• Hon Hai”s 2Q’21 revenue climbed to NT$1351 Billion ($48.55 Billion), was in line with the expectations from the group’s revenue perspective, growing 20% YoY compared to last year which was the break-out quarter for the pandemic.
• The localized production strategy is helping Hon Hai to somewhat alleviate the pandemic effect which is going on in waves.
• Smart Devices business remain strong growing 29% YoY in revenues, thanks to its biggest customer Apple whose iPhone shipments grew also coincidently 29% YoY during the June-ending quarter.
• Cloud Networking & Computing segments saw a slow down in revenues compare to a stronger demand in last year’s quarter. However, Hon Hai expects the cloud & networking products demand to pick up in Q3 2021.
• Overall the company’s Gross margin remains stable at a 6% level with Operating income and net income still hovering around the 2% mark each.
• We estimate the revenue to grow around 5% levels in Q3 2021, driven by cloud and computing segments offsetting a slow quarter for smart devices business (re: Apple) and some headwinds from component supply crunch as well as pandemic peaking in some Asian markets, home to company’s operations.

Long-Term Strategy & Outlook: Boost Gross Margins

• Looking at the new growth segments globally with AI, Robotics and Electric Vehicles, Hon Hai wants to cash in on these segments via its F3.0 strategy
• For example, Hon Hai made  series of investments, partnerships, and new alliances over the last 12 months in the EV Space with huge ambitions to capture more value across the EV value chain from semiconductors to chassis design to software to assembling to services.
• Hon Hai wants to capture atleast 10% of the $600 Billion EV market by 2025. This translates into 3-4 million EV units per year or $60 Billion in revenue.
• Hon Hai with a vertical approach across the EV stack looks to lift its group Gross Margins up from 6% to 10% levels.

• From a semiconductor perspective, Hon hai also wants to control the upstream supply chain for a more integrated offering, have invested in:
  • 8-inch wafer fab (DNex/ SilTerra, Malaysia) – focusing on mature nodes 110nm
  • 6-inch wafer fab from Macronix in Hsinchu to develop components such as SiC MOSFETs for EVs
  • KoreSemi in Qingdao
  • GigaSolar Materials to develop EV Battery materials
• From software and services perspective, If Tesla is the iPhone of the EV market,  HonHai wants to become the “Android” of the EV market via its EV Open Market platform. So this is from a software perspective.
• From a hardware perspective, Foxconn is also looking to set up additional factories in Thailand and the USA to produce EVs via contract manufacturing (e.g. Fisker, Byton, Geely, Stellantis) and for prospective new entrants relying on the company for the entire EV stack.

For more insights on Hon Hai’s EV Strategy, read – Will Foxconn Shake EV Industry?

So in summary, Hon Hai’s long-term strategy look solid as it looks to diversify beyond the smart devices business which is yielding very low margins to segments that can yield higher margins with more control over the entire stack. Though, execution would be the key to really become the Android of EV market.

Watch the full interview below:

The post Hon Hai – Diversification Beyond Apple into Semiconductor & EV Space Key to Long-Term Growth appeared first on Counterpoint.

The Need for Tensor SoC

• Sitting on tons of data coming from more than 3 billion Android users, billions of Google search, Maps, Photos, Assistant (voice), applications and services Google has transformed into  an AI powerhouse with ability to build accurate ML models to improve the user-experience across the same properties with generate so much data.
• Advanced ML algorithms, for example, to improve the on-device photography using Night Sight-based computational photography, real-time multimodal language translation, visual search leveraging Multitask Unified Model trained across 75 languages, powerful Google Photos with features such as AI/ML powered Little Patterns, intelligent app and content recommendations, real-time collaboration across Google Docs with AI/ML features such as Smart Canvas, Smart chips and other experiences.
• Further, the AI/ML expertise while helps increase the overall UX, it also helps Google accurately profile users behaviors, patterns, predict needs, build a powerful recommendation engine and get paid top dollars for the targeted advertising from the marketers, driving Google’s core ad business model.
• Further, looking at Apple, becoming more vertically integrated gives Google full control of the entire stack from chip to OS to middleware to cloud.
• This gives Google a unique advantage to showcase the Google’s core software and AI/ML expertise trickling down from cloud to chip and back from chip to cloud.

Google Pixel Strategy: Vertical or Horizontal?

Google having built this vertical in-house smartphone solution with Tensor SoC (Samsung partnership), Google Android, Google Mobile Services (GMS), & Play Store (in-house), Design, IP, Product Management expertise (HTC & Moto acquisition). It has atleast two major ways in how it can execute this vertical expertise:

Google’s Pixel Strategy Option 1 :: Becoming Apple

• According to our Smartphone Market Monitor service, Google Pixel smartphones had less than 0.3% market share by volume globally at the end of Q1 2021.
• It remains to be seen if this full-stack controlled Pixel device performs better in the real world and can move the needle for Google
• One gap in Google’s vertical expertise, which is an important one, is a mature 5G modem-RF subsystem expertise to offer optimal premium smartphone experience.
• Google’s partner for Tensor, Samsung, is still generations behind Qualcomm and Samsung’s Mobile division uses Qualcomm 5G solutions on its flagships devices in key premium markets (which are Google’s key target markets as well).
• Integrating an advanced 5G modem and optimizing the RF system-level experience is super-difficult and hence Apple is also using Qualcomm while it struggles to develop the 5G modem-RF in-house.
• Additionally, Qualcomm is ahead by almost four generations when it comes to the 5G mmWave solutions for premium 5G smartphone experiences which is going to go mainstream in couple of years and every Google Pixel flagship will need an advanced mmWave 5G SKU.
• Further, Google will need atleast two years to scale the Tensor down to mid-range Pixel devices as this is a premium solution
• Additionally, Google has under-invested (on purpose) in terms of reach and market push to sell the Pixel devices across markets and channels.
• If Pixel has to be successful and if it has to scale, Google needs to invest a lot in terms of channel partners, certifications (for the new chip), sales force, marketing and other areas.
• So, if Google decides to go that route and scale the vertically integrated Pixel across geographies just like iPhone compared to a handful of markets right now, then it will be competing head-on with its OEM partners and close partners such as Samsung
• So in summary, with the option 1 to follow Apple, doesn’t look entirely achievable in near-to-mid term without burning bridges and tons of investments, and ready to give up the ecosystem-led approach for Android platform.

Google’s Pixel Strategy Option 2:: Staying Google

• Another strategy which could bode well with Google’s future is to remain a horizontal player and use the vertical expertise for Pixel just as a “showcase” of Google’s capabilities.
• So what Google needs todo is license the AI/ML IP or silicon to other OEMs bundled with Google Android and other services, allowing partners to build “Intelligent Android Phones”
• Depending on the level of Google expertise integration, OEMs could differentiate and opens up an entirely new and highly scalable revenue model for Google
• Only caveat being Google will compete head-on with its key silicon partners such as mainly Qualcomm and MediaTek in long run for premium experiences.
• With this approach, Google not only is able to scale its software but silicon and AI/ML APIs expertise to more Android phones.
• Google should not forget its core competency – Software, Big Data, AI/ML and Cloud which in the end drives its core high-margin evergreen business model – Advertising

Overall its good to see Google jumping in the SoC space adding new layer of chip-to-cloud expertise and could be beneficial for Google in the long-run either way. Though, Google need to be prudent on what approach it takes with this move and above all lives up to the expectations of offering a solution which is better than Apple or Qualcomm.

The post Google's Path to Vertical Integration with Tensor SoC – Become Apple or Stay Google? appeared first on Counterpoint.

Since the launch of the first iPhone & iOS 12 years ago, Apple has transformed into a company sitting on a gold mine of more than a billion premium users. It has a strong understanding of how to respect and protect those users, while extracting the gold in a timely manner.

Apple’s robust, vertically integrated engineering approach to developing tightly integrated and attractive offerings within a closed, walled garden ecosystem has been unrivalled. It is highly cohesive and built on strong privacy fundamentals, with most users happy to be locked in.

We are now in the 15^th year of the iOS platform update and for the past five years, Apple has astutely started building its focus and narrative around “privacy”.

“Privacy Foundation” To Support Long Term Trust

The privacy narrative has been deliberate and cleverly executed, providing many benefits – the biggest of which is building “trust”. This is usually the toughest part as companies need to “walk the talk”; Apple has been relentless with its engineering to bake in the privacy layer across its entire ecosystem.

• Position “privacy as a fundamental right” for the users
• Commence the “privacy plumbing” work across the products for better flow of “trust”
• Unveil piece by piece privacy features with every update
• Go on offense and double-down on a privacy-centricity updates this week at its annual WWDC21 conference
• With trust gained, begin to monetize with Privacy-as-a-Service and more

We have already talked about how this allows Apple to build an “Advertising Walled Garden” for good and with a $60Billion opportunity.

WWDC’21: From Strategy to Execution

Running up to WWDC’21, Apple showcased why it is the best marketing company on the planet. Its flawlessly executed “Privacy, that’s iPhone” commercials primed the ecosystem for what’s coming, further cementing the trust.

• Apple has been putting emphasis on location-centric offerings with AirTags, something it can monetize handsomely in the future. The baked-in privacy controls strengthen this initiative as location reveals sensitive context data to users’ activity.
• Apple has been able to boldly continue to build and revolutionize the two most “privacy-centric” offerings in iOS15 – Apple Wallet and Apple Health
• Apple Wallet now can hold your “Identity Cards” and “Keys”, credit cards, lifestyle memberships, ticketing data, etc. Gaining user trust here has been a huge accomplishment.
• 
• Apple Health now allows secure sharing of health records with loved ones, physicians and healthcare providers.
• This extends not only to secure, intelligent monitoring and alerts, but also enables users to be more “proactive than reactive” by sharing with their healthcare team.
• This is something that has been a huge bottleneck for healthcare providers and having secure end-to-end data flow from sensors on patients’ body to the cloud is a massive improvement.
• This is a huge opportunity for Apple to gain a foothold in Warren Buffet’s favourite and presumably highly lucrative “insurance” business, with the potential of extending Apple Care+ beyond its devices to its users with privacy as the cornerstone.
• Apple has cracked the “digital healthcare transformation” code.

• Next up, Apple has added privacy controls across all its properties, from its App Store, Mail apps, Safari, Memory to Photos and more across all the Apple platforms.
• Apple has taken this opportunity to monetize privacy with the launch of “iCloud+” which gives the user an extra layer of privacy with features such as “Private Relay”, a first-party VPN offering for secure, encrypted browsing, “Hide my email” to “HomeKit secure video support”
• Apple will be offering iCloud‌+ to ‌existing iCloud‌ users at no additional cost. The existing service is for $0.99 per month for 50GB of storage with one ‌HomeKit Secure Video‌Camera and $9.99 per month for 2TB of storage with unlimited secure video cameras.
• This also hints at or makes a strong case for Apple building its own Google Nest-type cameras and service.
• There could be a lot of upside to iCloud+ revenues in the future as Apple adds more features and maximizes “Privacy-as-a-Service“. This is just the start

• In addition, Apple has added multiple privacy features such as “App Privacy Report“, location related privacy, secure paste and more.
• Apple is also taking Siri native, with many search requests not leaving the phone and processed on device. This is a step in the right direction, though it would be better to apply this to other requests and areas, with recordings not stored in the cloud if possible as we would assume Apple’s ML models have already become quite intelligent with years’ worth of Siri requests likely in the billions.

Apple has been doing a great service for its ecosystem of users and developers with this “privacy-first” design and in the process, unlocked new business models and monetization opportunities. This is the genius blitzscaling of a services business with a strong, well thought-out and engineered foundation.

The post Apple's PaaS : Privacy-as-a-Service appeared first on Counterpoint.

Advertising – The Ultimate Business Model

• User data is the key to understanding and retaining users, improving and cross-selling offerings, and serving targeted ads. Alphabet (Google), Facebook, Tencent, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple all see great value in advertising as a top-line and bottom-line driver.
• The fight for eyeballs or clicks is fiercer than ever.
• While Apple has cornered the world’s most lucrative premium user base using its expensive devices and services, Facebook and Google have been entrenching themselves in the rest of the market.
• Microsoft and Amazon are monetizing data indirectly via cloud, training AI engines and obviously servicing ads within their platforms (like Bing/Windows and Amazon Marketplace). Alibaba (commerce), Tencent (communication) and Baidu (search) have full control over the billion-user China market.
• Upcoming players such as Uber, Xiaomi and Jio Platforms also aim to leverage user data of hundreds of millions of users to boost top-line by cross-selling or serving ads.

It has become a game of monetizing the massive user bases with the data directly or indirectly. Out of all the approaches, advertising as a business model rules and has the utmost potential for monetization, even more than content or hardware. This is evident from the growing combined market cap of advertising-driven tech companies. This is also the space where interesting dynamics are at work between the entities controlling access to these billions of users, and will shape the competitive landscape going forward.

Advertising Walled Gardens Cropping Up

• More than 3.5 billion users globally own smartphones out of which close to a billion use iOS-powered Apple iPhones and the rest Android (Google or forks).
• Until now, most of the big tech giants such as Facebook, Google and Amazon were able to get some level of probes into the Apple users and generate advertising revenues.
• However, Apple over a couple of years has been building a strong “privacy-centric” narrative in a bid to protect the user data from these third-party ad platforms or applications such as Facebook.
• As a first step, Apple killed Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) last year with its iOS14, crippling the advertisers in tracking of users.
• In its next move, Apple rolled out the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) privacy policy with the recent iOS 14.5 update, limiting third-party mobile ad platforms’ ability to track and collect the user data by demanding an opt-in from the user to allow tracking.
• This is a big blow to the likes of Facebook as the company loses its access to the most lucrative user base in the world, making it less attractive for the marketers.
• Even as Apple looks to cut off access to third-party ad platforms in the name of privacy, it is ramping up its own advertising platform to take full control over its user base and the potential monetization opportunity.

• This is a clever move by Apple to expand its monetization opportunity which is significant. Apple is not leaving money on the table.
• While the third-party ad platforms might see this power move unfair and anti-competitive, Apple has leverage here along with a very compelling privacy narrative to convince its user base and the industry that it is “more trustworthy and less evil option” compared to Facebook, Google or other ad platforms.
• So, the next ads you see on the iOS platform will be pushed by Apple, targeting you astutely with tons of data it collects from every tap or click or purchase on the iOS devices.
• We estimate marketers will pay top dollar for access to Apple’s premium user base.

• This will further boost its overall ad revenues. Apple already has growing revenues from its App store and browser search.
  

  Apple is staring at a potential $60 billion per year minimum from advertising opportunity.

• This can even surpass App Store revenues in next few years, in addition to the other growing revenue opportunities Apple can capitalize on.
• It would be a bold move if Apple offers a more transparent “opt-in” to its users for its own advertising platform as well to remain fair and true to its privacy stance.

This can set a very strong precedent for other ecosystems to adopt a similar “privacy or security”-led framework to kick out the third-party platforms and become more closed sooner rather than later.

• Google still controls the lion’s share of ad revenues via its platform and also has a side-deal with Apple, paying the Cupertino giant billions of dollars in return for search ad revenues from the Apple platform.
  • If Google takes a leaf out of Apple’s playbook here, it would be more than happy to keep all the ad revenues generated from Android for itself.
• Google has already been tightening up privacy and ad personalization, and moving towards taking more control of the advertising on its platform.
• This could be a death knell for the likes of Facebook and other platforms, kick-starting a duopoly.

• It will be interesting to see how fast the Huawei ecosystem built around Harmony OS, Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) and 1+8+N strategy can grow and, if at all, provide some opportunity for other third-party ad platforms, or keep for itself like Apple.
• This trend, if it holds, could extend to other market segments where advertising could really thrive, like XR, PCs or autonomous vehicles
• Fortunately for Facebook, it has cornered almost half of the XR landscape with its Oculus portfolio. But with Apple’s entry, the dynamics could shift swiftly.

In summary, we are at a pivotal stage where we could see significant power shifts. The Advertising Walled Gardens are about to bloom.

The post Apple's $60-billion Opportunity appeared first on Counterpoint.

We have already highlighted the emerging trend of ARPU (and CLV – Customer Lifetime Value) for Apple climbing every quarter as the company introduces more meaningful software, tools and services tightly integrated with its highly differentiated hardware. App Store, Apple Care, iCloud, Music and Books are some of the most lucrative software and services so far with tens of millions of active paid subscribers.

We believe there is huge room for growth with not only current services penetrating further into hundreds of millions of potential paying subscribers but also in terms of new spread of potential. Location-powered offerings have the potential to be the next multi-billion dollar opportunity for the services as well as hardware revenues.

Source: Counterpoint Ecosystem Tracker

Location: The Next Big Revenue Segment

Apple has significantly revamped its location capabilities, working with Apple Maps (which has seen generational shifts over the last eight years) and the sensor and component capabilities in its devices (iPhones, smartwatches, AirPods, etc) to build a “live network” of billions of active devices and users. Apple’s “Find My” app is transforming into a location platform tightly integrated with Apple Maps and its hardware. Apple aims to solve a significant latent problem to track and locate assets using this vast location-based “Find My” network.

Apple AirTags

At its Spring 2021 event, Apple also announced AirTag, an own-branded tiny coin-shaped form-factor tracker device for $29 (pack of four for $99). AirTag is an IP67-rated ruggedized tracker, 32 mm in diameter and equipped with sensors, connectivity tech (Bluetooth/NFC/Apple U1 UWB chip) and a built-in speaker. AirTags can be easily attached to any asset to track and, in cases, locate it using the FindMy network. The beauty of this Apple offering lies in the focus on security and privacy when the tracker communicates with the device, with location data being anonymized and encrypted. Apple is further expanding its “Find My” platform to support even third-party devices and assets designed with Apple’s MFI program.

Opportunity

We believe this is a huge opportunity for Apple to deliver high-value service to not only its ecosystem of users but also partners. As the ecosystem expands and users see tremendous value in locating their expensive lost assets, Apple should look to make Find My a “paid subscription” service, possibly at $4.99 per month (or $49.99 annually) or bundled into the Apple Care+ program. This will also drive interest from insurance companies and help Apple alleviate its insurance costs. So, Apple could settle into two primary subscriptions – Apple One (for content services) and Apple Care (for safety and security of devices).

With a combination of Apple AirTag hardware sales and a potential Find My subscription, Apple could clock at least $10 billion in revenue cumulatively over the next five years by reaching 10% penetration of the user base in the fifth year. Obviously, there could be significant upside to this on how Apple expands the ecosystem and generates revenues with a double-sided model for the location-based platform and offerings charging licensing revenues from other third-party hardware players.

In addition, Apple will look to expand and scale the location and mapping capabilities to future projects, from Apple Glasses to Apple Car, driving a new dimension of experiences from spatial computing to mobility, and further upside on how Apple can monetize this platform and hardware across enterprises and also optimize its supply chain. By the end of this decade, location will be one of the key technologies powering multi-billion dollar offerings directly and indirectly for Apple.

The post Apple's Next Multi-billion Dollar Opportunity: Location appeared first on Counterpoint.

5G被看作是加速变革和释放数字经济潜能的关键技术，而毫米波作为5G频谱资源的重要组成部分，其在全球的商用进展仍相对缓慢，对毫米波的重要性以及当前是否是推出毫米波的恰当时机不乏质疑之声。我们认为，尽管毫米波商用仍然存在各方面的挑战，但受益于20GHz以上丰富频谱资源，毫米波将是5G取得成功的基石。

发展5G，频谱是关键

5G成功的一个关键因素是对频谱资源的优化组合。对通信服务提供商（CSPs）来说，如何科学、高效地利用作为核心资源的频谱是建立强健、可扩展、高速、低延迟和大容量网络的基础。这一点既适用于5G，也适用于6G等未来网络。

5G包含丰富的元素，可以为网络运营商带来全新的业务能力。在5G网络部署的初期，运营商普遍选择了5G NSA非独立组网模式，即依托4G EPC核心网来承载新的5G NR业务。而毫米波（6GHz-110GHz）结合包括调制解调、信道编码、波束成形、天线分集在内的先进通信技术，将能在NSA向SA独立组网平滑过渡、回传网络升级和构建5G密集网络的过程中发挥重要的作用。

5G毫米波的独特价值主张

更多频谱应用于5G能推动5G 愿景的实现，同时释放更多的商业价值。例如，在sub-6GHz频段，5G可以提供良好的覆盖和高速网络连接，而如果将其与丰富的毫米波频段相结合，网络能力将得到全方位的提升，如多千兆级别的吞吐量、更高的容量或低于10毫秒的业务延迟，从而使能一系列创新应用场景的部署。升级后的网络在具备广覆盖优势的同时，为人口密集区域提供超大的带宽和极致的用户体验。同时，毫米波的加入还将改善网络的整体效能。在特定场景下，基于毫米波的5G SA网络表现甚至好于5G sub-6GHz NR网络，而两者的结合往往意味着更出色的网络能力。

面向行业，现有5G网络和技术已经开启了一系列创新应用，包括基于5G超高速连接的固定无线接入（FWA）服务，由5G移动边缘计算架构（MEC）所助力的云游戏应用，借助5G网络切片技术实现的私有网络，以及丰富的扩展现实应用。

高吞吐、大容量（连接的设备数量）和低延迟是5G技术的三大特性。毫米波在这三个维度都发挥着至关重要的作用。简而言之，如果5G比作一块蛋糕，毫米波则是蛋糕表面的糖霜，是5G密不可分的一部分。

5G毫米波在整个价值链的经济前景看好

在每一次技术迭代中，电信运营商最关心的始终是如何从巨额投资中获得回报。其投资主要包括面向网络基础设施的资本支出、取得频谱的成本以及网络维护和运营所需的费用。在2G、3G、4G时代，投资回报很大程度上取决于移动终端的普及速度。与此同时，围绕消费者的移动业务也从最初的实时通信发展到数字内容消费，再到移动金融、线上购物等。凭借着更加丰富、多样的频谱资源，并结合包括AI人工智能、IoT物联网、云计算、边缘计算、区块链在内的多种前沿技术，5G的大带宽将为移动业务每用户平均收入（ARPU）收入的提升带来新的机遇，并推动企业和社会的数字化转型。而融入数字化转型的浪潮能帮助电信运营商开启新的业务增长点，收回在毫米波频谱、5G SA核心网络和相关技术方面的投资。

GSMA-I（GSMA Intelligence）近期的一项研究表明，毫米波在某些应用场景下有明显优势，如人口密集的城市、室内部署和固定无线接入，部署毫米波可以显著降低5G网络总拥有成本（TCO），最终帮助运营商加快收回投资。在这些场景下，相比3.5GHz网络，使用毫米波或毫米波+ 3.5GHz网络的用户消费的数据更多。在中国和欧洲，实验表明部署毫米波频段能够为运营商节省可观的成本。

此外，随着开放无线接入网（Open RAN）技术（参见此处）的兴起，电信运营商能够以更为灵活的方式组建网络，减少对传统大型网络设备供应商的依赖，并大大节省5G NR毫米波网络的部署支出，进而优化网络的总拥有成本。

例如：在日本，快速崛起的电信运营商乐天移动一直致力于建设革命性的虚拟化、云原生5G网络，并在毫米波（28GHz）频段实现了低成本高效率的5G网络部署，开始引领5G Open RAN的商用。乐天移动正在建设近8000个5G站点，其接入网络包括AirSPAN毫米波分布式射频单元（dRU），基于高通5G RAN平台FSM100xx（可为小型基站提供调制解调器—射频系统的端到端解决方案）的小型基站，以及虚拟化的分布处理单元vDU。乐天移动称构建全新的5G毫米波网络与直接采用传统供应商设备相比，设施成本降低了60％。

移动终端方面，基于Counterpoint对5G智能手机物料（BoM）成本的长期追踪和分析，我们发现毫米波版和sub-6GHz版智能手机的成本差距正在迅速缩小。比如：

• 三星旗舰手机Galaxy Note 20 Ultra毫米波版的BoM成本比sub-6GHz版仅高出10％（参见此处）。
• iPhone 12是今年最畅销的5G手机，其毫米波版与sub-6GHz版的成本差距也远低于预期，这使苹果能够在iPhone 12和iPhone 12 Pro系列中增加OLED、UWB等重要组件（参见此处）。
• FWA是5G毫米波的一个重要应用场景， Counterpoint预测未来十年5G FWA CPE的销量可能超过10亿（参见此处）。 成本方面，毫米波版CPE与sub-6GHz版CPE的差距也在缩小。
• 毫米波终端成本的下降也为运营商加快商用5G NR 毫米波服务提供了更为有利的局面。

 5G毫米波经济效益凸显，生态正变得充满吸引力

虽然5G迁移仍存在挑战，但从成本和潜在收益角度分析，5G无疑蕴含着巨大的商机，将为整个产业链带来非常可观的收益。面向5G蓝海，领先的主芯片平台供应商都已经推出了第三代应用处理器和调制解调器，网络设备商也通过技术、产品创新，助力电信运营商加速部署5G网络。手机厂商则在努力降低5G智能手机的成本，以迎接5G时代的到来。

成本效益分析显示，通信服务提供商可以通过多种方式降低部署毫米波的总拥有成本，并提高投资回报率。随着各项标准的成熟，我们预计越来越多的应用场景将成为可能，更多机构将加入5G毫米波生态。预计拐点将出现在2022年年初到年中，之后，无论是毫米波网络部署还是终端设备应用都将呈现爆发式的增长。

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