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Global TV shipments to rise by 2.8% to 223m units this year

Mohammed Fahad
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Global TV shipments to rise by 2.8% to 223m units this year
  • Panel prices expected to undergo a substantial decline in 2021.

Global TV shipments will increase by 2.8 per cent to 223 million units from 217 million units a year ago due to sporting events taking place this year.

Tokyo Olympic Games and the UEFA European Championship, which were originally planned for 2020 but subsequently delayed due to the pandemic will take place this year, will drive global TV demand to yet another record high.

TrendForce indicates that the tightening supply of TV panels throughout 2020 and faster-than-expected demand recovery in the second half both indirectly exacerbated the existing shortage of wafer capacities for IC products.

Therefore, upstream suppliers, including foundries and panel makers, have become increasingly selective of their clients, and tier one TV brands have an advantage in securing wafer capacities from foundries due to their massive order volume.

2020 marked the first time when the combined market shares of the top five TV brands surpassed 60 per cent. For tier two, tier three, and white-label manufacturers, the strained supply of panels and IC products will make it harder than ever for them to compete against tier-one brands in the market.

Panel prices shoot up

Whereas the supply of TV panels dwindled in 2020 owing to the reduction in Korean panel manufacturers’ production capacities and the slowdown in new Chinese panel manufacturers’ mass production ramp-up, demand skyrocketed due to extended stay-at-home times induced by anti-pandemic measures.

Given such imbalanced supply and demand, prices of 40-inch to 55-inch TV panels rose by more than 60 per cent within a mere six months, while prices of 32-inch panels more than doubled, in turn posing a great challenge for white-label TV manufacturers, which had traditionally survived in the market by offering low-priced TVs.

As the prices of TV panels underwent increases every month throughout the second half of last year, the profitability of 32-inch to 55-inch TV units, which were the market mainstream, gradually plummeted as well. In response to declining profits from these low-priced products, TV brands began to redirect their procurement activities towards larger-sized panels.

In particular, this period saw a 23.4 per cent and 47.8 per cent growth in 65-inch (and above) and 70-inch (and above) TV panel shipments, respectively.

Under the assumption that panel prices will not undergo a substantial decline in 2021, TV brands will likely accelerate their product strategies for ultra-large-sized TVs.

TrendForce forecasts a potential 30 per cent year-on-year growth in the shipment of 65-inch (and above) TVs this year.

Thumbay stops 600,000 cyberattacks by deploying Trend Micro solutions

Naushad K. Cherrayil
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Thumbay stops 600,000 cyberattacks by deploying Trend Micro solutions
  • Group is in discussion about using Trend Micro XDR for their remote security operations centre (SOC), helping to reduce the time for detection, response, and investigation.
  • Group converts its legacy anti-virus platform with Trend Micro’s solutions to reinforce its security posture.

The Thumbay Group, a leading UAE healthcare provider, has stopped about 600,000 cyberattacks in three weeks with the deployment of Trend Micro solutions.

The healthcare industry has become a prime target for cybercriminals, who often seek out protected health data and sensitive user information, especially in the wake of Covid-19.

The UAE-based group has converted its legacy anti-virus platform with Trend Micro’s solutions to reinforce its security posture across 46 pharmacies, eight hospitals, and one university hospital, along with medical research, diagnostics, health communication, wellness, laboratories, and nutrition.

According to Alpen Capital, the UAE’s current healthcare expenditure is set to reach a record-high of $25 billion by 2022, comprising about one-quarter of the GCC’s total healthcare expenditure.

Akram Moideen Thumbay, Director of Thumbay Technologies.

With threats against the UAE’s healthcare industry increasing in volume and complexity, Akram Moideen Thumbay, Director of Thumbay Technologies, said the group needed a centralised cybersecurity system that extended beyond the endpoints.

 “Our security transformation with Trend Micro is providing a 360-degree security approach with real-time visibility, instant reports for meeting compliance, and quickly distributing updates and patches,” he said.

As part of its initial system analysis across the healthcare group, the Thumbay Group detected roughly 7,600 malicious communications, which were promptly neutralised within minutes.

Healthcare industry under threat

Further, over a three-week period, the group stopped about 600,000 attempted attacks on the Thumbay Group’s environment, including more than 10,000 attacks that were critical and dangerous.

Over a one-month period, they were able to detect and protect 2,498 vulnerabilities from being exploited on nine critical servers, using virtual patching. 

“With the healthcare industry under threat from unprecedented levels of cyberattacks, the Thumbay Group is showing best practices in transforming their security infrastructure to remain proactive with security protocols,” Majd Sinan, Country Manager – UAE, Trend Micro, said. With such a vast attack surface area within the hospital environment, he said the healthcare providers should consider solutions that provide full visibility across each of their vulnerable endpoints.

In the next stage of its digital transformation, the Thumbay Group is considering centralising its data in a data centre and leading an organisation-wide change of culture in prioritising security.

The Thumbay Group is in discussion about using Trend Micro XDR for their remote security operations center (SOC), helping to reduce the time for detection, response, and investigation.

UAE performs exceptionally well in preparing its workforce for the future

Naushad K. Cherrayil
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UAE performs exceptionally well in preparing its workforce for the future
  • BCG’s Future Skills Architect Tool shows that UAE has a 15.1 point lead in comparison to the global average.
  • Globalisation, demographic and regional shifts, digitisation, and urbanisation are just some of the factors affecting human capital development around the world.

The UAE is making good strides in preparing for the workforce of the future and is ranked above the global average, according to findings by Boston Consulting Group.

Findings from BCG’s Future Skills Architect (FSA) tool show that the UAE has a score of 62.3, above the global average of 47.2.

FSA is designed to help policymakers and business leaders uncover instances of the skills mismatch in their economies.

By using the FSA instrument, a government can uncover many factors underlying the skills mismatch in its country and can adopt strategies to reskill and enable the workforce.

The UAE performed exceptionally well in the area of skills liquidity – where decision-makers ensure that people outside a job’s immediate location apply for it, to enlarge the candidate pool for every job, and to give every candidate access to a larger pool of jobs.

Besides, the UAE has also made a significant push in improving the quality of their schools, in particular private schools, as shown by the latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) results.

Two areas UAE needs to improve

Dr. Leila Hoteit, the global leader of BCG’s education, employment and welfare sector.

BCG analysis highlights two key areas that the UAE should improve to create a future-ready society and economy. Firstly, Planners and HR specialists must cultivate a “Human-Focused Environment” by understanding the specific needs, values, and demands of talent, whose knowledge, skills, experiences, and ambitions differ greatly from one generation to another.

Secondly, policymakers and business leaders must figure out how to unlock the potential of different types of labour in the economy, including older workers and people with determination.

BCG experts said that governments and businesses must trace the root causes of the skills mismatch and adopt innovative policy measures to tackle them.

Dr. Leila Hoteit, the global leader of BCG’s education, employment and welfare sector, said that countries around the world, including the UAE, are faced with a fundamental skills-related problem, as the skills required for the future are rapidly evolving, further exacerbated since the pandemic began. Responding to the skills mismatch should be at the top of every country’s human capital development agenda, as it continues to be a costly burden holding back economic growth opportunities of the future, she said.

Maya El Hachem, Managing Director and Partner at BCG.

“Although governments and businesses are aggressively tackling pandemic related short-term employment challenges through retention and redeployment of the workforce, they must also work together on reskilling to meet future needs, make opportunities visible, and provide the right context for people to be motivated.”

Maya El Hachem, Managing Director and Partner at BCG, said that globalisation, demographic and regional shifts, digitisation, and urbanisation are just some of the factors affecting human capital development around the world.

“The FSA is designed to help policymakers and business leaders uncover instances of the skills mismatch in their economies along with understanding the standard of capabilities and education, labour market opportunities, and intrinsic motivation to figure out the ways to deal with them,” she said.

Access Bridge Ventures creates $25m fund to support MENA startups

Naushad K. Cherrayil
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Access Bridge Ventures creates $25m fund to support MENA startups
  • ABV to help build regional and international champions across numerous sectors, including health-tech, edu-tech, fin-tech, enterprise-tech and Software as a Service.
  • Fund aims to fill the financing gap for micro, small and medium enterprises which is estimated to be as much as $240b.

Access Bridge Ventures (ABV), a newly launched early-stage venture capital fund, has made a first close of $25 million to support high-growth tech start-ups from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Pakistan and the wider MENA region.

The venture capital fund, based in Abu Dhabi and regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market, has garnered commitments from leading regional institutional investors, including Mubadala Capital, the financial investment arm of Mubadala Investment Company, Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC), Jada, and several prominent family offices.

Issa Aghabi, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of ABV, said that the MENA landscape has transformed over the past few years, with entrepreneurs and start-ups acting as a catalyst for economic growth and development.

ABV has the unique ability to identify and cultivate this new breed of tech companies, many of which are extraordinary in their own right, and help them realise their full potential.

Investment strategy

Issa Aghabi, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of ABV.

“Securing our first close reflects the confidence in ABV’s capabilities and investment strategy, where we lead the round and support our founders throughout their journey, as early as a first institutional investor,” he said.

The International Monetary Fund estimates that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) represent about 96 per cent of registered companies and about half of all employment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Despite this, the total financing gap for MSMEs is estimated to be as much as $240 billion, according to the International Finance Corporation.

ABV will help build regional and international champions across numerous sectors, including health-tech, edu-tech, fin-tech, enterprise-tech and Software as a Service (SaaS).

CedarBridge Capital Partners (CedarBridge), a leading middle-market private equity firm, has co-founded the fund as part of its mandate to partner with promising founders and management teams and help them expand their investment remit and achieve exceptional growth.

Magellan Makhlouf, Co-founder and Managing Director of CedarBridge, said that they are proud to have co-founded ABV and we look forward to enhancing their offering with its vast global network and deep sectoral expertise.

“With our collective experience, ABV is well-positioned to make a meaningful impact and contribute to the growth of the region’s burgeoning tech industry,” he said.

Foodstar set to make kitchens smarter with iWONDERCOOK

Mohammed Fahad
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Foodstar set to make kitchens smarter with iWONDERCOOK
  • The device cooks complex multi-stage recipes in less than 15 minutes.
  • iWONDERCOOK frees up time spent on ingredient preparation (no washing, dicing, slicing, peeling), on following complicated recipes (no weighting, measuring, timing), and on kitchen clean-up.

Wonder how to make healthy and freshly cooked meals at home with no cooking skills?

The user needs no longer to be involved in the cooking process.  Ultimately, users enjoy free time, reduced stress and have access to hundreds of healthy and great tasting meals.

The New York-based tech startup – Foodstar – is set to showcase a multi-purpose and electric countertop food preparation apparatus for cooking, baking, broiling, roasting, toasting and searing at CES 2021.

Today an average person spends about three years of a lifetime on cooking (grocery shopping, prepping ingredients, following recipes and cleaning). 

iWONDERCOOK is the first of its kind affordable robotic chef that fits the smallest kitchen. It is a revolutionary, patented integrated cooking platform, consisting of fully automated robotic chef and food cartridge.  The food cartridge is complete set of ready-to-cook fresh ingredients shipped to the user. 

The device does not require any alterations.   Just plug in the robotic chef and set up the WiFi connection to control your robotic chef using iWONDERCOOK app. 

Multi-stage recipes

The menu includes hundreds of different meals, including appetisers, soups, main courses, pastas, etc.  iWONDERCOOK cooks complex multi-stage recipes in less than 15 minutes. 

Compared to take-out/restaurant delivery, iWONDERCOOK users no longer pay restaurant mark-ups or worry about restaurant business hours. 

Compared to traditional cooking and popular meal kits delivery services, iWONDERCOOK frees up time spent on ingredient preparation (no washing, dicing, slicing, peeling), on following complicated recipes (no weighting, measuring, timing), and on kitchen clean-up.

Ordering a meal is just few clicks away from iWONDERCOOK app. 

Just store food cartridges in a refrigerator (not freezer) for up to 14 days.  Once ready to eat, place the cartridge inside the robotic chef and push “start”. 

Most meals are cooked in less than 15 minutes.  Freshly prepared food maximises nutritional value of each meal. 

Foodstar also has an answer for business use with its iWONDERCOOK PRO to reduce expenses by implementing real-time inventory and sales monitoring, reducing payroll expenses, downsizing kitchen area, reducing utility bills. 

Benefits:

  • Efficiency: the robotic chef is ready to work 24 hours / 7 days a week with no downtime.
  • Hygiene: first truly contactless food delivery & cooking platform.
  • Time-saving: reduce stress level and improve quality of life by re-claiming 3 years of life from cooking chores.
  • Accessibility: A user no longer needs extensive skills or physical capabilities to cook.
  • Quality: every meal always tastes great due to consistent ingredients source, the digital recipe and computerized control of the cooking process.
  • Space efficiency: designed to fit the smallest kitchen.  The machine can be placed in the office, RV, a boat, even in a private jet.
  • Profitability: new source of revenue and money-saving tool for the business
  • Sustainability: today up to 25 per cent of fresh produce ends up in the garbage.  iWONDERCOOK centralised food cartridge packaging significantly reduces produce waste and improves the environment.

Who are the top three virtual assistants platform vendors?

Naushad K. Cherrayil
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Who are the top three virtual assistants platform vendors?
  • Apple’s Siri holds 25% market share while Google Assistant holds 22%  and Baidu with 14%.
  • Market shipments to double to 3b units in 2024.
  • Four out of every five consumer electronics products sold will exhibit some form of virtual assistant capability by 2024.

Apple, Google and Baidu emerged as the top three virtual assistants platform vendors by unit shipments last year as the market continues to exhibit robust performance, propelled by enhancements in the underlying technologies along with increasing penetration across consumer electronics.

Apple’s Siri holds 25 per cent share worldwide, reflecting strong sales in Apple iPhone, iPad and Airpods.The newly announced AirPods Max will expand Siri’s opportunity further in 2021.

Google Assistant holds 22 per cent share, primarily due to its integration in Android smartphones and tablets, but also now illustrating moderate growth in the wearables category.

Baidu holds 14 per cent market share overall, driven by its success in smart speakers and smartphones. The company made moves into hearables, launching XiaoduPods late in 2020 and a further collaboration with Huawei promises to widen its market opportunity in 2021.

According to Futuresource Consulting, the impact of Covid-19 dampened virtual assistants shipments throughout 2020.

Vendors raising awareness

However, the effect of lockdowns on consumer purchasing was less pronounced than anticipated, and 2020 saw a nine per cent increase in shipment volumes overall.

Shipments of products with built-in voice assistant technology will double to 3 billion units in 2024.

Simon Forrest, Principal Technology Analyst at Futuresource Consulting, said that voice control has established itself as an essential feature across consumer electronics.

 “The audio processing aspects of virtual assistants have largely matured, and focus has shifted towards improving assistant competency and optimising language models. As such, innovation now lies squarely in the hands of the technology giants with knowhow in artificial intelligence,” he said.

Although virtual assistant technology is continually improving, the gains are becoming harder to quantity and questions are being raised around the efficacy of voice interfaces.

Moreover, he said that virtual assistants promise a frictionless way to interact with products and services, yet the industry is still several years away from perfecting ‘voice first’ interfaces and may never become truly independent of screens.

“Virtual assistants must deliver accurate responses each and every time, otherwise consumer adoption diminishes. So, platform vendors are working to enhance the contextual awareness of their VAs and develop AI capable of surfacing precisely the right results,” he said.

Voice engines at the edge

Furthermore, he said that platform vendors are moving swiftly to utilise neural network accelerators (NNAs) to place many elements of voice engines at the edge, on devices themselves, to reduce latency and increase privacy. Prime examples of this include the Honghu AI chip jointly developed by Huawei and Baidu, and Amazon’s AZ1 Neural Edge processor, allowing voice algorithms to execute on the device itself, starting with an all-neural speech recognition model that handles requests locally.

“Vendors are creating lightweight VA solutions that can run even on small microprocessors, extending the opportunity to place voice into battery-operated devices,” Forrest said.

Virtual Assistants are developing beyond simple command and control mechanisms, transforming into platforms with rudimentary conversational ability and intelligent anticipation, he said and added that  VA platforms will become capable of participating in conversations and deliver new monetisation opportunities for service providers beyond harvesting data on usage behaviours this year.

Conversely, he said that cloud-based virtual assistants are steadily becoming better at extracting complex intent from voice queries, since they harness the dual benefits of flexible machine learning coupled with massive knowledge banks.

Futuresource predicts that four out of every five consumer electronics products sold will exhibit some form of virtual assistant capability by 2024.

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