Tag Archives: stm

HTC Vive Gutted: Micron Chips Stomp Facebook’s Oculus Rift

HTC Vive pummels Facebook ( FB )-owned Oculus Rift in terms of memory, but both tapped Apple ( AAPL ) supplier Texas Instruments ( TXN ) to lead their virtual reality headsets, teardowns from iFixit show . On Tuesday, iFixit unveiled its “Vive-section,” gutting HTC’s VR device to discover four Texas Instruments chips, including a variant on the 16-channel LED driver discovered inside the Rift. But the devices diverge largely on memory. Micron Technology ( MU ) supplies four Vive chips accounting for 72 megabits of flash memory vs. a single Winbond 64-MB chip supplying memory for the Rift. Vive and Rift both employ STMicroelectronics ( STM ) for an ARM-based microcontroller, and the former added in an STM transceiver for speed data transmission. Both also use a Toshiba converter. C-Media supplied an audio controller for the Vive, whereas Oculus tapped Apple supplier Cirrus Logic ( CRUS ) for the Rift audio codec. HTC chose  InvenSense ( INVN ) for its two gyroscope/accelerometer combos, vs. a Bosch Sensortec inertial sensor inside the Rift. HTC also added three NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ) microcontrollers and a Broadcom ( AVGO ) Bluetooth smart system-on-a-chip. Nordic Semiconductor provided Bluetooth for the Rift. After broadly falling 1.3% Monday on Wall Street, IBD’s 41-company Electronic-Semiconductor Fabless industry group was up nearly 2% in afternoon trading on the stock market today . Micron stock was up more than 9.5%, after rival SK Hynix reported Q1 sales and earnings that fell sequentially and year over year in a tough DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) PC environment. NXP stock was up 4.5% after topping Q1 earnings views late Tuesday and ahead of Apple’s fiscal Q2 report late Tuesday. On Monday, NXP stock fell 1.2% on after an iFixit teardown showed Apple included Intel ( INTC ) and Broadcom inside its Retina MacBook 2016, but not NXP. Shares of fellow Apple suppliers InvenSense, Cirrus Logic and Broadcom were up a respective 4.5%, 2% and 1.5%. STMicroelectronics stock was up nearly 3%, and Texas Instruments stock was up a fraction.

Apple Retina MacBook 2016: Intel, Broadcom Inside; NXP Loses?

Heavyweight chipmakers Broadcom ( AVGO ), Intel ( INTC ) and Texas Instruments ( TXN ) again dominated as chip suppliers for the Apple ( AAPL ) Retina MacBook 2016, according to an iFixit teardown , which notes the MacBook finally joined its iPhone and iPad cousins in rose gold solidarity. The 12-inch MacBook comes equipped with “a faster processor and zippier flash memory.” Intel again supplied the core processor and an HD graphics card, and both flash-memory NAND chips (256 gigabytes) came from Toshiba. Samsung and Micron Technology ( MU ) split the difference in other memory vectors. Two Samsung chips provide a total 8 GB of RAM, and Micron supplied a single 4 GB DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) chip. Broadcom re-won its touchscreen controller and what iFixit believes to be a wireless chipset, and STMicroelectronics ( STM ) again supplied a microcontroller. Texas Instruments supplied a total of four chips, including a system management controller. The Dallas-based chipmaker showed up six times in the earlier iteration, but the 2016 teardown wasn’t as extensive as the 2015 teardown , iFixit said. Fellow Apple supplier NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ) was seemingly ousted from the Retina MacBook 2016 logic board. In the 2015 model, the teardown showed NXP supplied a microcontroller and two interface expanders. Like its 2015 counterpart, the Retina MacBook 2016 earned a 1 out of a possible 10 in repairability from iFixit. The main reason is because the display is a single, fused unit, so “if the display needs replacing, it’ll cost a pretty penny.” In early afternoon trading on the stock market today , shares of both NXP and STMicroelectronics were down 2%, while Intel and Micron stock were each down 1%. Broadcom stock was lower by a fraction, and Texas Instruments stock was up a fraction.

Facebook’s Oculus Rift Loses Round 1 With Product Shipment Delays

Facebook ( FB ) lost its first game in the virtual reality field, as its Oculus VR unit announced that a shortage of parts will delay some shipments of its high-tech Rift headsets. The Rift goggles began shipping to more than 20 countries and regions one week ago. Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe acknowledged the delay in a tweet : “First set of Rifts are going out slower than we originally estimated, so we’re giving free shipping for all preorders, including international.” Facebook stock was down 3%, near 113, in early afternoon trading in the stock market today , though it was not clear if the market action was related to the shipment delays. Facebook has said Oculus will not be material to its bottom line this year. Deutsche Bank analyst Ross Sandler said in a research note Monday that Facebook’s first-quarter results “may come in light,” in what he described as a “potential growth reset.” Sandler maintained a buy rating on Facebook with a 145 price target. Oculus did not say how many Rift shipments were delayed or when the problem might be fixed. It said buyers hit with the delay will receive an update by April 12. Preorders for the $599 Oculus Rift headsets began in January. Facebook has not said how many orders it’s received. So far, 30 games are available for the Rift, with more than 100 games expected by year-end. Game prices range from $9.99 to $59.99. Facebook sees Oculus Rift as a  game changer , starting with games but soon extending to other areas such as sports events, as users put on the Rift goggles for deep-seated immersion. A dismantling of the Rift by iFixit showed the Oculus contained chips from STMicroelectronics ( STM ), Texas Instruments ( TXN ) and Cypress Semiconductor ( CY ). STMicroelectronics supplied the Rift with an ARM ( ARMH )-based microcontroller. Cypress supplies a hub controller, which allows for multiple USB-connected devices to be plugged in at once. Texas Instruments is supplying an LED driver, which controls for image brightness and grayscale. Image provided by Shutterstock .