根據(jù)EETimes美國版的獨(dú)家消息,中國第二大智能手機(jī)品牌供貨商聯(lián)想(Lenovo)打算擴(kuò)大投入芯片設(shè)計(jì)業(yè)務(wù),鎖定智能手機(jī)/平板裝置應(yīng)用領(lǐng)域。
過去十年來,聯(lián)想內(nèi)部一直有個(gè)編制約10人左右的芯片設(shè)計(jì)團(tuán)隊(duì),來自產(chǎn)業(yè)界的消息來源指出,該公司現(xiàn)在正在招募芯片設(shè)計(jì)工程師,打算在今年中將該團(tuán)隊(duì)擴(kuò)充至100人左右的規(guī)模;該匿名消息來源指出,聯(lián)想將在分別在深圳與北京招募40與60名工程師。
針對以上消息,聯(lián)想并未有立即響應(yīng);而根據(jù)筆者分析,該公司此舉是希望能掌控自家智能手機(jī)與平板裝置的命運(yùn)──就像是擁有芯片設(shè)計(jì)公司海思(HiSilicon)的華為(Huawei)那樣。
不同于三星(Samsung) 或蘋果(Apple),聯(lián)想擁有一段為智能手機(jī)選擇不同應(yīng)用處理器供貨商的坎坷過程;在2011年推出的聯(lián)想A60智能手機(jī)中,該公司采用的是聯(lián)發(fā)科 (MediaTek)的MT6573芯片,但2012年推出的LePhone K860產(chǎn)品,則是第一家采用三星電子Exynos 4四核心應(yīng)用處理器的非三星手機(jī)廠商。
而聯(lián)想在今年稍早推出的5.5寸屏幕智能手機(jī)K900,則是采用了英特爾的第一款雙核心Atom芯片;該款A(yù)tom Z2580芯片號稱性能是英特爾單核心Medfield 芯片──應(yīng)用于聯(lián)想一年前推出的K800手機(jī)──的一倍。
也許聯(lián)想曾經(jīng)享受過這種可任意選擇市場上最佳應(yīng)用處理器的自由,但根據(jù)消息來源指出,現(xiàn)實(shí)是殘酷的,因?yàn)槿请娮泳芙^再供應(yīng)最新的Exynos應(yīng)用處理器給這家中國競爭對手。

2012年中國智能手機(jī)市場前五大品牌市占率比較
Source:Strategy AnalyticsG15esmc
本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times,版權(quán)所有,謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載
本文下一頁:聯(lián)想已經(jīng)成為三星在中國的最大對手
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確實(shí),在成長蓬勃的中國智能手機(jī)市場上,聯(lián)想已經(jīng)成為三星的最大對手──在 2012年,三星在中國智能手機(jī)市場的占有率為17.7%,聯(lián)想與蘋果則分別為13.2%與11%。
在此同時(shí),聯(lián)想藉由強(qiáng)化管理團(tuán)隊(duì)陣容,為變成一家領(lǐng)導(dǎo)級消費(fèi)性電子品牌做準(zhǔn)備;這家排名全球第二大的PC品牌,在2月份時(shí)邀雅虎(Yahoo)共同創(chuàng)辦人楊 致遠(yuǎn)(Jerry Yang)擔(dān)任該公司董事會觀察員(board observer),接著又聘請ARM創(chuàng)辦人之一Tudor Brown擔(dān)任非執(zhí)行董事,為該公司產(chǎn)業(yè)老將顧問團(tuán)又添一名成員。
聯(lián)想的百人芯片設(shè)計(jì)團(tuán)隊(duì)將會在已經(jīng)稍嫌擁擠的應(yīng)用處理器市場激起什么漣漪,還有待時(shí)間觀察;而根據(jù)華為首席銷售官邵洋(Shao Yang)最近接受EETimes美國版專訪時(shí)的說法,擁有自家芯片設(shè)計(jì)部門對于一家手機(jī)廠商來說,是:“更有利于與其它半導(dǎo)體業(yè)者協(xié)商。”
本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times,版權(quán)所有,謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載
編譯:Judith Cheng
參考英文原文:Exclusive: Lenovo to design own chips,by Junko Yoshida
相關(guān)閱讀:
• 手機(jī)與平板MEMS運(yùn)動傳感器主要買家排名,中國廠商合計(jì)第三
• 獨(dú)家報(bào)道:中國正通過品牌產(chǎn)品戰(zhàn)略崛起
• 2013智能手機(jī)市場,中興需慎防聯(lián)想奪位G15esmc
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Exclusive: Lenovo to design own chips
Junko Yoshida
While beefing up its senior management team to prepare itself to become a leading consumer electronics vendor, Lenovo is growing its IC design team to about 100 engineers by mid this year.
BEIJING, China– Lenovo, the second largest smartphone supplier in China, will get into the chip design business with a special focus on smartphones and tablets, EE Times has learned.
The company, which has maintained a small IC design team consisting of about 10 people over the last decade, is now committed to expanding this team to about 100 engineers by the middle of this year, according to a China-based industry source with direct knowledge of Lenovo’s recruitment of chip designers.
Lenovo will be hiring 40 engineers in Shenzhen area and 60 in Beijing, according to the source, who asked to remain anonymous.
Lenovo, based in Beijing, did not immediately respond to questions about these plans.
This initiative appears to be driven by the company’s desire to control its own destiny in smartphones and tablets--a la HiSilicon at Huawei. (HiSilicon is a chip division of Huawei.)
Unlike Samsung or Apple, Lenovo has a checkered history of adopting different apps processors from a variety of suppliers for its smartphones. The company adopted MediaTek’s MT6573 in the Lenovo A60 smartphone in 2011, while it became the first company--outside Samsung --in 2012 to design in Samsung Electronics’ quad-core apps processor Exynos 4 in its LePhone K860.
Lenovo, however, announced earlier this year a 5.5-inch smartphone, dubbed K900, by integrating Intel’s first dual-core Atom chip for phones. The Atom Z2580 is said to have roughly doubled the CPU performance of Intel’s single-core Medfield processor used in Lenovo’s K800 phone, which was introduced a year ago.
While Lenovo might have been enjoying its freedom in choosing the best apps processor available on the market, reality bit hard, sources said, when Samsung Electronics refused to supply its newest version of the Exynos apps processor to the Chinese company.
Market share of the top five vendors for China’s smartphone market in 2012
Source: Strategy Analytics
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Indeed, on the growing Chinese smartphone market last year, Lenovo became Samsung’s biggest rival--with Samsung holding a 17.7 percent share, with Lenovo at 13.2 percent and Apple at 11 percent.
Meanwhile, Lenovo has been beefing up its senior management team to prepare itself to become a leading consumer electronics vendor.
The world's second-largest supplier of personal computers last month (February) named Jerry Yang, the co-founder and former CEO of Yahoo, as a "board observer.” Further, Lenovo added Tudor Brown, one of the founders of ARM, as a non-executive director to Lenovo's roster of seasoned veterans.
It’s far from clear if an internal group of mere 100 IC engineers can make a dent in the already crowded apps processor market. And yet, as Shao Yang, CMO of Huawei Device, recently said in an interview with EE Times, having a chip division of its own could help [the handset company] “negotiate better with other semiconductor companies.”
責(zé)編:Quentin