AMOLED panels, due to superiority in color saturation, thinness and power consumption over TFT-LCD panels, have seen increasing adopted for smartphones and will eventually become mainstream smartphone, as well as a dominate solution for VR head-mounted devices (HMD), according to Digitimes Resaerch.Global AMOLED shipments are forecast to increase from 370 million units in 2016 to 452 million in 2017 and 1.127 billion in 2021, with the corresponding penetration of smartphones to rise from 24.3% to 27.6% and 53.0%, Digitimes Research indicated.It has so far been difficult for AMOLED panels to replace TFT-LCD units for use in smartphones because smartphone vendors except Samsung Electronics are worried about Samsung Display dominating global supply of AMOLED panels. However, China-based makers have begun producing AMOLED panels and poised to break Samsung Display's dominance, making smartphone vendors more willing to adopt AMOLED panels for even mid-range and entry-level models. AMOLED panels based on plastic substrates also enable more flexible design for smartphones.AMOLED panels also have big potential for use in VR HMDs due to shorter response time and higher contrast than TFT-LCD panels. If resolution is hiked, AMOLED panels will be the dominate solution for such devices.While PMOLED panels are used in most of smartwatches, AMOLED panels stand a good chance of being used in high-end smartwatches.But AMOLED panels face difficulties in being widely adopted for tablets and notebooks due to high costs arising from low yield rates. However, AMOLED panels are likely to be adopted for high-end tablets and professional notebooks in niche markets.

Worldwide top-5 notebook brand vendors together and top-3 ODMs combined saw their shipments decrease 37% and 32% on month, respectively in April because of their strong shipments in March and weak demand in April. Since April was still in the slow season for the notebook market, inventory adjustment was the key focus for most brand vendors. However, compared to volumes in the same month a year ago, the top-5 vendors' combined shipments were up 6%, while the top-3 ODMs saw growth of 11%, showing that the worldwide notebook market was still on track to a healthy rebound.Dell surpassed Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Lenovo to become the largest notebook vendor worldwide in April since the vendor only saw limited seasonal impact from the consumer sector and greatly benefited from the enterprise sector's strong growth in demand. HP saw its shipments slip almost 50% on month in April because of its strong shipment results in March, but the volume in April was still up 30% from that of the same month in the previous year, according to Digitimes Research's latest update on notebook shipments.Third-place Lenovo continued trailing behind HP in April.As for ODMs, Quanta Computer's shipment lead against second-largest Compal Electronics expanded to 30,000 units in April, compared to less than 10,000 units in March, as HP has been shifting more orders from its other ODM partners to Quanta.

China-based vendors will together ship 151.8 million smartphones globally during the second quarter of 2017, increasing 13.0% on quarter but decreasing 2.7% on year and taking up 46.7% of the global total, according to Digitimes Research.Of the shipments, 65.7 million smartphones have been or will be shipped to overseas markets, growing 18.8% on quarter but slipping 1.8% on year, Digitimes Research indicated.Huawei Technology will be the largest vendor accounting for 21.1% of the total shipments, followed by Oppo with 16.5%, Vivo with 12.1%, Xiaomi Technology with 9.7%, Lenovo with 7.6%, GiONEE with 4.9%, TCL with 4.6%, ZTE with 4.6%, Meizu with 3.0% and Coolpad with 1.4%.In overseas markets, Huawei Technologies will ship 16.2 million smartphones, followed by Lenovo with 9.9 million units (including Motorola models), TCL with 5.4 million units, Oppo with 5.4 million units and Xiaomi Technology with 4.9 million units.

Taiwan-based TFT-LCD panel makers will together ship 58.15 million large-size (9-inch and above) panels during the second quarter of 2017, increasing 3.4% on quarter but decreasing 0.4% on year and taking up 34.9% of global total, according to Digitimes Research.In terms of application of large-size panels, LCD TVs will account for 30.0% of the shipments, notebooks for 33.6%, desktop monitors for 21.3%, 9-inch and above tablets for 11.9%, Digitimes Research indicated.Innolux and AU Optronics produce large-size panels used in TVs, notebooks, desktop monitors and tablets, while HannStar Display and Chunghwa Picture Tubes only produce panels used in 9-inch and above tablets.The four makers will ship 232.37 million large-size panels in 2017, growing 0.4% on year.

There will be 35.08 million tablets shipped globally during the second quarter of 2017, decreasing 5.7% on quarter and 13.7% on year, according to Digitimes Research.iPad models will account for 25.4% of the shipments, tablets launched or to be launched by other international vendors for 47.3% and white-box units for 27.3%, Digitimes Research indicated.Apple will be the largest vendor accounting for 25.4% of the shipments, followed by Samsung Electronics with 15.1%, Amazon with 7.4%, Huawei Technologies with 6.6%, Lenovo with 6.6%, Asustek Computer with 3.3%, TCL with 1.7%, Microsoft with 1.5% and Acer with 1.3%.Taiwan-based ODMs and OEMs will together ship 11.5 million tablets in the quarter, slipping 3.4% on quarter and 16.1% on year. Foxconn Electronics will account for 73.1% of the shipments, Compal Electronics for 11.4%, Pegatron for 8.1%, Quanta Computer for 4.7% and Inventec for 1.8%.

Taiwan-based TFT-LCD panel makers will together ship 304.278 million small- to medium-size panels during the second quarter of 2017, an increase of 2.8% on quarter and 13.0% on year, according to Digitimes Research.Of the shipments, 84.5% will be a-Si TFT-LCD panels and 15.5% LTPS (low-temperature poly-Si) units, Digitimes Research indicated.In terms of application of panels, smartphones and feature phones will account for 78.6% of the shipments, automotive displays for 6.4%, tablets for 4.2%, digital cameras for 2.3% and PNDs (portable navigation devices) for 2.2%.HannStar Display will account for 37.0% of the shipments, followed by Chunghwa Picture Tubes with 27.7% and Innolux with 21.7%.

April 2017 average retail price for 7W LED light bulbs (40W incandescent equivalents) in the China market decreased 11.3% from February 2017 to CNY23.5 (US$3.4), while that for 9W models (60W incandescent equivalents) increased 9.3% to CNY31.7, according to Digitimes Research.Average retail prices for 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED light bulbs in the Japan market in April stood at JPY1,300 (US$12.0) and JPY1,954 respectively, the former slipping 7.5% from February and the latter growing 3.2%, according to Digitimes Research's bimonthly report on LED lighting prices.April average retail prices for 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED light bulbs in other markets were: KRW7,505 (US$6.8, down 4.3% from February) and KRW12,263 (down 0.2%) in South Korea; US$15.9 (down 4.8%) and US$19.2 (down 0.5%) in the US; EUR7.1 (US$7.8, up 1.4%) and EUR8.6 (down 6.5%) in Europe.Philips 40W-equivalent LED light bulbs and Osram 60W-equivalent models for sale in the South Korea market had the highest average lumen-price ratios of 134.7lm/US$ and 231.9lm/US$ respectively in April. In terms of luminous efficiency, Mitsubishi Electric 40W-equivalent LED light bulbs and 60W-equivalent models available in the Japan market had the highest average level of 95.5lm/W and that of 108.2lm/W respectively in April.

While 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) plans to decide on first-stage 5G standards in the second half of 2018, some mobile telecom carriers showcased field testing of 5G key technologies and telecom equipment vendors exhibited point-to-point 5G network solutions at the Mobile World Congress 2017 earlier this year. This signals that commercial use of 5G technologies will begin ahead of the original schedule, according to Digitimes Research.At the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15), eight millimeter wave frequency bands ranging from 24GHz to 86GHz were selected as candidate bands for 5G operation and will be discussed and determined at the next conference to be held in 2019 (WRC-19), Digitimes Research indicated.While 3G and 4G focuse on data and voice communications, there will be various scenarios for 5G. 3GPP defines three main categories of scenarios for 5G application: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB); massive machine-type communication (IoT); ultra-reliable & low latency communication as used in autonomous driving, remote control of drones, surgical operations and industrial automation.In commercial use of 5G, millimeter wave technology will be particularly used in eMBB. The US Federal Communications Commission released initial millimeter wave bands with total bandwidth of 10.85GHz at the end of 2016, with 70% of the bandwidth available for use without licensing or for common use. In addition, US-based Verizon Wireless and AT&T, Japan-based NTT DoCoMo and South Korea-based SK Telecom will undertake small-scale trial commercial use of 5G based on millimeter wave technology in 2017-2018. 3GPP has decided to adopt Qualcomm Technologies-developed LDPC (low-density parity-check) traffic channel encoding scheme and China-based Huawei Technologies-developed polar control channel encoding scheme for 5G eMBB.

According to GTM Research's Global Solar Demand Monitor, global PV installations are expected to reach 85GW in 2017, after seeing a 30% growth to 78GW in 2016. China as a major solar energy producer has become the world's largest market of photovoltaic technologies.The 11th SNEC International Photovoltaic Power Generation Conference & Exhibition 2017 in Shanghai was a global, professional and colossal industrial event with far-reaching influences in China, Asia and other parts of the world. As a veteran that has contributed to the development of the solar energy industry, Heraeus released several innovative metallization pastes at the event and debuted its total solution bundling the company's technologies, products and services to bring optimum values for customers.In his interview by Digitimes, Dr. Weiming Zhang, Chief Technology Officer of Heraeus Photovoltaics, pointed out Heraeus securely holds its leading position in terms of the market share of PV metallization pastes, with widening distance between itself and its rivals, and will continue to launch solutions for renewable energy to contribute to an expected reduction of 50% in the levelized cost of renewable energies in the next five years.At the event, Heraeus also announced it has delivered 4,000 tons of silver pastes to its customers in eight years since it developed its first metallization paste in 2008. The number technically translates into around 3 trillion crystalline silicon solar cells able to produce more than 133GW, enough to sustain 156 Longyangxia Dam Solar Parks, the world's largest solar farm.Interview summaryQ: Heraeus has grandly unveiled eight new products and services at SNEC 2017. Could you highlight the reasons behind these important product launches at SNEC 2017 and their respective features?A: Heraeus attaches great importance to our development in the China market. By announcing several metallization pastes at the event this year, we are making these high efficiency new products and services available to our China customers as a first priority. With the metallization pastes as vehicles, we help customers analyze their production process, find solutions and raise efficiency. Heraeus will continue to devote resources to R&D of new photovoltaic solutions. This is also Heraeus' commitment to customers.First of all, for PERC cells, the SOL9641B series helps boost efficiency to a whole new level. On mono- and poly-crystalline ULDE and PERC cells, the series raises cell efficiency by up to 0.2% with its improved finger geometry. Better metallization contact and less shading enable this efficiency boost. In addition, the organic vehicle system for ultra-fine line printing has been improved. Mass production of this series has kicked off.For black-silicon solar cells, which we expect to become the mainstream poly-crystalline silicon technology this year and the next, Heraeus offers the 9641A series to address the big challenge that the nano-structured black-silicon cell surface introduces to metallization pastes. Its specifically designed formula features a unique glass chemistry and fine-tuned organic media to perfectly fit the particular surface morphology of black silicon with superior adhesion and tension.Furthermore, the SOL9641AX/BX series is custom-made for the knotless screen printing technology. Compared to conventional wire mesh, this emerging technology gives the paste more room to pass through and is also expected to become mainstream. Designed to fully leverage the advantages of knotless printing screens, the whole new SOL9641AX/BX series features superior printability, unique paste rheology, and a significantly higher aspect ratio on ultra-fine-line fingers, likely to achieve a 0.1% efficiency gain.Heraeus has also launched a double-print package for customers transitioning from traditional technologies. The upgraded double-print package with SOL9642A and SOL9642B silver pastes carries all the advantages of the SOL9641A and 9641B platforms. An outstanding efficiency gain of up to 0.1% is enabled through improved double-print Ultra-fine-line (UFL) printability with a higher aspect ratio, which translates to lower costs and higher performance for customers.Finally, for n-type cells, Heraeus offers the SOL9360 breakthrough metallization paste, an upgrade from the previous generation 9350 series. An efficiency gain of 0.1% can be achieved with the fine finger width. Customers have confirmed to have achieved higher efficiencies with significantly less paste usage, thereby considerably lowering a cell's cost per watt. We think n-type cells will ultimately set a benchmark for photovoltaic cells, as they mature from a technology with high barriers to a product with differentiating features.Q: How are customers in China responding to these new products you mentioned? Are there any success stories you can share with us?A: Heraeus is working with major customers in China to put these new products to use. For example, we are supplying SOL9641BX knotless screen metallization paste to EGing Photovoltaic Technology, which is also the first customer of this product. EGing is able to build up production capacities for mono-PERC cells using knotless screen printing technology and SOL9641BX paste, achieving a 0.1% efficiency gain and boosting the power output of mono-PERC modules up to 310W. With further optimized production processes, the performance of EGing mono-PERC modules can be even higher.We think PERC cell development is only now at phase 1.0 (about 21.5% conversion efficiency) with ample room for improvement in terms of materials and processes. What we call PERC1.5 can provide a 23% conversion efficiency. Lab tests now show PERC cells will be able to deliver higher than 24% conversion efficiency in phase 2.0. The market has promising potential and commercialization can be expected in the next five years.In addition, Heraeus and Jolywood have entered into a strategic R&D cooperation agreement to jointly develop high efficiency n-type mono bifacial solar cells and promote their applications and popularity. Heraeus' frontside and backside silver pastes enabled Jolywood to produce n-type bifacial solar cells in volume last year. This year, Jolywood is strengthening the collaboration with Heraeus to further increase n-type cells' frontside and backside efficiencies, cells in mass production currently reaching 21.3% frontside and 19.2% backside efficiencies, a world-leading performance.Q: Further to the success stories of your China customers, could you talk about Heraeus' future plans for expansion into the solar energy industry in China? Compared to the rest of the world, what are the characteristics of the customers in China and what product features do they place great importance on? How do you envision business growth over the next three to five years?A: When Heraeus first set foot in the solar energy business in 2008, our first customer was from China. As China is the world's largest solar energy market, we pay great attention to our investments and strategies toward this market and this is why we are headquartered in Shanghai. Also for this reason, we provide package solutions as well as products to bring optimized values to customers. With our large service teams established in Shanghai, we are continuingly accumulating success stories from key customers and expanding at larger scale.Heraeus invests a double-digit percentage of its photovoltaic technology revenues into R&D every year and will keep devoting more resources. Our worldwide R&D team comprising nearly 80 members will continue to grow. Planning for products and services will include short-, mid-, and long-term strategies. Collaborations with research and academic institutions will help maintain our edge in future technological advancements of the solar power industry. This is also why customers trust us and are willing to engage in extensive partnerships with us.We have observed significant changes in customer characteristics in China over recent years. They have transitioned from technology followers to technology leaders. Not only do they go after spurring growth in scale, they also pursue technological upgrade. In terms of supply chain relationships, they value long-term partnerships more than mere buying and selling deals and care about win-win gains from close and deep collaborations.Our task force in China added 50 new recruits last year and will keep growing this year to provide customers premium local and timely services. It's no doubt that China will be a key market in the next three to five years.Q: Please share Heraeus' views on the global trend of the solar energy market. Please also give an analysis on Heraeus' market share of paste solutions. What are Heraeus' leading edges compared to other competing brand suppliers?A: The solar energy market experienced a 20%-25% growth in 2016 from 2015 and the first quarter of 2017 is likely to also deliver a yearly increase of 20%-25% compared to the corresponding period of 2016. However, the installations in China in 2017 will not be as high as the level seen in 2016; it's likely to stay flat. This will impact small-to- mid scale suppliers with less significant influence on large suppliers. Other parts of the world such as Southeast Asia, India and the US can expect to see more optimistic growth projections.With a 30% share in the market of metallization pastes for solar cells according to the latest statistics, Heraeus securely holds the No. 1 spot, with widening distance from the second place holder.This market is seeing many newcomers. However, it should be highlighted that Heraeus' advantages come from its ability to reduce costs and significantly boost performance for customers. Furthermore, we think that short term sales relationships will not sustain business growth and trust that only by strengthening collaborations with technologically capable manufacturers, we will be able to maximize values. As such, we are fully committed to R&D and continue to extend product offerings as we value long-term partnerships, not just short term sales.Q: Metallization pastes for solar cells are one of the key materials with deciding influences on the conversion efficiency of solar cells and the related patent technologies are also critical. What are Heraeus' latest advances on innovative patents? Also, we are closely watching your patent litigation with a competitor based in Taiwan. Could you comment on the recent litigation developments?A: Heraeus places great emphasis on patents and holds more than 300 patents through internal organic growth, ongoing R&D and even external acquisitions, expanding its patent portfolio by 10% to 15% every year. The huge investments in patents are due to Heraeus' belief that the solar energy market will eventually progress toward positive, healthy, orderly and sustainable development and Heraeus is preparing itself for this.For example, the fact that Heraeus is able to maintain a leading market share in Japan is due to the trust that Japanese customers place in Heraeus technologies and the guarantee of long-term relationships. This perfectly illustrates the Heraeus Photovoltaics advantages.Heraeus is confident that the patent litigation with the Taiwan-based vendor will come to a conclusion in the second or third quarter of this year barring unforeseen circumstances. We believe the court will make a fair ruling. Meanwhile, we will further our legal pursuit against the other party not only in writing but also with actual follow-up actions as well.Dr. Weiming Zhang, Chief Technology Officer of Heraeus Photovoltaics

Among Japan-based exhibitors at Finetech Japan 2017 taking place in Tokyo during April 5-7, Semiconductor Energy Laboratory (SEL) cut a brilliant figure by showcasing several 8K OLED panels based on oxide semiconductor back planes, according to Digitimes Research.SEL's exhibition included curved-surface AMOLED panels for use in automotive displays, hybrid displays through combining OLED with ECB (electrically controlled birefringence) LCD, an 81-inch 8K display consisting of 6 x 6 13.5-inch OLED panels in mosaic, Digitimes Research indicated.LG Display indicated that it will launch 65-inch 8K OLED TV panels, while China-based BOE Technology showcased 98-inch TFT-LCD panels.