Samsung Display and LG Display, for front-end manufacturing process of flexible OLED panels, still have to rely on imported organic materials used in vapor deposition, but the reliance is decreasing through Samsung Group's and LG Group's mergers with and stake investment in foreign enterprises to obtain relevant patents for self-production of such materials by Samsung SDI and LG Chem respectively, according to Digitimes Research.Front-end manufacturing process mainly consists of a TFT back plane and vapor deposition of organic materials, Digitimes Research indicated. For making TFT back planes, Samsung Display and LG Display procure PI (polyimide) varnish from Japan-based Ube Industries and metal target materials, thinner, etching solution and lift-off solution mainly from South Korea-based ENF Technology, Dongjin Semicom and Dongwoo Fine-Chem.For vapor deposition of organic materials, Japan-based Idemitsu Kosan, US-based Universal Display Corp. (UDC) and Dow Chemical and Germany-based Merck are the main suppliers. However, Samsung Group has merged with Germany-based Novaled GmbH to obtain patented technologies of key OLED materials and has invested in Sun Fine Chem, a subsidiary of Japan-based Hodogaya Chemical, for technological cooperation.For the back-end manufacturing process of flexible OLED panels, Samsung Display and LG Display procure high-temperature thin film from 3M and cover glass from Corning, with most of other materials supplied by South Korea-based makers.

Along with the fast development of self-driving technology, there will be increased demand for driver sensing systems used to monitor drivers for determining whether they are able to take over driving when self-driving breaks down, with the global market value for such sensing systems used in level 2 (partial self-driving combined with autonomous functions) and above self-driving to rise to US$2.34 billion in 2025, 3.2 times that in 2015, according to Digitimes Research.Driver sensing systems mainly consist of image monitoring, biometric and alcohol detecting devices, with image monitoring devices being the most important because it is easy and quick to detect abnormal conditions about drivers from images, Digitimes Research indicated.Image monitoring devices mainly consist of infrared (IR) LED sensors and camera modules. For example, Osram Opto Semiconductors adopts IR LED chips, with wavelength of 940nm for IR LED sensors, which can monitor details of drivers' facial expression even in the dark.Since drivers' behavior and conditions face a large variation, driver sensing systems are expected to be integrated with artificial intelligence and deep learning to enhance precision of judgment.

The worldwide top-5 notebook brand vendors saw their combined shipments in February grow 20% on month and 22% on year, while the top-3 ODMs' shipments also experienced 10% on-month and 30% on-year growths in the month as demand was better than expected. In addition, the Lunar New Year holidays in 2017 fell mainly in January, which created limited impact on February's working hours.After suffering from a 50% on-month decline in January, Hewlett-Packard's (HP) shipments enjoyed a strong rebound in February with a shipment lead of over 500,000 units compared to the second-largest Lenovo. Dell did not achieve an on-month shipment growth as strong as in February in 2016, but its shipments in February 2017 still grew by a single-digit percentage from the previous month, according to Digitimes Research's figures.Acer's shipments performed better than expected in February thanks to increased Chromebook shipments, and the company also became the fourth-largest vendor worldwide in the month, surpassing Asustek.As for ODMs, Compal Electronics became the largest notebook maker and Inventec the fourth largest in February thanks to a strong increase in orders from HP.

The global number of LTE (4G) mobile communication subscribers quickly increased to 1.935 billion at the end of 2016 according to statistics by the GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association), but because the 4G user density (the number of 4G users divided by the population) in China is nearly 60% and mobile telecom carriers Southeast Asia, India and some European countries have not actively set up LTE networks, growth in the global number of LTE subscribers will slow down in the beginning of 2017, according to Digitimes Research.There were 581 LTE networks in commercial operation around the world in 2016 and 166 ones and 17 ones of which had been upgraded to LTE-Advanced and LTE-Advanced Pro (both so called 4G+) respectively, Digitimes Research indicated.There were 7,037 models of LTE-enabled mobile terminal devices available globally in 2016 and 4,405 models -- or 62.6% of the total -- supported by LTE-Advanced or LTE-Advanced Pro. In particular, 679 LTE-Advanced- or LTE-Advanced Pro-enabled models complied with Cat (Category) 6 or above specification requirements, with the number 2.6 times that in 2015.In 2017, many LTE mobile telecom carriers are expected to upgrade their networks directly to LTE-Advanced Pro mainly because LTE-Advanced Pro has a maximum data transfer speeds reaching 1Gbps and is regarded as a transition to 5G technology. However, most vendors are expected to be conservative about adopting 1Gbps baseband chips for their LTE-Advanced Pro-enabled terminal devices because most of LTE networks are based on LTE Release 11 standards and insufficient to support 1Gbps.

February 2017 average retail prices for 7W LED light bulbs (equivalent to 40W incandescents) in the China market increased 0.8% from December 2016 to CNY26.5 (US$3.9), while 9W models (equivalent to 60W incandescents) decreased 4.6% to CNY29, according to Digitimes Research.Average retail prices for 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED light bulbs in the Japan market in February stood at JPY1,406 (US$13) and JPY1,893 respectively, growing 1.2% from December and slipping 0.5%, Digitimes Research indicated.February average retail prices for 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED light bulbs in other markets were: KRW7,842 (US$7.1, down 1.4% from December) and KRW12,293 (up 0.4%) in South Korea; US$16.70 (up 5%) and US$19.30 (down 5.9%) in the US; EUR7 (US$7.50, unchanged) and EUR9.20 (down 2.1%) in Europe.Samsung Electronics 40W-equivalent LED light bulbs and Osram 60W-equivalent models in the South Korea market had the highest average lumen-price ratios of 117.4lm/US$ and 223.7lm/US$ respectively in February. In terms of luminous efficiency, Mitsubishi Electric 40W-equivalent LED light bulbs and 60W-equivalent models available in Japan had the highest average level of 95.5lm/W and that of 108.2lm/W respectively in February.

The groundbreaking ceremony held for a 10.5G IGZO TFT-LCD panel plant to be built by Japan-based Sakai Display Products (SDP) in Guangzhou, China heralds a drastic change of the landscape of the global flat panel industry in the coming years.Including SDP, a total of seven flat panel companies have intentions to invest in 10.5G/11G plants. Among them, China-based BOE Technology and China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) have also started building their 10.5G lines.Apparently, a likely result of this "super-generation" race in the flat panel industry is that some of the existing players are to be overwhelmed by rising stars such as SDP (a 53.05%-owned subsidiary of the Foxconn Group), BOE and CSOT. It took less than three months for SDP/Foxconn from starting negotiating with the city government of Guangzhou to beginning to construct the 10.5G plant, which will require an input of CNY61 billion (US$8.838 billion) in capital.However, due to the heavy investment amounts and the supply of needed LCD equipment and machinery, four other flat panel makers, LG Display, Samsung Display, Chongqing HKC Optoelectronics Technology and China Electronic Corporation (CEC) which have expressed interests in stepping into the 10.5G lines, have yet to kick off their investment plans.Since the 10.5/11G lines are the world's highest generation of the flat panel industry currently, the supply capacity of the upstream equipment and component suppliers are essential for potential investors.For glass substrates, only Corning and Asahi Glass have expertise in producing large-size glass substrates. The two makers reportedly are to build related factories in China to support the 10.5G lines of BOE and CSOT, respectively.The Japan-based Nikon is currently the only supplier of steppers for the 10.5/11G lines, and therefore winning support from Nikon will also be a key for building the next-generation flat panel plants.But more importantly, the support of local governments in China plays the ultimate role for BOE, CSOT and SDP/Foxconn to push ahead their 10.5G projects.It is also worth to note that Taiwan-based flat panel makers AU Optronics (AUO) and Innolux, both are now still major display suppliers to China-based LCD TV makers, appear to have been left out of the race, and that the mighty suppliers Samsung Display and LG Display may no longer play the leading role.

Worldwide notebook shipments (not including 2-in-1 devices) surpassed 40 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016, dropping only 1.2% on year. Shipments from Taiwan-based ODMs even achieved on-year shipment growth in the quarter thanks to strong demand from the US and Europe due to seasonality and US-based brand vendors expanding their presence in the market despite component shortages. In the first quarter, worldwide shipments will also enjoy on-year shipment growth as enterprises' adoption of Windows 10 grows steadily, while Microsoft's new free Windows licensing plan is growing popular among notebook vendors.Hewlett-Packard (HP) was the largest vendor in the fourth quarter of 2016 and its shipments in the consumer and enterprise sectors as well as non-US markets all achieved better-than-expected results, allowing the vendor to widen its shipment gap with the second-place Lenovo to nearly two million units, according to Digitimes Research's latest figures.However, Lenovo is expected to be able to narrow the gap in the first quarter thanks to increased demand during the Lunar New Year holiday period. The third-largest Dell will see limited on-quarter drop in first-quarter shipments because of its Chromebook and enterprise product shipments.Apple is expected to place strong orders in the first quarter as demand for its new MacBook Pro will remain strong. Asustek Computer and Acer's first-quarter shipments will both be impacted by seasonality.As for ODMs, Compal Electronics' notebook shipments accounted for over 30% of Taiwan's overall volume in the fourth quarter of 2016 as the top-3 vendors all increased their orders to Compal. Quanta Computer saw its shipment share drop in the quarter because of decreased orders from Lenovo. Compal's shipment gap with Quanta is expected to shrink to below 300,000 units in the first quarter.

Shipments of smartphones by Taiwan-based brand vendors and ODMs are expected to decline 39.6% on year to below 10 million units in the first quarter of 2017, according to Digitimes Research. Taiwan's brand vendors and ODMs shipped a total of 13.22 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2016, up 7% on quarter but down 26.3% on year.Most clients of Taiwan's ODMs will hold back their orders in the first quarter, Digitimes Research said. Sony Mobile Communications will reduce its orders significantly for old models in the first quarter due to product transition, while shipments of new models by ODMs Compal Electronics and Arima Communications to the Japan-based vendor are unlikely to pick up until the second quarter.Wistron will receive no more new orders from BlackBerry starting the first quarter as the Canada-based vendor has closed its handset hardware business, while orders from LG Electronics to Arima in the first quarter will also be lower than those placed a quarter earlier, Digitimes Research noted.For all of 2016, smartphone shipments by Taiwan's brand vendors and ODMs declined 32.6% on year to 51.59 million units, the lowest level in five years. Asustek Computer, HTC and Compal were the three makers that saw their yearly shipments surpass 10 million units each in 2016, with Asustek taking the top spot, said Digitimes Research.

Japan-based automobile makers have been developing self-diving cars and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) aims at 20% of cars to be self-driving models in 2030, according to Digitimes Research.METI will begin to allow self-driving cars to run in low population areas in 2017, will push to provide self-driving taxi services during the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020, will allow self-driving cars to run on freeways in 2025, on roads in cities in 2027 and on all roads in metropolitan areas in 2030, Digitimes Research indicated.The largest Japan-based automobile maker Toyota Motor has set a goal of putting in-house-developed self-driving cars into commercial use in 2017, initially on freeways and then on general roads. For this purpose, Toyota has been developing smart driving which combines precision sensors with AI-based decision making as well as smart connectivity to provide detailed road conditions. Toyota has invested in Japan-based deep learning developer Preferred Networks and undertaken Big Data analysis of Toyota car driving conditions.

Taiwan-based makers shipped 19.825 million LCD monitors in fourth-quarter 2016, slipping 5% on quarter and 6.9% on year, and taking up 65.9% of the global total, according to Digitimes Research.The corresponding shipment value stood at US$2.03 billion, declining 4.6% on quarter, Digitimes Research indicated.Qisda reported the best shipment results of all Taiwan-based makers, thanks to on-year increases in orders from major clients Dell and Asustek Computer.