Subsidies provided by China's top-3 telecom carriers led by China Mobile to encourage 2G and 3G service users to switch to 4G services continued to push China's mid-range and inexpensive 4G smartphone sales and shipments in the third quarter.China-based vendors Oppo, BBK (Vivo) and Huawei saw strong sales for their high-end, mid-range and inexpensive smartphones in the third quarter. China-based vendors were aggressive about pushing their shipments to overseas markets for year-end holiday demand in the third quarter and this helped China's smartphone shipments to non-China regions to rise, according to Digitimes Research's latest report about China's smartphone industry.China-based smartphone vendors together shipped 168 million smartphones worldwide in the third quarter, up 10.6% sequentially and 18.6% on year. Of the shipments, the volume to overseas markets increased 15.5% sequentially and 16.2% on year to reach 72.7 million units.The top-5 China-based smartphone vendors were Huawei, Oppo, BBK, Xiaomi and TCL in the third quarter, together contributing more than 55% of the overall shipment volume. The top-3 vendors Huawei, Oppo and BBK all had double-digit percentage market shares in the third quarter and a combined market share of over 45%.As for the fourth quarter of 2016, shipments to overseas markets are expected to rise significantly from a quarter ago, while domestic demand will only have limited growth. Overall volume in the quarter will surpass 184 million units.

CEVA is a global leader that provides the semiconductor industry with digital signal processing (DSP) silicon intellectual property (SIP). The firm has been developing DSP technology since 1991. DSP is capable of real-time data processing and can satisfy and support applications that require real-time response without any delays. Some of DSP's mainstream applications are ultra-high-speed voice processing, background noise elimination, data compression, and signal quality and efficiency enhancements that require mathematical algorithms. CEVA's DSP cores can help smart devices offer clearer sounds, sharper images and faster data processing, and various smart devices such as smartphones and wearable devices adopt DSP technology.CEVA is listed on NASDAQ and more than 7.5 billion chips carrying CEVA technology have been widely used in telecommunication, network, multimedia and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. During the CEVA Technology Symposium 2016, Mr. Moshe Sheier, director of strategic marketing at CEVA, gave an interview where he talked about the trends and future developments of DSP applications.CEVA targeting the rapid growth of cellular IoT devicesThe semiconductor industry has seen a lot of major mergers in recent years to cope with market and technology process changes. For example, Softbank acquired ARM for an astonishing figure and it has been one of the most significant acquisitions in the semiconductor industry in 2016. Now many firms have made significant moves and investments in IoT, racing to establish a foothold in what is seen as the most promising emerging sector in the IT industry. With the smartphone and tablet markets close to saturation, the next big thing will be IoT applications.Many IoT devices have relied on smartphones that support short-distance communication protocols, such as Bluetooth and Zigbee, which has limited the growth of IoT's popularity. And industrial IoT applications face different kind of problems when used outdoors or in the wilderness, such as a lack of electric sockets or WiFi access points. With the coming of Industry 4.0, IoT devices have entered a new era where low power consumption, low cost and long-distance connection are vital. The connectivity problems crippling outdoor IoT devices are one of the crucial problems that need to be solved.International telecommunication associations and organizations like 3GPP have sped up the standardization of NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT), allowing firms in the industry to step up efforts to develop various NB-IoT nodes for different market segments. Because of this, Sheier sees a new generation of IoT devices moving towards being independent of smartphones by relying on more sensors, edge processing and low power wide area technologies. As telecom firms are looking to use LTE frequencies to construct NB-IoT systems and adopt LTE-compatible infrastructures, many major chip vendors have devoted large amounts of resources to developments for cellular IoT networks. Now the industry is eagerly anticipating IoT devices with multiple sensors and long-distance wide area connectivity.According to market research done by Ericsson, the number of long-distance cellular IoT devices will likely grow from 400 million units in 2016 to 2.1 billion by 2022 with a 30% cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR). The market research also predicts that by 2018, the total number of IoT devices will exceed the number of mobile phones. In terms of semiconductor chips, smartphones account for 1-2 billion devices per year but chip demand from IoT devices may soar to 30-50 billion cumulative units, driving powerful growth in the semiconductor market. Sheier is very optimistic about the future of cellular IoT.Computer vision and image recognition DSP applications lead machine learning boomComputer vision and image recognition technologies used in self-driving vehicles and drones are an important development for DSP applications. In addition to improving the quality of the images, CEVA has invested a great amount of resources to develop vision applications, and with always-on, always-sensing, and always-connected technologies, combined with Big Data processing and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for machine learning, CEVA's DSP has successfully expanded its reach from monitoring and security systems to emerging applications such as smart city and smart medical ones. The technology has also been welcomed by mainstream brand vendors.CEVA works with strategic partners on developing edge AI technologies and uses neural network to develop machine learning applications. This year, CEVA has introduced the second generation of CEVA Deep Neural Network (CDNN2) software framework to further simplify the machine learning process for low power embedded systems.Combining lower power consumption and machine learning technologies, CEVA's strategic partner, emza Visual Sense, showcased an IoT visual sensor with power consumption of only 2mW at this year's symposium. With support by always-on technology, a DSP and special software algorithm, it allows IoT devices to perform automatic image recognition. The visual sensor can be operated over a long period of time using batteries and is a highly flexible solution.This type of battery-powered AI visual sensors that can be used for long periods of time is quite suitable for long-term and elderly care. Although such devices may not offer high-resolution images or replace monitoring systems equipped with high-end cameras, they offer smart medical and smart city solutions featuring machine learning and real-time response.Software integration is the keyThe development of Big Data analytics and AI has been stimulating the development of different IoT systems. Sheier cited examples from the pharmaceutical and biomedical sectors. During the transportation of pharmaceutical products, temperature control is crucial. The data collected through various sensors of the IoT systems and processed using different software algorithms can predict the impact on the pharmaceutical products caused by different transportation vehicles and the length of transportation time. Based on the information, remedial measures can be adopted to make sure the products arrive in time for the patients. This example shows the important role that software with precise algorithms play.With the increasing popularity of machine learning and Big Data analytics, a lot of software now comes with value-added services. To accommodate this trend, CEVA has been focusing on enhancing the development environment and interface for software, in particular, the machine learning technology based on the deep neural network. Addressing embedded systems' limitations in memory and computing abilities, CEVA has developed offline operation environment by setting the development of machine learning in exterior systems and using training framework and library such as Caffe and TensorFlow to transfer the result of machine learning onto the CEVA embedded processors.Using CEVA Network Generator, this type of software development for machine learning systems can shift the complicated neural network structure and weight, and turn it into a customized neural network enabling real-time response for embedded systems that are undermined by power loss and lack of memory. It is meant for IoT applications that require fast response time, have low tolerance of delay, and do not wish to rely on cloud network. With CEVA's new CDNN2 structure and the highly flexible and customizable assessment and deployment kit (ADK), the integration with more sensors and smart devices can become easier.Based on many years of development and successful experiences in the IP industry, CEVA has won strong recognition for its innovative skills on quality and technology from Taiwan-based firms. The easy access to DSP and connectivity IP allow Taiwan-based IC design houses and OEM/ODM firms to target different market segments and avoid price competition by developing differentiating products for emerging applications such as cellular IoT. This is an opportunity to ride the IoT wave and achieve a win-win situation.CEVA Director of Strategic Marketing, Moshe Sheier

Combined smartphone shipments by Taiwan-based brand handset vendors and ODMs will reach 13.82 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016, up 11.8% sequentially but down 23% on year, according to data compiled by Digitimes Research.ODMs Compal Electronics, the Foxconn Group, Arima Communications and Wistron will see their shipments decline sequentially in the fourth quarter, offsetting shipment growths to be recorded by brand vendors, including HTC, Asustek Computer and Acer, Digitimes Research noted.ODMs are shipping less smartphones in the fourth quarter as Sony Mobile Communications has been reducing its orders to Compal and Arima since the third quarter of 2016, while orders from BlackBerry to Wistron are also decreasing. Meanwhile, orders from LG Electronics to Arima are expected to stay flat in the fourth quarter as compared to the previous quarter.Asustek is expected to ramp up its smartphone shipments to 4.7 million units in the fourth quarter thanks to an easing in the supply of display panels, while HTC will push up its shipments to 3.6 million units during the same period due to deferred shipments of a portion of Google's Pixel devices to the quarter, Digitimes Research noted.

The global digital gaming market is expected to reach US$99.6 billion in 2016 and further increase to US$118.6 billion in 2019, representing a CAGR of 6.6% during the four-year period, according to Digitimes Research.Related PC products, including hardware devices, software products, media/live broadcasting services, will account for 25% of annual sales of the gaming market, said Digitimes Research.Since gaming PC products usually focus on visual effects, the ratio of LED components being incorporated into gaming PC devices, including gaming notebooks, desktops, motherboards, thermal modules, mice, keyboards and SSDs, is getting higher and higher.Increasing sales of gaming notebooks and the recently released VR devices, including the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR (PS VR), has further pushed up demand for IR LED, RGB LED, sensor LED and other LED products, Digitimes Research noted.

There will be 51.29 million tablets shipped globally in the fourth quarter of 2016, increasing 7.3% on quarter but decreasing 21.5% on year. Shipments will consist of 10.9 million iPads, up 17.2% sequentially, 24.4 million units launched by international vendors other than Apple, up 18.3%, and 16.0 million white-box units, down 10.6%, according to Digitimes Research.7-inch models will account for 31.4% of shipments, 7.9-inch 14.3%, 8.0- to 8.9-inch 11.6%, 9.0- to 9.9-inch 20.3%, 10.0- to 10.9-inch 16.4%, and 11-inch and above 6.1%, Digitimes Research indicated.In terms of application processors used in tablets, Apple will account for 30.9% of all tablets except white-box units, MediaTek 23.8%, Qualcomm 11.8%, Samsung Electronics 8.9% and Intel 8.5%.Among vendors, Apple will be the largest accounting for 21.3% of shipments, followed by Samsung with 15.0%, Amazon 6.2%, Lenovo 6.1%, Huawei Technologies 5.9%, Asustek Computer 2.8%, TCL 2.7%, Microsoft 2.6%, LG Electronics 1.6% and Acer 1.2%.Taiwan-based ODMs and OEMs will ship 15.1 million tablets in the quarter, with Foxconn Electronics to account for 66.8% of shipments, Pegatron 11%, Compal Electronics 10.9%, Quanta Computer 6.8%, Inventec 2.5%, Arima Communications 1.6% and Wistron 0.5%.

A recently published Digitimes Research Special Report notes that combined revenues from Taiwan-based makers' server motherboards, servers, storage and network equipment are expected to grow to NT$558.5 billion (US$17.45 billion) in 2016 and the amount will have a chance to reach NT$600 billion in 2017 as Intel's new Purley-based products will begin shipping in the second quarter of 2017, while demand for datacenter servers will continue to rise.The report, titled "Taiwan server shipment forecast and industry analysis," indicates that 2017 worldwide server shipments are expected to grow 8% on year to reach nearly 12 million units (based on related motherboard shipments) and the volume is expected to reach 12.5 million units in 2017, up 4-5% on year. Since vendors' Purley-based server product shipments are expected to continue rising in both 2018 and 2019, worldwide server shipments will grow another 8% in 2018.For Taiwan-based server suppliers, rising demand from cloud computing industry will boost their shipments by 7.4% on year in 2016. The top-2 vendors in Taiwan Inventec and Wistron (including Wiwynn) will see their combined market share rising from 42.1% in 2015 to 44.7% in 2016 and reach 47.2% in 2017.More information about the report can be found here.

Samsung Display has dominated the global supply of AMOLED panels used in smartphones, but China-based AMOLED makers will begin to challenge Samsung's dominant market status in 2019 as they increase output and China-based smartphone vendors are expected to increase adoption of locally-made panels, according to Digitimes Research.Among China-based smartphone vendors, Coolpad, Xiaomi Technology and ZTE adopted AMOLED panels produced by China-based EverDisplay Optronics (Shanghai), Tianma Micro-electronics and Govisionox Optoelectronics in 2016, Digitimes Research indicated.China-based makers will together ship 2.4 million AMOLED panels in 2016 and shipments will increase to 2.6 million units in 2017, 3.5 million units in 2018 and 4.8 million units in 2019.BOE Technology and Tianma Micro-electronics have been setting up AMOLED production lines, and OLED makers Visionox, EverDispaly and Royole will set up or expand capacity for AMOLED panels. In addition, China-based touch panel maker Truly Opto-Electronics has acquired production equipment from Samsung Display to produce AMOLED panels.

Taiwan-based ODMs and OBMs will together ship 20.158 million LCD monitors in the fourth quarter of 2016, decreasing 2.5% on quarter and 5.3% on year and accounting for 65.2% of the global total, according to Digitimes Research.In terms of screen size, 15- to 17-inch LCD monitors will account for 3.8% of shipments, 18- to 19.5-inch units for 20.0%, 20- to 21.x-inch units for 25.8%, 22- to 26-inch units for 37.4% and 27-inch and above units for 13.0%, Digitimes Research indicated.TPV Technology will rank first accounting for 53.2% of shipments, followed by Qisda with 22.8%, Foxconn Electronics with 15.8% and Wistron with 7.9%.Taiwan-based makers' combined LCD monitor shipments in 2016 will reach 80.836 million units, slipping 0.6% on year and taking up 64.9% of the global total.

The five largest notebook vendors together shipped 10.19 million Windows units equipped with Intel processors in October, decreasing 22% on month, while the three largest Taiwan-based ODMs had combined shipments in the month slipping 12%, according to Digitimes Research.HP ranked first in terms of October notebook shipments, followed by Dell, Lenovo, Acer and Asustek Computer, Digitimes Research indicated. Dell was the only vendor to see sequential growth in shipments. The five vendors' combined shipments in November are expected to grow 15-20% on month.Compal Electronics shipped the most notebooks in October among Taiwan-based ODMs, followed by Quanta Computer and Wistron. Their combined shipments in November will increase over 20% on month.

Looking at today's wide range of technological topics, the Internet of Things (IoT) comes out as the hottest topic among all and is projected to become the rising star in the coming decade. However, in the midst of numerous IoT advocates, many of the proposed initiatives are far too stretched to be feasible. The key underlying issue of this is due to high technological expectations overshadowing practical needs.The IoT megatrend has created a strong momentum for the industry and led numerous businesses to share their own IoT experiences and stories, in the hopes of winning customers with products with outstanding specifications and features. However, in spite of the compelling stories and groundbreaking technologies, taking another look at IoT from a long-term point of view shows that there are still unresolved problems. In other words, a missing piece indeed exists between IoT technology and industry requirements.For the majority of users who have yet to feel the value of IoT, Alex Perng, General Manager of NEXCOM's IoT Business Unit, identifies that the cause of this is due to the old way of thinking that most vendors still adopt. Many have told IoT stories with the intent to increase sales, while not knowing that IoT application is not solely based on a single product, but an amalgamation of sensors, industrial protocol integration, wireless connectivity, cloud computing, data analytics, data visualization and more. All these serve as the basic foundation for developing new service models and applications that can solve user needs and bring true IoT value. Simply making a single outstanding product specification, after all, only demonstrates technological value, not application value.What to Do Next After Connecting IoT is What CountsFurthermore, as the majority of people are intrigued by what IoT can deliver, there are some of those who have higher than usual expectations and proposed a blueprint with a vision far too big to be fully realized in time. Smart city is one example of this. Whereas some other examples focus on a segment of an application, such as in factories where sensors, PLC and network devices are used to collect data that were previously difficult to retrieve, like air quality, temperature and humidity levels. However, with no back-end systems providing data acquisition and analytics, the correlation between the data and respective process parameters could not be identified.Perng expresses that building IoT is not difficult, but users desire answers to questions such as what benefits can be realized and what problems can be solved by connecting to IoT. Answering these questions is where the true value lies. Therefore, to demonstrate the wondrous effect of IoT and bring value to users, solution providers first need to tackle the most daunting problems that users face and analyze critically on how to use network connectivity to connect different end devices for data acquisition. Next, the data must be integrated into the cloud for big data analytics to formulate corresponding management mechanism and solution models.NEXCOM acknowledges that the gateways and PC-based controllers it specializes in reside in the middle layer of the IoT network, which is insufficient to serve as a basis for an overarching solution. Recognizing this, NEXCOM has readjusted its focus to IoT application development, developing a range of open platforms and tools with an emphasis on simplicity and ease of deployment for vertical industries.NEXCOM hopes that businesses across different fields can use these open resources to introduce new types of sensors, embedded systems, network protocols, data acquisition platforms, network visualization tools and cloud services. With NEXCOM gateways and NEXCOM IoT Studio software (network configuration tool) at the center connecting the upper and lower layers, system integrators (SI) from traditional vertical sectors can leverage the open platform environment to integrate new IoT technologies into their existing value chain and create more innovative services and applications that solve customers' problems and create greater value.Speeding IoT Implementations in Verticals with Open PlatformUnder this circumstance, for SIs that previously specialized in end device connectivity in the scope of operational technology (OT), a considerable amount of project time and effort was required individually for each different project scenario of helping manufacturing customers improve operational efficiency. Now, through open source codes from software, system integration from the bottom OT layer to the top layer systems such as MES, ERP and IT can be achieved. In addition, thanks to the interoperability of open source technology, projects in the past that once required custom development can now be flexibly used as solutions for different case scenarios, improving the depth of services.Take a factory control system as an example, solution providers can take advantage of the open platform and quickly acquire the right components needed for deployment, then use industrial IoT gateways to establish network connectivity for traditional PLCs and PC-based controllers. Field data such as cyclone particle density, temperature, humidity and pressure levels can be transmitted to back-end servers over Wi-Fi in real-time. Software analytics tools can then be used to process the data to identify the correlation between environmental parameters and production error rates. This real-time control system model enables customers to adjust parameters and achieve optimal production rates easily without additional training or in-depth knowledge, showing the true value of IoT.IoT needs to integrate sensors, hardware, industrial communication, wireless connectivity, engineering services and cloud to meet application needs.