Google's Nexus 6P, Sony Mobile Communications' Xperia Z5 series products and a number of feature phones highlighted the product presentation for the winter-spring session held by Japan-based telecom operators recently, according to Digitimes Research.The Xperia Z5 is a common model presented by the top three telecom operators as the hardware specifications, display size and price of the model cater for the need of most potential users. Meanwhile, NTT DoCoMo also launched the Xperia Z5 Compact and Z5 Premium for different segments.Softbank strengthened its cooperation with Google by presenting the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X and offered subscribers trial use of Google Play Music free of charge for 90 days.In terms of services, DoCoMo began to offer high speed Premium 4G service, optimizing LTE-Advanced technology to ramp up the transmission speed to 300Mb/s from the previous 262Mb/s. It also offers VoLTE voice service for international roaming.Meanwhile, Softbank launched three Android-based feature phones, including Sharp's Kantan Keitai 9 and Kyocera's Digno Keitai, all supporting LINE. On other hand, DoCoMo launched i Mode-based feature phone the P-01H, replacing outdated Android-based models, Digitimes Research noted.

Korea panel makers are increasing developments for glasses-free 3D displays primarily aimed at the commerical segment, according to Digitimes Research.The makers will focus on high-resolution, large-size and muli-touch 3D LCDs using lenticular lens and parallax barrier technologies.R&D for these applications has been under way but is set to strengthen in 2016 as supply chain makers increase yields for related component production.Most of the components that are seeing increased yields include parallax barrier, electro-wetting and spatial light modulator applications, added Digitimes Research.

Heading into 2016, China-based panel maker BOE will continue to focus on production of 5-inch HD panels while fellow maker Tianma Optoelectronics will focus on producing Full HD TFT LCD panels, according to Digitimes Research. These trends are on par with developments in 2015.The top-nine smartphone vendors in China will increase their orders to Tianma in 2016 for high-end panels and mid-range panels to BOE. For entry-level units, China-based vendors will look to Taiwan.Orders for WVGA displays are on the decline in China while higher-end applications are rising. Additionally, many China vendors are designing entry-level smartphones to save on costs.In 2016, 28.2% of BOE's smartphone display orders will go to Samsung Electronics, 16.5% to Huawei Device and 12.4% to Lenovo. For Tianma, 21.7% of its smartphone display orders will go to Huawei and 31.9% to Oppo and Vivo, said Digitimes Research.

The production value of memory chips, including DRAM and NAND flash devices, in Korea hit a new high of KRW13.92 trillion (US$11.8 billion) in the third quarter of 2015, compared to the previous high of KRW13.17 trillion reached in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to Digitimes Research.The launch of new flagship smartphones by vendors and increased DRAM capacity on individual handsets helped drive shipment growth at the memory sector in Korea, Digitimes Research said.Sales of memory products at Samsung Electronics totaled KRW9.14 trillion in the third quarter, increasing 7.7% on quarter and 15.3% on year. The figures were also the company's highest quarterly sales for memory chips.Meanwhile, SK Hynix posted consolidated revenues of KRW4.93 trillion for the third quarter, up 6% sequentially and 14% on year. DRAM and NAND flash bit shipments at SK Hynix rose 11% and 15%, respectively, in the third quarter as compared to a quarter earlier.For the fourth quarter of 2015, Korea's production value of memory chips is likely to edge down 1% or stay flat as compared to the previous quarter as ASPs of DRAM products are expected to continue to drop in the quarter although the pace of the decline will be rather mild, Digitimes Research estimated.

Sony's planned acquisition of Toshiba's CMOS sensor manufacturing plant in Oita, southern Japan will not only help solve its tight sensor production in the near term but also push it into other sectors such as the automobile industry, according to Digitimes Research.The two companies are able to reach the deal due to their long-term partnership in the semiconductor industry, similar corporate cultures, the benefit of proximity and reasonable acquisition cost of about JPY 20 billion (US$162.68million), said Digitimes Research.Toshiba's Oita plant has a production capacity of 15,000 units of 12-inch wafers a month and also has expertise in manufacturing chips for automobile applications.The acquisition will also help Sony further solidify its dominant position in the CMOS image sensor sector. Sony currently controls over 40% of the global CMOS image sensor market.Global demand for CMOS image sensors and other related sensors is expected to reach 10 billion units in 2025 and probably 100 billion in 2035, Sony has estimated.

The global top-five notebook brand vendors and top-three notebook ODMs saw their combined shipments drop 32% and 27%, respectively in October. Although preparations for the year-end holidays greatly boosted shipments in September, shipment volumes returned conservative in October since demand from the end market has not seen any major improvements.Among the top-five brand vendors, Asustek Computer was the only one with on-month growth, while Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Lenovo (not including NEC) both had on-month shipment drops of over 40%. HP was still the largest notebook vendor in the month, according to Digitimes Research's latest report on notebook shipments.Dell's shipments dropped slightly in the month.Compal's shipments slipped significantly because its orders from HP and Lenovo both dropped. Wistron also saw its shipments drop 25% from a month ago. Quanta's shipment did not drop as much as its fellow competitors thanks to Apple's orders.The top-three ODMs together had an 11% on-year drop in October shipments.

Global shipments of large-size TFT LCD panels is expected to decrease 5.6% on year in 2015 due to a slowdown in orders for PC and tablet applications, according to Digitimes Research.A total of 157.9 million square meters of large-size TFT LCD panel surface will be shipped in 2015, up 4.3% on year. The increase is slightly lower than the 5.1% on-year increase in large-size LCD panel production expansion throughout 2015.Heading into 2016, global shipments will decline another 1.7% due to overall declines for LCD TV, notebook, monitor and 9-inch and above size tablet panels. Digital signage will be the only segment to see on-year growth in the year.However, panel surface shipped will increase 4.1% on year but will also fall short at the rate of panel capacity expansion, which means that panel makers will have to adjust their production strategies accordingly, said Digitimes Research.

China-based panel maker Tianma Optoelectronics is expected to ship 10 million high-end smartphone panels in the fourth quarter of 2016 as it ramps new capacity for high-end LTPS TFT LCD displays throughout the year, according to Digitimes Research.The company is ramping up capacity at its 6G LTPS TFT LCD fab in Xiamen, China in addition to 6G facilities in Chengdu, China, both of which will unfold in late 2016 and mass produce high-end displays such as LTPS TFT LCD.Fellow maker BOE meanwhile wil have the largest capacity for handset panels in 2016, reaching 90 million in shipments alone in the third quarter of 2016.Additionally, China-based Kunshan Govisionox Optoelectronics has a 5.5G line and Truly (Huizhou) Smart Display a 4.5G line that will mass produce AMOLED smartphone panels in the third quarter of 2016.Digitimes Research also noted that CNY800 (US$125) mid-range smartphones with Full HD panels are becoming more widely used in China, with displays coming from local suppliers, while CNY400 entry-level smartphones with HD displays are also strengthening.By the end of 2016, Full HD handset panel pricing from China is expected to drop to US$12, down 23.1% on year while HD panel pricing will drop to US$6, down 25.6% on year, and WVGA panels US$2.30, down 17.9% on year, according to Digitimes Research.

Digitimes Research estimates that China's tablet AP shipments will reach 24.3 million units, staying flat from a quarter ago and down 29.6% on year, as related chip makers are not able to further cut their costs or achieve breakthroughs in product design and therefore, are seeing demand weakening.MediaTek's orders from Amazon and Best Buy for the third quarter will not last into the fourth quarter and the chipmaker will see a sharp drop in shipments in the fourth quarter, with the share in China's overall tablet AP shipments dropping to 20.6%.Intel is gradually replacing its previous-generation Bay Trail platform with Cherry Trail for the high-end segment, and the inexpensive SoFIA for the entry-level segment for the fourth quarter. However, Intel will still see an obvious decline in related shipments because the CPU giant has dramatically cut its subsidies on the APs.Starting the fourth quarter, Digitimes Research will count Rockchip and Spreadtrum's SoFIA-based AP shipments as Intel's volume. Since SoFIA's shipments are not large enough to cover the gap created by Bay Trail's absence, Intel's share in China's overall tablet AP shipments will slide to 18.7% in the fourth quarter.Rockchip will continue to ship ARM-based APs in the fourth quarter, but its SoFIA-based AP shipments will be the main growth driver for the chipmaker's fourth-quarter shipments.Although Intel's tablet AP shipments in China will slump in the fourth quarter, the company will still be the second-largest supplier, while Rockchip will beat Allwinner by 2pp in market share and stayed third.Qualcomm's partnership with Allwinner is expected to help slightly increase the adoption of Qualcomm's solutions in China; however, despite having an advantage in baseband solutions, Qualcomm's high costs are putting the company at a disadvantage to account for a large market share.

There will be 58.7 million tablets, including 2-in-1 and screen-detachable hybrid models, shipped globally in the fourth quarter of 2015, increasing 15.9% on quarter but decreasing 22.6% on year.Shipments will consist of 14 million iPads, 24.5 million non-iPads and 20.2 million white-box units, according to Digitimes Research.Apple will account for 23.9% of shipments, followed by Samsung Electronics 14.5%, Lenovo 5.3%, Amazon 4.8%, Asustek Computer 3%, Microsoft 2.3%, TCL 2.2%, Huawei Device 2%, LG Electronics 2% and Acer 1.3%, Digitimes Research indicated.Of 38.5 million tablets to be shipped by international vendors (except white-box) in the fourth quarter, 30.3% will be 7-inch models, 18.3% 7.9-inch, 5.3% 8.x-inch, 26.2% 9.x-inch, 10.6% 10.x-inch and 9.2% 11-inch and above. Android, iOS and Windows models will respectively take up 56.8%, 36.4% and 6.9% of the shipments.Taiwan-based ODMs/OEMs will ship 20.5 million tablets to international vendors, with Foxconn Electronics to account for 59.8% of shipments, Compal Electronics 18.3%, Pegatron 10.6%, Quanta Computer 6.0% and Wistron 1.1%.