With demand for all-in-one PCs from the consumer sector continuing dropping, Digitimes Research estimates shipments decreased 4.8% on year to reach around 12 million units in 2016, and the volume in 2017 is expected to stay flat.
First-tier China-based touch panel makers, in view of decreased orders for projected capacitive touch solutions (out-cell) used in smartphones due to increasing adoption of in-cell and on-cell touch solutions, have extended production to full bonding of TFT-LCD display panels and touch modules, cover glass, fingerprint recognition modules, iris recognition modules, industrial and automotive...
AT&T has launched DirectTV Now, the third virtual pay-TV platform in the US market, at a minimum monthly charge rate of US$35, lower than competitors', for more than 100 live channels.
MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) services have seen fast growing demand in Japan mainly due to the government asking mobile telecom carriers to unlock SIM cards and stop offering zero-price smartphones bundled with 2-year contracts in a bid to enliven the market. However, MVNOs are likely to be under pressure from mergers due to price-cut competition, according to Digitimes Research.
pureLiFi, a developer of Li-Fi a wireless communication technology based on visible light communication, has improved data transfer rates from 5Mbps originally to 10Mbps and further to 40Mbps, making Li-Fi a technological complement to Wi-Fi, according to Digitimes Research.
There were 112.3 million smartphones shipped in the China market during the third quarter of 2016, increasing 5.2% on quarter and 5.8% on year and accounting for 30.9% of the global total. International vendors shipped 17.1 million units, accounting for 15.2% of the shipments and decreasing 2.8% on quarter and 36.7% on year, according to Digitimes Research.
The worldwide top-5 notebook brand vendors' combined shipments grew 8% on month in November, while the top-3 ODMs' notebook shipments increased 10% thanks to rising sales from North America during Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions. Demand for Apple's new MacBook products has also been rising and contributed to the top-3 ODMs' combined shipments.
Global demand for gaming hardware, software and services is projected at a CAGR of 6.6% from US$99.6 billion in 2016 to US$118.6 billion in 2019 and because gaming notebooks, desktops, monitors and even keyboards and mice are offering visual effects, makers of LED devices are expected to benefit from the growing demand, according to Digitimes Research.
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.
