The production value of South Korea's memory chip industry is expected to increase about 5% sequentially in the second quarter of 2016, according Digitimes Research. Demand for smartphones and other mobile devices is picking up, but chip prices continue to fall.

Combined shipments of Wintel-based notebooks (excluding detachable models) from the top-five Wintel notebook vendors: Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asustek Computer and Acer declined 39% on month and 1% on year to 7.38 million units in April, according to data compiledby Digitimes Research.

Wi-SUN (wireless smart utility network), the Japan-developed wireless communication technology used in management of connected home appliances, has been popularly in the Japan market due to low power consumption, long-distance communications and high physical penetrability. But there are problems internationalizing Wi-SUN, according to Digitimes Research.

Shipments of smartphones by Taiwan-based handset brands and ODMs are expected to reach 12.6 million units in the second quarter of 2016, down 9.7% sequentially and 42.9% on year, Digitimes Research has estimated.

Governments around the world entered into a global climate deal at the recent Paris climate summit and therefore are enforcing related measures. Amid the growing trend, the top priority is how to improve buildings that are generally considered the most energy consuming...

Combined revenues of Korea's major LCD driver IC vendors reached a record high of KRW419.4 billion (US$353.97 million) in 2015, with Silicon Works, a subsidiary of LG Electronics, accounting for 96% of total revenues, according to data compiled by Digitimes Research.

Combined revenues of Taiwan's major foundries: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), United Microelectronics (UMC) and Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) are forecast to reach US$8.02 billion in the second quarter of 2016, up 8.4% on quarter but down 0.9% on year, according to Digitimes Research.

Having digested their excessive inventory, smartphone vendors have stepped up the pace of placing chip orders in the second quarter of 2016, according to Digitimes Research. Smartphone vendors are also gearing up for the upcoming roll-outs of their new models.

Taiwan-based TFT-LCD panel makers AU Optronics (AUO), Innolux, Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) and HannStar Display will together ship 52.647 million large-size (above 9-inch) panels in the second quarter of 2016, increasing 6.5% on quarter but decreasing 9.1% on year and accounting for 32.9% of global total, according to Digitimes Research.

The production value of Taiwan's IC design industry is expected to increase 7.4% on year to NT$570.75 billion (US$17.4 billion) in 2016, according to Digitimes Research.