The South Korea government has been actively promoting development of the 3D printing industry, aiming to hike South Korea's 3D printing patents as a percentage of those around the world to 20% and to develop five global leading companies for a global market share of 15% by 2020, according to Digitimes Research.The South Korea government has said that it aims to cultivate talent for as many as 10 million in the 3D printing industry, which means roughly 20% of the nation's population, showing that it stresses South Korea will be a major hub for developing the technology.The government is also establishing 3D printing R&D centers and will focus on 3D printing usage, support, development and combined technology, added Digitimes Research.

Taiwan-based makers together shipped 53.13 million smartphone touch panels in the second quarter of 2014, growing 5.9% on quarter mainly due to increased demand from Microsoft Mobile, HTC, Asustek Computer and China-based smartphone vendors, according to Digitimes Research.The makers also shipped 10.34 million tablet touch panels and 1.88 million notebook touch panels, dropping 4.4% and 6.3% on quarter, respectively.Looking ahead the makers expect most of their growth to come from China-based smartphone vendors, with Wintek expected to see steady orders from Xiaomi. TPK will also see steady orders from China-based smartphone vendors as well. Digitimes Research estimates that Taiwan makers' handset touch panel shipments will grow 6.2% in the third quarter and 9.2% in the fourth quarter.In terms of touch panels for tablet applications, Taiwan makers will see shipments grow 22% and 33.7% sequentially in the third and fourth quarters respectively largely due to orders from Apple, Amazon and Google. Taiwan makers' shipments of touch notebook panels meanwhile will grow 53.5% on quarter in the third quarter due to a number of new 12-inch notebook/tablet products released but will then drop 14% in the fourth quarter, added Digitimes Research.

Smartphones shipped in the China market during the second quarter of 2014 increased on quarter by 4.8% and on year by 4.4%, according to Digitimes Research.The shipment growth was disappointing as demand for 4G units was generally sluggish, hampered by delays in launches of 4G processors and a limited number of price-friendly 4G handset models in the market, Digitimes Research explained in a recent Tracker report.Xiaomi saw steady shipments for its entry-level and mid-range units as did Coolpad, with both vendors reaching their shipment goals of roughly 10 million units during the second quarter.The China market shipments will rise to 100 million units in the third quarter and 112.2 million units in the fourth as many China-based vendors will launch new 4G models, added Digitimes Research.

Countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had a total of 700 million mobile handset users and 20 million fixed-line broadband users in 2013, and compound annual growth rates (CAGR) for handset users and fixed-line broadband users from 2003-2013 were 24% and 40%, respectively, higher than the average growth of global users, according to Digitimes Research's finding.Although the number of mobile handset users in ASEAN countries accounted for 11% of the total number of worldwide users, related revenues only accounted for 4% because 93% of ASEAN users are using prepaid services and 75% of the users only had average revenues per user (ARPU) of less than US$5.However, as ASEAN economies grow, with imports and exports reaching US$2.4 trillion in 2013 to hold a 6% global share, and populations reaching an approximate 624 million, telecom providers are omptimistic about potential business opportunities that lie ahead.There will be challenges telecom and fixed-line broadband operations face developing in ASEAN economies due to political factors as well as disperse of populations throughout island communities. However, the economies are quickening their schedule for issuing next-generation WiMAX and LTE licensing and commercialization, and countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia have already begun developments of 4G service, added Digitimes Research.

Taiwan panel makers' shipments of small- to medium-size panels are expected to reach 397 million units in the third quarter of 2014, up 13% on year, driven primarily by orders from handset vendors, according to Digitimes Research.China handset vendors in particular will increase orders due to expected demand for 4G units in the China market. Xiaomi is expected to show the most obvious signs of order increases in order to meet demand for mid-range units. China handset vendors orders to Taiwan makers will grow 5% on year in the third quarter.In terms of tablet panels, Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) has received orders from new customers and is expected to see 17.5% growth. AU Optronics (AUO) will see steady orders from Xiaomi, with shipments to Xiaomi expected to increase 40% in the third quarter.Shipments of displays for vehicle and PND applications meanwhile are expected to grow 15.6% and 11.2% respectively in the third quarter while shipments for panels used in portable DVD players will grow 9.3%.Going into the fourth quarter of 2014, Taiwan makers' shipments are expected to drop 7.2% on quarter but remain flat on year at 368 million units, added Digitimes Research.

Japan-based vendors including Panasonic have launched HEMS (home energy management systems) but sales have faced two main problems: appliances offered by different vendors are not inter-compatible and real estate developers are leading the development of smart housing, according to Digitimes Research.Smart houses in the Japan market consist of PV systems, battery systems for power storage and HEMS-supporting appliances, Digitimes Research indicated. HEMS allows energy use to be monitored and optimized in the home via PCs, smartphones or tablets, and therefore plays a key role in smart housing.Since there is no specific definition of equipment for smart houses, the adoption of HEMS-supporting appliances hinges on the attitudes of the smart house developers to large extent.

China-based vendors shipped 101.7 million smartphones in the second quarter of 2014, increasing 24.6% on quarter, according to Digitimes Research.Xiaomi Technology, Huawei Device and Coolpad were the three largest vendors shipping 14.8 million, 13.5 million and 10.1 million units respectively, Digitimes Research indicated.Of the shipments, 37.8 million units were shipped in overseas markets, rising by 10.2 million units on quarter. TCL Communication Technology, Huawei and ZTE were the three largest vendors overseas.As many vendors have put off launching 4G smartphones from the second quarter to the third, large demand for smartphones in the China market is expected in the second half of 2014.In addition to TCL and ZTE, Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo have been enhancing overseas marketing, and overseas markets may account for 40% of China-based vendors' total smartphone shipments in the second half of 2014.China-based vendors will ship 412 million smartphones in 2014, growing 30.5% on year.

Taiwan-based makers together shipped 351.4 million small- to medium-size TFT-LCD panels in the second quarter of 2014, increasing 16.8% sequentially but decreasing 2.8% on year, according to Digitimes Research.In particular, shipments of panels for handsets rose 17.9% sequentially and took up 75.3% of total shipments, up 0.7ppt from the previous quarter, Digitimes Research indicated. Shipments of car-use panels also grew on quarter due to increased orders from Japan-based automakers.LTPS panels accounted for 11.5% of total shipments, up 0.5ppt on quarter.As Taiwan-based makers have modified large-size panel manufacturing equipment for producing small- to medium-size applications and have not added LTPS production capacities, they may face issues in making in mid-range and high-end panels.

There were 103 million smartphone APs (application processors) shipped in the China market in the second quarter of 2014, increasing 13.2% on quarter and 11.5% on year, according to Digitimes Research.Taiwan-based MediaTek was the largest IC design house accounting for 52.4% of the shipments, followed by Qualcomm with 21.4%, Spreadtrum Communications 9.7%, HiSilicon Technologies 5.3%, Marvell 4.4%, Leadcore Technology 2.9% and Nvidia 2.4%, Digitimes Research indicated.MediaTek and Qualcomm saw second-quarter shipments rise 8% and 18.9% sequentially, while Spreadtrum saw a drop of 4.8%.In terms of core architecture, Cortex-A7 accounted for 63% of shipments, Cortex-A9 for 17.5% and Cortex-A5 10%.

Ability Enterprise, Altek, Foxconn Electronics and Asia Optical together shipped 3.78 million digital cameras in the second quarter of 2014, hiking 43.3% on quarter, according to Digitimes Research.Ability was the largest ODM accounting for over 70% of the shipments,Digitimes Research's latest quarterly report on DSC shipments indicated. Of Ability's second-quarter shipments, 29.4% went to Sony.Among Taiwan-based ODMs' clients, orders from Samsung Electronics grew the largest on quarter, followed by Sony and Panasonic.Global digital camera shipments in 2014 are likely to drop on year by 24% and Taiwan-based ODMs' total shipments may slip by 34%.