The LCD monitor market saw average retail pricing fluctuate in May, which is expected to carry over into June. In terms of products launched, Dell has released U, UZ, P, E series high-end, mid-range and entry-level LCD monitors in the Japan market as of June, and 24- and 27-inch U series models featuring DisplayPort/HDMI dual interfaces.According to Digitimes Research, Dell's new product released signal that 24- and 27-inch units are likely to be the two major focal points for Dell's mid-range and high-end units with DisplayPort/HDMI dual interfaces.Dell is also moving away from 19-inch monitors with DisplayPort interface technology and instead is focusing on DVI/D-Sub Only that is also found in 17- and 20-inch monitors, said Digitimes Research.

Looking at the world's fabless IC design sector, there have been various acquisition and business consolidation cases this year. The world's semiconductor industry is undergoing structural change due to the rises of South Korea and Taiwan, and China has also invested a great deal in this field already. Aiming for the global development of Japan's system LSI industry, with support by Development Bank of Japan, Socionext has merged with Fujitsu Semiconductor and Panasonic System LSI business and operates independently. For developing diverse system-on-chip (SoC) solutions, Socionext also appointed Mr. Yasuo Nishiguchi, the former CEO of Kyocera Corporation, to take the leadership. In a recent interview, he explained the company's vision and overall outlook for the SoC market in addition to the development of digital TV applications.Despite its just started operation in March this year, Socionext is a brand new Fabless IC design company with development focus on SoC solutions. Mr. Nishiguchi leads a group of executives and senior managers participating in COMPUTEX 2015. Besides the fabulous designed exhibition booth demonstrating Socionext up-to-date products, Mr. Nishiguchi also visited various customers, suppliers and news media to understand more business potential of Taiwan and explore the future cooperation with Taiwan OEM/ODM customers.In COMPUTEX, due to growing demands for 4K Ultra High Definition TV segment, Socionext has established its focus on applications such as image processing, sound effect, Google TV integration and WiGig wireless data communication solutions with the lowest power consumption on the market. The company's products highlight the All-in-one SoC solutions based on its high performance image processing engines, and are taking a leading step in producing solutions for UHD solutions, HDMI interface and versatile image conversion and transformation technologies as digital TV opportunities from Japan in particular unfold. Mr. Nishiguchi expresses the determination to improve the performance and functionality of digital TV products and services in order to provide new value to people beyond the mainly narrow thinking of cost and size of display panel only. In addition, advances in resolution are progressing from the conventional full HD to 4K and then to 8K in the area of TV broadcasting and web contents. Even audio is no exception, with 22.2 multichannel surround audio scheduled to be adopted in the next generation of broadcasting system.In light of this company's developments in All-in-one SoC series product lines, there is an outstanding conceptual demonstration station taking place in the middle of Socionext's booth for showing the newer generation of image processing engine called "PRO 5" chip. It shows thirty-six 4K quality video streams simultaneously in one 60-inch screen with a powerful interactive user interface control for aiming high end digital signage applications. This is a very impressive live demonstration about the future image processing capability from Socionext R&D works. Meanwhile, there are different innovative product ideas to be presented together with many partners to provide optimum solutions and services to end customers.Mr. Nishiguchi has been working in semiconductor industry for most of his career. Since 1975 he started with Kyocera and now taking the responsibility of Socionext set out for a new startup. His non-stop efforts to pursuit the technology excellence achieves the strengthening of corporate core competence successfully. These strategies also leverage the synergy to maximize customers' value and win the market. Socionext will utilize the same strategy to offer customizable solutions leveraging its engineering expertise in imaging and networking technologies. He also depicted, Taiwan electronics manufacturing service vendors own the superior manufacturing capability with a bunch of hard working engineers and ready react instantly toward the rapidly changing market. Therefore, Mr. Nishiguchi strong presented, to cooperate with Taiwanese companies, will come together to form a competitive edge and have chance to win the market.From the market study and survey, Mr. Nishiguchi discovered more than 60% of TV in Taiwan manufactured by OEM/ODM vendors. About the 4K TV sector, however, how to integrate the smarter ideas and new innovative solutions into digital TV applications will be the next key driving force of market development. This is why Socionext increases the visit to Taiwan and continuous brings the new idea to discuss with Taiwan vendors. With latest technology and rich design resources accumulated over many years, Socionext is able to provide OEM/ODM customers sophisticated solutions to enhance the value of their products.Mr. Nishiguchi ever taught in Doshisha University as a MBA professor. He studied Taiwan ODM/OEM supplier chain and market, he figured the global brands only place orders to Taiwan but never graft their technology or ideas at the same time. But this time, Socionext is willing to transplant the whole ideas including technology and applications to Taiwan including placing manufacturing orders. That means Taiwan will be Socionext's real partner not just a factory. Socionext will head for a bright future with Taiwan. Mr. Nishiguchi emphasized and delivered a strong message to Taiwan: Socionext is not only selling chips to Taiwan but also trying to co-develop products with OEM/ODM vendors through the advanced technology and creative product ideas. Socionext is willing to invest its own company engineering resources and fully support the co-developed projects from quality and cost prospective to meet the market requirements.Mr. Yasuo Nishiguchi, Socionext CEO

We are constantly bombarded with electromagnetic waves of all kinds of radio frequencies (RF), many of them have been encoded with specific information, whether it is a voice, a tone, or various digital data streams. Electronics devices such as wireless router (Access Point), cordless phone, baby monitor and garage gate remote control are all counted on radio frequency wireless technology.Not only home market but also the public service sectors like Electronic Toll Collection (ETC), the system by collecting tolls automatically through accounts of registered car owners without requiring them to stop, are engaged to new emerging RF applications.AMICCOM Electronics Corporation (AMICCOM), founded in November 2005 and listed in Taiwan Over-the-Counter GreTai Securities Market in May 2013, is an expert in RF SoC sector. Peter Chen, product marketing manager, highlighted there are three major product lines divided by different frequency ranges and features. They are 2.4GHz, sub-1GHz and LNB RF chips.In 2.4GHz product line mainly are focus on the applications including wireless mouse deices, wireless earphone and other PC peripherals, wireless toys and baby monitor systems. AMICCOM RF ICs enjoy a very good market share in China market. Taking baby monitor as an example, the benefits of granted FCC and other safety compliance certification help AMICCOM staying the dominant market position in China white box market in Dongguan and Shenzhen area. Once the chips have been designed in the specification, the vendors won't change it because significant time and money investment to get new safety certification again and again.Competition among this frequency range is fierce, and most of the fabless chipmakers are facing pressure to upgrade their wireless technology and product quality, shorten lead time and competitive pricing rates. Hence, AMICCOM is continuing to focus on the complexity of consumer IC designs including the combination of audio and RF IC together.Apart from 2.4GHz tight competition market, low-noise block downconverter (LNB), which is the receiving device mounted on satellite dishes used for satellite TV reception to collect the radio waves from the dish, is a very niche market for satellite communication system. AMICCOM is one of few suppliers who can offer LNB Switch Matrix IC to Taiwan satellite EMS vendors.China government tenders strengthen the growth momentum of RF chipsPC peripheral segment contributes a good chip volume for the company except big profit earnings. The sub-1GHz segment is becoming a cash cow for AMICCOM. This is because several mainstream applications in China city development projects leverage the benefits from RF technologies. Some AMICCOM's cooperated system integrators and partners joined together and successfully won China ETC System government tenders by using AMICCOM RF SoC products. The solution is achieving low power consumption and low voltage drive for battery operation with a very good link budget. There is one most impressive feature which is 4mA Ultra low Rx receiving current. This specification is only one third power consumption of other competitor's products.AMICCOM will continue developing products suited for the growing China market and aim to expand to different region of cities across China. Peter mentioned the new development of design-in phase toward China smart grid tender competition. This solution is aiming automatic meter reading, which is a technology of automatically collecting consumption, diagnostic, and status data from energy metering devices such as gas or electricity and transferring that data to a central database for billing. It will be a new potential business opportunity for the next 12 months.Other upcoming and booming applications are automotive electronics solutions using RF technologies. Peter presented themselves as an RF IC provider and designed a series of RF IC chips aiming automotive market, especially car alarm system in automotive aftermarket sector. He highlighted there are third party developers have already built solutions using AMICCOM technology for this application. For example, the multifunction RF control to find the parking location of the car and equip with features of pre-starting up the engine. This design is specially fitting the requirement in the winter time of Russia area.In Eurpoe, the remote sensing and control system for the seat heating pads are one of the applications to be used in the automobile aftermarket. It is also a good potential for other areas. AMICCOM is seeking more versatile applications in automotive aftermarket using RF technology.ESL system drives new emerging solutionsThe physical retail stores have been stressing out about competition from online stores. Retailers tried introduce different electronic technologies to maintain the competence in the market. An electronic shelf label (ESL) system is a good example to display this innovation approach. ESL implemented by retailers enhanced the capability of displaying product pricing on shelves. Typically, the ESL modules are attached to the front edge of retail shelving. These modules use E-paper to show the current product price to the customer.AMICCOM supported this project through 3rd party POS(Point of Sales) system integrators and one Taiwan E-paper supplier. E-paper is currently trending in the ESL market as it provides clear display and supports full graphic imaging. Integrated with AMICCOM RF technology, the wireless communication network has been built and allowed the price display to be automatically updated whenever a product price is changed. Meanwhile, dynamic pricing is helping retailers to fluctuate pricing to match demand, online competition, inventory levels, shelf-life of items, and to create promotions.The demands of automated ESL systems got attention from industry. AMICCOM strength in this field is mainly from RF IC products equipped with higher data transmitting speed and ultra low power consumption and time to market support. These unique capabilities are maintaining very high competitive strength in industry.Effective supply chain, strong partnership and solid RF technology form AMICCOM successful factorsAMICCOM realized that the only product to survive in the market is to improve their core competence in order to design complex IC, which can meet the rapid change in demand. Hence, AMICOMM started to focus on the complexity of new generation SoC ICs.Considering the red ocean competition in low data speed rate and low power segments, the new product roadmap will target more product portfolios toward high data speed and low power solutions aiming both 2.4G and 5.8GHz range. And the 5.8GHz SoC ICs will be ready soon.To create a sustainable competitive advantage, R&D investment is essential. In AMICCOM, half of the employees are R&D engineers, which show their dedication of designing innovative and functional SoC products. The headquarter is located at HsinChu Science Park. And another two FAE offices have been setup at Shenzhen and Shanghai to support customers in China.A fabless RF chipmaker whoever provides total solutions to satisfy the significant needs of clients would be a winner. Effective supply chain management and a strong relationship with suppliers can shorten the distance between development teams and customers. The supply chain network of AMICCOM is complete and solid. The strong relationship with foundries allowed them to fabricate outstanding and sophisticated SoC products that meet international standards. Through solid IC product development and strong presence in China and Taiwan RF market for years, AMICCOM is expecting more cooperation projects in North America and Europe market.

Over the last six months TV supply chains have been talking up Quantum Dot (QD) TVs, stating that many TV vendors aim to release new units in 2015 to compete in the high-end TV segment in conjunction with Ultra HD and OLED. While there have been releases primarily by China-, Japan- and Korea-based vendors, supply chains still have low expectations for 2105 as vendors are still testing the market with various products and have yet to enter the busy TV purchasing season.Shipment estimates for Ultra HD (4K) enhanced-color LCD TVs using QD technology in 2015 are 1.3 million while overall 4K TVs are expected to reach 40 million to represent approximately 20% of global TV shipments. Curved OLED TV shipments are expected to reach 800,00 in 2015. QD TVs without 4K resolution are also on the market but have yet to spike in sales due to the technology being relatively new.LCD TVs based on QD technology, due to comparable color performance compared with OLED TVs but much lower production costs, are expected to be a major driving force of the TV market until 2018 when OLED TVs are completely commercialized, according to the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK) under Taiwan's government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute. For 55-inch units, QD TVs are about 30-35% more expensive than non-QD units whereas OLED TVs are about five times the amount. It will take Korea panel makers roughly three more years to decrease OLED material costs for TV panels in order for the technology to be affordable for mainstream markets, said IEK.However, these industry estimates only seem to point to QD having a competitive edge through 2018, which is also when Digitimes Research expects Korea panel makers to drastically increase yields for OLED TV panels. Taking this into consideration, plus the current lack of explosive growth for QD TV displays, coupled with development from major display makers LG Display and Samsung Display for OLED TV panels, seem to suggest that QD's position in the market is not one that will surpass OLED, but rather will be an alternative solution in the high-end market over the next few years.AUO believes QD technology will be a new focal point for TV vendors in 2015 in addition to new applications for Ultra HD such as HDR. AUO, however, is still in negotiations with customers and expects to begin mass producing the technology in the second half of 2015.Samsung Electronics has also been quoted as saying it believes 4K QD TVs will have a stronger presence in the TV industry over OLED during 2015 as OLED costs remain high, but yet has not expressed confidence in the technology being the next growth driver for TV vendors.Consumers can expect to see a new lineup of TV options in the second half of 2015 ranging from new 4K units, HDR TVs and QD TVs, but unless leading TV vendors Samsung and LG popularize the technology and make it more cost efficient it may only be a preference for consumers rather than the next "big thing" despite its superior viewing quality. Heading into the second half of 2015 will be a major turning point for the TV industry nevertheless as the amount of higher-end TV technologies will increase.

As Samsung Electronics is expected to continue pushing AMOLED panels into mid-range handsets it will continue to decrease orders for touch panels equipped with LCD panels in 2015, which in turn is expected to affect Korea makers' revenues and profits during the year, according to Digitimes Research.Samsung began decreasing orders in 2014 due to this trend and because it saw a slowdown with relevant handset and tablet orders. The company is expected to continue decreasing orders in 2015, with an estimated purchase amount expected to fall to less than KRW2 trillion (US$2 billion), down from about KRW3.5 trillion in 2013 and KRW2.2 trillion in 2014.South Korea makers' total revenues from touch panels purchased from Samsung have already dropped from KRW2.6 trillion in 2013 to KRW1.5 trillion in 2014, and are expected to further decline in 2015, said Digitimes Research.For LCDs equipped with touch panels, Samsung's main suppliers include Iljin Display, ELK (Electro Luminescence Korea), Melfas, SMAC (Smart Mobile Application Company), Synopex and Taeyang Electronics.Samsung meanwhile is focused on its Super AMOLED displays that feature on-cell touch AMOLED (OCTA) technology. Samsung is moving further toward bendable and flexible AMOLED technologies, but IIjin Display is actively pursuing flexible touch applications in order to meet new demand from Samsung, which Digitimes Research believes will give the company a competitive advantage over competitors.

China makers' production capacity for small- to medium-size AMOLED panels is expected to increase 373% in 2017 compared with what it is in 2015 as makers continue to invest in new facilities and capacity expansion, according to Digitimes Research.As of 2014 Taiwan makers held a larger production capacity over China makers but as investments and expanded production at 6G and below facilities continue from China makers, their production capacity will spike 373% to give them the global number two spot behind Korea makers in terms of overall small- to medium-size AMOLED capacity.In Taiwan, AU Optronics (AUO) currently has the strongest position in developing AMOLED panels, and the company has a base in Singapore with some of the latest equipment, giving the company strong yields.In China, BOE is pushing forth investments into small- to medium-size AMOLED panels in addition to OLED TV panels, while China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) will allocate 6G facilities in Wuhan for small- to medium-size LTPS TFT LCD and AMOLED displays.Tianma Microelectronics, Everdisplay (EDO) and GoVisionox (GVO) are also investing in AMOLED facilities, said Digitimes Research. Additionally, Truly Optoelectronics is expected to purchase old 4.5G AMOLED production facilities from Samsung Display, giving the company a total of 10 lines for small-, medium- and large-size AMOLED panels.

Since the first curved-panel LCD monitor model was launched in the second half of 2014, the price gap between curved models and flat-panel ones has narrowed to as low as 18%, and as prices are expected to further drop and additional vendors will join the market in the second half of 2015, global demand for curved-panel LCD monitors will take off in the year, according to Digitimes Research.Vendors are eyeing the technology due to its aesthetics in addition to the benefits the new technology has for entertainment such as gaming. Additionally, due to price reductions curved units are now becoming the standard for newer uits released in the market, with vendors such as Samsung Electronics releasing various units with 21:9 aspect ratio and higher resolutions.Acer recently showcased new 34- and 35-inch curved LCD monitors at Computex 2015 while Asustek Computer displayed new 34-inch technology as they aim to bump up their presence in the large-size, curved monitor market in the second half of 2015, noted Digitimes Research.

The global top-five notebook brand vendors together achieved an on-month shipment growth of 14%, but an on-year drop of 15%, while the top-three ODMs together had 5% on-month growth, but 9% on-year drop, all weaker than Digitimes Research's original forecast.Digitimes Research expects the top-five notebook vendors and the top-three ODMs to continue suffering from weaker-than-expected performance in June.Digitimes Research believes their weak performances in May were mainly because of poor demand for notebooks. Vendors trying to reduce their inventory to welcome the launch of new Windows 10-based notebooks was a minor factor in the decline.Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard (HP) both enjoyed 20-40% on-month shipment growth in May, but still suffered declines compared to the same month a year ago. Acer had an on-year shipment decline over 20% and Asustek over 40% in May, the worst among the top-five brand vendors. However, Dell had a slight shipment growth compared to a year ago.As for the top-three ODMs, Compal Electronics had the best on-month shipment performance in May, but its shipments were weaker than Digitimes Research's original forecast. Wistron's shipments in May dropped around 7% on month, while Quanta Computer had about 5% on-month growth.Compared to a year ago, Quanta's shipments in May were at about the same level, while Compal and Wistron both had declines.

May average retail price for 7W LED light bulbs (equivalent to 40W incandescent ones) in the China market increased 8.6% on month to CNY39 (US$6.3), while that for 9W models (equivalent to 60W incandescent ones) rose 3.4% to CNY39.4, according to Digitimes Research.Average retail prices for 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED light bulbs in the Japan market in May stood at JPY1,760 (US$14.0) and JPY2,839 respectively, with the former growing 2.3% on month and the latter falling 0.5%, Digitimes Research indicated.May average retail prices for 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED light bulbs in other markets were: KRW9,830 (US$8.9, down 2.4% on month) and KRW14,186 (up 0.4%) in South Korea; US$19.7 (down 1%) and US$18.4 (down 4.7%) in the US; EUR9.4 (US$10.5, down 5.1%) and EUR14 (down 1.4%) in Europe.Philips 40W-equivalent and 60W-equivalent models for sale in the South Korea market had the highest average lumen-price ratios of 97.2lm/US$ and 117.6lm/US$ respectively in May. In terms of luminous efficiency, Toshiba 40W- and 60-equivalent LED light bulbs available in the Japan market had the highest average levels of 81.3lm/W and 105.1lm/W respectively.

Acquiring Broadcom will enable Avago Technologies to beat fellow fabless chip companies MediaTek and AMD, and become the world's second-largest fabless IC supplier in terms of revenues, according to Digitimes Research.With the acquisition, Avago will be able to enhance its product line and target a wide range of market sectors including front-end servers and data centers, mobile devices and wearable products, said Digitimes Research. Besides, with a strengthened product portfolio, Avago is ready to seize opportunities in the Internet of Things (IoT) sector.Avago specializes in the development of radio-frequency components and power amplifiers for use mainly in smartphones. Avago entered the storage chip market by acquiring LSI in 2014. With the upcoming acquisition of Broadcom, Avago expanded further its offerings to include wire and wireless chips, Digitimes Research observed.Avago recently announced the company will pay US$17 billion in cash and US$20 billion in stock to acquire Broadcom. The acquisition is expected to complete by the end of the first quarter, 2016.The acquisition will also make a positive contribution to Avago's customer portfolio by being a major supplier of Samsung Electronics and Apple, Digitimes Research believes.