The production value of Taiwan's IC design industry is forecast to rise 14.3% sequentially to NT$140.07 billion (US$4.58 billion) in the second quarter of 2015, buoyed mainly by a seasonal pick-up in shipments for smartphones, according to Digitimes Research.

Shipments of smartphones in China totaled 83.6 million units in the first quarter of 2015, decreasing 20 million units or 17.5% sequentially from the previous month, according to Digitimes Research.

Taiwan makers' shipments of small- to medium-size panels dropped 19.1% on quarter in the first quarter of 2015 to 288 million units and are expected to grow 12.7% on quarter in the second quarter, according to Digitimes Research.

Shipments of smartphone-use application processors in China are expected to reach 122 million units in the second quarter of 2015, up 17.6% sequentially and 18.4% on year, according to Digitimes Research.

Global notebook shipments are expected to stage a rebound in the second quarter of 2015, reaching a sequential growth rate of 11%, while narrowing the on-year decline rate to 1.2% compared to a 4.7% recorded in a quarter earlier, according to Digitimes Research.

Taiwan-based ODMs shipped 18.799 million LCD monitors worth US$2.155 billion in the first quarter of 2015, with the shipment volume dropping 15.5% on quarter and 6.5% on year. Shipment value slipped 13.8% and 1.2% respectively, according to Digitimes Research.

HTC and Taiwan-based ODMs together shipped 17.6 million handsets in the first quarter of 2015, decreasing 30.3% on quarter but increasing 8.4% on year. 16.1 million units were smartphones, slipping 26.3% on quarter but rising 21.7% on year, according to Digitimes Research.

According to research conducted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Bureau of Energy, power consumed by motor equipment and applications account for over 50% of overall electrical power consumption. In addition, industrial motor equipment and applications account for over 70% of industrial electrical power consumption...

Taiwan makers' shipments of large-size (9-inch and above) TFT LCD products are expected to reach 63.19 million in the second quarter of 2015, up 5% sequentially but down 3.3% on year, according to Digitimes Research.

In 2014, there were only two Japan-based companies – Toshiba and Renesas – among the top-10 semiconductor suppliers. Assuming the NXP/Freescale merger is completed later in 2015, IC Insights has forecast that Toshiba will be the lone Japan-based company left in the top-10 ranking.