Shipments of smartphone-use application processors in China slid 4.2% sequentially but grew 10.8% on year in the first quarter of 2014, according to Digitimes Research.MediaTek's shipments of smartphone APs began to slow down in the fourth quarter of 2013 and continued to drop 6.1% sequentially in the first quarter of 2014, affected by its policy to focus more on mid-range to high-end models as well as by a lack of a comprehensive portfolio of its LTE parts, Digitimes Research said in its latest report.China-based Spreadtrum Communications also saw its smartphone AP shipments decline 16.7% sequentially in the first quarter of 2014 despite an influx of short lead-time orders received in the previous quarter. Spreadtrum's prospects for 2014 are not optimistic as it lacks competitiveness in the single-core TD sector and is also unable to improve its product portfolio in the short term.Qualcomm's QRD (Qualcomm reference design) solutions for entry-level and mid-range smartphones were still unpopular, causing a decline of its client base. Although Qualcomm has started promoting solutions for other platforms such as Windows Phone and Firefox OS, it will take time to see significant results. However, Qualcomm's shipments of related LTE products have begun to gain momentum, buoyed by highly integration of the chips. HiSilicon Technologies and Nvidia managed to keep their shipment momentum in the first quarter but their shipments were down slightly from the previous quarter due to seasonal factors, Digitimes Research said.

Taiwan-based ODMs shipped 2.367 million digital cameras in the first quarter of 2014, decreasing by 30.4% on quarter and by 58.6% on year, according to Digitimes Research.Ability Enterprise accounted for 71.7% of the shipments, Altek for 25.3%, Asia Optical for 1.7% and Foxconn for 1.3%, Digitimes Research indicated in its latest quarterly report on Taiwan makers' DSC shipments.Nikon was the largest client accounting for 46.3% of the shipments, followed by Fujifilm with 12.6%

Shipments of smartphones by China-based vendors are expected to advance 21.3% sequentially to 97.4 million units in the second quarter of 2014, buoyed by the release of entry-level 4G LTE models, according to Digitimes Research.In the first quarter of 2014, total smartphone shipments by China-based vendors declined 9% as compared to the previous quarter, Digitimes Research said.Buoyed by strong sales of its Red Rice smartphones and online sales through China's top-three telecom operators, Xiaomi Technology managed to ramp up its quarterly shipments to over 10 million units, for the first time, and took the number one vendor ranking in the quarter.Coolpad and K-Touch saw their shipments increase 17.5% and 36.4%, respectively, in the first quarter, led by the roll-outs of TD-LTE models, said Digitimes Research.Most other vendors posted sequential shipment declines ranging from 10-30% as sales of 3G models have lost momentum, while sales to overseas markets also subdued slightly.Overseas shipments of smartphones by China makers are likely to maintain at 28 million units in the second quarter, but brand vendors and large-size handset design houses will continue to ramp up the ratios to total overseas shipments due to higher production scales and better supply-chain management, said Digitimes Research.

The production value of Taiwan's IC design industry totaled NT$119.52 billion (US$3.96 billion) in the first quarter of 2014, down 4% sequentially but up 19.7% from a year earlier, according to Digitimes Research.The production value trended up month on month throughout the the first quarter of 2014 and surged over 15% sequentially to hit a 15-month high of NT$44.29 billion in March, which indicates the industry has been able to keep its growth momentum, said Digitimes Research.By product category, consumer IC vendors were most affected by seasonality in the first quarter with their combined sales suffering a setback of 13.3% as compared to the previous quarter.Analog IC suppliers managed to ramp up their sales by 0.5% sequentially in the first quarter, while vendors of niche memory chips and IC design service houses saw their sales drop at a rate below the industry's 4% decline.Strong growth posted by the leading IC design houses, including those supplying analog ICs, niche memory chips and handset solutions, helped the industry curtail the adverse impacts of off-peak season effects.Consequently, the ratio of the production value of the top-10 IC design houses to the industry's total value climbed to 70.1% in the first quarter of 2014 compared to 64.9% a year earlier, indicating a continual concentration of Taiwan's IC design industry, Digitimes Research has found.

Taiwan panel makers' shipments of small- to medium-size panels reached 301 million in the first quarter of 2014, down 18.3% on quarter and down 13.9% on year, according to Digitimes Research.The makers' handset panel shipments dropped 25.4%, causing the overall shipment proportion of small- to medium-size panels to drop to 72.6%.The makers' tablet, vehicle, portable DVD, and digital camera display shipments meanwhile increased largely due to increased orders from Japan- and China-based customers. Taiwan makers also increased their shipment proportion of entry-level to mid-range tablet panels.The two largest small- to medium-size TFT LCD makers in Taiwan saw their shipment proportion in terms of overall makers' shipments in the segment drop from 56.2% to 53.7% in the first quarter, added Digitimes Research.

There will be 61.42 million tablets shipped globally in the second quarter of 2014, increasing 4.9% on quarter and 30.9% on year, according to Digitimes Research.The shipments will consist of 13.5 million iPads, 24.62 million non-Apple tablets and 23.3 million white-box units, Digitimes Research indicated.Apple will be the largest vendor accounting for 22% of second-quarter shipments, followed by Samsung Electronics with 20%, Asustek Computer 6.3%, Lenovo 6.1% and Acer 1.7%. Android models will account for 58.9% of branded tablet shipments, iOS 35.4% and Windows 5.7%. In terms of screen size, 7-inch models will take up 21.7% of the shipments, 7.9-inch 15.4%, 8.0- to 8.9-inch 18.4%, 9.0- to 9.9-inch 20.7%, 10.0- to 10.9-inch 21.7%, and 11-inch and above 2.1%.Taiwan-based ODMs/OEMs will ship 20.6 million units in total for a global branded tablet share of 54.0% during the quarter. Foxconn Electronics will be the largest maker accounting for 48.6% of shipments, followed by Pegatron with 24.9%, Quanta Computer 14%, Compal Electronics 8.1% and Wistron 4.4%.

Taiwan-based handset ODMs and brand vendors are expected to see their combined handset shipments grow over 40% on quarter and also on year to a total of 23.4 million units in the second quarter of 2014, according to Digitimes Research.ODMs, including Arima Communications, Chi Mei Communication Systems (CMCS) and Compal Communications will see their shipments grow 20-35% sequentially each thanks to smartphone orders from Sony Mobile Communications and feature phone orders from Nokia, Digitimes Research said.Brand vendor HTC is expected to double its shipments in the second quarter as compared to the previous quarter, buoyed by strong sales of its new flagship model the HTC One (M8) and the mid-range Desire 816.Overall smartphone shipments from Taiwan makers are likely to grow over 40% sequentially in the second quarter.Additionally, Asustek Computer is expected to ship 650,000 units of its Zenfone smartphones in the second quarter of 2014, making it the fifth largest local handset shipper in Taiwan. But it remains to be seen whether Asustek can maintain its shipment momentum, Digitimes Research commented.

Taiwan panel makers' shipments of large-size (9-inch and above) TFT LCD panels are expected to reach 64.95 million units in the second quarter of 2014, up 4.4% on quarter but down on year, according to Digitimes Research.Taiwan's shipments of TV panels in particular were down in the first quarter due to the off season as well as to China-based TV vendors decreasing reserves. Taiwan makers also reduced 32-inch LCD TV panel production. Heading into the second quarter, however, the makers are seeing demand rise due to China's May 1 holiday period, with Innolux expected to see a 50% sequential rise in Ultra HD TV panels.Digitimes Research said Taiwan makers' on-year decline in the second quarter is expected to come as their shipments of LCD monitor and notebook panels decline.In terms of on-quarter performance in the second quarter, Taiwan makers' shipments of TV, monitor, notebook and tablet applications are expected to rise 8.9%, 3.8%, 1.3% and 5.9% respectively, added Digitimes Research.

Taiwan-based ODMs Ability Enterprise, Altek, Asia Optical and Foxconn Electronics will ship 2.703 million digital cameras in total in the second quarter of 2014, increasing 14.2% on quarter but decreasing 53.5% on year, according to Digitimes Research.Ability Enterprise will account for 73% of the shipments, Altek for 24.3%, Asia Optical for 2% and Foxconn for 0.7%, Digitimes Research indicates in its latetest Taiwan DSC quarterly report.Nikon will be the largest client accounting for 50.7% of the shipments, followed by Casio with 11.2%, Fujifilm with 10.8%, Sony with 10.8%, Samsung Electronics with 9.8%, Panasonic with 2.8% and Olympus with 0.7%.

Taiwan and worldwide notebook shipments dropped 13.8% and 14.2% sequentially, and 6.8% and 5.5% on year, respectively in the first quarter of 2014, according to Digitimes Research's latest figures. The sequential drops were mainly due to seasonality.Although the on-year declines were the slowest compared to those in the past five quarters, whether the notebook market has already started recovering remains to be seen.Hewlett-Packard (HP), Asustek Computer, Apple and Lenovo all achieved on-year growths in their first-quarter notebook shipments with the first three seeing growths of more than 10%, according to the latest quarterly notebook report by Digitimes Research.Acer, Samsung Electronics and Sony suffered on-year shipment declines higher than the market average in the first quarter. Acer has been restructuring its business, while Samsung and Sony have shifted their focuses away from the notebook market.The top-5 notebook ODMs' combined shipment performance was weaker than that of the overall industry. Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry), which landed orders for HP's educational procurement products, became the largest notebook supplier of HP in the first quarter with shipments growing over 100% to reach two million units.