Monitors sized 28-inch were an increasingly larger focus for monitor vendors throughout 2014, with Samsung Electronics, IIYAMA, Lenovo and Acer at the forefront. Many of the units released were equipped with Ultra HD panels and twisted nematic (TN) technology, according to Digitimes Research.

In order to meet fast growing demand for TD-LTE, China Mobile is likely to kick off commercial deployment of Nanocell networks in the second half of 2015, according to Digitimes Research.

Qualcomm's top-notch product in 2015, the Snapdragon 810, has been rumored to have defects and see unstable mass production with some media even speculating that volume production for the application processor (AP) would not start until the second quarter of 2015...

Global tablet shipments are estimated to drop 11.8% on year to reach 244 million units in 2015 as demand for high-end and entry-level tablets has both become saturated, while large-size smartphones and inexpensive notebooks are gradually taking demand away from the device, according to Digitimes Research's latest Special Report about the tablet industry.

Epistar has invested NT$825 million (US$25.94 million) to merge with TSMC Solid State Lighting (SSL), helping to enhance Epistar's capability in the lighting industry. Before the decision was made, many companies such as SemiLEDs and Advanced Optoelectronic Technology (AOT) had also been talking to TSMC SSL about merger.

The production value of Taiwan's IC design industry reached NT$541.9 billion (US$16.98 billion) in 2014, representing an on-year growth of 14.8%, higher than the 11.7% growth recorded a year earlier, according to Digitimes Research.

Following developments to push Ultra HD TVs in the market vendors have begun to promote curved units as well and aim to push the technology throughout 2015-2016. However, due to higher panel costs, limited market prospects and higher retail pricing, shipments during the time period will be limited, with only about 2.8-3 million curved LCD TV panels shipped in 2015, according to Digitimes Research.

Panasonic is showcasing an Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc player (BDP) prototype at CES 2014 and is the only exhibitor with such a device at the show. Digitimes Research believes Ultra HD BDPs will wait at least until the end of 2015 before hitting store shelves, but demand may pick up in 2016.

December average retail price for 7W LED light bulbs (equivalent to 40W incandescent ones) in the China market decreased by 8.7% on month to CNY35.7 (US$5.8), while that for 9W models (equivalent to 60W incandescent ones) decreased by 9.1% to CNY37.1, according to Digitimes Research.

Observing major LCD TV brand vendors' strategies for 2015, Google's Android TV has become the official platform for Sony's and Sharp's smart TVs, but vendors such as Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Panasonic are still resisting Android, and bent on using their in-house developed platforms to carve out their own territories in the market.