Based on LED epitaxial wafer makers' capacity expansion plans, there will be 252 MOCVD sets shipped globally in 2015, growing 10.5% on year and consisting of 186 sets to be added by China-based makers, 30 by Taiwan-based ones, 19 sets by Japan-based makers and 17 sets by South Korea-based players, according to Digitimes Research.China-based LED wafer makers will account for the largest proportion, 73.8%, of new MOCVD sets in 2015 because the China government will continue to offer subsidies for procuring LED wafer production equipment and China's global market share for LED chips used in low-price LED lighting is on the rise, Digitimes Research indicated. Sanan Optoelectronics, HC SemiTek, Elec-Tech International and Xiamen Changelight, the four largest China-based LED wafer makers, will add 50, 48, 20 and 50 MOCVD sets respectively in 2015.There will be a global stock of 2,937 MOCVD sets in operation or installed by the end of 2015, consisting of 1,019 sets (34.7%) belonging to China-based makers, 749 sets (25.5%) to Taiwan-based ones, 538 sets (18.3%) Japan-based makers, 417 sets (14.2%) South Korea-based makers, and 214 sets (7.3%) US- and Europe-based makers.

There will be 14 million PlayStation 4 (PS4) consoles shipped globally in 2015 to reach cumulative shipments of 31.5 million units and 11 million Xbox One consoles to reach 23.7 million units, according to Digitimes Research.Wii U shipments in 2015 will be two million units to reach cumulative shipments of 10.29 million falling behind those of PS4 and Xbox One.Xbox One shipments have been less-than-expected and Microsoft is taking actions to drop pricing for the device as part of its strategy to compete.PS4 meanwhile is extending its influence by offering PlayStation Vue services, of which Microsoft is showing signs of adopting similar services in the future, added Digitimes Research.

Thanks to Sony quitting the notebook market and Apple's price cuts, MacBook shipments in 2014 are expected to grow over 15% on year, the highest growth among the top-10 vendors. But Apple's iPad shipments are expected to see a decline in the year.In 2015, Digitimes Research estimates that MacBook shipments will grow further, but iPad shipments are expected to continue decreasing to reach around 55 million units. The iPad's shipment decline will result in Apple's overall shipments for the MacBook and iPad to drop from almost 90 million units in 2013 to around 80 million units in 2014 and 70 million units in 2015.Although Apple reportedly will launch a 12.9-inch iPad and add a new line of product using 12.2-inch Retina displays in 2015, the vendor's effort is unlikely to be able to stop its tablet shipments from seeing a major decline.Digitimes Research believes that the iPhone 6/6 Plus will continue to cannibalize iPad mini sales in 2015.

Global LTE users are expected to reach 445 million in 2014 and 1.466 billion in 2016, according to Digitimes Research.In the second half of 2014, 4G developments in China have taken off, spurring LTE developments in the end-user segment in addition to the business segment. Growth in the two segments will continue to be steady over the next 2-3 years.In the first half of 2014 South Korea LTE users made up 58.8% of all LTE mobile users in the market but as developments in China progressed, with telecom providers such as China Mobile providing more incentives for users, coupled with increased developments from Verizon Wireless, NTT docomo etc., global usage is on the rise and forecast to surpass one billion users by the end of 2016.Digitimes Research also said LTE equipment suppliers such as Huawei and ZTE are boosting efforts to expand in markets abroad, which have arguably been two of the biggest developments in 2014 that will further take shape in the future.

While Firefox OS was previously used in smartphone followed by limited use in tablet devices, the software is now shifting to TV sticks and computer learning applications, according to Digitimes Research. The global smartphone market is cooling down and providing more diversified Android devices has become a focal point for vendors and even telecom operators. In December 2014, consumers will see KDDI's new Firefox OS-based smartphones hit the market in Japan in addition to Firefox OS TV stick technology. Mozilla will also release Firefox OS-based based computer applications that support Raspberry Pi, showing that it aims to close the gap on competition between Android, as well as further push the technology into the market, added Digitimes Research.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA), which claims to be the largest non-profit membership organization in the world serving all individuals who create games, has attempted to distance itself from a Twitter block tool it recently attempted to publicize, after its actions incorrectly branded thousands of consumers, games developers and journalist, as well as its own staff members and KFC as online harassers.IGDA included a link to on script called ggautoblocker as part of a recently published resource page to help developers deal with online harassment. IGDA originally described the script as "A Twitter tool to block some of the worst offenders in the recent wave of harassment" but dialed back its endorsement to "A third-party Twitter tool developed to quickly mass block some of the worst offenders in the recent wave of harassment and also accounts that follow those offenders" after some of the over 10 thousand Twitter accounts tagged by the tool objected to the unsubstantiated accusation implied by IGDA's statement.All reference to the tool was eventually removed from the resource page shortly after the chairman of IGDA Puerto Rico discovered his account was on the block list and announced he would resign his position if the scandal was not rectified.The ggautoblocker tool has been criticized for its crude algorithm which simply gathers the follower lists of certain "ringleader" accounts as determined by the developer, and adds anyone on at least two of these follower lists to a block list without any attempt to examine whether the accounts had actually engaged in harassment.As a result, socialite accounts such as @kfc that automatically follow-back any Twitter account that follows them have been implicated and blocked by the tool as being part of the GamerGate movement. Meanwhile, the accounts of consumers, games developers and journalists following the so-called ringleader accounts are also listed for blocking, regardless of the motivations behind following these accounts.This distinction is especially pertinent to journalists following GamerGate as it is a common part of modern news gathering to follow the social media accounts of companies and industry figures on a particular beat. In the case of GamerGate where there are no official channels of communication, following key Twitter accounts has emerged as one of the primary resources for staying on top of major events, even though there is no intention of ever interacting with these accounts. Because of this, IGDA's comments that all accounts marked by ggautoblocker are behind harassment is analogous to saying the "Channel 5 Eye-in-the-Sky News team" is responsible for high-speed car chases and armed robberies, because they listen in on local police radio channels.The broad stokes approach to filtering which generates a high number of false positives also impacts those using the block list, in particular companies such as the Raspberry Pi Foundation, since the move effectively self-censors the company from an important news-gathering and PR channel intended to link it to journalists and consumers, while having no impact on reducing harassment. Raspberry Pi was invited to comment on its motives for subscribing to the block list, but no response was received by the time of publication.However, the most significant impact is being felt in the games development community itself. Several developers have already come forward to express their concerns that being incorrectly branded for actions they have not committed could have long lasting, if not career ending, consequences.And these fears could have merit. Even before IGDA lent its support to the block list, some developers had floated the idea that the list could be used to perform "background checks" on future job applicants. Also back in October, Ernest W Adams, the founder of IGDA notably tweeted, "If you're an indie developer and you are supporting #GamerGate, watch what you say. Your future business is at stake."In more positive #GamerGate related news, over 3600 Twitter accounts recently took part in the "Give Voice to the Voiceless" Thunderclap, a crowdsource initiative to promote the latest video from the #NotYourShield Project. The video depicts various minority groups discussing why they support #GamerGate, and why they feel their side of the story is being ignored or marginalized by the gaming press.

Taiwan makers' small- to medium-size panel shipments reached 329.7 million in the third quarter of 2014, down 6.2% on quarter and 12.8% on year, according to Digitimes Research.The on-year decrease is largely attributed to increased efforts from China, Korea and Japan panel makers to secure orders from China vendors coupled with the vendors' less-than-expected results due to a slowdown in the China handset market. The vendors' inventories also piled up due to lagging demand for 4G handsets.However, the makers' overall proportion of handset panel shipments rose 2.1pp to hold a 77.4% share as demand for other applications was undermined by that for smartphones.In terms of tablet panels, low-priced units in particular saw a 10.2% sequential increase despite limited overall shipments as vendors put in increased orders to compete against low-priced notebooks.The makers' production proportion of LTPS TFT LCD applications during the third quarter meanwhile dropped 0.5pp as makers have yet to expand production for smartphone applications coupled with rising competition from outside makers, added Digitimes Research.

As China makers expand production capacity in order to meet increasing demand for cheaper panel supply in China, local handset vendors will receive Full HD panels for use in smartphones in 2015 below US$21, down 11.5% on year, according to Digitimes Research.Additionally, the makers will provide HD panels as low as US$11 and WVGA panels at US$3, down 10% and 25% on year, respectively.In terms of Full HD panel production, most of the supply will come from BOE's and Tianma Microelectronics' 5.5G lines while that for entry-level and mid-range units will come from 6G lines. Production expansion began in 2013 and has been increasing since, with more breakthroughs expected to happen in 2015.BOE in particular has seen demand for HD handset panels increase, which will account for over 30% of its total handset panel shipments by the end of 2014 and later past 40% in 2015. Tianma meanwhile will see its proportion of Full HD handset panels increase to 6.5% in 2015 and China-based InfoVision Optoelectronics (IVO) will see its proportion of entry-level handset panel shipments on its 5G a-Si TFT LCD fab account for 35.4% of total handset panel shipments by the end of 2015.Digitimes Research added that China vendors hope to further drop pricing for mid-range smartphones in 2014 to less than CNY800 (US$130) - the current pricing - and will also aim to have CNY400 and below entry-level smartphones available for third- and fourth-tier China cities in addition to various emerging markets.

Following the announcement that Foxconn Electronics will collaborate with Innolux to invest roughly US$2.8 billion to construct new 6G facilities in Taiwan geared at producing LTPS technology for high-end smartphones, rumors have been spreading in the market as to which clients the two companies intend to target.Apple has been cited from various news sources in China and Taiwan as the most likely candidate due to its relationship with Foxconn. Foxconn chairman Terry Gou has stated over the years that the company is working to improve its supply chain integration for Apple products, and industry sources have stated that Innolux is hoping to re-enter the Apple panel supply chain after a reported falling out due to technology issues.Gou's remarks, however, have been followed by what seems to be an increasing lack of enthusiasm for Apple. The chairman has recently stated that Apple orders to the company are either hot or cold, fluctuating to the point where Foxconn and various other supply chain members feel it is difficult to rely too much on Apple.It may be no surprise then that other reports are starting to pop up over the past week in China. Taiwan and Japan media have reported that Xiaomi Technology in fact will likely be the target for the Foxconn and Innolux collaboration. Xiaomi, which shipped 26.11 million smartphones in the first half of 2014 and aims to ship a total of 60 million units for all of 2014, plans to further develop its business model in countries outside of China moving into 2015, and expects its smartphone shipments to reach 100 million units next year, increasing more than 66% from 2014.The China-based smartphone maker currently sources most of its panel supply from Japan-based makers and is hoping to have further access to LTPS TFT LCD technology in upcoming years, as it aims to expand its global market share. Xiaomi currently relies on China panel makers for entry-level and mid-range smartphones but needs outside makers to fulfill high-end panel demand.It would be surprising, however, if Apple was not at least in part of the picture. The firm needs a new source of panel supply as it constantly faces supply issues from makers due to low yields and other technological bottlenecks. If Apple could gain access to a more integrated supply chain, it could prove beneficial for both Apple and Foxconn, otherwise the move might in fact further help Xiaomi push to the top as a leading smartphone vendor.

Samsung Electronics, Apple and LG Electronics ranked as the top-three smartphone vendors globally in the third quarter as well as the first three quarters of 2014, based on third-quarter reports released by individual vendors and data from makers in the supply chain, according to Digitimes Research.China-based vendors Huawei, Xiaomi Technology and Lenovo took the fourth, fifth and seventh positions, respectively, during the same period, Digitimes Research added.Additionally, five out of the top-10 vendors in the January-September period were China-based suppliers, with Xiaomi leading all vendors with a nearly 200% on-year shipment growth. China-based ZTE, which ranked eighth in 2013, has dropped out of the top-10 list.Global smartphone shipments are expected to reach 1.219 billion units in 2014, growing less than 30% from a year earlier. For 2015, global smartphone shipments will expand 22% on-year to 1.488 billion units, contributed by shipment growth in emerging markets, Digitimes Research estimated.