Taiwan-based ODMs and own-brand makers shipped 18.4 million smartphones in total in the third quarter of 2014, increasing 6% on quarter and 11.7% on year, according to Digitimes Research.Together with feature phones, Taiwan-based ODMs and own-brand makers shipped 20.9 million handsets in the quarter, slipping on quarter by 1.2% but growing on year by 25.8%, Digitimes Research indicated.WCDMA models accounted for 79.4% of the handset shipments, CDMA 2000 for 11% and GSM 9.6%. ODM Chi Mei Communication Systems accounted for 31.1% of the shipments, HTC 23%, Compal Electronics 17.7%, Arima Communications 13.8% and Asustek Computer 13.4%.

Lenovo and Asustek are expected to release Chromebooks using Google-certified solutions from China-based Rockchip in the first half of 2015 at the latest, and their devices are expected to be priced at US$149, a new low for notebook products, according to Digitimes Research's latest finding from the Greater China supply chain.Rockchip is a first-tier tablet application processor (AP) designer in China and has recently cooperated with Intel over chip design and the distribution of Intel's SoFIA chips.In October 2014, Lenovo announced a 10.1-inch Android notebook using Rockchip's RK3188 solution and Digitimes Research estimates that Lenovo's RK3288-based 11.6-inch Chromebook will become available in the market at the end of 2014 at the earliest or in the first half of 2015 at the latest. Asustek's 11.6-inch Chromebook is expected to be released in 2015.Digitimes Research expects Lenovo's and Asustek's 11.6-inch Chromebooks to be priced at US$149, 25% lower than the US$199 of the C720 from Acer, the largest Chromebook vendor currently.The new price point will further reduce notebooks' ASPs and also put strong pressure on Microsoft, which launched an inexpensive licensing project in 2014, looking to halt Chromebook's development.

Global large-size TFT LCD shipments are expected to only increase 0.5% in 2015 due to weak demand for monitor and notebook applications coupled with limited growth in the tablet segment, according to Digitimes Research.LCD TV demand is expected to remain steady, however, and applications such as public displays will see steady shipments. Additionally, the average-size TV panel shipped in 2015 will increase 1.2-inch to 40.5-inch, which will push large-size TFT LCD panel surface demand up by 8.2% on year.About 90% of the on-year growth is expected to come from TV panels while the rest will be driven by larger-size monitors in addition to other applications.In 2014, large-size LCD panel production capacity increased 2.1% and is expected to increase another 5.9% following announcements from panel makers such as Innolux and AU Optronics (AUO) to expand production.About 76% of large-size LCD panel surface demand comes from TV panels, added Digitimes Research.

Shipments of application processors for tablets in the China market grew at a lower-than-expected 5.9% sequentially in the third quarter of 2014 as sales of white-box tablets were affected by the roll-outs of low-priced models by brand vendors, according to Digitimes Research.MediaTek saw shipments of its tablet-use APs soar 25% sequentially in the third quarter, with total shipments surpassing China-based rival Rockchip Electronics. But MediaTek's share in China's tablet AP market edged down to 22.6% in the third quarter from 27.2% a quarter earlier due to strong shipment growth posted by Intel.Sales of tablet APs by Rockchip and fellow company Allwinner Technology were also affected by growing shipments from Intel and saw their shipments decline 11.8% and 10%, respectively, on quarter.Intel posted a 150% sequential growth in tablet AP shipments in the quarter, but not all of its tablet APs were being used for the production of tablets. Some were stockpiled as inventory and some were built into devices other than tablets, Digitimes Research indicated.

Taiwan makers' shipments of LCD monitors increased 3.2% on quarter to 22.32 million in the third quarter of 2014, which also represented a 7.4% on-year decline.The on-year decline is the steepest drop for Taiwan makers over the last five years, produced mainly from increased demand for tablets.During the third quarter, 58% of products shipped were sized 20-inch and above as vendors pushed to release larger sizes. Higher-end products such as Ultra HD were also a focal point for vendors.In terms of performance, TPV and Qisda maintained the healthiest shipments compared with other makers.Looking to the fourth quarter of the year, the makers can expect to see shipments rise 3.1% on quarter but drop 6% on year. The amount will bring total shipments to 87.08 million in 2014, down 4.6% on year to bring the makers' global proportion up 0.2pp to 63.6%, said Digitimes Research.Digitimes Research added it expects that global LCD monitor shipments will decline another 2-3% in 2015.

Shipments of tablet-use application processors (AP) in China are forecast to rise 4.7% sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to Digitimes Research. Meanwhile, shipments from Intel are set to outpace those from Allwinner Technology during the quarter enabling the US firm to break into the top-three providers.Intel is expected to ship 5.1 million tablet APs to the China market in the fourth quarter, up 104% from the 2.5 million units shipped in the third quarter, said Digitimes Research. The rapid shipment rise will boost its share of the market to 14.6% from 7.5% in the previous quarter.On the contrary, Allwinner's shipments in China are forecast to decline 16.7% sequentially during the fourth quarter dragging down its market share to 12.9%, Digitimes Research indicated.Overall shipments of tablet APs in China will reach 34.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2014, up 4.7% on quarter and 5.1% on year, with MediaTek serving as the largest provider, Digitimes Research noted.

There will be 74.5 million tablets shipped globally in the fourth quarter of 2014, increasing on quarter by 17.6% but decreasing on year by 10.1%, and of which 20 million units will be iPads, 27.8 million units of non-iPad models launched by major vendors and 26.7 million units of white-box models, according to Digitimes Research.Apple will account for 26.8% of the shipments, followed by Samsung Electronics with 14.6%, Lenovo 4.7%, Asustek Computer 4%, Amazon 3.9%, Acer 1.7% and Hewlett-Packard 1.3%, Digitimes Research indicated.Taiwan-based ODMs/OEMs will ship 30.64 million tablets in the quarter, growing on quarter by 32.5% but slipping on year by 13.8%. Foxconn Electronics will be the largest manufacturer accounting for 48.4% of shipments, Pegatron for 24.1%, Compal Electronics 14.6% and Quanta Computer 11.1%.

China's smartphone application processor (AP) shipments are expected to grow 33.8% on year and 9.5% sequentially in the fourth quarter. The on-year growth will be 8.7pp more than that recorded in the third quarter. But on a quarterly basis, the sequential growth for the fourth quarter will be 2.2pp less than that seen in the previous quarter. The transition to LTE networks is expected to accelerate in the quarter, while 3G chips' shipment share will also decline more rapidly. Most smartphone vendors are expected to shift their flagship products to support LTE networks in the fourth quarter of 2014 as MediaTek's and Qualcomm's LTE chips will become more mature. However, since the two chipmakers will devote more of their efforts to producing LTE products, their 3G solutions are expected to see from shortages, allowing Spreadtrum to fill in the space and snatch their market shares from the 3G segment, according to Digitimes Research's latest report on China smartphone APs.Qualcomm's 64-bit solutions are expected to become its key products for the fourth quarter. The MSM8916 will be Qualcomm's mainstream LTE solution, while its MSM8936/9839 are also expected to attract some orders. Qualcomm is expected to enjoy a sequential shipment growth of 13% in the fourth quarter (down 9.7pp from that of the third quarter) and a 90% on-year growth. The company's 32-bit LTE solutions' shipments will turn weak and gradually phase out from the market, but this will not affect the company's shipment performance. MediaTek's fourth-quarter shipments will see slower growth, which will reduce the company's market share. The company has shifted capacity support to the LTE product line, and its 3G chips' shipment proportion will drop faster than its competitors' and the company's shipments for its baseband plus AP combination will also have an obvious decline. Digitimes Research expects MediaTek to see a sequential shipment growth of 6.7% in the fourth quarter, down 4.4pp from that of the previous quarter. It will enjoy an on-year shipment growth of 30.6%. The company's market share in the quarter will drop to 50.8%, the lowest since the third quarter of 2013.

Smartphone shipments in the China market declined 3.1% sequentially in the third quarter of 2014 as vendors found it hard to stimulate demand for their devices due to a lack of product differentiation, and the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were not made available till mid-October, according to Digitimes Research.Local vendor Xiaomi Technology and Korea's Samsung Electronics were tied for the number one title in the vendor rankings in the third quarter with each having a shipment volume of over 13 million units to the local China market. It should be noted that the shipment totals are only for smartphones purchased in the local China market and do not include shipments from China vendors such as Xiaomi that are exported to overseas markets.China Mobile saw the number of its new 4G subscribers increase 11.4 million in September alone, pushing the accumulated number of its 4G service subscribers to 40.9 million at the end of the third quarter. This will make it easy for the telecom operator to reach its goal of securing over 50 million 4G subscribers in 2014.With the availability of more 4G models in the fourth quarter of 2014, smartphone sales in the local China market are expected to top 105 million units in the quarter, increasing 16.2% sequentially. However, the ratio of China's fourth-quarter smartphone sales to total global smartphone shipments is expected to edge down to 29.1% in the quarter, Digitimes Research estimates.

Japan is the world's leading country in terms of LED lighting penetration and its LED lighting demand in 2015 will reach JPY507.8 billion (US$4.43 billion), increasing by 13.2% on year and accounting for 78.6% of the total shipment value for all lighting products, according to Digitimes Research.LED lighting will take up 71.6% of total shipment value for lighting products in Japan in 2014, much higher than the corresponding global average of 22.4%, Digitimes Research indicated. The Japan government and LED lighting industry aim to increase the proportion to 100% by 2020.In the Japan market, retail prices for 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED light bulbs currently stand stably at JPY1,633-1,701 and JPY2,447-2,807 respectively, and at JPY9,000-10,300 for LED lamps.Due to relatively high LED lighting penetration, LED lighting vendors in the Japan market are expected to promote sales through enhancing quality and added value instead of lowering prices. Connection of LED lighting with HEMS (home energy management system) is a way of increasing added value. There were about 500,000 homes introducing HEMS as of the end of 2013 and the goal is to increase the number to five million.