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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

Global notebook shipments by top-five brand vendors and top-three ODMs declined 15% on average in October, affected by the roll-outs of new low-priced models in the previous month, according to Digitimes Research.

Thread, a new networking protocol for household appliances initiated by Google's Nest Labs, looks to compete with the ZHA (ZigBee Home Automation) standard, but there is a possibility for the two technologies to integrate together as they share some basic standards, according to Digitimes Research.