Taiwan makers' handset touch panel shipments reached 50.19 million in the first quarter of 2014, up 12.4% on quarter, according to Digitimes Research.Makers such as TPK benefited from orders from Apple for its iPhone 4 and 4S as Apple aimed to maintain steady sales in emerging markets while Wintek saw orders from Nokia for entry-level smartphones.Looking head to the second quarter, Taiwan maker's shipments are expected to reach 50.78 million units, up 1.2% on quarter due to demand from Apple, Nokia and HTC, said Digitimes Research.Digitimes Research also noted that Taiwan makers' shipments of touch panels used in tablets dropped 35.9% sequentially to 10.82 million units in the first quarter due to the product life cycle of iPad 2, Google Nexus 7 and Amazon tablets coming to an end. Looking ahead to the second quarter, shipments are expected to increase 2.5% to 11.08 million driven by growth from China-based tablet vendors.The makers' shipments of touch panels used in notebooks meanwhile dropped 56.1% in the first quarter to about two million units and are expected to drop another 15.9% in the following quarter to 1.69 million units, added Digitimes Research.

Over the past 60 years and throughout the establishment of Taiwan's electrical infrastructure, Tatung has helped Taiwan Power Company (TPC) build power plants and substations. Tatung has also provided infrastructural facilities including generators, transformers, switchgears, as well as electrical wires and cables. Looking forward, Tatung will continue to closely participate in the upgrading of Taiwan's electrical infrastructure as well as in the development of the smart grid.Which engineering achievement had the greatest impact on civilization in the 20th century? According to the assessment of U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE), electrical infrastructure tops the list, winning over the personal computers, mobile phones, and the Internet for one important reason: without electricity, none of these popular candidates would have existed.Entering the 21st century, electrical infrastructure is still critically important. However, traditional electrical grid architectures can no longer satisfy new developmental requirements, such as the requirements of incorporating more and more renewable energy, as well as energy conservation and carbon reduction. This is why the electrical grid is in such dire need of upgrading and transformation. Integrating ICT technologies will make the electrical grids intelligent, which is why smart grids are the popular trends of the future.According to Tatung Smart Grid BU Senior General Manager, Chang-Ping Lin, in order to realize the smart grid, we must not only rely on traditional electrical infrastructure technologies, such as those enabling power generation, power transmission, power transformation, power distribution, and power consumption, but also integrate ICT technologies as well as experience in large-scale IT software integration. Tatung is one of the few companies in Taiwan that possess these capabilities, and has pioneered in the research and development of smart meters as well as advanced AMI metering systems. Tatung believes that it has an important role to play in the establishment of the smart grid.Therefore, Tatung not only plays the role of system integrator, which is the one role that is most lacking in Taiwan, forming strategic partnerships, integrating technologies (such as networking and telecommunications modules, data collectors, and industrial computers), and developing both domestic and international smart grid business opportunities; it also works with Tatung University to foster tomorrow's talented smart grid workers.The most important aspect of smart grid development is systems integration capabilitiesChang-Ping Lin believes that the greatest advantage of Taiwan's vendors in terms of smart grid development is their strong ICT components manufacturing industry. However, it is not without its disadvantages, such as its lack of actual experience in system integration and system depolyment. In order to make up for this specific disadvantage, the government has been promoting the Penghu Smart Grid Demonstration Site through the Second-Phase National Energy Program; however, due to concerns over stable power supply, its range of application as well as verification items are limited and may not be able to achieve strong results. He recommends that the government consider using the NEDO model in establishing an overseas demonstration site.Taking the above advantages and disadvantages into consideration, what opportunities and challenges will Taiwan's vendors face in the future smart grid industry? In terms of opportunities, for ICT vendors, since they are not restricted in terms of regional electricity infrastructure restrictions, opportunities are plentiful; for electrical power vendors, although they are restricted by regional protectionism, there is still opportunity. In terms of emerging regions, such as ASEAN countries, the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, Taiwan's vendors may be able to export full, flexible, customized systems. In terms of more advanced markets, such as Europe, the United States, and Japan, although chances of exporting entire systems are small, there may still be potential profits in key components, such as smart meters, etc.In terms of challenges, Chang-Ping Lin points out that Taiwan's vendors need to quickly establish system integration capabilities as well as system software and data analysis capabilities. Smart grid architectures are extremely complex. In addition to real-time monitoring of circuits, transformers, and switches in the electrical power system, additional technologies such as software, communications, and sensors also need to be incorporated. Furthermore, data needs to be analyzed in order to conduct intelligent scheduling and control, which further shows that the above-stated capabilities are all indispensable. And taking into consideration that the life cycle of electrical equipment must be at least 8-10 years, and error tolerance ranges are extremely small, the only way to gain the trust of global customers is to obtain stringent international certifications.In addition, the smart grid business is a long-term investment. Looking at related projects implemented by the Taiwan government as well as the governments of other countries, it can be clearly seen that they are planning for the long term and that returns will not be obtained overnight. Therefore, vendors wishing to enter this market should be prepared for long-term investments and should not enter with a short-term speculation mentality.Working with partners to gain domestic and foreign business opportunitiesIt is not hard to see that Taiwan's development of smart grid technologies will bring many benefits. Firstly, the Taiwan Power Company already began in-depth research of the smart grid many years ago, and has clearly identified its advantages and disadvantages compared to traditional centralized electrical grids and south-to-north electricity transmission architectures. It has therefore set four primary goals, which are to establish a safe and reliable electrical grid, enhance electrical power efficiency, optimize customer service quality, and integrate distributed generations (DG).In terms of government efforts, in August of 2012, the Smart Grid Master Program was introduced, with the primary goals of conserving energy, reducing carbon emissions, boosting the amount of renewable energies, and reforming the power industry. However, at the same time, the government must also maintain stable power supply, which is a seemingly contradicting goal; only through smart-grid real-time monitoring and scheduling will we be able to achieve the goal of peak suppression, as well as integrate energy storage and control technologies, allowing renewable energy grids to merge to solve the issue of regional congestion, thereby enhancing the efficiency and quality of the power supply, producing innovative value-added services, facilitating the positive reform of the electrical power industry, and finally achieving an optimal balance.In light of this, Tatung will continue to play a pivotal role in Taiwan's electrical power infrastructure, integrating corporate resources, taking up the difficult responsibility of system integration, working hand-in-hand with partners to participate in the establishment of Taiwan's smart grid as well as development of the global market.Tatung Smart Grid BU Senior General Manager, Chang-Ping Lin, stresses the company has an important role to play in the development of smart grids

Taiwan is highly dependent on imported energy, which is a potential threat to the security of its energy supply and its economic development. This is why energy conservation and carbon reduction is so important. Its first priority will be to reduce the amount of power consumption in electrical equipment; in the industrial and commercial spaces, air conditioning often accounts for up to 40-50% of power consumption, which clearly makes it the area that has the most urgent need for smart energy conservation.Most home air conditioning systems emphasize temperature control, whereas air conditioning systems used in shopping malls, restaurants, theaters, and hospitals, etc., must provide environmental control as well as functions that ensure user comfort. The role of temperature and humidity environmental control systems (clean rooms) in industrial processes is even more critical, since the quality of environmental temperature and humidity control directly affects the quality and yield of products. Commercial air conditioners include water (air) cooled box type air conditioners, water (air) cooled water coolers, water (air) cooled brine chillers, commercial dehumidifiers, heat pumps, and box-type air conditioners, etc.There is no doubt that the above-stated air conditioning products play a key role in supporting economic development, since many types of functions rely on air conditioning systems, including constant temperature and constant humidity for production processes as well as refrigeration and freezing, and the high levels of sensible heat required for machine rooms. However, in companies, medical institutions, government establishments, and schools, etc., air conditioning systems account for at least 40% of total power consumption, making it an "energy killer" and truly leaving much room for improvement.Chi-Hung Chen, Manager of Tatung's Air Conditioning Design Division, believes that adding smart energy conservation functions to commercial air conditioning systems is the trend of the future. In light of this important trend, key product design goals will include hybrid heat pumps, high energy efficiency IPLV highly-parallel chiller refrigerant systems, inverter air conditioning systems, and centralized box-type air conditioning smart management systems.Future products will be designed around the concept of smart energy conservationHeat pumps are a type of high-efficiency refrigerant system that can absorb heat from Mother Nature and use it to produce hot water. Under reasonable operating conditions, its COP (Coefficient of Performance) should exceed 3. Heat pumps can replace traditional electric, gas, and diesel water heaters, saving users up to half or more in terms of energy and operation costs. In addition to producing hot water, hybrid heat pumps can also provide cold water as well as collect cold air for reuse, further increasing energy efficiency. The total COP values for most heat pumps usually exceed 5.The "High Energy Efficiency IPLV Highly-Parallel Chiller Refrigerant System" is undoubtedly a major highlight in Tatung's commercial air conditioning system product line, since, slightly earlier, Tatung had already introduced a similar product model that emphasized the use of the R410A environmentally friendly refrigerant and had a load efficiency that was more than 25% higher than traditional models. The difference between highly-parallel refrigerant systems and traditional chilling systems is the ability to conduct partial load (partial compressor operation) operation and dramatically enhance heat exchange efficiencies. "High Energy Efficiency IPLV Highly-Parallel Chiller Refrigerant Systems" have even higher efficiency than the high-efficiency flooded chillers widely used in industries today. They also have smaller sizes and use scroll compressors, which have lower maintenance costs and higher efficiency compared to screw compressors. In addition to lowering electricity costs, these models will also play a role in protecting our precious environment.The three pillars of commercial air conditioning systems – environmental protection, energy conservation, and safetyInverter air conditioners are well-known for energy savings. Inverter technologies can adjust compressor operation speeds through varying power source frequencies, thereby achieving rapid cooling, constant temperatures, and low noise. For production process air conditioning applications, this can provide stable chilled water output temperatures and allow for even more precise environmental temperature and humidity control, thereby further improving process yield. In addition, refrigerant flows can be mediated through changing compressor operation speeds, which produces significant energy conservation effects when in low-frequency operation.According to Chi-Hung Chen, in the average commercial environment, multiple compressors are usually required to spread out operation loads when non-inverter type air conditioners are used. This results in relatively high power consumption. In industrial environments, due to production process requirements, this may result in the need to allocate a large area of space for a chilled water storage tank; however, all of these traditional drawbacks are eliminated when inverter-type air conditioning systems are used.Furthermore, this year (2014), Tatung plans to introduce a new box-type model that is equipped with "Centralized Electronic Panel Control and Management" functionality. This type of model has an MCU board at its core as well as RS-485 Modbus-RTU communications functionality, allowing users to control and manage up to 99 air conditioners in a centralized fashion, Chi-Hung Chen explains. Users can not only access input/output states and sensor temperature values, but also read/write final temperature configuration values, function modes, system ON/OFF states, as well as the status of offloading monitoring points. In environments where many air conditioning systems are installed, such as schools, hospitals, or factories, traditional electronic control systems only allow one-to-one control, which will result in a huge waste of manpower and maintenance costs. To the contrary, the one-to-many control mode provided by "Centralized Electronic Panel Control and Management" is undoubtedly the smarter and more ideal alternative.It is also worth mentioning that Tatung's commercial air conditioning systems not only reflect the above-mentioned product design trends, but Tatung is also the only box-type air conditioner (regulated vertical expansion energy source product) vendor in Taiwan that has successfully obtained the Energy Conservation Certification Label. Tatung also insists on using environmentally friendly refrigerants, such as R134A or R410A, in all of its product lines, stressing ozone layer destruction coefficient values of zero. Tatung also emphasizes safe designs, achieving its goal of "being safe even if components malfunction." These measures were all taken to meet the environmental protection, energy conservation, and safety requirements of industrial and commercial customers.Chi-Hung Chen, Manager of the Air Conditioning Design Division, points out key trends for smart, energy-conserving commercial air conditioners.

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.