Taiwan-based makers together will ship 242.72 million smartphone touch panels, 51.81 million tablet touch panels and 17.76 million notebook touch panels in 2014, respectively increasing 11.7%, decreasing 29.4% and growing 22.9% on year, according to Digitimes Research.Of the smartphone applications, 35.2% will be capacitive glass-based models and 64.8% capacitive film-based ones. The former type will take up 47.6% of the tablet applications and 98.6% of the notebook ones, and the latter 52.4% and 1.4% respectively, Digitimes Research indicated.Among makers, Wintek will ship 35.02 million smartphone applications, 11.33 million for tablets and 1.78 million for notebooks, while the corresponding shipment volumes will be 25.62 million, 4.44 million and 4.97 million for TPK Holding, and 43.42 million, 5.22 million and 5.15 million for Innolux/General Interface Solution.

While international IC players such as Atmel, Cypress and Synaptics are currently dominating the global touchscreen controller IC market, Melfas, Zinitix and Imagis Technology are emerging as the leading touch controller vendors in Korea, according to Digitimes Research.Melfas began venturing into the touch controller chip market in 2005 and managed to ramp up total sales of its touch controller ICs to KRW160.83 billion (US$151.9 million) in 2012. Buoyed by its expanding portfolios of touch-enabled ICs, Melfas' touch controller sales amounted to KRW110.93 billion in the first three quarters of 2013, up 2.9% from a year earlier.Samsung Electronics began to step up its purchases of G1F(glass-film) touchscreens from Melfas in the fourth quarter of 2012 due to tight supply of ITO (indium tin oxide) films at Samsung. A continued cooperation between Samsung and Melfas will be positive to the future development of the Korea's touch controller IC vendor, said Digitimes Rsearch.Zinitix began to develop its touch controller ICs in 2000 and ramped up its revenues to KRW21 billion in 2012. However, Zinitix managed to secure equity investment from Intel Capital in April 2013, which will help it accelerate development of related touch controller IC parts and boost its sales to overseas markets.Imagis saw its touch-enabled IC revenues decline to KRW800 million in 2012 as sales of its resistive touch controller ICs were affected by the growing popularity of capacitive touch controller parts. Nevertheless, Imagis began to ship its capacitive touch controller ICs to Samsung and some China-based device makers in the second quarter of 2013 and saw its touch IC revenues amounted to KRW10.99 billion in the first three quarters of 2013.Measures being taken by Samsung recently, including a push for standardization of sensor patterns for touchscreen controller ICs made in Korea and an expansion of its touch controller IC suppliers to include Imagis and G2 Touch in addition to Melfas and Zinitix, will help ramp up the ratio of homegrown touchscreen controller ICs in Korea, Digitimes Research believes.

Notebook shipments by the top-five brand vendors and the top-three ODMs increased 14% and 12%, respectively, on month in November, partly driven by shipments of up to three million units in the month to the educational market in India by Hewlett-Packard (HP), according to Digitimes Research.A pull-in of orders for ultra-low priced models by other brands, and increased purchases from the business sector also contributed to seasonal shipment growth, Digitimes Research added.Among ODMs, Quanta Computer and Inventec both posted over 20% sequential shipment growths in November thanks to orders from HP, while Wistron saw its shipments grow over 10% during the same period, buoyed by orders from Lenovo.Compal Electronics and Pegatron also posted significant shipment gains in November although their growth rates were less spectacular than other ODMs. Due to increasing competition from Chromebooks and Microsoft's failure to stir up demand with the launch of SST (small screen touch) models, Microsoft began in October to push brand vendors to develop sub-US$299 models without using touch-enabled displays. The new low-cost models are expected to hit the market starting March-April 2014.Lenovo continued to lead other brands with strong earning gains for the third quarter of 2013, while HP also saw its profitability continue to improve during the period. However, Asustek suffered a setback in profits, while Acer posted a loss of over NT$10 billion (US$336.7 million), resulting in a reshuffle of its top executives, Digitimes Research noted.

There will be 213 million LCD TVs shipped globally in 2014, increasing 4.6% on year, with digitization in emerging markets and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil to be main sources of growth, according to Digitimes Research.Samsung Electronics will ship 45 million units to become the largest vendor, LG Electronics will rank second with 29.5 million units, Digitimes Research indicated.Among Japan-based vendors, Sony will ship 12.5 million units, Toshiba nine million, Panasonic eight million and Sharp 7.5 million units.TCL will top China-based vendors with shipments of 15 million LCD TVs, followed by Hisense with 12 million, Skyworth 9.5 million, Konka 6.8 million, and Changhong and Haier each with 6.2 million units.South Korea-, China- and Japan-based vendors will respectively account for 35.2%, 26.3% and 17.4% of total shipments.

The all-in-one (AIO) PC industry has seen a wave of replacement demand after Apple updated its ultra-thin iMacs earlier in 2013, boosting global AIO PC shipment growth from 2.3% in 2012 to 15.8% in 2013. Digitimes Research expects a milder growth of 4.9% in 2014 after the replacement demand subsides. AIO shipments will account for 11.5% of global desktop shipments in 2014, rising 1pp on year.China's AIO PC market has been gradually approaching maturity in 2013, during which Lenovo has lost its number-one position to Apple and is also expected to have difficulties achieving further growth in 2014. Dell and Sony, which are the fourth and fifth largest, are expected to see significant growths in their 2013 shipments, according to the latests data collected by Digitimes Research.As for OEMs/ODMs, most makers are expected to achieve on-year growths for their AIO PC shipments in 2014. Quanta Computer and Compal Electronics will see growths between 6-8%, while the rest will have growths lower than 5%.Source: Digitimes Research, November 2013

In WPC 2013, Advantech unveiled its latest SUSIAccess 3.0 with significant function enhancements, including cloud-based protection, seamless interconnection, and 3D map-view device management, making it easier to manage intelligent systems through mobile and tablet device anytime, anywhere on any devices!Advantech has been developing SUSIAccess software for years, with SUSIAccess 2.0 announced in June 2012 and its Linux version in November 2012. As management software plays an increasingly important role in embedded device designs, the company makes big push on it with the latest version, aiming to accelerate the adoption of intelligent system designs and help customers seize the great opportunities of the new IoT era."As devices become more interconnected and smart, connectivity, manageability, and security become the key essences for intelligent systems," Miller Chang, Vice President of Advantech Embedded Computing Group, said. "Advantech's SUSIAccess remote device management software helps transform traditional embedded devices into 'intelligent systems' with the three key attributes above."Benefits of SUSIAccessSUSIAccess features remote management functions and incorporates system security from McAfee and back-up recovery from Acronis to help customers centralize monitoring and management of remote embedded device in real-time.The benefits of benefits of deploying SUSIAccess are obvious. It provides complete protection for all remote devices from cyber treats and malware attacks, as well as simplicity of all backup and recovery tasks.In addition, it can help system administrators stay in sync with device health status, such as temperatures, internet connection speeds, fan speeds, and voltages, sending alarm messages automatically when monitored values exceeded warning thresholds.Applying SUSIAccess can help customers dramatically save maintenance and energy costs, in particular when embedded devices are mounted in widely spread locations.New EnhancementsThe advanced SUSIAccess will be cloud and browser based and leverage Google and Baidu maps to help administrators find the location of their device easier.Joyce Wu of Advantech explained that, when faulty devices are detected, the administrator needs to know where it is exactly. With the new map-view management function, he/she can locate it quickly and accurately. Not only maps, it also provides diagrams of building layouts to help locate the device among offices.In addition, the next-generation SUSIAccess will be cloud and browser based and supports mobile devices like iPad, Android pad, and smart phones. Administrators can easily manage all devices anytime and anywhere on any devices.SUSIAccess 3.0 will be officially launched early next year, and all Advantech embedded computing products will be pre-loaded the software.Miller stressed that, "SUSIAccess helps our SI customers differentiate their products with more intelligence, and move from traditional embedded systems to Intelligent Systems. This value addition will bring greater business opportunity for them in the existing embedded market."Advantech understands that software is critical to intelligent systems. In addition to SUSIAccess, the company already builds up complete embedded software offerings, from BIOS, firmware, operating sytems, to software applications and cloud services, to fully power the essential elements of intelligent systems: connectivity, manageability, identity, analytics, security, and user experience.In the future, SUSIAccess may move to vertical applications, such digital signage and intelligent retail. According to Advantech, SI customers can customize SUSIAccess for vertical applications with the API provided by Advantech to design management functions for specific requirements. By doing so, they will be able to upgrade their solutions to the next level and provide better services for their customers.SUSIAccess 3.0 will be officially launched early next year, and all Advantech embedded computing products will be pre-loaded the software.

Taiwan's top-three IC foundries will see their combined revenues decline 9.4% sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2013, due mainly to a fall in product ASPs, according to Digitimes Research.Combined revenues for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), United Microelectronics (UMC) and Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) are forecast to total US$6.12 billion in the fourth quarter, down from US$6.76 billion in the third, Digitimes Research said. The top-three IC foundries have experienced a decline in capacity utilization rates, which will cause wafer ASPs for the fourth quarter to fall, Digitimes Research indicated.Price cuts launched by their fellow foundry houses in a bid to compete for orders will be another reason for falling ASPs during the fourth quarter, Digitimes Research observed.On the demand side, demand for consumer electronics chips has slowed down on seasonal factors, while demand for computer and communications chips is still being negatively affected by disappointing sales of PCs and high-end smartphones, Digitimes Research said.TSMC, UMC and VIS saw their combined revenues edge up 4.4% sequentially in the third quarter of 2013, indicating a particularly weak third quarter for the foundries, Digitimes Research noted.In addition, with Samsung Electronics and Globalfoundries managing to improve their 28nm production yield rates, TSMC has seen growth in the revenues generated from its 28nm processes decelerate.

Large-size (9-inch and above) TFT LCD panel shipments are expected to reach 675 million units in 2014, down 1.4% on year, according to Digitimes Research.LCD TV panel shipments will see only 0.7% growth. Panel shipments will outpace LCD TV shipments through the end of 2013, which means that inventory will be high going into 2014.Additionally, LCD monitor and notebook panel shipments are expected to drop further in 2014 but all-in-one (AIO) PC panel shipments are expected to slightly increase.Digitimes Research said despite the decline in large-size TFT LCD shipments, panel surface area shipped during 2014 will rise 4.1% on year, compared with 2% on-year growth in 2013.The on-year decline will be the second year in a row.Meanwhile, Ultra HD TV panel shipments are expected to reach 15.3 million units in 2014, up over 400% on year.Medium-size (7- to 8.9-inch) TFT LCD panel shipments are expected to increase 4.6% in 2014, added Digitimes Research.

Apple shipped a total of 33.8 million iPhones, including the 5s, 5c and older models, in the third quarter of 2013, increasing 25.7% from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Digitimes Research.Sales of the iPhone 5c have been lagging far behind the iPhone 5s because the 5c has a low price/performance ratio and a vague pricing as compared to the iPhone 5s, forcing Apple to push sales of older models with reduced prices in emerging markets, Digitimes Research said.As a result, the ASP of iPhones dropped to a historical low of US$577.2 in the third quarter, resulting in Apple's revenues growing at a pace slower than the growth in shipments and also affecting the vendor's profitability.After completing the first full quarter of sales in fourth-quarter 2013, sales of the new iPhone models are expected to hit a new quarterly high, but Apple is unlikely to see its market share moving upward due to low shipment growth and lack of competitiveness in emerging markets, Digitimes Research commented.Apple remains active pushing sales of the new iPhones to China, and its pending cooperation with China Mobile, which accounts for 70% of China's mobile phone user market, will be a shot in the arm for its efforts to ramp up its share in China.Sales of iPhones in Japan have been growing steadily, although the impact of sales of new iPhones to the market by an additional distributor, NTT DoCoMo, has not been fully revealed. With NTT DoCoMo holding a leading market share in terms of the number of mobile users, shipments of iPhones in Japan are expected to grow significantly in the fourth quarter, Digitimes Research indicated.Source: Company, compiled by Digitimes, November 2013

Global smartphone shipments are expected to reach about 1.24 billion in 2014, up 30% on year, according to Digitimes Research.The increase in growth is expected to be driven by demand in Russia, India, Indonesia and Latin America countries.Digitimes Research believes that Samsung Electronics will lead the way in shipments followed by Apple, LG Electronics, Sony, Lenovo, Huawei Device, Microsoft, ZTE, Coolpad and TCL.Android and IOS operating systems are expected to be used in about 93% of the devices shipped in 2014, added Digitimes Research.