Shipments of smartphones in the China market declined 8.8% sequentially to 78.2 million units in the third quarter of 2013, according to data compiled by Digitimes Research.The top-four smartphone vendors in China - ZTE, Huawei, Coolpad and Lenovo - saw their respective shipments slip in a range from 800,000 to 2.6 million units in the third quarter as the vendors were forced to delay the launch of new models amid stockpiles of entry-level models.However, smartphone sales in China are expected to rebound to over 100 million units in the fourth quarter of 2013, driven by an increasing number of smartphone subscribers and falling smartphone prices.The number of 3G service subscribers with China Mobile increased by a rate of 10 million in August alone, while prices of dual- and quad-core smartphones and display sizes of 4.5-5-inch have fallen to the sub-CNY1,000 (US$164) segment, Digitimes Research indicated.For non-local brands, Samsung Electronics shipped 16 million smartphones in China in the third quarter, while HTC saw its shipments drop 34.2% sequentially to 1.5 million units during the period.Apple is expected to see shipments of iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c in China reach 30 million units in the fourth quarter after the two models were launched in mid-September, Digitimes Research estimated.

LCD monitor vendors are looking to new sizes for high-end products as a way to further carve out a niche in the market amid declining sales and increased competition from ultra-mobile devices.Evidence of this has already made its way into the market when Hewlett-Packard (HP) released two new 30-inch LCD monitors, one in the China market and one in Japan. Both units come equipped with WUXGA (2560 by 1600) resolution and IPS panels.Digitimes Research expects other monitor vendors to release similar sized products in addition to 29-inch units through the end of 2013 and into 2014. Monitors sized 29- and 30-inch, however, have limited panel supply as most panel makers do not focus on production of those sizes, therefore the monitors are expected to be aimed at niche markets.In addition to the new sizes, the vendors also plan to include HDMI/DisplayPort dual interface technology and other high-end features to attract customers, added Digitimes Research.

Global tablet shipments are expected to reach 289 million units in 2014, up 23.6% on year. The growth, however, will be weaker than that for smartphones due to the fact that the tablet market has already entered the maturity stage, according to Digitimes Research's latest figures.In 2014, non-Apple first-tier brand vendors' products are expected to have more room for price cuts, making their products even more competitive in China than their white-box competitors. The lower pricing means retailers will be more eager to promote their products. The gap in terms of functionality between Google's official Android operating system and Android Open Source Project (used mostly by China white-box vendors) are also expected to be widen. As a result, the non-Apple first-tier vendors' combined shipments are expected to grow dramatically to 105 million units in 2014, slightly surpassing China white-box vendors' combined shipments of 104 million units, according to estimates by Digitimes Research.Although the fifth-generation iPad (Air) is expected to attract consumers and stimulate replacement demand, the device's high pricing are expected to limit iPad series products' shipment growth in 2014 with the volume to reach only 80 million units.As for brand vendors' rankings, Apple and Samsung Electronics will remain in the top two in 2014. Since Samsung will adopt more aggressive marketing and pricing strategies in 2014, its shipments will reach 52.5 million units, reducing its gap with the market leader Apple. Lenovo, as the largest PC vendor worldwide and with advantages in its home market of China, is expected to ship 9.5 million units in 2014 to take third place in the tablet market.Having failed to obtain orders for the next-generation Google Nexus tablets, Asustek Computer is expected to step up promoting its own-brand tablets, and it will ship nine million units in 2014, becoming the fourth largest vendor.Acer will have a strong presence in entry-level segment, shipping 6.7 million tablets in 2014 to take sixth place, while Google will be the fifth largest vendor. Amazon's and Microsoft's shipments will stay flat or grow only slightly on year.Digitimes Research expects 7-inch models to remain as the mainstream size for branded tablets in 2014 with shipments set to reach 89.1 million units. But the segment's share of total tablet shipments will drop below 50%. Brand vendors are expected to place more emphasis on 8-inch models as they look to avoid fierce competition in the 7-inch segment, which is crowded with low-price and white-box products. Shipents to the 8-inch segment are expected to reach 30 million units in 2014, triple the volume in 2013 and surpassing 10-inch models' 25.4 million units.As for Taiwan ODMs, their shipments will hit 117 million units in 2014, accounting only for 63% of the global total, down 5.2pp on year. The share will decline because Samsung and Lenovo, the second and the third largest vendors, are making most of their tablets internally.To seek lower manufacturing quotes and to diversify risks, brand vendors are expected to further divide their tablet orders among ODMs. Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) and Pegatron Technology will remain as the top two ODMs for tablets in 2014. With more orders coming from Apple and Asustek, Pegatron will see significant tablet shipment growth in 2014, narrowing its gap with Foxconn. Compal Electronics is expected to surpass Quanta Computer to become the third-largest table ODM, thanks to orders from Apple and its acquisition of Compal Communication.

Global shipments of application processors for smart devices are expected to grow 43% on year to 1.32 billion units in 2013, powered by robust sales of Apple and Samsung Electronics branded products, according to Digitimes Research.The growing market in China has also helped boost global AP shipments in 2013 since the AP market in China is expected to expand by at annual rate of over 60% to account for over 30% of global sales in the year.However, growth of global AP shipments will slow to 23% in 2014 due to the saturating market in China, where AP shipments are likely to expand at a pace slower than the industry's average, to reach only 17% in the coming year as sales of domestic-branded tablets will be affected by international brands, and the growth of overseas shipments of smart devices will not be able to offset the impact of scaling back domestic sales.In 2014, sales of ARM's Cortex-A12-based application processors for smartphones are expected to grow significantly, while the sales ratio of 64-bit processors is likely to rise over 20% thanks to strong promotions by Apple and Samsung. With the exception of Samsung, Apple and Qualcomm, other AP vendors are unlikely to step into the 64-bit segment until 2015, Digitimes Research commented.

Nokia's recent release of three Asha-series feature phones and two Lumia smartphones is aimed at ramping up the market share of Windows Phone. But the effectiveness of the strategy remains to be seen, according to Digitimes Research.The new Nokia Asha feature phones will inevitably face competition from low-cost smartphones, as the series is positioned in the high-end feature phone market, said Digitimes Research.Nokia shipped 5.9 million Asha phones globally in the third quarter of 2013, up from 4.3 million units in the second quarter but down from the 6.5 million units shipped a year ago, while Nokia's overall feature phone shipments grew 3.9% on quarter but declined 27.2% on year to 55.8 million units during the same period. The results show that Asha phones have not made a significant contribution to Nokia's feature phone business, Digitimes Research observed.As for the Lumia series smartphones, although shipments of models targeting the entry-level and mid-range segments have helped boost Nokia's overall smartphone shipments, the brand is still struggling to compete in the high-end smartphone segment, Digitimes Research indicated.Nokia's smartphone shipments arrived at 8.8 million units in the third quarter of 2013, up from 7.4 million units in the previous quarter and the 6.3 million units shipped a year earlier. Nokia's entry-level and mid-range smartphones have been selling well, but the brand is still finding it tough to compete in the high-end market segment dominated by Samsung Electronics and Apple, Digitimes Research noted.Microsoft in September 2013 announced its acquisition of Nokia's devices and services business for EUR5.44 billion (US$7.3 billion), and the recent rollout of Nokia's new Asha and Lumia devices marked the first release of Nokia phones since the deal.

China panel makers are expected to make up 33% of global small-size TFT LCD panel production from 2013 onwards, up from 20% in 2012, due to newly constructed lines and expanded production capacity, according to Digitimes Research.The makers are expected to make significant increases in TFT LCD panel production through to 2016, with BOE expected to see the largest increase in small-size as well as medium-size TFT LCD panel production. Approximately 40-45% of BOE's revenues by 2016 are expected to come from the two segments, said Digitimes Research.Additionally, the makers are also continuing to see support from the China government and have tariff advantages over panel makers not based in China.Digitimes Research also estimated that China-based panel makers will make up nearly 17% of PC and TV panel production by 2016.

While a number of IC vendors have begun shipping chips supporting TD-LTE, including base band chips, radio frequency chips, application processors, SoC solutions and soft modems, shipments of base band chips account for a majority share of total TD-LTE chip shipments currently, according to Digitimes Research.China Mobile, while planning to officially launch TD-LTE services in 2014, has required chipset suppliers offer TD-LTE chips supporting five modes (LTE/LTE FDD, TD-LTE, TD-SCDMA, WCDMA and GSM) and also 10 operational frequency bands.Since the specifications are high, chipset suppliers which can meet the requirements are mostly international players, including Qualcomm, Marvell Technology and MediaTek. Most IC design houses in China, with the exception of HiSilicon Technologies, are unlikely to enter China Mobile's supply chain initially.ASPs of TD-LTE chips are expected to remain stable initially because of high product standards and limited suppliers. However, local chipset suppliers in China are expected to gradually enhance their hardware specifications and to step into the segment with aggressive pricing later, forcing international brand vendors to focus on more sophisticated devices such as application processors and SoCs, said Digitimes Research.

OCZ Technology shifted its corporate focus away from legacy DRAM memory modules in 2011, and has since built on its expertise in high-speed memory to become a leader in the design and manufacturing of solid state drives (SSDs). The year 2012 was another year of transition for the company, which moved to reduce its reliance on the consumer market and increase focus on delivering high performance, client and enterprise solid state storage solutions.Alex Mei, chief marketing officer (CMO) at OCZ, talked about the company's new products and recent achievements, and shared his views on the SSD market, in a recent interview with Digitimes.Q: How did OCZ and the storage market as a whole perform over the past year?A: The SSD market matured greatly over the last year as more and more customers across both the client and enterprise spectrum adopted solid state technology for use in everything from ultraslim notebooks to the data center. Unlike many other product segments, the SSD market has continued to grow as storage and data processing continue to drive demand.Last year was a year of transition for OCZ as the company exited a number of markets that have become highly commoditized; for example, the value SSD market where price is a primary factor. Rather than compete in the highly price-oriented value market, OCZ focused on introducing new differentiated products that leverage our own in-house IP. Examples of this include our Vector and Vertex 450 series drives which make use of OCZ's proprietary Barefoot 3 controller. The company also continued to push into the enterprise and shifted the mix between client and enterprise products.Q: What is your direction on the enterprise market? Do you see growth in PCIe?A: Today SATA continues to represent the largest portion of client and enterprise SSD sales for OCZ, but we continue to see not only opportunity but growth in PCIe-based SSDs. On the enterprise server and data center storage front, PCIe and SAS continue to grow as slots are available and PCIe delivers the highest performance and density. OCZ not only offers PCIe-based edge cards that are ideal for tiered and primary storage; we also have focused on combining the hardware with software for a complete solution. For example, our ZD-XL SQL accelerator is easy to deploy integrated hardware/software storage solution that accelerates and optimizes Microsoft SQL Server database applications in enterprise environments.Q: What about workstation class PCIe, like your current RevoDrive series?A: Client and workstation PCIe adoption also continues to increase as customers are looking for faster and higher density solutions that offer improved bandwidth over what traditional SATA interface and drives can provide. We are finding that the RevoDrive series has become popular among workstation users, enthusiasts looking for the highest transfer rates in high performance desktops, graphic designers and customers that put a premium on high speed processing when creating digital content. Moving forward you can see us continue to expand the RevoDrive series utilizing our own controllers.Q: Can you talk about the client market and what it means for OCZ?A: Though we have put a great deal of emphasis on growing our enterprise business, we have also remained committed to the client market.Rather than sell products in the value segment, our product line now focuses primarily on the high-end and enthusiast space where we can differentiate and add value. Because OCZ has in-house controller and firmware technology, we are able to design drives that provide superior performance and features with the latest NAND. We are always looking for ways to improve performance, reliability and endurance.For example, our flagship Vector line was designed to address both high performance and workstation applications so we focused on delivering superior sustained performance. While some competing drives perform great when they are fresh-out-of-the-box, that performance degrades quickly once the drives are in a "dirty" state. The Vector gets consistently faster sustained speeds with the complete spectrum of file types and sizes, including both compressible and incompressible data for balanced, long-lasting performance so that customers enjoy a superior overall computing experience over the long term. OCZ will continue to introduce high performance client drives whenever we can add value for end users.Q: You launched new drives (Vector and Vertex 450) based on your own in-house controller and firmware. How are these products being received by customers?A: Very well. Unfortunately over the past year we have had some NAND supply issues that have impacted our ability to provide some of the higher capacities, but in terms of performance and features, both these award-winning product lines have been utilized by customers in everything from gaming rigs to the latest mobile platforms. The OCZ Barefoot 3 controller and our in-house firmware help make the Vector series among the highest performing client drives on the market. Because we have this proprietary technology we are able to leverage the latest NAND types, including 19nm in our upcoming Vector 150 series, which is designed to shatter performance and endurance barriers once again.Q: Can you tell us more about your enterprise SSD strategy?A: Our enterprise strategy is to deliver superior value and features to our customers across a wide range of solutions. I say "solutions" because we are selling so much more than just enterprise SSD hardware.While we offer traditional SATA, SAS and PCIe enterprise SSDs, we also provide enterprise software under our XL series that address everything from virtualization (VXL software) to database (ZD-XL SQL accelerator) and enterprise storage central management (StoragePro XL software). Together our enterprise hardware and software represent a complete solution that enables enterprise customers to get the most out of their flash-based storage.OCZ will continue to develop plug-and-play solutions like our ZD-XL SQL accelerator that address specific applications, making it easier than ever for storage architects to deploy and start realizing the benefits of enterprise SSDs.Q: Can you talk about the partnerships OCZ has established over the past year? And how they will contribute to company growth?A: On the partnership side, OCZ continues to establish strategic partnerships on both the supply and distribution sides of the business.The ability to develop our own controllers has enabled the company to be flash agnostic, allowing us to work with a wider range of NAND providers which improves availability of high-end flash. We have built up strong partnerships with the fabs that have helped fuel our enterprise data center growth, ensuring high quality and supply.To make our solutions more accessible worldwide, OCZ has partnered with new distributors, like TechData for example, that allow us to better support the VAR channel. All of this has helped OCZ grow our enterprise and client SSD availability and reach.Q: Can you share your views about the outlook for SSD? What is your business outlook for 2014?A: The SSD market will continue to grow in terms of units sold as well as the number of devices that come integrated with this technology.Previous objections in the enterprise like capacity and endurance are becoming less of an issue as the controller and firmware advancements help mitigate the issues with die shrinks, which at the same time help reduce cost and improve TCO for customers. At the same time we realize that while the SSD market continues to mature it becomes even more critical for us to differentiate our products, both through improved performance and feature-set.SATA will continue to be the majority of the SSD market, but in 2014 we can expect to see rapid growth in the PCIe market, especially in the enterprise. For these reasons OCZ will continue to invest in developing next generation controllers that provide native support for these key interfaces and continue to work on improving access to the latest cutting-edge NAND. The SSD market continues to heat up and this is an exciting time for customers as the technology is now becoming much more mainstream and will improve everything from immersing yourself in the latest game title to accessing cloud-based applications.OCZ CMO Alex MeiPhoto: Company

Average retail prices for LED light bulbs equivalent to 40W and 60W incandescent ones in the Japan market stood at JPY1,717 (US$17.2) and JPY2,468 respectively in October, slipping on month by 3.2% and 3.7% respectively, according to Digitimes Research.October average retail prices for 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED light bulbs in other markets are as follows: US$21.40 (up 1.9% on month) and US$24 (down 10.1%) in the US; EUR14 (US$18.70, down 3.4%) and EUR17.60 (down 0.6%) in Europe; KRW15,157 (US$14.1, up 3.1%) and KRW15,685 (up 5%) in Korea, Digitimes Research indicated.In the China market, October average retail price for 7W LED light bulbs stood at CNY43.8 (US$7.2, up 1.9%) and CNY55.4 (down 0.4%) for 9W ones.LG 40W-equivalent LED light bulbs and Samsung 60W-equivalent models for sale in the US market had the highest average lumen-price ratio of 77.6lm/US$ and 72.7lm/US$ respectively in October. In terms of luminous efficiency, Sharp 40W-equivalent LED light bulbs and Toshiba 60W-equivalent models available in the Japan market had the highest average level of 75.6lm/W and 92.5lm/W respectively.

China white-box tablet shipments reached about 25 million units in the third quarter of 2013, up 56.3% sequentially and 40.4% on year thanks to strong overseas shipments, which accounted for 80% of the total volume. Among white-box tablet shipments, 7-inch models accounted for the largest share, while 8-inch models, which were originally expected to become new star products, were unable to do so because of high costs from the bezel design and limited supply of 8-inch panels.Although white-box tablets are expected to see extraordinary growth in 2013, they are also expected to face more obstacles and challenges in the future. First, they will see strong price competition from large brand vendors, which will offer Android-based products at price levels similar to those of white-box models. Second, the tablet market will gradually reach saturation and should no longer see demand as strong as before.Third, white-box tablet costs have already hit the bottom margin, causing related assembly service providers and component suppliers to see limited profits. Several unhealthy players were already been eliminated from the market at the end of the second quarter, while the remaining players will need to rely on pumping up their shipments to support their profitability. However, such a strategy is unlikely to sustain for long, Digitimes Research noted.Digitimes Research also found that white-box tablets in Europe or North America are mostly used as gifts in product promotions or bundling deals and therefore specifications are not as high as those of regular tablets. As for emerging markets such as Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and Latin America, most consumers are buying white-box tablets with a single-core processor, because of limited purchasing power.As for application processors (APs), 70% of white-box tablets with phone functions adopted solutions from MediaTek in the third quarter, replacing the solutions from China-based Allwinner, the original favorite. Digitimes Research estimates that the proportion of white-box Wi-Fi-only tablets using MediaTek's solution will also increase dramatically starting the fourth quarter, further impacting China-based Allwinner and Rockchip's AP shipments. In addition to low prices, China-based AP suppliers will also need to consider how to create additional value for their APs to survive the competition.