Despite comprehensive upgrades in hardware specifications, and expectations of strong sales during the October 1 holiday season, shipments of smartphones by China-based makers declined 7.3% sequentially in the third quarter of 2013, affected by high inventory levels of low-end models in the market, according to Digitimes Research.Smartphone shipments of first-tier vendors, including Huawei, Lenovo, ZTE and Coolpad, all suffered an over 20% sequential decline in the third quarter, Digitimes Research noted. However, Huawei recaptured the title as the number one smartphone exporter in China, accounting for 12% of China's total overseas smartphone shipments, followed by Lenovo at 11.6%.Although ZTE has managed to ramp up its overseas shipments to 60% of its total smartphone shipments, the company's high inventories of entry-level models in the domestic market will continue to impact its sales in the local market.While still focusing on sales in the domestic market, Coolpad has been performing relatively well as compared to local rivals, optimizing the high price/performance ratios of its smartphones as well as its aggressive pricing. The chance is high for Coolpad to see its total smartphone shipments surpass those shipped by ZTE in 2013, said Digitimes Research.TCL's performance in the third quarter was eye-catching as the vendor managed to post a 60% sequential shipment growth in the quarter.TCL's efforts to venture into the mid-range to high-end segment and to leverage the brand image of Alcatel to promote sales in more mature markets, including the US and Europe, enabled the vendor to take the fifth position in smartphone shipment rankings in China in the third quarter.

Taiwan-based ODMs Ability Enterprise, Altek, Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) and Asia Optical will ship a total of 4.05 million digital cameras in the fourth quarter of 2013, decreasing 20.2% on quarter and 49.5% on year, according to Digitimes Research.Of the shipments, 45.1% will be 16-megapixel CCD models, 31.9% 20-megapixel CCD models, 17.2% 16-megapixel CMOS models and 3.7% 18-megapixel CMOS models, Digitimes Research indicated.Ability will account for 65.06% of the shipments, Altek 25.31%, Foxconn 6.17% and Asia Optical 3.46%.Nikon will be the largest client accounting for 37.04% of the shipments, followed by Fujifilm (16.30%), Casio (16.05%), Sony (14.07%), Samsung Electronics (7.41%), Panasonic (3.70%) and Olympus (1.23%).The four ODMs will ship 20.65 million digital cameras in 2013, slipping 48.3% on year.

Taiwan-based makers shipped a total of 378.228 million small- to medium-size TFT-LCD panels in the third quarter of 2013, increasing 4.6% on quarter and 0.2% on year, according to Digitimes Research.Of the panels, 85.1% were made based on a-Si process and 14.9% on LTPS, Digitimes Research indicated.In terms of applications, handset accounted for 78.6% of the shipments, tablet 5.62%, digital camera 5.05% and automotive displays 2.49%.Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) was the largest producer accounting for 30.8% of the shipments, followed by HannStar Display (24.57%), Innolux (23.45%) and AU Optronics (AUO, 21.18%).

Taiwan-based ODM, JDMs (joint design manufacturers) and OBMs (own-brand manufacturers) shipped 16.6 million handsets in total in the third quarter of 2013, increasing 2.7% on quarter and 10.6% on year. 16.44 million units or 99.04% of which were smartphones, growing 3.3% on quarter and 23.1% on year, according to Digitimes Research.Of the shipments, 81.9% were of WCDMA models, 16.7% CDMA 2000 models and 1.4% GSM models, Digitimes Research indicated.HTC was the largest maker accounting for 30.72% of the shipments, followed by Arima Communications with 22.89%, Chi Mei Communication Systems with 20.48%, Compal Communications with 15.66% and Inventec Appliances with 5.12%.

Taiwan-based Innolux, AU Optronics (AUO), Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) and HannStar Display together shipped 64.543 million large-size (above 9-inch) TFT-LCD panels in the third quarter of 2013, slipping 3.5% on quarter and 9.6% on year and accounting for 36.8% of global shipments, according to Digitimes Research.Of the shipments, 34.6% were for use in notebooks, 29.68% in monitors, 29.04% in TVs and 5.16% in tablets, Digitimes Research indicated.Innolux shipped 10.46 million TV panels, 11.01 million notebook panels and 11.283 monitor panels, while AUO shipped 8.281 million, 12.806 million and 7.495 million units, respectively.

TPV Technology, Foxconn Electronics, Wistron, Compal Electronics, Amtran Technology, Pegatron and other Taiwan-based makers together shipped 8.99 million LCD TVs in the third quarter of 2013, increasing 15.7% on quarter but decreasing 9.0% on year, according to Digitimes Research.Of the shipments, 71.5% were on OEM/ODM basis, mainly shipped to Japan-based vendors (36.7%), US- and Europe-based ones (21.5%), and China-based ones (11.5%); 28.5% were OBM shipments, Digitimes Research indicated.North America was the largest regional market accounting for 45.2% of the shipments, followed by Asia (23.2%), and Europe (20.3%).The third-quarter shipments were comprised of 32-inch models (37.5%), sub 30-inch models (18.4%), 37- to 39-inch models (8.3%), 40- and 42-inch models (17.7%), 46- to 48-inch models (8.1%) and 50-inch and above models (10.0%).TPV was the largest maker accounting for 44% of the shipments, followed by Foxconn (22%), Wistron (10%), Compal (9%), Amtran (8%) and Pegatron (5%).Taiwan-based makers will ship a total of 10.03 million LCD TVs in the fourth quarter, leading to total shipments of 34.702 million units in 2013.

In the third quarter of 2013, global tablet shipments reached 35.68 million units, up 15.3% sequentially and 34.6% on year, driven mainly by non-iPad tablet shipments, which reached 20.08 million units, up 22.9% from the previous quarter and accounting for 56.3% of the total volume, according to Digitimes Research's latest figures.Apple released the iPad Air and the iPad mini with Retina Display on October 22, but the iPad mini with Retina Display did not start shipping from suppliers until the end of October due to supply shortages of the high-definition panel. As a result, iPad shipments in the third quarter only grew 6.8% sequentially, reaching 15.6 million units and accounting for 43.7% of global shipments.Taiwan's proportion in global tablet shipments dropped further to 63% in the third quarter as Samsung Electronics and Lenovo have been increasing their in-house production of tablets, Digitimes Research said.Apple and Samsung were the top-two tablet vendors in the third quarter. Samsung's market share grew to almost 30%. Google ranked third thanks to its second-generation Nexus 7. Lenovo, Acer and Asustek Computer were number 4-6, while Amazon was ranked number seven.As for application processors (APs), Marvell was the second-largest AP supplier in the third quarter as it has become the main supplier of Samsung's tablet products. Intel was the third-largest due to orders from Samsung and for Windows-based tablets, followed by MediaTek and Qualcomm.

Global notebook shipments are expected to drop 13% on year in 2013 and decline further by 6.6% in 2014 to reach only 159 million units, as tablets continue to outshine notebooks.Notebook's selling points for 2014 are expected to remain the same as those in 2013. Although touchscreen notebooks' proportion in total notebook shipments is expected to rise from 8.2% in 2013 to 16.5% in 2014, the growth is still far below vendors' expectation. Vendors will also release more 2-in-1 models in 2014, but due to factors such as concerns over Windows 8.1's user interface, touch panels' high costs and difficulties in reducing overall costs, 2-in-1 devices' proportion (without counting detachable models) in total notebook shipments will account for only less than 2% in 2014.As for Chromebooks, Digitimes Research expects the devices to have a chance to reach three million units in 2014 and account for 5% of total notebook shipments in 2015. However, the devices' shipment growth will be contributed mostly by demand for replacements for conventional Windows- or Linux-based notebooks.Digitimes Research estimates that the top-10 brand vendors' ranking in 2014 will stay similar to that of 2013. Hewlett-Packard (HP), Toshiba and Samsung Electronics will turn conservative about their notebook businesses. Apple will see a market share drop due to adjustments in products lines.Acer and Asustek Computer, which are expected to suffer over 20% on-year shipment drops in 2013, are relying more on entry-level notebook models. Although the two vendors may have difficulties achieving shipment growths in 2014, their market shares are expected to stay flat thanks to orders released by HP, Toshiba and Samsung.

China-based makers shipped a total of 99.945 million touch panels used in smartphones in third-quarter 2013, decreasing 8.2% sequentially, while total shipments of 30.990 million units used in below 11-inch tablets and 851,000 units used in 11-inch and above tablets and notebooks increased by 29.5% and 495.1% respectively, according to Digitimes Research.Film-based capacitive models accounted for 63.83% of the smartphone touch panel shipments, glass-based capacitive 20.60% and resistive 15.58%, Digitimes Research indicated. Shenzhen O-film Tech was the largest smartphone touch panel maker accounting for 17.1% of the shipments, followed by Truly Opto-electronics (11.03%), Chung Hua EELY Enterprise (7.95%), Mutto Optronics (6.69%) and Top Touch Electronics (6.28%).Glass-based capacitive models took up 60.45% of the shipments of touch panels used in below 11-inch tablets, film-based capacitive 37.71% and resistive 1.83%.China-based makers will ship 107.802 million touch panels for smartphones, 35.687 million units for sub 11-inch tablets and 1.526 million units for 11-inch and above tablets and notebooks in the fourth quarter.

Taiwan-based ODMs Ability Enterprise, Altek, Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) and Asia Optical shipped a total of 5.074 million digital cameras in the third quarter of 2013, decreasing 12.7% on quarter and 50.4% on year, according to Digitimes Research.Of the shipments, 52.6% were 16-megapixel CCD models, 23.9% 20-megapixel CCD models, 15.9% 16-megapixel CMOS models and 3.6% 18-megapixel CMOS models, Digitimes Research indicated.Ability accounted for 49.76% of the shipments, Altek 26.55%, Foxconn 18.96% and Asia Optical 4.73%.Nikon was the largest client accounting for 38.43% of the shipments, followed by Fujifilm (14.98%), Sony (14.74%), Casio (11.82%), Olympus (8.75%), Panasonic (3.55%) and Samsung Electronics (1.97%).