While major Japan-based household appliance suppliers, including Toshiba, Sharp, Panasonic and Mitsubishi Denki, have already made the controls and operations of their smart household appliance systems through smartphones as standards, sales of smart household appliances compatible with home energy management system (HEMS) are expected to increase significantly amid rising awareness of energy saving and to become an emerging trend of Japan's smart household appliance industry, according to Digitimes Research.Toshiba began to sell its HEMS-centric smart household appliances in October 2013, which can perform a number of advanced concierge services such as remote-control, remote-confirmation, malfunction diagnosis, usage recommendation, energy-saving proposals and notification of operation. The launch of the Internet-connected, cloud-service accessible Feminity series of home appliances further enhance Toshiba's smart home appliance services, which can be controlled using PC systems, TVs, and tablets in addition to smartphones. Sharp has regarded the development of sweeping robots as the first step to realizing next-generation smart home appliance solutions. Its Cocorobo-series RX-V200 robot, launched in November 2013, can serve as a home appliance hub that can control and operate a number of household appliances through infrared. The RX-V200 can also apply to cloud services, to enhance the degree of communications with human beings. Sharp has been emphasizing the connection and communications of its smart household appliances and will incorporate such smart functions to all of its home appliances.Panasonic has been focusing connection between smartphones and smart household appliances and has launched more than 10 related products, offering a number of value-added services through FeliCa and NFC technologies. However, along with the rising concern of energy saving, Panasonic has also begun to step into HEMS compatible products.

July average retail price for 7W LED light bulbs (equivalent to 40W incandescent ones) in the China market increased by 5.2% sequentially to CNY36.3 (US$5.9), while the 9W segment (equivalent to 60W incandescent) also saw a 8.3% increase to CNY50.9, according to Digitimes Research.Average retail prices for 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED light bulbs in the Japan market in July stood at JPY1,701 (US$17) and JPY2,807 respectively, with the former growing 2.3% sequentially and the latter 4.2%, Digitimes Research indicated.July average retail prices for 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED light bulbs in other markets were: KRW12,462 (US$12.5, down 0.5% on month) and KRW14,645 (down 2.2%) in South Korea; US$20 (up 4.2%) and US$20 (down 7.0%) in the US; EUR12.9 (US$17.4, down 3.7%) and EUR11.8 (down 13.9%) in Europe.Osram 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED light bulbs available in the South Korea market had the highest average lumen-price ratios of 67.8lm/US$ and 92.9lm/US$ respectively in July. In terms of luminous efficiency, Toshiba 40W- and 60W-equivalent models for sale in the Japan market had the highest average levels of 74.6lm/W and 100.5lm/W respectively.

After facing a second quarter where overall shipment results came in below expectations, tablet vendors are expected to see a rebound in the third quarter, with global shipments increasing 23.8% on quarter, according to data from the latest Digitimes Research Tracker service. Worldwide tablet shipments will reach 68.5 million units in the third quarter, up 9% from the same period last year, but Digitimes Research noted that with the global tablet market maturing, annual growth will fall to single digits in both the third and fourth quarters of 2014.The recently published Global Tablet Market Tracker report forecasts that the third quarter will represent the first period of 2014 to show sequential growth, as vendors face less adverse market conditions.The most significant market factor constraining shipments in the second quarter was Samsung failing to meet expectations. The vendor was unable to continue the growth momentum it had previously seen in all its tablet lines, mainly because the market saw no significant difference between Samsung's new mid-to-high-end Android products and the Apple iPad or even Samsung's previous generation products.Samsung also originally expected to increase its 8.x-inch market share but failed to take even 20% of that market, while sales of its low-priced phablets suffered in emerging markets, as they still maintained a price premium compared with competitors.Tablet vendors will continue facing market obstacles as they head into the second half of the year. The global tablet market is maturing and notebook vendors are looking to reclaim market share by offering notebooks priced similarly, or even cheaper, than tablets. Digitimes Research forecast that annual growth in the fourth quarter of 2014 will fall to 0.5%.

Taiwan-based makers will ship 134.7 million large-size (9-inch and above) TFT-LCD panels in the second half of 2014, up 3.8% from the first half, according to Digitimes Research.As Taiwan-based makers will appropriate portions of large-size panel production capacities for making small- to medium-size models, their combined large-size panel capacity in the second half of 2014 will shrink by 0.1% from the first half, Digitimes Research indicated. In contrast, China-based BOE Technology will expand capacity at an 8.5G factory in the second half of 2014 and LG Display and Samsung Display will do so at their 8.5G factories in China as well, rendering it difficult for Taiwan-based makers to increase large-size panel shipments.In addition, LG Display and Samsung Display will see increased supply of panels used in iPad and Samsung tablets respectively, allowing their large-size panel shipments in the second half of 2014 to grow more than Taiwan-based makers' average.

Polyimide (PI) film coverlays are an important material that protects the bendable circuits on flexible printed circuit boards (FPCBs) from being damaged by high temperatures, moistures, pollution and acidic corrosion. It is meant to completely protect the FPCB from harsh environments and allow the FPCB to maintain its bendability and all its functions. FPCB makers usually use PI film or screen printing coverlays to achieve the protection, but both methods still see technological issues that need to be resolved.The photoimageable covery (PIC) is the latest solution that Taiwan-based TeamChem Material Company has offered to FPCB makers. Compared to the traditional PI-film coverlay, PIC has many advantages. First, PIC uses a photoimageable process to create holes or reveal solder positions, and it does not need machines to conduct the die-cut process. Therefore it is a more precise, low-cost and time-efficient manufacturing process. Second, PIC can simplify the FPCB's manufacturing process, cutting down the steps to only five, much lower than the 11 seen in traditional processes. This accelerates manufacturing, significantly reducing manpower and power consumption. Third, PIC is not as rigid as conventional PI films, giving it better flexibility to prevent rebound during static bending.The above-mentioned rigidity issue of the traditional PI film coverlay stems from the PI film's rigidness, which will increase the substrate's rebound strength when the FPCB is bent. Therefore, when an anisotropic conductive film (ACF) is applied onto the FPCB, the PI film coverlay's rigidness will result in some remnant stress on the FPCB after assembly and this will reduce the reliability of the product. However, PIC is created with soft materials that do not contain any rigidness, allowing the FPCB to be free from remnant stress after assembly. Therefore, when a FPCB needs to be laminated using ACF, PIC is the best solution for FPCB makers.PIC is a soft photoimageable solder resin with a chemical structure that is mainly composed of soft epoxy acrylic resin, a type of material that has long been used in FPCBs. Its heat- and chemical-resistance properties and flexural strength have also been generally recognized. Due to its characteristic softness, it hardly creates bubbles when being mounted, and does not crack even when the substrate and the chip have different stress levels. PIC will change its flexure along with the stress difference.Compared to FPCB-use soft solder mask ink, PIC has five major advantages: 1. No need for screen printing; clean and odorless; consistent film thickness.2. Resolves the difficulties of hole-plugging when applying liquid ink onto double-sided or multilayer FPCBs.3. Its flexural strength is similar to that of FPCB photoimageable ink, but it features better photoimaging capability and chemical resistance.4. Quick developing, and short cure time during post-bake.5. Does not include silicon oil-based defoamer, so there will be no pollution problem at the edge of the PCB pad; neither will it pollute the immersion gold and gold plating baths.PIC completely meets the European Union's (EU) safety regulations, resulting in wide adoption by Germany-based FPCB makers.FPCB makers' actual manufacturing results show:1. PIC eliminates the processes of cutting, drilling and punching that are needed to process PI films; increases efficiency and reduces costs.2. Enhances the alignment accuracy for the coverlay's fast-press process. The accuracy is improved from 0.1mm to 0.025mm.3. Capable of resolving the excessive glue issue as it adopts the photoimaging method for opening and therefore the glue will not overflow, reducing the excessive glue issue from 0.1mm to zero.4. PIC is capable of directly replacing fast-press and WF, resolving the problem of poor sealing during the WF process.Lamination is the most important step deciding the success of PIC process; preventing bubbles from emerging is the most crucial issue. Once the lamination is finished without creating bubbles, the whole PIC process is already half-completed. As for how to prevent bubbles from forming, the hot-press temperature has to be low. TeamChem Material Chairman Dr. Todd Yeh suggests that when a circuit layout is not symmetrical or the circuits are too dense, vacuum fast-press equipment is more suitable to achieve a good lamination result.TeamChem Material Chairman Dr. Todd Yeh points out that the company's PIC is made under a low-temperature environment, ready for production at FPCB makers' existing facilities and capable of featuring different colors and film thickness. Currently, TeamChem is able to supply matte black, glossy green and yellow PIC in mass volume, while FPCB makers in Germany, Switzerland and China have purchased TeamChem's PIC products for use in high-precision medical and aerospace equipment, tablets, smartphones' communication antenna FPCBs, and FPCBs for light bars.Commenting on the development of PIC applications, FPCB engineers have pointed out that the conventional method has at least 11 steps - microetching of circuits, layup, lamination, baking, punching, abrasive blasting, photoimageable solder mask applying, pre-bake, exposure, developing and post-bake. But after PIC needs only five steps - microetching of circuits, lamination, exposure, developing and post-bake - saving work, time and manpower. PIC is a great help for FPCB makers who need to compete for orders through cost-down efforts.Comparison of PIC and CVL processes

Fifteen mobile telecom carriers in seven ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries had started LTE commercial operations as of the end of the second quarter of 2014, and Singapore ranked first with LTE subscribers accounting for nearly 30% of all mobile communication subscriptions, according to Digitimes Research.In the whole ASEAN market, LTE and WiMAX subscribers accounted for only 1.3% of mobile communications subscribers at the end of 2013, compared to 70.5% for 2G and 28.2% for 3G, Digitimes Research indicated.In view of decreasing revenues due to market saturation, SingTel, StarHub and M1, three mobile telecom carriers in Singapore, have made large investments to set up LTE networks, with network coverage much higher than that in the other six ASEAN countries. In addition to data communications, SingTel launched VoLTE (voice over LTE) services in May 2014.

The Mexico government will hold an open bid to procure 13.7 million LCD TVs over three years as part of a subsidy program for low-income families in line with the digitization of terrestrial TV broadcasts. Foxconn Electronics stands a considerably large chance of winning the procurement orders, and affiliate Innolux is likely to supply panels, according to Digitimes Research.So far, six vendors/makers with TV production in Mexico, including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Foxconn, will participate in the bidding, Digitimes Research indicated.Meanwhile, in the China market, web video portals have been forced to give up delivering video services via the Internet and become pure providers of video content due to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television's IPTV regulatory measures. However, as many white-box OTT (over the top) models, most of which are not in compliance with regulations, are available for sale, web video portals are likely to maintain their market status by virtue of OTT devices, Digitimes Research noted.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix posted total production value of KRW10.73 trillion (US$10.41 billion) for DRAM and NAND flash in the second quarter of 2014, the highest quarterly figures on record, according to Digitimes Research.Total production value consisted of KRW7.54 trillion for DRAM and KRW3.19 trillion for NAND flash, increasing 8.9% and 6.2%on quarter, respectively, Digitimes Research indicated. DRAM and NAND shipments by the two makers in the second quarter were larger than originally expected.However, SK Hynix lowered NAND flash quotes to hike shipments and consequently saw second-quarter net operating margin slip on quarter.Due to growing demand for PCs, smartphones and tablets and expected hikes in contract prices, Samsung and SK Hynix are likely to see growth in the third quarter.

White-box vendors shipped 22.3 million tablets globally in the second quarter of 2014, increasing 9.3% sequentially, according to Digitimes Research. Of the shipments, Wi-Fi only models accounted for 56.4% and Wi-Fi plus voice communications models 43.6%, Digitimes Research indicated. In terms of screen size, 7-inch models accounted for 69.4% of the shipments and 7.85/7.9-inch ones 20.8%. In view of growing demand for Wi-Fi tablets in mature markets and for inexpensive Wi-Fi+voice models in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, white-box tablet shipments will increase to 27.2 million units in the third quarter of 2014 and 27.8 million units in the fourth. However, profitability for white-box tablets is likely to shrink due to competition from large-size smartphones with high performance-price ratios and convertible tablets.

Smartphone vendors' strategies and timing of product launches in different markets were affecting their sales in second-quarter 2014.Apple saw its smartphone ASP drop to a historic low in the second quarter, as its major offering remained the iPhone 5s. At the same time, it lowered prices for older iPhone versions in emerging markets and introduced the 8GB iPhone 5c in various markets. LG Electronics saw considerable shipments for LTE smartphones in the South Korea and overseas markets.Xiaomi Technology topped China-based vendors in smartphone shipments in the first and second quarters but has mainly focused on the China market.Sony saw decreased sales of entry-level and mid-range smartphones in emerging markets due to competition from China-based and local vendors, according to a new report from Digitimes Research.