Taiwan makers' shipments of small- to medium-size TFT LCD panels are expected to reach 337 million in the second quarter of 2014, up 12% on quarter but down 6.8% on year, according to Digitimes Research.
In a report dated 10 years ago, the Council for Economic Planning and Development made a forecast basing on the dramatic annual increase in Taiwan's aging index that a decade later every four working people would have to support one elderly person on average. However, 10 years on, less than four people now have to support one elderly person, and the number will drop to below two people in 2020.
Shipments of tablet-use application processors (AP) in China grew 11.2% sequentially and 40% on year in the second quarter of 2014, buoyed by a rebound in demand for tablets in the China market as well as in overseas markets...
Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Surface on May 20 2014. Instead of the long-rumored 7.5-inch Surface Mini, the software giant released the 12-inch Surface Pro. Digitimes Research believes the company has turned its focus back to large-size models that enable better productivity.
The average pricing for LCD TVs sold in the market during May 2014 was up at large as vendors continued to release new units, according to Digitimes Research.
G1F touch panel technology used in tablet and smartphone applications will see limited shipments in 2014 while OGS shipments are expected to remain steady, according to Digitimes Research.
Taiwan makers have successfully entered the supply chain of the Internet datacenter center (IDC) industry and may contribute over 90% of the global server shipments in 2014. Combined revenues from related product lines such as motherboards, back-end assembly, storage and telecommunication devices, are expected to reach NT$450 billion (US$14.94 billion) in the year, up 8.8% from 2013.
Shipments of smartphones in the China market declined 6.4% sequentially in the first quarter of 2014 as consumers delayed plans for the purchase of new phones or replacements, given that handset vendors have postponed the release of sub-CNY1,000 (US$160) 4G models to the second quarter due to a high inventory levels of 3G smartphones, according to Digitimes Research.
The global top-5 notebook brand vendors' combined shipments in April dropped 24% on month and 3% on year, while shipments of the top-3 ODMs dropped 15% on month and 9% on year, according to the latest figures from Digitimes Research. Most vendors replenished their inventories during March, and reduced their demand in April.
