Samsung Electronics has put its R&D focus on 14nm FinFET process development, looking to snatch A9 chip orders from Apple, according to Digitimes Research. Apple is believed to have informed Samsung about not placing orders for 20nm A8, said Digitimes Research. The South Korea-based firm is still making other processors, including the new A7 chip, for Apple. Apple remains Samsung's biggest foundry customer. Therefore, losing the opportunity of supplying A8 chips to Apple may result in some idle capacity that Samsung may have to fill starting mid-2014, Digitimes Research indicated. To avoid the risk of idle capacity, Samsung is aggressively pursuing new customers, including Qualcomm and Nvidia, Digitimes Research said. Samsung currently has four plants engaged in the manufacture of non-memory ICs with a combined monthly capacity of about 110,000 12-inch wafers. Its plant in Austin, US produces 40,000 wafers a month. In addition, Samsung has resumed the construction of its Line-17 fab in Hwaseong, South Korea, which was put off previously. The new logic fab is expected to kick off volume production between the end of 2013 and early-2014, Digitimes Research said. Samsung's planned Line-17 fab will mainly produce advanced 20nm and 14nm chips, and bring in an additional 50,000 12-inch wafers in capacity per month, Digitimes Research noted. This article is an excerpt from a Chinese Digitimes Research report. Click here if you are interested in receiving more information about the content and price of a translated version of the full report.

Taiwan panel makers are continuing to focus more on LED edge-lit 50-inch and above size LCD TV panels in order to allow vendors to make thinner and lighter TV units, according to Digitimes Research. The panels also have a more even light spread, which will help give TV units improved quality in addition to a thinner designs a major factor in competing with other high-end TV technology, said Digitimes Research. Meanwhile, in terms of other LED lighting applications, LED street lights are expected to boom in China throughout 2013 at 1.32 million units to comprise 32% of global shipments. Digitimes Research said the increase in China is due to local government policy that is pushing the use of LED street lights throughout various regions. This article is an excerpt from a Chinese Digitimes Research report. Click here if you are interested in receiving more information about the content and price of a translated version of the full report.

Digitimes Research estimates that LCD TV shipments in China will reach 43.5 million units in 2013, up 11% on year. Shipments of the technology reached around 23 million units in the first half of the year and are expected to reach 20.5 million in the second half, said Digitimes Research. Market estimates originally put the year-end total slightly higher than 43.5 million units, but due to energy-saving subsidies that provided LCD TV purchase funding to local consumers coming to an end in mid-2013, shipments are expected to drop in the second half of 2013 despite the time traditionally being a busier TV purchasing period. Digitimes Research added that the shipments are likely to grow about 5% on year in 2014. However, such estimates could be altered if the China government were to issue a new wave of subsidies, which are reportedly under discussion. This article is an excerpt from a Chinese Digitimes Research report. Click here if you are interested in receiving more information about the content and price of a translated version of the full report.

As competition in the tablet segment continues to increase and as notebook vendors are either seeing stagnant or in some cases declining sales of notebooks, vendors such as Apple need to think about making 2-in-1 notebook products (both tablet and notebook combined) in order to revitalize their notebook growth as well as give an edge over their competitors.According to most market estimations, tablet shipments are expected to reach over 180 million units in 2013 and some research firms even estimate that number will double in 2014 while notebook shipments are expected to show flat growth over the two-year period. These trends in the market show that consumers want cheaper and more mobile PC solutions, making tablets the new mainstream for PC usage and notebooks an old trend.However, consumers are coming to find that tablets do not meet all of their PC needs. One survey conducted by Forester Research found that 62% of knowledge workers in North America and Europe want keyboards with their tablets. Such surveys in addition to Forrester's are starting to pop up, indicating that consumers are trying to find ways to have their tablet further act as a notebook. While it may seem easy that consumers will simply purchase a keyboard to solve this issue, consumers are also beginning to realize that tablets are no match for notebooks in terms of speed and overall performance, which is likely to remain so at least in the near future.As a result, consumers at large are left with a choice of either purchasing a notebook or tablet, or a tablet in addition to a second-hand notebook/desktop in order to get the best of mobility, power and pricing advantages. Additionally, the general vibe of consumers seems to be that notebook prices have gotten to steep and that it is not worth purchasing both a new tablet and a notebook; hence, they are vouching for tablets while notebooks are left in the dust with mostly second-hand units being passed around.Solution: How about a two-in-one notebook?Such a product is not new in the market but it is far from being widely popularized. Companies such as Apple could benefit a lot from such a product. Consumers could justify investing more money into a computer product that would give them the conventient usage of a tablet and the option of power and performance in a notebook rather than throwing down US$2,000 for a notebook that is minimal in use. If Apple were to make the move it could set the new standard for notebook usage in the market and could potentially charge the same for such a unit as it would if consumers were to purchase both an Apple tablet and notebook, giving the company a hike in innovation and potentially in profits.Apple is increasingly facing competitors in the notebook segment as other vendors are putting out ultrabook and high-resolution units. The company needs to have more value-added to its products now to re-set the bar and gain back market share.Recently, rumors have been spreading in the market that Apple is working on a 13.3-inch tablet panel. This could be a great opportunity for Apple to further explore the idea of using the technology and incorporating as a detachable panel from the notebook for tablet use. However, don't expect to see such a product released at Apple's event on September 10, 2013.

Notebook shipments of the world's top-five brands and top-three ODMs grew 22% and 11%, respectively, on month in August 2013, but performance of individual brands and ODMs varied widely, according to the latest data compiled by Digitimes Research. Among the top-five brands, Hewlett-Packard (HP) led fellow companies with the highest (50%) sequential shipment growth in August, followed by Lenovo with a 25% increase. Acer saw its shipments expand 20% in August due largely to a low base in the previous month, while Asustek Computer suffered a setback. Meanwhile, Wistron outperformed other ODMs, reporting a 20% on-month growth in shipments in August thanks to orders from HP and Lenovo. Quanta Computer and Inventec both enjoyed growths of over 10%, Compal Electronics posted a single-digit growth, while Pegatron saw its shipments retreat in the month due to reduced orders from Asustek. HP's policy to focus on improving its profitability has begun to pay off, although its total revenues were still declining. Dell's aggressive pricing has helped stabilize its sales income but losses were still significant, Digitimes Research pointed out. The cooperation between notebook brands and Microsoft may turn sour after the software vendor announced recently plans to acquire Nokia's Devices and Services unit. Microsoft eventually will enhance its presence in the hardware end market where it will compete directly with brand players, Digitimes Research commented. This article is an excerpt from a Chinese Digitimes Research report. Click here if you are interested in receiving more information about the content and price of a translated version of the full report.

Trends in the panel industry show that panel makers are continuing to put their focus on high resolution panels, including Ultra HD and IGZO panels, as well as larger-size TFT LCD displays, according to Digitimes Research. Digitimes Research said such trends were displayed at the Touch Taiwan 2013 exhibition, which featured panel makers such as AU Optronics (AUO), Innolux and China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT). All three of the makers sported Ultra HD TV panel technology, with CSOT exhibiting a 110-inch unit, the largest at Touch Taiwan and currently the largest Ultra HD TV panel unit in the industry. CSOT also displayed a 32-inch Ultra HD display featuring IGZO technology. Digitimes Research also sees a trend from panel makers using Ultra HD TV panels as a means to maintain Full HD image quality when viewing 3D images. This gives advantages over Full HD TV panels using Pattern Retarder technology, which lose image quality when viewing 3D images. Panel makers are also increasing the size of panels used in digital signage and industrial applications, and are making more efforts to reduce bezel sizes while increasing their value-added features, noted Digitimes Research. This article is an excerpt from a Chinese Digitimes Research report. Click here if you are interested in receiving more information about the content and price of a translated version of the full report.

There will be 32.3 million LED light tubes shipped in the Japan market in 2014, hiking 48.7% on year and accounting for 21.7% of all lighting tubes rising 7pp on year, according to Digitimes Research. The ASP for an LED light tube will drop 30% from 2013 to JPY2,060 (US$21) in 2014, with resulting shipment value of JPY66.54 billion to increase 4% on year, Digitimes Research indicated. Currently in Japan, 43% of LED light tubes are used in retail stores, 25% in public space, 24% in offices and 8% in residential space. This article is an excerpt from a Chinese Digitimes Research report. Click here if you are interested in receiving more information about the content and price of a translated version of the full report.

The Touch Taiwan 2013 exhibition featured more key players in the industry than it has in the past, with major panel makers such as AU Optronics (AUO) and Innolux in attendance to display their focus in the panel industry throughout 2013.Innolux in particular used up space at the exhibition to show off its latest Ultra HD TV panels including 39-, 42-, 50-, 58- and 65-inch units. In addition, the company also focused on new panel technology for use in the industrial and medical segments, showing that the company is looking beyond the consumer electronics market and more into niche markets.AUO meanwhile sported its 55- and 65-inch Ultra HD units, with a focus on wide color gamut and high-percentage NTSC technology. The company also displayed its 27-inch Adobe RGB technology in addition to 5-inch 443ppi panels. The company also had a 3D viewing area for the 65-inch unit, which attracted no shortage of visitors.Sharp kept relatively quiet at the event despite its first-ever appearance. Taking up very little space at a crunched away booth in the middle of the exhibition, Sharp displayed its latest monitor technology with a focus on multi-touch features and smooth stylus-free writing capabilities. It would have been nice to see how its Ultra HD TV panel technology compared to other competitors, and viewers certainly would not have minded more info on the company's IGZO technology.In addition to displays, cover glass was another key focus at Touch Taiwan. Scott displayed its Xensation Cover ITS technology while other makers were focused still on soda-lime glass. Corning had a big presence at the exhibition, as expected, and was quick to refute the benefits of soda-lime glass while sporting its latest Gorilla NBT glass products. According to Corning, the NBT glass will start being used on notebook products as of third-quarter 2013, providing consumers with some of the most advanced scratch-resistant glass technology on the market.Touch Taiwan 2013 also attracted various speakers including members of AUO. When asked about Taiwan's role in the panel industry, AUO said it is confident in the nation's panel makers' ability to compete against growing competitors in China and that cooperation between the two sides will be increasingly important in the future.

Taiwan's IC design industry registered growth of 21.5% sequentially and 13% on year in output value in the second quarter of 2013, thanks to growing demand coming from China's smartphone and tablet sectors, according to Digitimes Research. Taiwan's IC design industry generated combined revenues of NT$115.98 billion (US$3.88 billion) in the second quarter of 2013, said Digitimes Research. Combined revenues of Taiwan's top-10 IC design houses, including companies specializing in analog ICs, consumer ICs and niche-market memory chips, came to NT$75.52 billion in the quarter, up 23.2% from the prior quarter and 22.9% a year ago. Orise Technology among Taiwan-based IC designers enjoyed the largest sequential growth in revenues in the second quarter, buoyed by rising shipments of LCD driver ICs for use in smartphones shipped to China, Digitimes Research indicated. Orise generated revenues of NT$2.93 billion in the second quarter, up 48.8% on quarter. MediaTek remained the largest Taiwan-based fabless IC company in the second quarter of 2013, with revenues rising 38.8% sequentially to NT$33.28 billion, Digitimes Research disclosed. This article is an excerpt from a Chinese Digitimes Research report. Click here if you are interested in receiving more information about the content and price of a translated version of the full report. Source: Digitimes Research, August 2013

Samsung Display is expected to remain as a major panel supplier for Apple products throughout 2013 into 2014 despite previous industry rumors stating that Apple was looking to shift most of its orders away from Samsung, according to Digitimes Research. The rumors were based off industry buzz in the supply chain stating that due to tensions between Apple and Samsung over technology disputes, Apple was looking to allocate more orders to LG Display as well as to Taiwan-based panel maker AU Optronics (AUO). However, due to struggles AUO has reportedly faced in producing Retina display technology that will reportedly be used in the next-generation iPad mini, Apple has since rethought its position towards Samsung and will still be dependent on the company to provide the panel technology while decreasing the amount of orders it originally expected to give AUO. Digitimes Research believes that Samsung will be responsible for producing panels used in Apple's next-generation iPad mini, but that LG will still be the main supplier. Sharp is also expected to land orders for the iPad mini but less than Samsung. Additionally, LG will still produce more than half of panels used in iMac products but Samsung is expected to be the runner up, said Digitimes Research. Digitimes Research also said LG will be the main supplier for 9.7-inch iPad panels and that panels used in the next-generation iPhone will come from LG as well as JDI. Other rumors are currently circulating in the market that LG and JDI have plans to further expand their production capacity for Apple products in 2014 but have yet to state whether the capacity would be enough to draw Samsung out of the Apple supply chain picture. This article is an excerpt from a Chinese Digitimes Research report. Click here if you are interested in receiving more information about the content and price of a translated version of the full report.