Taiwan's optoelectronics industry in the first half of 2021 shows strong growth, compared to the same period in 2020, due to the large-scale stimulus plans from major economies and the steady global economic demand. Among the optoelectronic industry, panels have increased the most, because of the stay-at-home economy and shortage of raw materials and components, which have stimulated the increase in panel price.

LED packaging service providers Harvatek and Bright LED Electronics saw significant increases in orders in second-quarter 2021, and expect strong demand to continue at least in the third quarter, jugding from their shipment schedules, according to the companies.

Unit sales of flat-screen TVs including OLED TVs in Japan increased for the 15th consecutive month in June 2021, according to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA).

Taiwan-based digital paper solution provider, E Ink Holdings, and Ricoh have jointly unveiled an ultra-thin digital whiteboard, with applications across medical, construction, and office settings.

Taiwan-based LED epitaxial wafer and chip maker Epistar and China-based fellow maker Sanan Optoelectronics are expected to become two additional suppliers of mini/microLED chips for Samsung Electronics, with shipments to begin in the second half of 2021, according to industry sources.

Taiwan-based BenQ had the biggest share of Vietnam's interactive flat panel (IFP) display market in first-quarter 2021, according to a local newspaper.

Prices of LCD panels are forecast to stabilize in the third quarter of 2021 before heading for a downward correction in the fourth quarter and 2022 due to reduced demand, according to industry sources.

The TV market scale in China in terms of unit shipments continues to shrink, but the growing demand for large-size models there is driving the upgrades in the TV panel sector, which in turn will accelerate the transformation of price competition into value competition in the TV industry, according to industry sources.

Of export orders received by Taiwan-based manufacturers and exporters in 2020, domestic production accounted for 46.0%, slipping 1.4pp on year, according to a survey of overseas production for export orders conducted by Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Online and offline TV sales both experienced declines around the 618 shopping festival in China from May 24-June 20 in terms of volume but posted mixed results in sales value, according to data compiled by AVC.

DIGITIMES has planned a series of special research projects, targeting the changes in the Asia market and supply chain. For the research, DIGITIMES has picked 100 representative Asian enterprises from the ICT and car sectors in terms of their revenues.

Competition between Taiwan's top two LCD panel makers, AU Optronics (AUO) and Innolux, has heated up as they strive to outrace each other in sales to become the top vendor in the local display industry, according to market sources.

Taiwan-based integrated LED solution provider Ennostar is poised to enhance its presence in China's mini/microLED market thanks to robust sales experienced by its joint venture in the country.

Taiwan's PC monitor shipments are expected to grow about 3% on both sequential and on-year bases in the second quarter of 2021, as shortages of related components and materials continue to constrain growths, according to Digitimes Research.

The top-100 tech firms in Asia are mostly based in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan, with the car and tech products/equipment sectors making up the two largest groups, according to Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC 100), the freshly released research results by Digitimes. The ASC 100 study, based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap, wil be renewed annually. In the notebook industry, makers are using more aluminum-alloy components to replace copper ones, as copper prices stay at high levels.

Countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia stand a chance of becoming rising stars in the midst of supply chain shifts and the move toward shorter supply chains and localization. Four Indian firms and one Indonesian firm entered Digitimes' Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC100). By region, Tata Motors at No. 22 in ASC100 is the champion in Southeast Asia and South Asia, followed by Indonesia's Astra International (No. 68) and India's Mahindra & Mahindra (No. 69), Maruti Suzuki (No. 74) and Motherson Sumi (No. 89). ASC 100 is a study based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap that will be renewed annually.

Companies in the "tech products and equipment" and "automotive manufacturing" sectors account for half of the Digitimes' Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC 100) list, but semiconductor firms well lead the list in both average profit and average market value. ASC 100 is a newly released reseach on Asia's top 100 tech firms. ASC 100 is a study based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap that will be renewed annually.

Benefiting from the US-China tech war and sharp chip shortages following the pandemic outbreak, and with automotive clients competing for foundry capacity support, the entire semiconductor industry is poised to enjoy robust order momentum through 2022, allowing semiconductor stocks to gain traction in the market. TSMC and Samsung Electronics, now the world's only two companies able to commercialize sub-7 nm foundry nodes, have been in a two-horse race for grabbing the crown in the Digitimes' Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC 100) research, ranking first and second, respectively, by market capitalization in 2020. ASC 100 is a study based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap that will be renewed annually.

Of the companies in Digitimes' Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC 100), Samsung Electronics had the highest net income US$22.1 billion in 2020. But TSMC - in third place in overall net income - had the highest net profit margin of 38.7%, way higher than Samsung's 11%. ASC 100 is a new released research on Asia's top 100 tech firms - a study based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap that will be renewed annually.

Digitimes, an Asia-based premium source of tech supply information, has just released its 2021 Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC100) research results. In terms of 2020 revenue, Japan's Toyota Motor, South Korea's Samsung Electronics and Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision (Foxconn) are the top three in ASC100, a freshly launched research on Asia's top-100 tech firms. The ASC 100 research is a study based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap that will be renewed annually.

Digitimes, an Asia-based premium source of tech supply chain information, undertook a six-month study on the financial reports of 4,725 publicly listed corporations across 11 countries in Asia and compiled its first annual report on the top 100 Asian suppliers - Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC100) in 2021. Released on June 15, the report contains the rankings among Asia's top 100 suppliers along with a look into supply chain trends and an analysis on the competitiveness of Asian countries. Digitimes plans to release updated statistics on an annual basis going forward and keep track of the changes in the rankings among Asia's high-tech suppliers in the long run.

Backlight unit (BLU) maker Coretronic expects its shipments to regain momentum in June, driven by rising demand from the notebook and TV sectors after its sales experienced a slight sequential decline in the previous month.

Barring the shortages of IC chips, Asustek is likely to ramp up the shipments of its gaming monitors to three million units in 2021 compared to two million shipped a year earlier.

Acer expects its monitor shipments to continue to grow by double-digit in the second quarter of 2021, having seen such shipments expand robustly in the previous quarter.

Most Taiwan-based display driver IC (DDI) suppliers are likely to report handsome earnings for the second quarter of 2021, bolstered by increasing DDI prices amid tight capacity at upstream foundry houses and robust chip demand from downstream panel makers.