IC design house Novatek Microelectronics expects to post revenues of between NT$14.6 billion (US$473 million) and NT$15 billion in the first quarter of 2019, down 2-5% sequentially. During the quarter, sales of its display driver ICs will register flat sequential growth...

Touch panel maker TPK Holding saw its revenues increase 12.1% on month and 46.9% on year to hit a three-month high of NT$14.049 billion (US$455.38 million) in January.

Touch panel maker General Interface Solution (GIS) has reported revenues of NT$10.22 billion (US$331.6 million) for January, down 42.06% on month but up 9.87% on year.

Shipments of touch and memory modules by Apple's iPhone supply chain makers are expected to suffer significant setbacks in the first quarter of 2019 due largely to disappointing sales of iPhone XS and XR series products.

Coretronics, a backlit unit (BLU) specialist, has seen its operating results improve significantly in 2018 thanks to efforts to improve its efficiency, according to company chairman Wade Chang.

Corning has reported sales of US$11.29 billion for 2018, up 12% on year, with net income for the year arriving at US$1.07 billion, compared to net loss of US$497 million a year ago.

With more LCD panel suppliers capable of producing in commercial volume OLED displays for smartphones, Taiwan-based driver IC firms and related backend houses are gearing up to grow their presence in the OLED panel segment in 2019, according to industry sources.

Light guide plate (LGP) maker Global Lighting Technologies (GLT) expects its profitability to grow faster than revenues in 2019, buoyed by diversification of LPG applications and price reductions for key materials, according to company chairman Lee Mang-shiang.

Rapid expansion of AR/VR applications has spurred demand for microdisplay devices, now adopting three major display technologies LCoS, HTPS and AMOLED, but inorganic micro LED technology can rival the current mainstream technologies in mocrodisplay application over the long term, according to industry...

Taiwan's production value of LCD driver ICs is expected to grow 17% on year in the fourth quarter of 2018 driven by rising unit shipments and prices propelled by growing demand for large-size panels and high resolution displays from the smartphone sector, as well as tight capacity at foundry houses...

Taiwan's prosecutors have launched an investigation into four former Novatek Microelectronics employees over allegations of trade secret theft.

Taiwan-based touch panel makers General Interface Solution (GIS) and TPK Holding are expected to maintain stable shipments in the first half of 2019 thanks to orders for new iPad series products, according to industry sources.

Cheng Mei Materials Technology's ousted chairman Ho Chao-yang has warned that the polarizer maker faces risks of default on loan payments following the board room coup, resulting in banks cutting off financial support.

Polarizer supplier Cheng Mei Materials Technology (formerly Chimei Materials Technology) has announced a controversial reshuffle of its top management ousting its incumbent chairman Ho Chao-yang.

ILI Technology (Ilitek), a MediaTek subsidiary specializing in LCD driver ICs, is expected to see its TDDI chip shipments pick up at least 50% on year in 2019, which may reshuffle the global TDDI supplier rankings in the year, according to industry sources.

Backlit unit (BLU) makers Radiant Optoelectronics and Coretronic are expected to perform differently in January, with the former to see its sales remain bullish and the latter to record flat results during the month, according to industry sources.

LED chip suppliers in Taiwan and China are expected to gear up efforts to land micro LED chip orders from Samsung Electronics after the Korea IT giant unveiled its latest modular micro LED display products at a pre-CES 2019 event earlie this week, according to industry sources.

Touch panel maker TPK Holding has reported revenues of NT$12.527 billion (US$406.24 million) for December, down 2.5% on month but up 9.6% on year.

With China-US trade tensions expected to continue heating up in 2019, the Taiwan government has worked out measures for five major industries to help them cushion the impacts.

General Interface Solution (GIS) has reported revenues of NT$17.64 billion (US$571.6 million) for December, up 10.8% on month and 32.71% on year.

Sintronic Technology expects its new product lines - display and electronics materials, and polycrystalline sapphire - to start boosting its revenues in 2019, following two years of efforts to diversify its offerings.

The display industry must step up efforts catering to the market, providing new technologies that can meet growing demand for high resolution, high brightness screens, foldable and bendable devices, and free form panels, according Michael Heckmeier, executive vice president at Merck.

The TV market's migration to 8K resolution is expected to boost demand for LCD driver ICs, and in turn for services from packagers, such as ChipMOS Technologies and Chipbond Technology, according to industry sources.

Mini LED backlighting and 8K LCD TVs are expected to significantly hike utilization of production capacities for LED epitaxial wafers and chips in 2019, according to industry sources.

The US-China trade war, a key threat to the global economy in 2018, will continue to play a pivotal role in 2019. But what does it mean to the world's biggest manufacturer and market, and to the ICT industries in the neighboring tech-savvy island across the Taiwan Strait?