Ennostar, through its subsidiary Epistar JV, announced Monday that it will divest its entire stake in Kfes Lighting, as part of a broader strategic shift to streamline its operations and sharpen its focus on high-growth sectors. The transaction, valued at US$35.73 million, was approved by Ennostar's board and is expected to improve the group's financial flexibility.
Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) division, which oversees its semiconductor operations, has capped its performance bonus for the first half of 2025 at just 25% of the base monthly salary — the lowest among the company's major business units.
The global automotive industry is rapidly pivoting toward software-defined vehicles (SDVs), fueling a parallel surge in demand for large in-car displays. Market research firm Omdia forecasts that displays larger than 10 inches will account for a staggering 81% of automotive display sales by 2027, nearly doubling their market share from 2021.
With customers pulling in orders ahead of schedule, E Ink Holdings expects the second quarter of 2025 to be its strongest second quarter on record — traditionally, its peak performance has come in the third or fourth quarters. The company remains optimistic about the third quarter while the fourth quarter will depend in part on clarity around global tariff policies. Nevertheless, E Ink has dubbed 2025 the "first year of large-format e-paper," with digital signage projected to become its largest revenue stream in the near future.
With China's annual 618 e-commerce shopping festival coming to an end and government subsidies that helped boost sales earlier this year exhausted in most provinces, several LCD monitor brands are adjusting their panel inventory strategies amid signs of a sharp deceleration in consumer momentum.
South Korea's leading display manufacturers have officially begun production of OLED panels for Apple's upcoming iPhone 17, according to industry sources. While Samsung Display (SDC) and LG Display (LGD) have secured the initial batch of orders, the total volume appears to be lower than that for the iPhone 16, reflecting geopolitical and economic uncertainties.
Chinese display manufacturer BOE has secured production capacity of roughly 100 million OLED panels annually for Apple's iPhones, according to industry sources. While BOE still lags behind South Korean giants Samsung Display (SDC) and LG Display (LGD) in technology, its rapid expansion is expected to undermine the bargaining power of the Korean suppliers in future negotiations with Apple.
After an unexpectedly strong first quarter driven by front-loaded demand, the global LCD panel industry is now showing signs of cooling. The momentum, boosted by US tariff exemptions and China's "trade-in" subsidies for home electronics, is fading fast as those tailwinds weaken heading into the second half of 2025.
