The supply of gaming monitor panels could exceed market demand in 2020 as a growing number of panel makers are realigning their production lines to focus more on IT panels instead of TV applications, according to industry sources.

Overall inventory of LCD TV panels has been brought down to healthy levels recently signaling that TV panel prices are likely to stage a rebound in the first quarter of 2020, according to industry sources.

Taiwan has opportunities to strive in the global micro LED market by leveraging its technological advantages in the LED, semiconductor, and backend industries, according to Louis Huang, CEO of Taiwan's Photonics Industry and Technology Development Association (PIDA).

Taiwan's PC monitor shipments registered increases of 8.2% sequentially and 5.8% on year in the third quarter of 2019, according to Digitimes Research. But shipments are unlikely to see further on-year growth in the fourth quarter.

End-market device vendors in Europe and China are planning to launch colored e-book readers in 2020, with prospects to eke out a portion of market share dominated by monochrome models currently, according to sources at e-paper solution provider E Ink Holdings (EIH).

E-paper solution provider E Ink Holdings (EIH) is currently undergoing design-in processes for colored e-paper solutions for the next-generation e-book readers with shipments of related products to kick off in 2020, according to company acting chairman Johnson Lee.

Taiwan's suppliers of polarizers and quantum dot enhancement films (QDEF) still have opportunity to make gains in China where the supply capacity for these two optical products is still insufficient despite the fast expansion of its flat panel industry, according to industry sources.

Production of Taiwan's manufacturing industry totaled NT$3.37 trillion in the third quarter of 2019, down 7.01% on year, making the third consecutive quarter of on-year declines due mainly to the US-China trade tensions, according to figures from Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Apple has unveiled a new MacBook Pro featuring a 16-inch Retina Display, the latest 8-core processors, up to 64GB of memory, next-generation graphics with up to 8GB of VRAM and a new advanced thermal design.

At this time when the flat panel industry is hitting a bottom, it is the best of times for AU Optronics (AUO) to move forward its value transformation process and develop innovative display solutions to tap emerging niche markets, according to company president Frank Ko.

Shipments of LCD TVs by Taiwan-based makers are expected to grow 11.2% sequentially to 8.22 million units in the fourth quarter of 2019, driven by peak-season demand, according to Digitimes Research. On a yearly basis, the shipments will still represent a decline of 15.3%.

Samsung Electronics has reported KRW 62 trillion (US$53.37 billion) in consolidated revenues, rising 10.45% sequentially but dropping 5.28% on year. Its third-quarter 2019 operating profit came to KRW 7.78 trillion, up 17.8% but down 56.16% on year.

Coretronic expects shipments of its energy-saving products, mainly backlight units (BLU), to register a single-digit sequential drop in the fourth quarter of 2019 due to a reduction of EMS and ODM orders, the company has said.

Plastic materials are increasingly applied to production of automotive parts and components in recent years driven by lightweight requirements for fuel efficiency and lower gas emissions, according to Markus Steilemann, CEO of Covestro, a specialist in polymer materials.

E-paper solution provider E Ink Holdings (EIH) saw its revenues surge 98.25% on month and 35.64% on year to a nearly six-year high of NT$1.762 billion (US$57.58 million) in September, driven by strong sales momentum for electronics shelf label (ESL) products, the company has reported.

Global shipments of gaming desktops, notebooks, and monitors reached 10.4 million units in the second quarter of 2019, up 16.5% on year, according to the IDC. A combination of better comparisons against an abysmal 2018, easing CPU shortages, and improved GPU inventory helped the overall market achieve...

Global TV shipments edged up 1.5% on year to 19.36 million units in August, as shipment growths in areas including Latin America, India and Asia Pacific were offset by a 7% on-year decline in China, according to data compiled by All View Cloud (AVC).

Global TV shipments are expected to stay flat at 217 million units in 2019 as compared to a year earlier and will grow by a CAGR of 1.1% in a five-year forecast period to 231 million units in 2024, Digitimes Research estimates.

Apple has announced the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max, a new pro line for the vendor's smartphone series, as well as the iPhone 11 featuring a dual-camera system.

Acer has unveiled a series of new products and innovations including ConceptD PCs and monitors, ultra-thin notebooks and desktops for CAD and gaming users. The company also announced its Planet 9 gaming platform to connect and train e-sport and casual gamers.

Acer expects its notebook sales in Germany to register a double-digit increase in 2019, thanks to enterprise users replacing their Windows 7 machines and growing demand from the gaming sector, according to notebook business manager of Acer Germany, Marcel Behm.

Asustek Computer will showcase results of its development of products for CAD and enterprise users as well as AIoT applications at IFA 2019 in Berlin from September 6-11.

Taiwan-based component makers, despite seeing shrinking demand for notebooks, have found new opportunities from emerging businesses such as foldable smartphones, foldable-screen notebooks and 5G applications, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

Intel and Microsoft have recently started establishing standards for dual-screen notebooks and are looking to extend the concept to cover foldable-screen notebooks, according to sources from the notebook upstream supply chain.

Huawei's chipmaking arm Hisilicon is expected to become not only the largest Asia-based fabless chipmaker but also TSMC's biggest client in 2020, according to industry sources.