Touch screen notebook shipments reach 4.57 million units in 1Q13, says Displaybank

May 17, 11:18

Total shipments of notebooks with touch screens were 4.57 million units in the first quarter of 2013, up 51.8% from a quarter earlier, according to Displaybank. The notebooks made up almost 10% of the overall notebook market, whose shipments posted 46 million units. Considering that the market is at...

PC shipments in Western Europe decline 20.5% in 1Q13, says Gartner

May 16, 14:08

PC shipments in Western Europe totaled 12.3 million units in the first quarter of 2013, a decline of 20.5% from the corresponding period of 2012, according to Gartner.

BlackBerry to offer BBM on Android and iOS platforms

May 15, 22:16

BlackBerry plans to offer its messenger app, BBM, to competing platforms such as Google's Android and Apple's iOS.

Microsoft 2nd-generation Surface RT estimated price between US$249-299

May 15, 21:53

Microsoft is ready to announce its second-generation Surface RT tablet with an 8-inch display in June with an estimated price between US$249-299, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

New generation iPhone may adopt sapphire crystal glass for home button

May 15, 21:46

Market rumors that the new generation of Apple's iPhone may adopt sapphire crystal glass for the home button have been circulating and Taiwan-based sapphire substrate maker Tera Xtal has reportedly sent samples to Apple for verification. However, the firm refused to comment on the rumors.

MediaTek asking clients to confirm IC demand for next 3-6 months, say sources

May 14, 15:49

MediaTek reportedly has urged its clients for smartphone and tablet chipset solutions to offer confirmed prospects of their demand of ICs for the next 3-6 months due to strong market demand and tight production schedule, according to industry sources.

Computex 2013 expected to create US$25 billion in business opportunities

May 13, 16:27

Computex Taipei 2013, which will run from June 4-8, is expected to attract 40,000 international buyers and create business opportunities worth US$25 billion. The show will have about 1,700 exhibitors occupying 5,000 booths. Firms such as Intel, Microsoft, Acer, Asustek computer, Corning, Nvidia, Marvell,...

Haswell-based notebooks to arrive in channels at the end of May

May 13, 15:23

Notebook brand vendors' new Haswell-based products have mostly been shipped and are estimated to arrive in retail channels worldwide at the end of May; however, since the new models will have a higher price level than the existing ones, most brand vendors are still taking a cautious attitude about...

Foxconn, Pegatron April revenues up sequentially

May 13, 10:43

Taiwan-based EMS provider Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) saw April consolidated revenues of NT$291.759 billion (US$9.82 billion) increasing on month by 12.05%, while Pegatron Technology reported revenues of NT$65.404 billion up 1.27%, according to the companies.

Nokia introduces Asha 501

May 10, 15:59

Nokia has unveiled the first of a new Asha family of smartphones, the Asha 501, targeting the sub-US$100 budget smartphone segment in emerging markets, including India, Latin America and Africa.

Pegatron to expand workforce by 40% in 2H12

May 10, 12:19

Pegatron Technology CEO Jason Cheng, at the company's recent investors meeting, said that the company will start expanding its production workforce in mid-June with the worker number to grow from 100,000 currently to 130,000-140,000, a growth of 40%.

Smart mobile device shipments exceed 300 million in 1Q13, says Canalys

May 10, 10:51

Total smart mobile device (notebook, tablet and smartphone) shipments for first-quarter 2013 hit 308.7 million units, according to Canalys' latest worldwide estimates. This represents on-year growth of 37.4%. In terms of OS vendors, the Open Handset Alliance continued to dominate, with Android the...

Smartphone brands to introduce new flagship products in 3Q13

May 9, 15:20

Smartphone brands such as HTC, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics all plan to introduce new flagship models in the third quarter of 2013 in order to take on the forthcoming new iPhone scheduled to be released in the second half of the year, according to industry sources.

Pegatron sees profit growth in 1Q13

May 9, 14:07

Pegatron Technology has announced its first-quarter 2013 results with consolidated revenues reaching NT$217.6 billion (US$7.39 billion), consolidated net profits NT$3.45 billion and EPS NT$1.01, up significantly from the NT$0.57 of a year ago.

China market: Rising popularity of tablets with 3G functionality to benefit MediaTek, Qualcomm

May 9, 10:46

Demand for 7-8-inch white-box tablets with built-in 3G functionality in China has been increasing, a trend which is likely to benefit MediaTek and Qualcomm, according to industry sources.

PC industry expected to return to a 4:6 shipment ratio for 1H13 and 2H13

May 8, 21:43

The PC industry is expected to return to a shipment ratio of 4:6 for the first and second halves of 2013, Acer president Jim Wong said at the company's investor conference on May 8.

DRAM shortages to impact PC players in 2Q13

May 8, 21:10

DRAM shortages, which started in early 2013, have become worse recently and may impact PC brand vendors' performances in the second quarter, according to sources from PC players.

Demand for SSDs in PCs to boom through 2017, says IHS

May 8, 16:01

Global shipments of solid state drives (SSD) in PCs are set to rise by a factor of seven by 2017, allowing them to claim more than one-third of the market for PC storage solutions by that time, IHS iSuppli said in its new report.

Price gap between touch and non-touch notebooks may drop below US$50 in 3Q13

May 7, 11:59

As Acer and Asustek Computer are both aggressively promoting touchscreen notebooks, sources from channel retailers expect the price gap between touchscreen and non-touchscreen notebooks to have a chance to drop below US$50 in the third quarter, down from US$50-100 currently.

Touchscreen models to account for 50% of Acer notebook shipments in 2014

May 6, 22:38

Acer is set to raise the shipment proportion of its touchscreen notebooks from 12% of the total volume in the first quarter to 50% by 2014 and 70% by 2015, according to Acer vice president Scott Lin.

Acer unveils new ultrabooks, notebooks and tablet

May 6, 14:49

At a press event held in New York, Acer has unveiled its latest mobile products including the Aspire R7, a 15.6-inch notebook; Aspire P3 ultrabook; Iconia A1 7.9-inch tablet; and updated Aspire V5 series notebooks and new Aspire V7 ultrabooks.

Sony PS4 may not achieve expected shipments in 2013

May 6, 14:18

Sony's PlayStation (PS) 4 may have trouble achieving shipments of 12-16 million units in 2013 as expected, as the related upstream supply chain has not yet received any shipment instructions from the Japan-based vendor, implying a possible delay in the game console's mass shipment schedule, according...

Acer chairman expects 5% on-year growth in 2Q13 notebook shipments

May 6, 14:01

During a recent product launch event in New York, Acer chairman JT Wang said the company has a good chance of seeing a 5% on-year revenue growth in the second quarter.

Digitimes Research: Global top-5 notebook brands see over 20% shipment drop in April

May 6, 11:38

Global top-5 notebook brands together suffered a more than 20% on-month shipment drop in April, while top-3 ODMs together had a drop of 14% due to most brand vendors having started to prepare for their next-generation models and some had excess inventory from March, according to Digitimes Research's...

Apple and Samsung to ship a combined 110 million tablets in 2013

May 3, 12:16

Taiwan-based TFT-LCD panel makers have received surging orders from international tablet vendors and China-based white-box ones, according to Taiwan-based supply chain sources, adding that Apple and Samsung Electronics together will ship 110 million tablets in 2013.

Heat pipe demand from tablets starts rising in 2013

May 2, 15:20

Cooling module demand from tablets is rising in 2013 as average power consumption of ARM-based processors has increased significantly from 3W in the past to 6-7W currently and heat pipes are now required for products consuming more than 7W of power, according to sources from cooling module makers.

Microsoft preparing second-generation Surface

May 2, 14:51

Microsoft is expected to announce second-generation Surface tablets at the company's Build Developer Conference, which will be hosted from June 26-28, according to sources from the upstream supply chain, adding that they have already shipped components for 1-1.5 million Intel-based units to the software...

Worldwide tablet market surges ahead on strong 1Q13 sales, says IDC

May 2, 12:28

Worldwide tablet shipments continue to surge, growing 142.4% year over year in the first quarter of 2013, according to research firm IDC. Tablet shipments totaled 49.2 million units in the quarter, surpassing that of the entire first half of 2012. With growth fueled by increased market demand for smaller...

Notebook shipments of Taiwan players from 2006-2013

May 1, 10:36

Taiwan makers produced over 90% of the notebooks worldwide in 2008. The top-five notebook makers – Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics, Wistron, Inventec and Asustek Computer – contributed 88% of the shipments from Taiwan.

China becomes leading PC market in 2012, says IHS

Apr 30, 12:01

China rose to the top of the PC market for the first time ever on an annual basis in 2012, relegating the US to second place with a lead of more than three million units, according to IHS iSuppli.

Acer selling tablet using Intel Y series processor

Apr 30, 10:33

Intel's Y series processors designed specifically for mobile devices, are expected to be broadly adopted by tablets launched by PC brand vendors and Acer has already released its 11.6-inch Aspire P3 tablet using one of the processors, in China, according to sources from PC players.

Acer set to launch US$399 touchscreen notebook in May

Apr 29, 21:37

Acer plans to release an 11.6-inch touchscreen notebook in mid-May, priced at only US$399 and since such a price point has already hit brand vendors' bottom line, there is unlikely to be any other touchscreen notebooks with an even lower price to appear in the short term, according to sources from...

Commentary: Price competition over 7-inch tablets erodes profits

Apr 29, 14:29

Tier-one tablet makers have been engaging in price competition in the 7-inch tablet market which has eroded profits, according to sources from distribution channels.

Acer, Asustek to launch new Chromebooks in 2H13

Apr 29, 14:12

Acer and Asustek Computer are optimistic about the long-term prospects of Chromebooks and plan to release new models in the second half of 2013, during which Google is expected to aggressively promote the platform it has developed, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

Competition between 7-inch tablets arises in 2H13

Apr 29, 12:13

As tablet players are turning their focuses from the 10-inch segment to 7-inch for the second half of 2013, sources from the upstream supply chain believe the competition between Apple iPad mini and 7-inch Android tablets will become fiercer than before.

Samsung posts record 1Q13 profit on smartphone sales

Apr 26, 15:51

Samsung Electronics has announced that net profits climbed to an all-time high of KRW7.15 trillion (US$6.4 billion) in the first quarter of 2013. Consolidated revenues and operating profits for the quarter came to KRW52.87 trillion and KRW8.78 trillion, respectively, in line with company guidance.

SMIC swings to 1Q13 profits

Apr 25, 13:49

IC foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) has reported net profits of US$40.6 million for the first quarter of 2013. The figure improved on net losses of US$42.82 million a year earlier, but was lower than the profits of US$46.6 million reported for the prior quarter.

MacBook shipments to grow 10% in 2Q13

Apr 24, 22:21

Apple's MacBook shipments in the second quarter are expected to grow 10% sequentially as the company has almost finished digesting its excess inventory and should start placing new orders in mid-May, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

Low-cost smartphone shipments boom, says ABI Research

Apr 24, 19:34

In many parts of the world, smartphone shipments account for a larger percentage of mobile handset shipments than feature phones and low-cost handsets. Yet within the smartphone class of devices, segmentation is increasing to three price tiers, according to ABI Research.

Apple reports fiscal 2Q13 results

Apr 24, 12:16

Apple has announced financial results for its fiscal 2013 second quarter ended March 30, 2013. The company posted quarterly revenues of US$43.6 billion and quarterly net profits of US$9.5 billion, or US$10.09 per diluted share. These results compare to revenues of US$39.2 billion and net profits of...

Automotive and wireless apps help drive pressure sensors to rise to top of MEMS market in 2013, says IHS

Apr 23, 15:22

Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) pressure sensors will achieve accelerated growth in 2013 and become the leading type of MEMS device, driven by increasing use in automotive and the fast-growing handset space, according to IHS iSuppli.

Winbond breaks into Galaxy S4 supply chain

Apr 23, 14:51

Winbond Electronics reportedly has entered the supply chain for Samsung Electronics' Galaxy 4S with its specialty DRAM and NOR flash chips.

Asustek to push Padfone Infinity in China

Apr 23, 09:57

Asustek Computer has recently partnered with China Unicom to sell its new Padfone Infinity in China and the company will also host a launch conference later this month (April) to promote the smartphone, according to sources familiar to the plans.

MediaTek likely to raise shipment target for 2013

Apr 22, 22:14

MediaTek is expected to revise upward its handset-IC shipment target for 2013, according to industry sources, which judge from China's booming smartphone market.

Notebook ODMs to see mixed declines in April shipments

Apr 22, 22:09

Notebook ODMs are expected to see on-month shipment declines in April with Compal Electronics and Wistron dropping about 10%. Meanwhile, Quanta and Pegatron will only see single-digit percentage drops on month.

Demand for 64Gb NAND flash chips stays strong

Apr 22, 21:34

The 64Gb NAND flash memory market segment has been growing, driven by strong demand for smartphones and tablets. Prices for the high-density chips have stayed high to reflect that the current supply is insufficient to satisfy demand, according to industry observers.

Acer preparing for tablet competition in summer

Apr 22, 16:06

Acer recently shifted forward the launch of its second-generation Iconia B1 tablet from the end of 2013 originally to June and also moved volume production of its 10-inch entry-level tablet from the fourth quarter to the summer, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.