Chinese handset vendors are eager to adopt anylayer HDI boards for their high-end smartphones, but they currently have to source such boards from outside of China despite the country's bid to raise self-sufficiency for electronics components. Taiwan-based PCB makers Compeq...

LED wafer and chip maker Epistar has disclosed plans to set aside a capex budget of at least NT$5 billion (US$164 million) for 2020, mainly for expanding production capacities for mini LEDs, backlight units (BLUs) and VCSEL wafers and diodes.

Micro LED seems promising for being use in display devices, but mass transfer yield rates during and production costs remain problems in commercializing the technology.

While top chip vendors have been keen on securing support from TSMC's cutting edge 7nm and 5nm manufacturing nodes, demand for the foundry house's other processes have also been strong. Now TSMC and its fellow competitor UMC are both set to allocate more of their 12-inch fab capacity to making driver...

TSMC and UMC are set to allocate more of their available 12-inch fab capacities for the fabrication of display driver ICs in 2020 to satisfy growing demand for applications such as 8K TVs and 5G smartphones, according to industry sources.

Touch panel maker General Interface Solution (GIS) has disclosed that its net profit hit a 13-quarter low of NT$381 million (US$12.498 million) in the third quarter of 2019 due to a write-off of NT$1.203 million impaired assets.

There has been much hype about the arrival of the 5G era, but 4G is still very much alive and kicking. Global smartphone sales have slowed down in 2019, but Taiwanese IC designers have seen demand for 4G smartphone chips rebound in the...

TPK Holding's small-size silver nanowire-based touch solutions have entered design-in processes of 1-2 foldable handsets, according to Leo Hsieh, president of the touch module and sensor maker.

Corning has disclosed its glass prices for the third quarter were consistent with the prior quarter's levels, but warned of a slight drop sequentially in the fourth quarter. The company expects its glass prices for all of 2019 to register a low-single-digit drop, compared to its previous estimate of...

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.

Touch panel solution provider Mildex Optical is striving to expand its portfolios of touch display module (TDM) products for IPC, industrial control and other niche market applications as it aims to make a turnaround in 2020, according to company sources.

Taiwan's top-2 touch panel module providers TPK Holding and General Interface Solutions (GIS) are likely to see orders for their out-cell touch solutions continue to wane, according to industry sources.

Taiwan-based polyimide film (PI) maker Taimide Tech has completed recently the construction of its second-phase expansion project, paving the way for production targeting 5G and flexible display applications.

Ten new 6G OLED fabs are set to come online in China by 2021, despite some delays resulting from the US-China trade tensions and weak demand, according to a Taiwan-based upstream supplier.

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.

LCD driver IC design specialist Novatek Microelectronics is expected to enjoy a strong fourth-quarter 2019, thanks to continued ramp-up in TDDI chip shipments, coupled with revenues generated from its new optical fingerprint sensor products, according to market sources.

AMOLED touch sensor provider HannsTouch Solution has reported revenues of NT$362 million (US$11.66 million) for September, down 17.32% but up 160.26% on year.

Taiwan's COF (chip on film) supply chain is poised to embrace a prosperous year in 2020, as new COF solutions are expected to be massively applied to integrate optical in-display fingerprint sensor chips and TDDI ICs for application to new smartphones for the year, according to industry sources.

Strong demand for mini LED in 2020 is expected offer related equipment suppliers, driver IC vendors, panel makers and materials distributors lucrative business opportunities.

Apple has announced it is investing US$250 million more in Corning, supplier of precision glass for iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad.

Touch module maker TPK Holding has reported revenues of NT$12.712 billion (US$407.28 million) for August, up 1.5% on month and 9.8% on year. The monthly figures were also the highest level so far in 2019.

Touch module maker General Interface Solution (GIS) saw its revenues grow 9.5% on month and 23.97% on year to hit an 8-month high of NT$10.947 billion (US$348.57 million) in August.

While PCBs are used as backplanes for mini LED fine-pitch displays and mini LED backlighting currently, glass is expected to gradually replace PCBs as backplanes for mini LED backlighting beginning 2020 along with diminishing size of mini LED chips, according to industry sources.

China-based LED packaging service provider Foshan Nationstar Optoelectronics will begin shipping mini LED backlight units (BLUs) for 27- and 32-inch gaming LCD monitors and 15.6-inch gaming notebooks at year-end 2019, according to the company at Touch Taiwan 2019 during August 28-30.

Many IT firms from industries including DRAM and NAND flash and optical fingerprint sensor are optimistic about demand in the second half of 2019, but the same may not go for polarizer makers. DRAM and NAND flash players are expected to see demand...