Global large-size TFT LCD shipments are expected to only increase 0.5% in 2015 due to weak demand for monitor and notebook applications coupled with limited growth in the tablet segment, according to Digitimes Research

Shipments of application processors for tablets in the China market grew at a lower-than-expected 5.9% sequentially in the third quarter of 2014 as sales of white-box tablets were affected by the roll-outs of low-priced models by brand vendors, according to Digitimes Research

Taiwan makers' shipments of LCD monitors increased 3.2% on quarter to 22.32 million in the third quarter of 2014, which also represented a 7.4% on-year decline

China's smartphone application processor (AP) shipments are expected to grow 33.8% on year and 9.5% sequentially in the fourth quarter. The on-year growth will be 8.7pp more than that recorded in the third quarter. But on a quarterly basis, the sequential growth for the fourth quarter will be 2.2pp less than that seen in the previous quarter. The transition to LTE networks is expected to accelerate in the quarter, while 3G chips' shipment share will also decline more rapidly.

Smartphone shipments in the China market declined 3.1% sequentially in the third quarter of 2014 as vendors found it hard to stimulate demand for their devices due to a lack of product differentiation, and the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were not made available till mid-October, according to Digitimes Research

There were an estimated 115.1 million smartphone APs (application processors) shipped in the China market during the third quarter of 2014, representing an increase of 11.7% on quarter and 25.1% on year, according to data from the recently published Digitimes Research China Smartphone AP Tracker Service

Japan is the world's leading country in terms of LED lighting penetration and its LED lighting demand in 2015 will reach JPY507.8 billion (US$4.43 billion), increasing by 13.2% on year and accounting for 78.6% of the total shipment value for all lighting products, according to Digitimes Research

Global notebook shipments by top-five brand vendors and top-three ODMs declined 15% on average in October, affected by the roll-outs of new low-priced models in the previous month, according to Digitimes Research

Thread, a new networking protocol for household appliances initiated by Google's Nest Labs, looks to compete with the ZHA (ZigBee Home Automation) standard, but there is a possibility for the two technologies to integrate together as they share some basic standards, according to Digitimes Research

Taiwan makers' shipments of touch panels used in handsets reached 50.44 million in the third quarter of 2014, down 5.7% on quarter, according to Digitimes Research

Quanta Computer will ship 49.1 million notebooks in 2015, increasing on year by 7.8% and the only one among the five largest Taiwan-based notebook ODMs that will see sequential growth in 2015 shipments, according to Digitimes Research

The world's top-six notebook vendors, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Lenovo, Dell, Apple, Acer and Asustek Computer, will together occupy 81.7% of global notebook shipments in 2015, increasing 1.7pp on year, according to Digitimes Research