Along with the fast development of self-driving technology, there will be increased demand for driver sensing systems used to monitor drivers for determining whether they are able to take over driving when self-driving breaks down, with the global market value for such sensing systems used in level 2 (partial self-driving combined with autonomous functions) and above self-driving to rise to US$2.34 billion in 2025, 3.2 times that in 2015, according to Digitimes Research

The worldwide top-5 notebook brand vendors saw their combined shipments in February grow 20% on month and 22% on year, while the top-3 ODMs' shipments also experienced 10% on-month and 30% on-year growths in the month as demand was better than expected. In addition, the Lunar New Year holidays in 2017 fell mainly in January, which created limited impact on February's working hours

Most Taiwan-based ODMs saw their all-in-one (AIO) PC shipments drop on year in 2016 except Compal Electronics and Micro-Star International (MSI). TPV-Inventa Technology - originally an AIO PC joint venture between TPV Technology and Inventec, but became a subsidiary of Inventec in September 2015 - disclosed in April 2016 its decision to quit the AIO PC market, and its AIO PC shipments dropped to less than one million units in 2016

The global number of LTE (4G) mobile communication subscribers quickly increased to 1.935 billion at the end of 2016 according to statistics by the GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association), but because the 4G user density (the number of 4G users divided by the population) in China is nearly 60% and mobile telecom carriers Southeast Asia, India and some European countries have not actively set up LTE networks, growth in the global number of LTE subscribers will slow down in the beginning of 2017, according to Digitimes Research

February 2017 average retail prices for 7W LED light bulbs (equivalent to 40W incandescents) in the China market increased 0.8% from December 2016 to CNY26.5 (US$3.9), while 9W models (equivalent to 60W incandescents) decreased 4.6% to CNY29, according to Digitimes Research

Worldwide notebook shipments (not including 2-in-1 devices) surpassed 40 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016, dropping only 1.2% on year. Shipments from Taiwan-based ODMs even achieved on-year shipment growth in the quarter thanks to strong demand from the US and Europe due to seasonality and US-based brand vendors expanding their presence in the market despite component shortages. In the first quarter, worldwide shipments will also enjoy on-year shipment growth as enterprises' adoption of Windows 10 grows steadily, while Microsoft's new free Windows licensing plan is growing popular among notebook vendors

Shipments of smartphones by Taiwan-based brand vendors and ODMs are expected to decline 39.6% on year to below 10 million units in the first quarter of 2017, according to Digitimes Research. Taiwan's brand vendors and ODMs shipped a total of 13.22 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2016, up 7% on quarter but down 26.3% on year

Japan-based automobile makers have been developing self-diving cars and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) aims at 20% of cars to be self-driving models in 2030, according to Digitimes Research

Lenovo was the largest all-in-one PC vendor worldwide in 2016, followed by Hewlett-Packard (HP) at number two. The two players' shipments gap was widened in 2016 compared to 2015 mainly because of HP's unsatisfactory all-in-one PC sales. Lenovo's shipments include those from subsidiaries NEC and Medion

Worldwide top-5 notebook vendors and top-3 ODMs saw their combined shipments drop 35% and 30% on month, respectively in January because the month was the traditional slow season and there were fewer working during Lunar New Year holidays period in late January. However, compared to the same month a year ago, the top-5 vendors' combined shipments were up 10% and top-3 ODMs' went up 20%, showing that the PC industry is starting to recover

Smartphones will remain the largest market for application processors (AP) through 2020, accounting for over 80% of all APs shipped annually during the period, according to Digitimes Research

Mainly because Tesla has successfully boosted battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and several countries have adopted policies in favor of BEVs, global competition is increasingly intense, according to Digitimes Research