Due to increasing use of display panels in cars, global shipments of automotive display panels will increase from 157 million panels in 2015 to 207 million units in 2019, equivalent to a CAGR of 7.2%, according to Digitimes Research

Worldwide tablet shipments dropped 9.4% sequentially and 13.2% on year to reach only around 40 million units in the second quarter of 2016. This was due to overall weak demand for tablets; seasonality; dropping sales of Wi-Fi-only tablets, tablets with phone functionality and 2-in-1 devices; and shortages for key components such as panels

Shipment of mobile application processors for smartphones and tablets in the China market are expected to grow 18.6% in the second half of 2016 from those shipped in the first half of the year due to seasonal demand and inventory build-ups for the first quarter of 2017, according to Digitimes Research

Panasonic has started production at new automotive Li battery factories in Japan, the US and China and is expected to maintain the status as the global largest maker. In addition, Panasonic has extended production to LED automotive lighting, according to Digitimes Research

Global tablet shipments will bounce back 16.3% sequentially to reach nearly 47 million units in the third quarter, but the volume will still be down over 10% compared to the same quarter a year ago, showing the market is still in no condition of recovering, according to Digitimes Research

Due to stagnant growth in the Japan IT market, many Japan-based IT vendors have stepped into developing cloud computing-based IoT (Internet of Things) solutions for the Japan market, including Hitachi-developed M2M Traffic Solution, Toshiba-developed Toshiba INdsutry IoT, Fujitsu-developed Fujitsu IoT Solution Ubiquitousware and NEC-developed IoT Solution, according to Digitmes Research

China's mobile application processor (AP) market is forecast to reach a total of 166 million units in the second quarter of 2016, up 7.8% sequentially, according to Digitimes Research

Due to fast growing use of smartphone-based mobile payment services in the China market, both international and domestic vendors, including white-box ones, have adopted fingerprint recognition functions for their smartphones. Consequently, China-based IC design houses are expected to account for up to 30% of global fingerprint sensor shipments in 2016, according to Digitimes Research

Qualcomm will manage to extend its lead in the smartphone applications processor market in the second half of 2016 thanks to its competitive high-end and mid-range solutions, according to Digitimes Research

The Japan Revitalization Strategy 2016 calls for the development of key technologies related to the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), including IoT, robot and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and also aims to push Japan's GDP to reach JPY600 trillion (US$5.992 trillion) by 2021 by focusing on a number of emerging industries such as self-driving, medicare and smart factories. However, to accelerate the development of Industry 4.0 and new emerging industries, the government is expected to inject a significant amount of capital and human resources to develop related AI technologies in the next 10 years, according to Digitimes Research

China is set to improve the self-sufficiency rate for ICs in the nation to 40% in 2020, and could even exceed the target ratio, according to Digitimes Research

The top-5 notebook brand vendors saw their combined shipments drop 32% on month and the top-3 ODMs together saw a decline of 25% in July due to increased channel inventory pileup, weakening demand for Chromebooks because of the slow season, vendors' conservative shipments prior to the release of new Wintel products, and the fact that some vendors started aggressive price competition in Europe and North America in May and June, which dramatically increased the vendors' shipments in both months and thus raise the base comparison level