Worldwide top-5 notebook brand vendors saw their combined shipments drop 32% on month in July, during which the top-3 ODMs together recorded a sequential decline of 25% in shipments due to an inventory pileup at retailers. Demand for Chromebooks was weakening because seasonal factors, and vendors were conservative prior to the release of their new Wintel products. Some vendors had started aggressive price campaigns in Europe and North America in May and June, which dramatically increased their shipments in the two months, and the level of monthly comparison for the July shipments

While production for LCD panels on IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) TFT back planes is still relatively small, they offer advantages in making large-size applications with high resolutions and low power consumption. IGZO TFT back planes can also be used to produce OLED panels. As Sharp is a leader in IGZO technology, IGZO penetration can increase if Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) hikes the Japan maker's IGZO production capacity, according to Digitimes Research

Shipments of white-box tablets are expected to reach 39 million units in the second half of 2016, a 30% increase compared to those shipped in the first half of the year, buoyed by an easing in component supplies and pricing, as well as an expected pick-up in demand from the US and Europe, according to Digitimes Research

Worldwide notebook shipments are expected to drop 7.3% on year to below 150 million units in 2016 as Windows 10's new anniversary update is not attractive enough to prompt a lot users to purchase new PCs and Intel's Kaby Lake-based processors only had a small upgrade from the previous-generation models and were delayed in shipments plus emerging markets are seeing weakening demand

Smartphone Shipments in the China market totaled 149 million units in the second quarter of 2016, representing an increase of 2.7% on quarter and 14.3% on year, according to data compiled by Digitimes Research

China-based vendors shipped 145.9 million smartphones globally in total during the second quarter of 2016, rising 13% on quarter and 22.9% on year and accounting for 44.1% of the global total, according to Digitimes Research

White-box tablet shipments were down 15.3% from sequentially to reach only 13.8 million units in the second quarter because the quarter was a slow season for North America and Europe, while demand from emerging markets also remained weak due to economic downturns. In addition, component shortages and rising component quotes have caused some white-box ODMs to be unable to fulfill some orders and were forced to delay orders to the second half of the year

China-based OTT (over the top) operator LeEco will acquire a 100% stake in US-based LCD TV vendor Vizio in a bid to rank among the globally five largest LCD TV vendors, while Samsung Electronics has applied for the trademark Samsung QLED with US Patent and Trademark Office possibly in preparation to launch QLED TVs based on quantum dot technology in 2019, according to Digitimes Research

Sony will reduce its equipment investment for CMOS image sensors to JPY70 billion (US$691.53 million) in fiscal 2016, while maintaining its sensor production capacity at 70,000 12-inch equivalent wafers a month during the fiscal year, according to Digitimes Research

Based on GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) statistics, there were 4,416 models of LTE-enabled mobile terminal devices cumulatively launched around the world as of the end of February, an addition of 1,770 models from a year earlier. 1,311 or 74.1% of the additions were smartphones, according to Digitimes Research

SoftBank's launch of Android-based Pepper service robots will encourage Android software developers to develop applications for Pepper, which in return will help ramp up Pepper's market size and its ecosystem, according to a Digitimes Research report on the latest market trends in Japan's digital home market for the second quarter of 2016

Taiwan-based ODMs/OEMs shipped 12.06 million smartphones in the second quarter of 2016, slipping 13.5% on quarter and 43.5% on year, according to Digitimes Research