Apple's iPhone shipments are expected to have registered single-digit percentage growth on year in the fourth quarter of 2015, but shipments are likely to drop 5.2-10.1% on year in the first quarter of 2016 as sales of iPhone 6s and 6s Plus both performed weaker than expected, according to Digitimes Research's latest iPhone report. However, the decline rate of iPhone sales in the first quarter of 2016 will be significant lower than orders to OEM iPhone makers and component suppliers for the quarter

December average retail pricing for 7W LED light bulbs (40W incandescent equivalents) in the China market increased 18.5% on month to CNY32.7 (US$4.9), while that for 9W models (60W incandescent equivalents) rose 0.6% to CNY33.7, according to Digitimes Research

Taiwan makers' shipments of touch panels used in handset and notebook applications increased 21% and 33.9% respectively in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to Digitimes Research. Shipments for tablet applications increased only 4.7% due to weak product demand from customers, except Amazon

Panel makers are expressing growing optimism for the vehicle display segment due to increased demand for smart and connected cars, according to Digitimes Research

The Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM) under the South Korea Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning has reached one micron level electronic linewidth used in roll-to-roll printing, which will help push Korean makers' in-cell touch panel developments used in large-size and flexible panel applications, according to Digitimes Research

More chipset vendors have become more serious about the development of the commercial drone market and have come out with related IC parts targeting the emerging market, according to Digitimes Research

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) in March 2015 ended specification of Release 12 (R12) standards which enabled seamless switching between FDD and TD under LTE Advanced, strengthened communication performance of LTE Small Cells and provided preliminary definitions and standards for IoT communications, according to Digitimes Research

South Korea is expected to adopt AMOLED display technology, PI (polyimide) plastic substrates, organic TFT driving technology and roll-to-roll process to develop large-size flexible displays in 2016, according to Digitimes Research

Utilization rates at Taiwan's top-three IC foundries will fall further to 85.8% in the fourth quarter of 2015 - the lowest level in 13 quarters, according to Digitimes Research

South Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) has been developing guest-host LCD and polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC), two new transparent display technologies based on doping red, green, blue and black dyestuff, and expects to finish development in February 2016, according to Digitimes Research

While Google has revealed more details of technology and cooperation partners for its IoT operating system Brillo, a lack of system hardware partners and specific direction for product applications may impede the promotion of the OS, according to Digitimes Research

Ultra HD (4K) TVs are expected to make up 23.7% of LCD TV shipments in 2016, up 9.3pp on year. Because of the increase, demand for LEDs used in TV backlighting applications will rise and approximately 20-30% more LEDs will be used in 4K TVs over Full HD units, according to Digitimes Research