Global tablet shipments declined 10% sequentially and over 15% on year to reach only 45.76 million units in the second quarter, according to Digitimes Research's latest report on the global tablet market. Major markets felt the impacts of weak currencies; mid-range to entry-level large-size smartphones continued to cannibalize tablets; and vendors saw high inventory

The production value of Taiwan's IC design industry is forecast to rise 14.4% sequentially in the third quarter of 2015, thanks to peak seasonal effects, as well as rollouts of new smartphones and other mobile devices, according to Digitimes Research

Taiwan's LCD monitor shipments reached only 19.42 million units in the second quarter of 2015, down 10.3% from the same quarter a year ago, showing that the industry is still in a downturn, according to Digitimes Research's new report on LCD monitors

The adoption of Wi-Fi technology by Apple Watch and Android Wear devices are expected to motivate other smartwatch and wearable device vendors to follow suit, according to Digitimes Research

Qualcomm aims to ramp up its penetration in the entry-level mobile device market by cooperating with Microsoft to launch low-cost Windows Mobile 10 products, while also cooperating with Allwinner Technology to launch 3G/4G solutions for connected tablets, according to Digitimes Research

Cree has lowered its revenues forecast for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 (the second quarter of calendar year 2015), including a big decrease by US$35 million attributable to LED devices which consisted of US$27 million reduction in total inventory value of channels and US$8 million short of original forecast sales arising from price-cut competition, according to Digitimes Research

Panel makers in Greater China expect to see smartwatch panel shipments achieve a CAGR of 73.2% from 2014-2017 and a CAGR of 46.1% for smart wristbands as they further invest into developing the two applications, according to Digitimes Research

With demand for white-box tablets gradually shrinking and China's brand tablet shipments also performing weaker than expected, China-based touch panel and touch controller IC firms that used to focus on China's tablet market have mostly started shifting parts of their capacities to manufacturing smartphone touch applications or products for high-end industrial control and car electronics. However, it remains uncertain whether these players will be able to profit from the new product lines

Industry rumors have stated Apple will go back to using G/G touch technology in iPhones due to ongoing production issues with In-Cell touch panels. If this were to occur, the earliest effect wound be in iPhones released in 2016, as the next iPhone, currently being referred to as iPhone 6S, will still use In-Cell technology, according to Digitimes Research

Taiwan-based ODMs will ship an estimated 32.067 million notebooks (not including detachable hybrid models) during the third quarter of 2015, accounting for 81.6% of the global total and increasing 2.4% on quarter but decreasing 12.2% on year, according to Digitimes Research

The July home electronics segment has seen several developments, namely new 29-inch monitor releases from LG Electronics and Lenovo, according to Digitimes Research

According to a Wall Street Journal report on July 14, China's Tsinghua Unigroup is planning to spend US$23 billion (or US$21 per share) to acquire US-based Micron Technology. The amount is higher than the China government's China National Semiconductor Industry Investment Fund's scale of CNY120 billion (US$19.32 billion). However, Digitimes Research believes if the acquisition plan is real, the deal will still need to pass many obstacles such as Micron's board and US government regulations and therefore, the chance for the company to complete the acquisition is rather slim