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The global smartphone market has been growing in 2Q18 driven by the launch of new models by Chinese smartphone brands and the brands’ strong sales in overseas markets, according to TrendForce. As the result, the production volume of smartphone grew by 3% QoQ, reaching 352 million units in 2Q18, and is expected to grow by another 6% QoQ to reach 373 million units in 3Q18 driven by the holiday sales in the peak season.
Samsung will launch models with in-display fingerprint sensors, following Vivo, Huawei, Xiaomi, and OPPO, says TrendForce. The adoption by these major Android smartphones has constantly increased the penetration of in-display fingerprint technologies, among which ultrasonic and optical fingerprint sensing have made considerable breakthroughs. TrendForce estimates that ultrasonic and optical in-display fingerprint sensors will account for 13% of all fingerprint sensor technologies in 2019, significantly up from 3% in 2018.
According to the Large Size Panel Cost Breakdown, the latest report by WitsView, a division of TrendForce, the overall production costs of large-size panels are estimated to drop by 1~1.5% QoQ in 3Q18, less than 2~2.5% in 2Q. This is because the components of panels have a relatively limited price drop influenced by the tight supply. Moreover, the panel makers still face the amortization of equipment capital expenditure for new technologies including narrow-bezel, Mini LED and inkjet printing OLED.
Driven by the release of new flagship Android models in the first half, the demands for smartphones in Q2 were higher than in Q1, expanding production volume by nearly 3% sequentially, according to DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. This year, 6 GB memory has become a mainstream density for the high-end smartphone market, with the share of 8 GB becoming ever higher than in 2017. As supply remained tight, the second quarter’s contract prices still scored a slight sequential increase. Benefitting from their demand increase and price hikes, the Q2 sales for mobile DRAM grew 5.1% sequentially to US$8.869 billion, a record high.
DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, reports that DRAM suppliers have in turn begun their 4Q18 contract negotiations with their clients since the mid-August. Looking ahead, DRAMeXchange expects that the quotations of DRAM products have an increasing chance to grow weak in 4Q18, although the industries previously expected a flat price trend. This weak quotation is mainly due to increasing supply yet fairly limited growth in demand.
