Rapid progress in the development artificial intelligence (AI) has allowed humans to communicate with robots using natural languages. TrendForce’s breakdown of global sales of service robots for 2016 reveals that voice-based assistant robots accounted for the majority share of the total sales at nearly 50%. Robot vacuum cleaners made up the second-largest share of total service robot sales at nearly 40%. This finding and other data can be found in TrendForce’s latest report on the robotics industry.
WitsView, a division of TrendForce, reports that quotes for medium-size LCD TV panels (the 40- to 43-inch bracket) are weakening, dropping by US$1 on average this May compared with the prior month. The LCD TV panel market has been a seller’s market for almost a year and prices have consistently gone up. The weakening of quotes for medium-size panels is a signal that the general price upswing may have reached a limit.
Global notebook shipments totaled around 37.81 million units for the first quarter of 2017, reports TrendForce. This figure represents a 15.6% decline from prior quarter’s result but also a 6.1% year-on-year increase. The first-quarter shipments were augmented by some unfulfilled demand left over from the previous quarter. There were also major deal opportunities related to bidding for business notebook contracts and releases of new product models. Furthermore, channel distributors also increased their stock-up of notebook products in anticipation of price hikes from brand vendors later on. As a result, notebook shipments were higher than expected for the traditional off season.
WitsView, a division of TrendForce, reports shipments of LCD TV sets for the first quarter of 2017 came to 44.05 million units, a decrease of 31% from the prior quarter and a year-on-year decline of 8.4%. Poor sales results in China during the Chinese New Year holiday period was a major factor behind the year-on-year shipment drop.
Market intelligence firm TrendForce reports global tablet shipments for the first quarter of 2017 totaled 31.95 million units, representing a steep drop of 34.5% compared with the prior quarter and a year-on-year decline of 9.3%. The shipment slump was attributed to the effect of the traditional slow season and the general decline in tablet market demand.