Global market research firm TrendForce reports that the global notebook shipments for 1Q18 registered 37.27 million units, a quarterly decline of 15.7% and a year-on-year decline of 1.4%, influenced by the traditional off-season.
Market research firm TrendForce reports that the global tablet shipments for 1Q18 recorded only 31.29 million units, a steep quarterly decline of 35.0% due to the traditional off season. When it comes to the second quarter, the tablet shipments are expected to grow by 11.4% quarterly driven by the education market. The year-on-year shipments growth may return to a positive figure of 1.5% in 2Q18.
According to TrendForce (WitsView)’s latest report New Display Technology Cost Analysis, some manufacturers have focused on the development of Mini LED, expecting it to become a transitional product before Micro LED is ready for mass production. The architecture of Mini LED is similar to that of current LED backlight in LCD displays, so no major change in the design is needed. However, Mini LED is bound to face the direct competition from OLED in the sector of consumer electronics such as smartphones and TV. For the short term, large-size TV and high-end IT products will be the segments where Mini LED has the chance to compete with OLED.
Prices of LCD TV panels of all sizes have been decreasing since the end of 2Q17, and have not shown any sign of stop so far, according to the latest report from WitsView, a division of TrendForce. In 2Q18, TV panel prices will show further decline for various size segments compared with 1Q18: the 32-inch by 20%~22%, the 43-inch by 13%~15%, the 49- to 50-inch range by 12%~14%, the 55-inch by 9%~11%, and the 65-inch by 14~16%.
According to WitsView, a division of TrendForce, the shipments of LCD monitor recorded a positive year-on-year growth of 0.3% in 1Q18. Over the whole quarter, the demand saw drop in January and February, before showing a significant quarterly rise of 40.9% in March.
