The fierce competition in the TV market has driven brand vendors to continually improve the image colors and qualities of their respective product models. In recent years, South Korean panel makers Samsung Display (SDC) and LG Display (LGD), along with their Taiwanese counterparts, have developed various technologies to enhance features such as wide color gamut (WCG) for their products. Because of their ongoing efforts, WitsView, a division of TrendForce, expects the production costs of liquid crystal display modules (LCMs) for TVs will go up. Depending on the solution type for achieving WCG, the cost increase could range from 3% to 10%.
The share of In-Cell solutions in the global smartphone market is estimated to reach 31.9% by the end of 2017, according to the latest research on touch display solutions by WitsView, a division of TrendForce. This latest share figure for In-Cell solutions, which is an upward revision from the earlier projection of 29.6%, is mainly attributed to the near maturation of IC products for TDDI (Touch with Display Driver Integration) as well as their rapid adoption in the panel industry.
Market research firm TrendForce reports that the global notebook shipments for this second quarter registered a sequential quarterly increase of 5.7% and a year-on-year increase of 3.6%, totaling 39.96 million units. Biddings for notebook contracts in North America and market arrivals of new product models were the main driving forces behind the second-quarter shipments. As for the entire first half of 2017, the strong demand from North America contributed to a global shipment result that exceeded the market expectations.
Prices of LCD TV panels of all sizes have started to soften from June and are now on a noticeable downward trend in August, according to the latest report from WitsView, a division of TrendForce. Size segments that are seeing significant price decline include the 65- and the 55-inch as well as the mid-size panels ranging from the 40- to the 43-inch.
TrendForce’s latest smartphone market research finds flat growth in the global production volume between the first and second quarter of 2017. Similar to the prior three-month period, smartphone sales in the second quarter were lackluster and affected by the anticipation of the 10th anniversary iPhone release in the next half of the year. In total, the global smartphone production volume reached 324 million units in the second quarter. Samsung, Apple and Huawei retained first, second and third place, respectively, in the worldwide production volume ranking for the period. Xiaomi managed to surpass LG to take sixth place in the ranking.
