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.
Though major LCD panel makers have reported strong earnings for the first quarter of 2017, there are concerns within the panel market that the general price increase across panel products has reached in its peak and this trend may start to turn in the near term. The latest analysis from WitsView, a division of TrendForce, indicates that TV panel quotes on the whole will stay relatively stable in the second quarter, with the exception being noisy price negotiations in the medium-size range or sizes 40 to 43 inches. As for prices for panels used in other applications, quotes for monitor panels are on a gradual monthly slide due the off-season effect. Meanwhile, quotes for notebook panels are also relatively stable this second quarter due to returning demand resulting from earlier purchase adjustments made by notebook brands.
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.
Shipments of IGZO panels for tablets soared last year owing to Apple fully adopting this display solution for its 9.7-inch iPad Pro. The latest research from WitsView, a division of TrendForce, finds that the 2016 global shipments of IGZO tablet panels totaled 19.8 million units, registering a massive and above expected annual growth of 292%. As Apple will use the technology for the new iPad Pro, WitsView expects annual worldwide shipments of IGZO tablet panels to grow for the second consecutive year by 46%, totaling around 29 million units.
