The global capacity of large-size LCD panels by area is projected to grow 6.6% annually to reach 208 million square meters in 2016, reports WitsView, a division of TrendForce. The supply of LCD panels this year has been disrupted by the February earthquake in Taiwan and Samsung Display’s problems with transitioning to a new manufacturing process. WitsView further forecasts that the global large-size LCD panel capacity for 2017 is set to grow at the slowest pace since 2014 at an annual rate of just 3.9%, totaling 216 million square meters.
Samsung’s stunning announcement to stop all sales and exchanges of Galaxy Note 7 is expected to cause noticeable changes in shipments of major smartphone brands, according to the global market research firm TrendForce. In the large-size smartphone market, Samsung’s competitors such as Apple, Huawei, Vivo and OPPO are expected to snatch up the demand that was initially going to Note 7.
The sales revenue of DRAM module worldwide for 2015 was around US$7.9 billion, representing a decrease of 10% compared with the 2014 figure, according to the latest revenue ranking of DRAM module makers by DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. The decline in the 2015 revenue was mainly attributed to the falling PC DRAM prices and the shrinking of the DIY market.
The supply shortage that persisted in the NAND Flash market during the third quarter will become more acute in the fourth quarter due to surging demand from clients in the smartphone and SSD industries, says DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. Prices of NAND Flash wafers and memory cards will certainly be on an upswing until the end of 2016, while eMMC, eMCP and SSD products are also going to see their prices go up. Compared with the third quarter, NAND Flash suppliers will enjoy even higher margins and better revenue results in the fourth quarter.
PV product manufacturers in Taiwan and China saw orders returning in the second half of September, while prices of polysilicon, wafers and PV cells started to rally after reaching their lows, according to EnergyTrend, a division of TrendForce. The capacity utilization rates of many manufacturers also rose from under 50% back to 70~80%. As the Chinese government has planned to significantly cut its renewable energy subsidy in the middle of 2017, EnergyTrend expects the country’s PV system installation demand to take off again towards the end of 2016.
