The year 2014 will be a boom for global shipments of 4K2K, or UHD (Ultra High Definition), TVs, which are forecast to grow by a factor of six to more than 12 million units, from less than two million in 2013, according to Digitimes Research. Taiwan-based thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel supplier Innolux Display Corp. is expected to maintain its global lead as the lar...

Major global thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel makers have been boosting low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS)-TFT production capacity since 2013 with the addition of 5.5-generation (5.5G) and 6G lines. The new capacity is expected to boost global LTPS capacity from 6.74 million square meters in 2013 to 14.89 million in 2016, according to WitsView, the display research div...

Worldwide personal computer (PC) shipments fell by 9.8% in 2013, slightly better than a projected decline of 10.1%, but still the most severe contraction on record, according to International Data Corporation (IDC). In IDC's categorization, PCs include desktop, mini notebook and other portable PCs which possess non-detachable keyboards, and do not include handhelds or tablets such as the Apple...

Supply surplus has led to continued price falls of thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) TV panels in March, including the stiffest decline range of US$5 to US$8 for over-46-inch products; while prices of information technology (IT)-application panels remained stable in February, according to WitsView Technology Corp. The falling TV-panel prices are expected to affect the profi...

The March 4 grand opening of the ITRI OCP Global Certification Testing Center in Taiwan will likely drive Taiwan’s cloud-equipment industry when the global market for cloud data centers has reached around US$100 billion a year. Since the island filled over 85% of the global market with 10 million cloud servers last year and is expected to gain more share this year when global shipments are pro...

Despite having gotten under way only in the second half of 2013, the global market for wearable bands is expected to grow explosively this year, with overall shipments of basic and smart wearable bands predicted to exceed 17 million units, according to Canalys, a U.S.-based market research firm. Canalys pointed out that Fitbit, a maker of smart wristbands, commanded over a half of the market f...

The Hsinchu Science Park (HSP), the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP), and the Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP), all overseen by the National Science Council (NSC), had combined revenue of NT$2.19 trillion (US$73 billion) in 2013, surging 9.2% from 2012 to hit new high, according to NSC. The 2013 result was the third time the combined revenue of the three science parks soared past the NT$...

Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., a major telecom in Taiwan, recently announced forming a mobile-service consortium named "Asia NFC Alliance" at the telecom-technology trade show Mobile World Congress of Spain with Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) Corp., KDDI Corp. of Japan, and SK Planet of South Korea to boost cross-boarder mobile pay service in Asia’s developed economies. The alliance will set ...

Global downloads of applications from online stores are forecast to exceed 268 billion by 2017, when overall revenue generated this way will reach US$77 billion, driven by the popularity of mobile internet devices, including smartphones and tablets, according to Gartner Inc., a British market research firm. Gartner also predicts that mobile end-users will provide personalized data streams to ove...

Falling prices and advances in display technology will lead to higher shipments of tablet PCs in 2014 and beyond, as users replace notebook PCs with the devices, according to the NPD DisplaySearch, NPD DisplaySearch forecasts that global tablet PC shipments will rise to 315 million in 2014, comprising more than 65% of the market. By 2017 tablet PC shipments will climb to 455 million units, encom...