Worldwide smartphone shipments are expected to grow by 30.2 percent to 865 million units next year, accounting for about 43.9 percent of total cellphone shipments, boosted by strong demand from developing countries such as China and India, a local research house forecast yesterday.
This year, global smartphone shipments are expected to grow nearly 37 percent year-on-year to 664.6 million units, Digitimes Research said in a report.
Smartphones are likely to grow at a fast rate in emerging markets such as China, Russia, India, Indonesia and South America, due to low smartphone penetration, Digitimes Research said.
Meanwhile, demand for high-end smartphones in Western European countries may be affected by the countries’ economic condition, because most have announced austerity measures that would weaken consumer spending.
Next year, growth for smartphone brands will depend on their partnerships with software developers, hardware manufacturers, the strength of market demand and telecommunications carriers’ policies, the firm said.
Digitimes said Microsoft Corp is likely to launch its first smartphone running its Windows 8 operating system next year.
In addition, Digitimes said Nokia Oyj and Research In Motion Ltd may face growth limitations while attempting to transform their businesses, and online retailer Amazon.com Inc is poised to enter the already crowded smartphone market next year.
In a separate report, Digitimes predicted that LCD TV shipments in Taiwan would drop 17 percent this year, before resuming 20 percent annual growth as 44.73 million units are shipped next year.
Japanese television brand Toshiba is expected to order 10 million units from local contract TV makers, as that it would outsource 70 percent of its production to its suppliers, Digitimes said.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
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