WitsView, a division of TrendForce, reports that the global shipments of LCD TV sets in the second quarter of 2016 totaled around 48.68 million units, up 1.2% over the prior quarter. Demand generated from sporting events (e.g. the UEFA Championship and the upcoming Olympic Games) was not effective in boosting shipments as expected earlier. At the same time, traditional or established domestic TV brands in China saw a general slide in their shipments. Hence, the global shipment result showed only a very marginal quarterly growth.
The latest report from the global market research firm TrendForce, finds that worldwide tablet shipments for this second quarter totaled 33.54 million units, representing a quarterly drop of 4.8% and a year-on-year decline of 8.8%.
China’s state-backed technology conglomerate Tsinghua Unigroup has acquired a majority stake in XMC, a major compatriot semiconductor manufacturer, and brought it under a new holding company called Yangtze River Storage Technology. From this point on, XMC will be responsible for coordinating the development of China’s memory industry, which is wholly in pursuit of NAND Flash production.
With the domestic market approaching saturation, branded Chinese LCD TV vendors see overseas expansion as the only means to grow their market shares and raise their brand recognition. The latest example of this approach is the acquisition of the U.S.-based consumer electronics maker VIZIO by LeEco, a rising Internet brand in the Chinese LCD TV market. Reports of VIZIO being up for sale gained traction after Foxconn’s acquisition of Sharp, and the $2 billion deal with LeEco was finally announced on July 27.
With download and active user numbers far exceeding other popular apps, Nintendo’s Pokémon GO has generated an enormous wave of enthusiasm for mobile gaming and augmented reality (AR) technology worldwide. According to the latest analysis from the global market research firm TrendForce, the revenue from Pokémon GO is forecast to top US$800 million in 2017. The game is set to become a significant contributor to the expansion of the global AR software market, which will reach US$30 billion in scale by 2020.