According to TrendForce’s latest report, global smartphone demand has weakened even more than originally predicted due to the escalating global politico-economic risks, with global production volume feared to widen in decline from a previously forecast worst case scenario of 5% to 7%, landing at 1.4 billion units.
DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, points out that, as ripples from the US ban continue to spread, Huawei's shipments of smartphone and server products are feared to face heavy obstacles for the next two to three quarters , impacting peak-season-demand for DRAM products 2H and the time of price precipitation. TrendForce officially adjusts its outlook for 3Q DRAM prices from its original prediction of a 10% decline to a widened 10-15%.
As the datacenter market continues to grow, UPS demand receives a boost. According to statistics by EnergyTrend , a division of TrendForce , sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries remain the most widely used UPSs for datacenters. Yet lithium batteries possess advantages such as a long lifespan, quick charge/discharge speeds and a small volume, and are poised to replace SLA batteries in the future. By 2019, lithium batteries comprise 12% of batteries used in datacenters. This percentage is predicted to grow to 16% in 2020.
As worries spring up in the market about whether the 25% tariff arising from the US-China trade war would impact TV markets, US President Trump has further announced on May 30 that he plans to levy a 5% tariff on Mexico's imports to the US on June 10 due to illegal immigrant issues. The tax will keep escalating and hit 25% in October. WitsView , a division of TrendForce , suggests that the tariff problems to follow may severely impact US market confidence and drag down global TV shipments for 2019.
According to TrendForce 's latest report, the release of Bluetooth 5.0, which solved the problems of transmission and power consumption inherent in TWSs, along with the release of Apple's AirPods, gave rise to a speedily growing market. One by one, Samsung, Sony, Huawei, Xiaomi and other smartphone brands are also releasing TWS headsets in 2019, projected to bring TWS earbud shipments up to 78 million sets, registering a YoY growth of 52.9%.