Taiwan's small-to-medium-size LCD panel shipments dropped 7.5% sequentially and 20.3% on year to reach 284.03 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015 due to seasonality, competition from China-based makers and unstable demand for feature phone panels.

Worldwide notebook shipments enjoyed a slight growth of 0.6% sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2015 thanks to stable demand from the year-end holidays in Europe and North America plus brand vendors have been pushing new Windows 10-based entry-level and mid-range notebooks.

Taiwan's share of global large-size TFT LCD panel shipments (9-inch and above) dropped in 2015 as competition from China makers intensified. Innolux managed to be the third largest TV panel maker in 2015, but AU Optronics (AUO) had to settle for fifth place, lagging behind fourth-place China-based BOE

Taiwan's LCD monitor makers took a double blow in the fourth quarter of 2015, as shipments dropped on weak demand and ASP declined on a strong US dollar.

A delay in the launch schedule for low-cost 4G smartphones resulted in a mere 4.8% increase in second quarter shipments in the China market. However, with telecom operators planning on increasing their subsidies in the second half of the year, demand will be stimulated.

According to Digitimes Research, global shipment of tablets reached 55 million units in the second quarter of 2014, down 4.5% from the previous quarter and up 17.9% year over year.

The LTE market does not perform as expected in the China market while the TD-SCDMA market declines. Smartphone APs experience quarterly growth of 13.2% in China In the second quarter of 2014, with MediaTek's 3G products achieving nearly a 50% market share. In the second half of 2014, the LTE standard will rapidly replace 3G, 64-bit products will enter the mainstream market but overall shipment growth will be limited.