Untitled

2011

Prepared by

Ferhat Ünlükal

10/30/2011

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY REPORT

� BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY REPORT

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BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY REPORT OCTOBER 2011

Consumer Electronics (CE)

Samsung

Business

• The South Korean firm estimated its quarterly operating profit at 4.2 trillion won ($3.5 billion) versus a consensus forecast of 3.4 trillion won by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. That would be down 14 percent from a year ago but up 12 percent from the preceding quarter. The estimate released was higher than even the most bullish street view of 3.95 trillion won.

• Samsung Electronics Co, the world's top technology firm by revenue, reported a 13 percent fall in quarterly profit, as the stellar performance of its handset business was overshadowed by a slump in its mainstay chip division. Samsung, the world's second-biggest handset maker after Nokia, said its handset division saw operating profit more than double from a year earlier to a record high of 2.52 trillion won ($2.3 billion) in the third quarter, thanks to strong sales of its flagship Galaxy smartphones powered by Google's Android software.

Samsung’s stock performance

E-commerce enabled smart refrigerator

• Samsung announces E-commerce enabled smart refrigerator in Korea. A new addition to the Samsung line of high-tech appliances, the E-commerce enabled fridge lets users order groceries directly from its built-in LCD screen.

Environment Friendly

• South Korea's technology giant Samsung Electronics Co. ranked 22nd on a list of the world's top environment-friendly companies released by the U.S. magazine Newsweek on Wednesday. Samsung was eighth in a group of 30 global technology businesses, while IBM ranked first and Japanese IT firm Fujitsu came fourth.

LG

Business

• South Korea's LG Electronics said yesterday it swung to a net loss in the third quarter due mainly to the poor performance of its flat-panel and smartphone businesses. The firm lost 414 billion won (US$366 million or RM1.15 billion) in July-September compared with a net profit of 75.7 billion won a year earlier. Consolidated third-quarter sales fell 4 per cent year-on-year to 12.9 trillion won. However, its loss was cut to 32 billion won from a 185 billion won loss a year ago, thanks


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to cost controls and efficiency improvements. LG's flat panel unit, LD Display, posted a record net loss of 687.5 billion won in the third quarter compared with a net profit of 224 billion won a year earlier.

LG’s stock performance

Smart TV

• At the developers' conference, LG is engaging Adobe's developer community as part of a broad effort to welcome them into the LG Smart TV ecosystem and inspire them to create and deliver Adobe® Flash® based applications powered by Adobe AIR® for the LG Smart TV platform in TVs, Blu-ray Disc™ players, home theater systems and set-top devices.

Sony

Consolidation

• Sony Corp will merge two of its wholly owned manufacturing subsidiaries, resulting in the closure of an equipment plant north of Tokyo and the eventual layoff of about 100 contract workers, the company said on Friday.

Sony’s stock performance

Buying the stake of Sony Ericsson

• Swedish telecom equipment manufacturer Ericsson Thursday said Sony Corp would acquire its stake in their joint venture -- Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications -- for Euro 1.05 billion (USD 1.47 billion) making the mobile handset business a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Japanese electronic giant.

Recall

• Sony Corp. says it is recalling 1.6 million LCD televisions globally because of a defect that can trigger overheating, smoke and melting parts.

• Sony Malaysia is offering to change damaged components found in certain models of the 40" Bravia LCD TVs launched between 2007 and 2008 at no charge.

Toshiba

TV screens

• Toshiba and Sharp believe that TV viewers of the future will want much more than just 1,920×1,080 pixels on their TV screens. The two Japanese companies are getting ready to show consumers what tomorrow’s ultra high-resolution gadgets will look like at Japan’s Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies (more commonly referred to as CEATEC) electronics trade show.


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Toshiba’s stock performance

Washing Machines Plant in Indonesia

• Toshiba Home Appliances Corporation, a subsidiary of Japan's Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO:6502), announced today that it will establish a manufacturing plant for washing machines in the East Jakarta Industrial Park, Indonesia.

Philips

Cutting jobs

• Philips Electronics is to cut 4,500 jobs as it seeks to make €800m (£700m) in savings and stem a sharp drop in profits. The Dutch company, which is the biggest consumer electronics business in Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURUSD - news) and the biggest lighting manufacturer in the world, has also indicated that the sale of its loss making TV business could be on shaky ground as it revealed a poor set of third quarter results.

Philips’s stock performance

Amtran

Business

• Amtran Technology reported a consolidated revenues of NT$5.03 billion (US$1.65 billion) in September 2011, up 67% on-month but down 33.12% on-year. Consolidated revenues for the third quarter totaled NT$11.05 billion, rising from NT$8.39 billion in the second quarter. Amtran attributed the on-month and quarterly growth in revenues to the year-end peak season and forecast a positive outlook for the fourth quarter. The company's 32-37-inch products accounted for about 50% of its total shipments in September. Shipments of the company's 42-, 47-, 55- and 65-inch products are also on the rise.

Amtran’s stock performance

Haier

Sanyo Acquisition

• Japan's Sanyo Electric said on Tuesday it had reached a final agreement with Haier to sell its white goods operations, such as refrigerators and washing machines, to the Chinese company. The deal is the first time a Chinese firm has bought major business segments from a large Japanese manufacturer. The companies did not indicate the value of the transaction. The move follows a basic agreement reached in July with Panasonic Corp, Sanyo's


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parent, for Haier to gradually acquire Sanyo's refrigerator and washing machine operations in Japan and South-east Asia by the end of March 2012. Under the deal, Haier will have the right to sell washing machines, consumer refrigerators, and televisions under the Sanyo brand in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia.

Haier’s stock performance

Haier-Dow Joint Innovation Lab.

• Dow Chemical (China) has signed an agreement with Haier Group, a multinational manufacturer of home appliances and consumer electronics, to establish the Haier-Dow Global Joint Innovation Laboratory. Located in the Haier Group Technique R&D centre in Qingdao, China, the facility aims to managing the partners’ joint research and development projects.

Foxconn

Factory automation

• Foxconn Technology Group says it is building a multimillion-dollar manufacturing complex in central Taiwan to produce factory automation equipment. The company said that the new facilities in Taichung will also produce robots providing medical care. It says production is set to begin in two years. Taiwan-based Foxconn is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, producing iPhones, iPads and other electronic gadgets from its massive manufacturing complex in China. The company has sought to

diversify in recent years as it faces rising labour costs and shrinking profit margins in the wake of slowing computer sales.

Foxconn’s stock performance

Arçelik

Business

• Turkish appliance maker Arcelik said it revised its 2011 sales growth forecast to 15-20 percent from a previous 13-18 percent, the company said in its quarterly report on Thursday. Arcelik announced its third quarter results today in a separate filing, which showed a 2 percent increase in its profit and sales in the same period were up 25 percent.

CE Market

LCD TV Shipments

• Taiwan-based Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute (MIC) has forecast global LCD TV shipments to reach 194 million units in 2011, with a mild increase of 9% on-year compared with 2010, as the LCD model has occupied over 80% of the TV market. MIC added that global LCD TV shipments may reach 285 million units in 2016, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8% from 2011-2016. The lowered quotes of LEDs have caused prices of their end products to drop, MIC said. Up to 97% of notebooks now have LED backlit panels, while 43% of the monitors and 44% of the LCD TVs are


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LED backlit, said MIC. MIC said 3D applications are gaining the most growth in large-size flat panel TVs, and 3D TVs are expected to account for 11% of global TV shipments in 2011. In addition, less than 2% of the notebooks and monitors will be fitted with 3D panels in 2011, it said. MIC noted that with the growth of 3D content and peripheral products, TV sets equipped with 3D technologies may reach 30% of the overall TV market in 2014.

• Worldwide shipments of flat-panel televisions dipped slightly in the second quarter of 2011 due to soft demand from consumers amid an uncertain global economic climate. The plasma segment performed much better than the dominant LCD space, according to a new IHS report. Global flat-panel TV shipments in the second quarter amounted to 48 million units, down 1.3% from 48.7 million in the first quarter. Of that total, LCD TV shipments accounted for 43.4 million units, down 2.7% from 44.6 million. Meanwhile, shipments of the rival plasma technology reached 4.7 million units, up 13.9% from 4.1 million. Despite the second-quarter contraction in global TV shipments, flat-panel revenue grew during the period, thanks to the introduction of larger TV sizes and feature-rich sets that command a premium in pricing. Such TV sets, offering features like 3D, Internet connectivity, higher frequencies and LED backlight technology, helped to shore up revenue. Total flat-panel revenue worldwide in the second quarter amounted to US$31.5 billion, up 3.6% from US$30.4 billion in the first quarter. Within the LCD space, the 32-inch size category dominated overall, though its share of the total LCD market is expected to fall in 2011 to 36%, down from 41% in 2010. China was the biggest LCD TV market during the period, with 19% market share, followed by North America and Western Europe, each with 18% share.

Japan was fourth with 12%. In the plasma sector, the second-quarter growth in shipments depended heavily on the availability of larger sizes at aggressive prices. But with LCD models mounting highly competitive pricing of their own, plasma's price advantage is likely to decline after this year, IHS believes. North America remained the key plasma market with 33% market share, followed by Western Europe with 18% and the Asia-Pacific region at 12%. In fourth place was China with 11%.

• DisplaySearch estimates 206 million LCD-TVs will be shipped worldwide in 2011, up 7.5 percent from 2010. But in North America, shipments are expected to fall 2 percent to 37.5 million units.

• Global shipments of LCD TVs will climb less than previously forecast because of global economic uncertainty, NPD Group Inc.’s DisplaySearch wrote in an Oct. 11 press release. The Santa Clara, California-based researcher cut its 2011 LCD TV forecast to 206 million units, from 211 million.

Outsourcing LCD TV

• Global production outsourcing of LCD TVs in 2011 is forecast at 68 million units and Taiwan-based ODM/OEMs will turn out 52.5 million units for a share of 77.2%, lower than 84.3% in 2010. The proportion is expected to keep falling to 70.5% in 2016 mainly due to competition from China-based makers, according to industry sources. Market statistics indicate that by 2016, the OEM production capacity of the global TV market will reach 122 million units, a growth of 130% compared to the figure in 2010.

• Lackluster LCD TV sales in the end market have brought down shipments of the products and have caused most OEM makers to lower estimated shipments for overall 2011, according to sources in the LCD TV supply chain. OEM maker Compal Electronics's shipments of LCD TVs have been on the decline, with monthly shipments


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dropping from 590,000 units in July to 400,000 in September. Compal has adjusted its 2011 LCD TV estimated shipments to 6.5 million units. TPV Technology has also lowered its 2011 estimated shipments from the previous 18 million units to 15 million units. Wistron's LCD TV shipments climbed from 550,000 units to 800,000 units during third-quarter 2011. But the company has also lowered its 2011 LCD TV shipments to 8.5 million units, from 11 million units. Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision industry), an OEM LCD TV maker of Sony, has reportedly lowered its shipments for 2011. Amtran Technology has seen its market share of Vizio LCD TVs decline from 20% to 15%. Amtran's LCD TV shipments totaled 1.8-1.9 million units in first-half 2011, and the company has set target shipments of 6-7 million units for 2011. However, Amtran posted an on-quarter gain of 7% in third-quarter revenues and expects a rise of shipments in November, as well as a conventional peak season in the fourth quarter. On-year growth of global LCD TV sales in 2011 may fall under 5%, said sources in the supply chain.

China LCD TV

• The market scale of China's LCD TVs in 2011 will be reduced to 35 million units from the expected 40 million, the sources said.

LED Backlight

• TV vendors are expected to ramp up the production of direct type LED-backlight models for the entry-level and mid-range segments in 2012, boosting the penetration rate of those models in the entire LCD TV market to reach 5-7% in the coming year, according to industry watchers. TV vendors are also likely to lower the brightness of direct type backlight models to 350-400 nits in order reduce the price gap between LED- and CCFL-backlight models, the sources added. The price difference between 40/42-inch LED- and CCFL-

backlight TVs reached 77% on average in September 2011, according to data compiled by Digitimes Research.

IPTV

• The IP set top box market will grow 14% in 2011. Motorola remained the market share leader in 2010 with 21% of the market. North American IP STB unit shipments will increase 48% in 2012. In 2013, Western Europe will account for 46% of worldwide IP STB revenues.

Application stores

• According to the firm, total app downloads in 2015 will reach 98 billion. If they hit that figure, the firm says, the compound annual growth rate of downloads between 2010 and 2015 will be 56.6 percent. Berg is far more bullish on the future of mobile apps than In-Stat. That research firm said earlier this year that it believes mobile app downloads will reach 48 billion in 2015, due mainly to the growing popularity of touch-screen-equipped smartphones. In-Stat says that approximately 90 percent of all smartphones shipped this year will feature touch screens, and that figure will grow to nearly 100 percent of smartphones in the next several years. According to Berg, total app revenue in 2010 hit $2.15 billion. By 2015, that figure will grow to nearly $12 billion.

RF Remote Controls

• After years of reliance on infrared technology to control consumer electronics devices, RF remote controls are finally taking off, with a market set to exceed 217 million devices in 2016. The market will be driven by standards including Bluetooth and ZigBee (RF4CE), plus proprietary solutions.


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ICT Industry

Samsung

Business solution lines

• In the face of competition from iPads and iPhones, Samsung hopes to make its offerings more attractive to businesses As more companies allow employees to bring smartphones and tablets into work, Android device makers are building products and partnerships to secure them, and now Samsung is joining the fray. Samsung hopes its efforts to secure its products will encourage executives to choose its devices over others, said Ken Daniels, senior director of strategic alliances at Samsung Telecommunications America.

Smartphones

• For the first time, Samsung Electronics Co. shipped more smartphones in the latest quarter than tech industry darling Apple Inc. Apple sold 17.1 million iPhones in the third quarter, 3 million fewer than expected. Samsung, meanwhile, shipped more than 27 million, according to analyst estimates.

Patent Issues

• A Dutch court on Friday turned down Samsung Electronics' request for an injunction against all of Apple's mobile products that use 3G telecommunications technology, denying it revenge over a similar move by Apple. The two technology giants have been locked in an acrimonious battle in 10 countries involving smartphones and tablets since April. Four patent infringement cases launched by Samsung against Apple were filed in the Netherlands alone.

LG

Business

• McAfee and LG Electronics (LG) today announced a partnership that will uniquely position LG to address the mobile security challenges facing both enterprise and consumer segments (CTIA Enterprise and Applications 2011 Show Booth #835). LG plans to extend McAfee Mobile security technologies to its smartphones and tablets that run on the Android platform, making LG one of the first mobile manufacturers in the world to offer comprehensive security solutions for all facets of the mobile experience.

Sony

Smartphone

• Sony Corp is in talks to buy out Ericsson's stake in their mobile phone joint venture, a source said, in a bid to catch up with rivals.

Apple

Acquisition of 3D mapping firm

• Apple acquired a Swedish 3D mapping firm called C3 Technologies. Former high-level heads of C3 are now all working within Apple's iOS division, though they're still doing all their work in Sweden. C3 Technologies uses some rather science-fictionish techniques to create photorealistic 3D maps with a breathtaking level of detail. Buildings, landmarks, and geographical features all render in 3D automatically, without mapmakers having to mock them up in CAD.


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Apple’s stock performance

RIM

Acquisition

• Research In Motion has reached a deal to buy Ireland's NewBay, a provider of photo, video, and social-network tools for smartphones and computers, the BlackBerry maker said on Friday. RIM has been slow to latch on to such content as an asset to help sell its smartphones and tablet computers, which have been geared more to corporate users than to consumers. RIM did not disclose terms of the deal, which has yet to close, but it said it was not financially material to the Canadian smartphone maker. Media and analyst reports put the price it paid for the Dublin-based company at $100 million.

RIM’s stock performance

Facility in India

• Research In Motion has set up a facility in Mumbai to help the Indian government carry out lawful surveillance of its BlackBerry services, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. RIM gave India access to its consumer services, including its Messenger services, in January this year after authorities raised security concerns, but said it could not allow monitoring of its enterprise email.

Google

Connected TV

• The major software update to Google TV, which has been expected for several months, has finally been deemed ready for user consumption, and will be rolling out to Sony's Google TV devices next week, and Logitech's Google TV-powered Revue set top box "soon thereafter." The update brings Android apps to Google TV, fixes the YouTube interface, overhauls the general flow of the user interface.

Google’s stock performance

Acer

Tablet PC and Ultrabooks

• Acer said it maintains its tablet shipment target for the year at 2 million-2.5 million units, and sees shipments about the same level in


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2012. It expects shipments for its new, thin Ultrabook PCs at 250,000 to 300,000 units in the fourth quarter.The computers, super-thin laptops similar to Apple Inc's MacBook Air, are expected to revive the traditional computer in the face of the challenge from tablets, and Acer projects them to make up 25 percent to 27 percent of its mobile business in 2012. Acer has been a dominant force in the PC industry, particularly in the low-cost notebook segment, but has failed to counter the runaway success of tablets such as Apple's hot-selling iPad that have cut into PC sales and hurt profits.

Acer’s stock performance

Thailand flooding

• Taiwan's Acer Inc expects fourth quarter sales to fall as much as 10 percent from the previous three months and will raise prices as flooding in Thailand disrupts supplies of hard disk drives for PCs.

Foxconn

Production in Brazil

• Foxconn has now confirmed that it will finally begin producing iPads in Brazil beginning in December, but is still negotiating a multi-billion-dollar expansion plan with the South American country. Reports have varied on the state of iPad production in Brazil, where Foxconn already has several production facilities, ever since the plan was initially announced by

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff back in April. The iPad facility will be in Jundiai in the state of San Paulo.

TabletPC

• Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) reportedly has secured orders from Amazon for assembling second-generation Kindle Fire tablet PCs, with shipments to begin in the first half of 2012, according to Taiwan-based makers. In response, Foxconn declined to comment. Foxconn also undertakes OEM production of Sony's Tablet S, the sources indicated.

Cisco

Video Services Acquisition

• Cisco Systems Inc. has agreed to pay $99 million to buy BNI Video, a Boxborough company whose software allows video service providers to incorporate such applications as social networking and search in their offerings. Cisco, the biggest maker of networking equipment, recently released a study that found Internet video is expected to make up 40 percent of consumer Internet traffic worldwide in 2011, and 62 percent by 2015. Buying BNI Video will advance the capabilities of Cisco’s Videoscape TV platform, which allows service providers to deliver “compelling video experiences’’ to any device, Cisco said.

Cisco’s stock performance


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ICT Market

Ultrabook

• Intel CEO Paul Otellini said that Sony will launch an ultrabook before Christmas. Hewlett-Packard and Dell will enter the Ultrabook market next year, Intel's CEO told Fox Business today. He also said he was "stunned" by former HP CEO Leo Apotheker's announcement that the company was thinking about spinning off its PC business.

Smartphones

• Analysts say the smartphone market will grow by 32% in 2012, to 612m handsets worldwide.

Broadband Services

• “Worldwide fixed broadband service revenue will generate more than $182 billion at the end of 2011.” Net broadband subscriber additions are increasing rapidly in the emerging markets. Specifically, China and India in the Asia-Pacific, Russia in Eastern Europe, and Brazil in Latin America are the emerging markets with very high potential for growth. These countries will be the major contributors to fixed broadband subscriber growth over the next five years. Expansion of fixed broadband infrastructure is underway in both mature and developing markets in terms of coverage area and access speed. Overall, fixed broadband penetration across each region of the world is expected to grow over the next few years. ABI Research expects that revenue from worldwide fixed broadband will surpass $216 billion in 2016.

Taiwan Based Notebook Producers

• Taiwan-based notebook makers saw mixed revenue performance in September with Quanta suffering an on-month decline, while Wistron and Inventec enjoyed growth. Quanta's

notebook shipments and revenues in September both performed lower-than-expected with the company's shipment volume staying at the same level as in August, while consolidated revenues dropped 4.8% on month and 8.38% on year to NT$88.6 billion (US$2.92 billion). The company's combined consolidated revenues for the first nine months in 2011 also dropped 2.49% on year to NT$785.42 billion. Quanta shipped 14.5 million notebooks in the third quarter with the volume in September only reaching five million units, lower than market watcher's expectations, due to postponed orders; however, shipment volumes in October may challenge 5.5 million units. Sources from upstream component suppliers pointed out that the weak shipment performance of Quanta in September was due to its clients being conservative about ordering because of the weak Europe and the US economies, while Quanta's major client Hewlett-Packard's (HP's) indecisive attitude over its PC business also had some impact. Wistron saw its notebooks shipments reach 8.1 million units in the third quarter with LCD TV shipments of 800,000 units in September, handheld devices 800,000 units, desktops one million units, servers 150,000 units, and LCD monitors one million units. For 2011, Wistron expects its notebook shipments to reach 30 million units, LCD TV shipments 8.5 million, and handheld devices nine million. Wistron's September consolidated revenues enjoyed on-month growth of 22.38% and on-year growth of 2.02% and reached NT$63.32 billion with combined consolidated revenues from January to September reaching NT$463.1 billion, down 1.91% on year. Inventec's revenues in September reached NT$32.99 billion, up 32.4% on month and 19.59% on year with combined revenues for the first nine months in 2011 of NT$251.01 billion, down 2.43% on year.


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Flat Panel Industry

Samsung

Panel Production

• Samsung Electronics reportedly has submitted an application to Korea's Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) for upgrading its planned 7.5G LCD panel production line in Suzhou, China to an 8.5G line due to brisk sales of 48-inch TV panels in China, according to industry sources. If approved, all of the five next-generation LCD panel plants to be built by China-based BOE Technology, China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) as well as Korea-based Samsung and LG Display and Taiwan-based AU Optronics (AUO) will have the capability to produce panels meeting 8G and beyond specifications, the sources noted. CSOT is set to start mass production at its 8.5G plant this week, becoming the second maker to operate a line of that generation in China, following BOE, indicated the sources.However, LG Display has not yet kicked off construction of its 8.5G plant in China, and although Samsung did begin construction of its 7.5G line, the upgrade to 8.5G will delay commercial operation of the plant probably to the first half of 2013. AUO may also delay commercial production of its 8.5G line in China to 2013, according to earlier reports.

Transparent panels

• Samsung Electronics, LG Display (LGD), and AU Optronics (AUO) are highlighting transparent panels in different sizes and applications at FPD International 2011.

LG Display

Business

• LG Display Co., the world’s second- largest maker of liquid-crystal displays, reported a record quarterly loss after panels prices dropped and the won weakened. The net loss in the three months ended in September totaled 687.5 billion won ($600 million) compared with a 141.6 billion won average of 22 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The company had net income of 224.2 billion won a year earlier.

• LG Display (LGD) accounted for 27% of worldwide LCD TV panel shipments in September, according to Displaybank. LGD's TV panel shipments reached 5.14 million units worldwide, up 15.8% on-month from August, said Displaybank. Despite the world's sliding panel demand due to recession, LGD has enjoyed increasing TV panel demand from clients. LGD has adopted an aggressive pricing strategy to help increase market share, said Alex Kang, senior analyst at Displaybank. Worldwide September large-area LCD TV panel shipments increased 6.3% on-month to reach 18.9 million units, but decreased 4.8% on year. Third-quarter shipments reached 53.14 million units, increasing 0.7% on quarter but dropping 7.8% on year, reflecting a slowdown in overall TV sets demand, said Displaybank.

LG Display’s stock performance


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iPad 3 display

• Apple’s LCD manufacturing partners, including LG Display and Samsung, are facing a steep challenge in trying to build enough high-resolution displays in time to be included in the iPad 3, according to a new report. Citing a source who is in contact with Asian suppliers, Cnet reports that Apple is seeking to include a 2048x1536 resolution display in the iPad 3, quadrupling the number of pixels seen in prior iPad models.

Sony

Selling stake in panel JV

• Sony has entered talks to sell its stake in a joint liquid crystal display panel venture in South Korea to its partner Samsung Electronics, the business daily Nikkei reported on Sunday.

Panasonic

Reorganization of Japan Panel Market- INCJ

• Innovation Network Corp. of Japan is making final arrangements to buy a liquid crystal display panel plant from Panasonic Corp. to boost the production capacity of a joint LCD venture it is forming with three manufacturers, sources said Friday. Panasonic plans to sell its LCD panel plant in Mobara, Chiba Prefecture, part of the electronics maker's efforts to sharply scale down its loss-making television business. Panasonic and INCJ, an investment fund owned largely by the government, will later decide on terms and the acquisition price, the sources said. INCJ will invest in a company to be created by merging the LCD businesses of Sony Corp., Toshiba Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. INCJ is expected to hold a 70 percent share in new venture, to be named Japan Display K.K. The company, to be established next spring, will make small and medium-size displays. INCJ had

been studying ways to boost output to meet growing demand for LCD panels used in smartphones and tablet computers.

Panasonic’s stock performance

Tablet PC Panels

• Panasonic Corp will start manufacturing small and midsize LCD panels for tablet devices at its television panel production base next spring as business for larger displays worsens, the Nikkei business daily said. Panasonic plans to gradually increase production of tablet-size LCD panels to half the output at its plant in Hyogo Prefecture. The company will shift its focus from TV LCD panel operations to 50-inch and larger panels, which have healthier margins, the daily said.

AUO

Business

• AU Optronics (AUO) has announced consolidated revenues of NT$32.915 billion (US$1.08 billion) for September, down 1.1% on month and 21.6% on year. AUO's consolidated revenues for the third quarter increased 0.9% sequentially to NT$98.927 billion, which represents a decrease of 20.5% on year. Large-size LCD panel shipments exceeded 9.88 million units, decreasing 1.2% from the previous month, while small- to medium-size panel shipments went up 5.4% to about 18.71 million units, the company said. Third-quarter large-size panel shipments reached


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over 29.69 million units, climbing 0.2% from the last quarter and 3.6% from a year ago. Shipments of small- to medium-size panels in the third quarter came to around 52.04 million units, up 14.4% on quarter but down 6.4% on year, AUO said.

• AU Optronics Corp., Taiwan’s second- largest maker of liquid-crystal displays, posted its fourth- consecutive loss as prices dropped. Third-quarter net loss was NT$15.8 billion ($525 million), the largest in 10 quarters, compared with a profit of NT$227 million a year earlier. The average of 18 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg was for a loss of NT$5.55 billion.

AUO’s stock performance

Capex

• LCD panel maker AU Optronics (AUO) has adjusted its capex for 2011 to around NT$60 billion (US$1.99 billion), from the original figure of NT$90-95 billion. With China-based peers aggressively expanding capacity expansion, AUO expects its capex in 2012 to be lower than NT$40 billion.

LED backlit TV penetration

• According to LCD panel maker AU Optronics (AUO), the penetration of LED-backlit TVs in 2012 is expected to reach 60-70%. AUO also said high-end naked eye 3D TV panels will begin production in the fourth quarter. Peng said AUO will release thicker-looking LED backlit panels in 2012, with 32- and 42-inch being mainstream. The thicker models target emerging

markets and lower-end TV products. He said that 3D TV panels will still be one of AUO's focuses in 2012, and they will account for 6% of AUO's panel production in 2011.

High-Value Applications

• LCD panel maker AU Optronics (AUO) has been developing new product lines for high-value applications including touch, car-use, education, 3D imaging and AMOLED, and the company will starting shipping these applications in two quarters, making them a new focus of business, according to the company's executive vice president and president for Display Business Operation, Paul Peng. AUO's interactive whiteboard with photo sensor technology will target the educational market. The maker's touch panels with in-cell sensors will mass produce in second-quarter 2012. In addition, the company is expected to start mass production of AMOLED panels at its 3.5G and 4.5G plants starting second-quarter 2012, said Peng during FDP International 2011. AUO is also gearing up shipments of mid-range and high-end small- to medium-size panels. It is looking to raise the proportion of smartphone panels to 80% from 70% of sales from the cell phone segment in 2012, he said.

AMOLED

• AU Optronics (AUO) has sent sample AMOLED panels to smartphone vendors and ODMs and plans to kick off volume production in 2012, according to the company. AUO started development of AMOLED concurrently with Samsung Electronics in 2001 and was technologically capable of making such panels in 2002. Because adoption of AMOLED was minimal among small- to medium-sized panels, AUO later suspended AMOLED business plans for 1-2 years. Viewing that AMOLED has become an increasingly important trend


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in panel technological development, AUO has therefore resumed development.

OLED

• AU Optronics (AUO) has announced its next generation of mobile display technologies, including a 4.29-inch qHD high resolution display using Hyper LCD technology, a 4.46-inch 1mm narrow border display, a 6-inch transparent AMOLED display with high transparency, a smartphone display with 53% energy-savings, and a 12.3-inch LCD car display with free-form cutting. These mobile technologies will all be showcased at FPD International 2011 in Japan.

Declining capacity utilization

• Taiwan-based LCD panel makers Chimei Innolux (CMI) and AU Optronics (AUO) have encouraged their employees to take more leave recently due to declining capacity utilization rates, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

Electronic Shelf Labels

• AU Optronics (AUO) is in talk with Taiwan's biggest convenience store chain under Uni-President on introducing electronic shelf labels (ESLs) into the local market as early as 2012. Color e-paper developed by SiPix, a subsidiary of AUO, will be used in the electronic labels, the company said. SiPix has production facilities in Linkou, Taiwan and conducts R&D in the US. SiPix has a monthly e-paper capacity of 100,000 units, according to Jeffrey Wu, head of Mobile Solution Business Group, AUO.

CMI

Business

• Chimei Innolux said Friday it posted NT$41.47 billion (US$1.36 billion) in consolidated sales for September, down 1.3 percent from August and also down 9.1 percent from a year earlier.

3D and power saving panel technologies

• Chimei Innolux (CMI) will attend FPD International 2011 to take place in Yokohama, Japan, during October 26-28. CMI plans to showcase large-area panels featuring 3D and power-saving technologies. CMI combines high-resolution panels with fix barrier naked-eye technology in its glasses-free 56-inch 3D QFHD TV panel. The panel will target commercial and medical applications initially, then spread to the home entertainment market, according to CMI. The company has also developed a 13.3-inch notebook panel with less than 1W power consumption. A high-efficiency backlight, power-saving pixel design, and low-power circuit design are the main technologies employed in the panel. The new model is said to save up to 66% of power compared with existing 3W 13.3-inch panels.

Foxconn

Touch Panel Plant in Brazil

• Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) reportedly plans to build up a supply chain for touch panels in Brazil, but has not yet decided as to where the production base will be located due to preferential tax incentives offered by respective local governments in the country, according to industry sources. Foxconn's total investment for the planned supply chain is expected to top US$12 billion, triggering competition for the project from a number of local governments in Brazil, the sources indicated. Although the strategy of


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setting up a supply chain in Brazil is probably correct, Foxconn has not yet finalized the project, the sources pointed out. However, some sources are skeptical about the effectiveness and benefits of a such plan due to investment risk, and the difficulties establishing a distribution system for key components, including TFT panels, covers and reinforced glass.

CPT

Business

• Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) has announced that consolidated net sales for September 2011 reached NT$5.36 billion (US$175.35 million), up 3.6% on month and down 9% on year, with a significant rise in shipments of small- to medium-size LCD panels.

CPT’s stock performance

CSOT

Panel Production

• China's second largest LCD panel maker China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) is set to start mass production at its 8.5G plant on October 12, 2011, becoming the second maker of the country to operate a line of that generation, following BOE Technology. CSOT's 8.5G plant will have an initial output of 3,000 substrates with a yield rate of over 70%, according to industry sources. Production will be lifted to

18,000 substrates by December with a yield rate surpassing 90%. The CSOT plant is expected to reach full capacity of 120,000 substrates by the fourth quarter of 2012, capable of churning out 17.5 million LCD TV panels sized 26, 32, 46, and 55 inches per year, the sources said.

Panel Market

Ultra-thin models

• LCD panel makers are facing challenges as notebook vendors seek to incorporate touchscreens into ultra-thin models. Sources in the industry said the LCD panels for ultra-thin models are only 5.5-5.6mm thick and that adding touch components will make it difficult for the LCD display to maintain the thinness. Notebook vendors are hoping that touch functions can be used in their products. The sources pointed out that some vendors, including Apple and Asustek, have been able to supply notebooks with panel thickness under 5.5mm, but if touch functions are added, additional components such as IC controllers and flexible flat cables will have to be included, making it difficult to meet the vendors' thinness requirements.

Decrasing LCD panel prices

• LCD panel prices in October have continued to drop, with those for TV applications suffering the deepest slump, according to DisplaySearch. October prices of 20- and 21.x-inch LCD wide-screen monitors have dropped US$1-2 on-month from September, according to DisplaySearch. Industry sources attributed the sliding prices to flat demand in the end market, saying that LCD monitor suppliers have been conservative in developing new models. LCD TV panels have suffered the deepest price decline in October falling below cash cost, according to DisplaySearch. 40-42-inch LED backlit panels for TV applications


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have average prices of US$269 in-October, down US$4 compared with early October. 32- and 37-inch TV panels dropped US$2 and US$1, respectively, to record lows of US$125 and US$174, said DisplaySearch. LCD panels for handset applications have maintained stable prices in late October thanks to possible new releases in 2012, said DisplaySearch.

The Greater China

• The Greater China region (Taiwan and China) is expected to account for 44.5% of global large-size TFT LCD panel shipments and 42.5% of global large-size capacity in 2011. Geographically speaking, Greater China is the second most important region after South Korea in the panel industry. DIGITIMES Research predicts China's share of global production of end products with large-size TFT LCD panels will be able to remain above 73% at least until 2013. Furthermore, demand for end products from the domestic market and exporters will continue to require China to import or locally produce large amounts of TFT LCD panels in the next five years. This will enable China's development into a major large-size LCD panel production base.

Semiconductor Industry

Samsung

Cooperation with Micron Technology

• South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co. said it's working with Micron Technology Inc. to develop technology to produce a high-performance memory chip.

Seagate Acquisition

• European anti-trust regulators approved Wednesday the sale of Samsung Electronics' hard-disc-drive business to US firm Seagate Technology for $1.375 billion (995 million euros) in cash and stock. In March, Western Digital agreed to buy Hitachi's hard-disc-drive business for about $4.3 billion in cash and stock, a deal that created a dominant player with a nearly 50 percent market share.

Thailand flooding

• Samsung Electronics <005930.KS>, the world's top computer memory chip maker, said on Friday that it expected Thailand's floods to dampen sales of personal computers and prices of DRAM chips used in PCs. Samsung Electronics' president expected Thailand floods to further hit the computer memory chip market by hurting PC production until the first quarter of next year.

Toshiba

Acquisition by Amkor of Toshiba Malaysia

• Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) and Amkor Technology Inc (NasdaqGS: AMKR - news) . (Nasdaq (Nasdaq: ^NDX - news) : AMKR) today announced that they have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding for the acquisition by Amkor of Toshiba Electronics Malaysia


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Sdn. Bhd. ("TEM"), Toshiba's semiconductor assembly operation in Malaysia, together with a license to Amkor for certain related intellectual property rights. Subject to the satisfactory conclusion of due diligence, negotiation and signing of definitive agreements and receipt of any necessary government approvals, Toshiba and Amkor expect to complete the transaction by early January 2012.

Intel

Google TV

• Intel has shut down its Digital Home Group and will no longer make chips for interactive TV set-top boxes like the Google TV devices from Sony and Logitech, or the similar Boxee boxes from D-Link. As reported earlier by AnandTech, the engineers from the group are being merged into Intel's tablet group.

Intel’s stock performance

Mobile Security

• McAfee's parent company, Intel, is set to work on five areas of collaboration with the security vendor over the next five years, including securing mobile devices and improved Cloud security.

ARM

Smartphones

• ARM Holdings plc has released the most energy-efficient application class process the company has developed. Used as a standalone processor, the Cortex-A7 will deliver sub-$100 entry level smartphones in the 2013-2014 timeframe with an equivalent level of processing performance to today's $500 high-end smartphones. The ARM vision of the entry level smartphone market is to redefine usage in the developing world by helping connect the next billion people to Internet content and services over mobile devices. The Cortex-A7 will deliver sub-$100 entry level smartphones in the 2013-2014 timeframe with an equivalent level of processing performance to today's $500 high-end smartphones.

ARM’s stock performance

Mstar

M-Star - Leader TV chip Supplier

• Taiwanese fabless chip vendors MStar Semiconductor Inc. and MediaTek Inc. continued to dominate the digital TV SoC market in the first half of 2011, holding market shares of 39 percent and 12 percent, according to market research firm IHS. U.S.-based Trident Microsystems Inc. held 6 percent of the market, IHS said. Of the remaining


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market, 27 percent was held by vertically integrated electronics firms like Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., while 14 percent was divided among smaller independent chip suppliers like Zoran Corp., IHS said.

Dbx-Tv

• dbx-tv®, a leading provider of audio intellectual property to the television industry, today announced an agreement with MStar Semiconductor (Taiwan). MStar, the world's leading provider of ICs for digital television, will integrate dbx-tv's signature audio product suite into MStar's market-leading digital television system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions.

Mstar’s stock performance

LG Chem

Business

• LG Chem remained the global No. 1 supplier of large-area LCD polarizers in second-quarter 2011, according to Displaybank. LG Chem accounted for 27.2% of the polarizer market in this area, followed by Nitto Denko with 26.2% of the market share. Production value of the large-area LCD polarizer market reached about U$2 billion in the second quarter, increasing 7% on-quarter but decreasing 5% on-year, said Displaybank.

LG Chem’s stock performance

Semiconductor market

Smartphones

• The global cellular baseband processor market showed a healthy 17.5 percent year-on-year growth to reach $3.63 billion in Q2 2011, according to, “Baseband Market Share Tracker: Qualcomm, Intel and MediaTek Battle for Top Spot in Q2 2011,” from the Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service.

• Major Taiwan-based IC design houses including MediaTek, MStar Semiconductor, Novatek Microelectronics, ILI Technology (Ilitek), Orise Technology and Sitronix Technology will look to smartphones for growth in 2012, industry sources have claimed. In particular, the players


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are expected to profit from China's booming smartphone market, th sources said. China's local brands including Huawei Device, Lenovo and ZTE, and international brands such as Samsung Electronics are all gearing up for a surge in smartphone sales in the country, the sources indicated. The players will likely see their shipments to the China market more than double in 2012, meaning that a large increase in orders could be released to their component suppliers. Huawei's overall handset shipments for 2011 are estimated at 19 million units, and the number will expand further to 40 million in 2012, the sources revealed. Smartphones are seen as a major growth driver, the sources said. Huawei reportedly plans to adopt smartphone solutions from MediaTek starting 2012. The vendor currently purchases most of its handset solutions from Qualcomm. Lenovo has set a goal of shipping 25-30 million handsets in 2012, more than doubling from the 12 million units estimated to ship in 2011, the sources noted. Its popular A60-series smartphones use 3G solutions from MediaTek. Meanwhile, Samsung and ZTE are both expected to see their smartphone sales in China grow substantially in 2012, the sources indicated. Samsung reportedly sources panel-use driver ICs from Taiwan companies, whereas ZTE plans to launch low-priced smartphones with chipset solutions also coming from MediaTek.

Silicon Tuners

• With everyone talking about over-the-top video, it's hard to believe that silicon TV tuners are still relevant. They are, and with the move to put silicon tuners into mainstream TV sets and the launch of new mobile video services, silicon tuners are expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.9% through 2015, and reach US$ 750 million in market value!

Taiwan IC Design Houses

• IC design houses MStar Semiconductor and ALi have reported strong sales for September as fellow companies Novatek Microelectronics and Richtek Technology have suffered a sequential drop in revenues for the same month. MStar's September revenues of NT$3.498 billion (US$118 million) were the company's highest monthly figures so far in 2011. The company also reported third-quarter revenues of NT$9.34 billion, up 11.8% on quarter but down 0.8% on year. ALi's September revenues of NT$375.3 million were the company's highest record in 16 months, buoyed by shipments of its HD STB (set-top box) chips, according to the company. ALi's third-quarter revenues of NT$937 million also beat its guidance of NT$795 million set for the quarter.

OLED Lighting

• Global Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) Lighting Market holds Enormous Revenue Potential with Dramatic Growth to Reach $8.3 billion by 2020. OLED lighting has potential as a promising next generation technology. The global OLED lighting market was valued at $12.7m in 2010 and is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 92% during 2011-2020 to reach $8.3 billion by 2020. OLED lighting has potential applications in specialty lighting, architecture lighting, back lighting, signage and general illumination.

HD LED

• Revenues for high-brightness LEDs grew by a remarkable 108% to $11.2 billion in 2010, according to a new market report by the leading firm following the LED market, Strategies Unlimited. The growth was propelled by applications in TV backlight units, but expanding supply and a slowdown in overall TV demand in 2011 led to a


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drastic drop in LED prices, leading to a revised estimate of $12.3 billion in LED revenues for 2011. Revenue is expected to peak in 2014 at $16.2B and then fall to $15.3 B in 2015. The dip in revenues will be temporary, as lighting will take over as the engine for growth after 2015.

MEMS

• Pressure sensors will become the leading MEMS device by 2014, thanks to their relatively high prices and expanding use in a host of automotive, medical and industrial applications, according to IHS iSuppli. Driven by a strong automotive industry recovery after the recession, pressure sensors generated revenues of US$1.22 billion in 2010, up 26% from 2009, to reach second place in terms of revenue among all MEMS devices. Growth will be more modest at 6.6% in 2011, but a double-digit expansion is predicted for 2012. By 2014, revenue for MEMS pressure sensors will amount to US$1.85 billion, according to IHS.

Electronic compasses

• Global revenue for electronic compasses is expected to reach $419.1 million in 2011, up from last year's $242.3 million. The hefty growth this year continues the explosive 186 percent surge seen by the market in 2010, with strong double-digit expansion assured for the next few years as well. By 2015, revenue is projected to amount to $842.2 million, an increase of more than threefold from 2010, as shown in the figure below.

Software Industry

Microsoft

Acquisition of Skype

• EUROPEAN anti-trust officials have approved US technology giant Microsoft's $US8.5 billion ($A8.76 billion) takeover of Internet voice and video leader Skype.

Microsoft’s stock performance

Proposal to buy Yahoo

• Microsoft (MSFT), private equity firm Silver Lake Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board are reported putting together a proposal to buy Yahoo (YHOO). The Wall Street Journal reports Microsoft would contribute several billion dollars in funding, with additional financing to be arranged by banks.

PC sharing

• Microsoft Corp used its monopoly position in computer operating systems to block the PC-sharing business of MiniFrame Ltd, according to a lawsuit filed by the small Israeli technology company. The world's largest software company, which supplies the operating systems on 90 percent of the world's PCs, unfairly changed its licensing agreements and bullied MiniFrame's potential customers to prevent it from winning valuable contracts, the Israeli company said.


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Service Industry

Turkcell

Business

• A Turkish court has rejected Cukurova Holding's request to cancel a Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (TCELL.IS) extraordinary general meeting on Oct. 12, local broadcaster CNBC-e reported Friday. Cukurova Holding, owned by Turkish businessman Mehmet Karamehmet, last month filed a lawsuit requesting cancellation of Turkcell's statutory auditors' decision to hold Turkcell's extraordinary general meeting on Oct. 12, as well as the meeting's agenda, which includes the removal and election of board members.

Vivendi - Canal+

Acquisition of ITI

• Vivendi's pay-TV unit Canal+ will take over ITI, owner of Polish-listed broadcaster TVN in two steps split over a maximum of six years instead of buying TVN directly, the daily Rzeczpospolita reported on Saturday, quoting unnamed sources.

Automation Industry

Zigbee

Smart Energy

• ZigBee® Alliance and Energy@home will create integrated residential energy value added services platform for Europe by leveraging 4 ZigBee standards. Under liaison agreement announced today, both groups will focus on blending strengths of ZigBee Home Automation(TM), ZigBee Smart Energy(TM), ZigBee Telecom Services(TM), and ZigBee Gateway(TM) to create this platform to help European consumers better manage energy use in their homes. ZigBee Alliance and Energy@home Collaborate on European Residential Energy Platform The platform, proposed by Electrolux, Enel, Indesit Company and Telecom Italia, will offer control of consumer smart appliances, communication with broadband networks, and communication with Automatic Meter Management system. The platform will create value added services designed to help European consumers better manage energy use in their homes. These energy services will also give Europeans the ability to lead the way in the global energy efficiency challenge.


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Hospitality Industry

Philips

Hotel TV

• Philips, the market-leading vendor of TVs for the hospitality industry, brought together 230 professionals from more than twenty countries last week at the Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel for a unique trade event. Distributors, hoteliers, academics and consultants gathered at the UNESCO-listed Dome Church for the official product launch of Philips' latest innovations for hotel TV, including a complete new 2012 product range featuring MediaSuite with NetTV.

Quadriga

Hotel TV

• Quadriga has today announced it is to expand its range of TV based communication and entertainment solutions, to offer MyChoice, via a new distribution agreement with leading TV manufacturer Philips. In line with its recently revealed growth strategy to support the needs of all hotels, MyChoice will enable Quadriga to further extend its offer to the budget hotel sector.

• Quadriga's Sensiq is being installed in multiple Sofitel properties across Europe and Africa. This demonstrates its value in communicating a luxury hotel brand directly to guests via the in-room TV, as well as its ability to support the specific business objectives of the individual properties. Sensiq's powerful tools and applications were applied to create a truly customised guest communications portal, which will successfully deliver Sofitel's new 'life is magnifique' brand concept to guests staying in hotels across the region.

Payment Industry

Google

Mobile Payment

• Google has announced a new partnership with NJ Transit that allows users to pay for their fare with the Google Wallet app on the Google Nexus S 4G smartphone. This is the first time that Google's new Wallet payment option is accepted at a public transit system. The service is available at New York Penn Station, Newark Airport Station, and select bus terminals. Google says that it will bring Wallet tap-to-pay service to other transit systems in the near future.

Verifone

NFC POS terminals

• VeriFone Systems announced an Linux-based Point of Sale (POS) payment device that integrates a near field communication (NFC) contactless reader. The H5000 runs Linux on an ARM11 processor, offers a 3.5-inch color touchscreen, and supports multiple payment types-- including legacy magnetic stripe, EMV smartcards, and contactless cards -- with a single hybrid card slot, says the company.

Verifone’s stock performance


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FEC

New POS terminals

• Firich Enterprises Co., Ltd. (FEC), a global leader in POS terminals and POS related peripherals, recently announced the launch of Gladius Smart, a fan-less POS terminal based on Intel Atom D525 processor (1.8 GHz).

FEC’s stock performance

Payment Market

NFC Shipment

• Android to account for largest number of NFC handset shipments from 2012 onwards. 630 million NFC handsets to drive transactions worth US$71 billion by 2015. By Denise Duffy. Sales of NFC-enabled devices are expected to accelerate from 2013 onwards, with the availability of a larger range of mobile NFC handsets and an improved contactless POS infrastructure, according to the latest report from Informa Telecoms & Media. Total NFC handset shipments are expected to grow from almost 44 million in 2011 to over 630 million in 2015, representing 40% of all new handsets, up from 3.5% at present. “The total value of the transactions from mobile NFC payments is expected to grow from around US$2.4 billion in 2011 to over US$71 billion by 2015. Currently over 90% is generated in Asia Pacific (mostly Japan and South Korea) but

this share will drop to around 40% by 2015 as Western Europe and North America start to see strong adoption of mobile NFC services”, adds Pandey.

Mobile Payment

• Global Mobile Payments transactions to rise to $1.13 trillion in 2014, a CAGR of 94.8%. Mobile payments continued its stellar growth in 2009 with the total number of users increasing to 351.4 million. Globally, we are expecting the number of mobile payment users to rise to 1.06 billion in 2014 for a CAGR of 20.5%. On the transaction value side, the gross value of mobile payments transactions was $37.4 billion in 2009. We expect mainstream take-up of mobile payments to happen in the 2011 – 2013 time frame. Our forecast is that in 2014, the gross value of mobile payment transactions will reach $1.13 trillion.

• Mobile electronic payment service based on smartphones with NFC (near field communication) capability is expected to be launched in Taiwan as early as the second half of 2012, according to Yvonne Li, president of Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET).


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Energy Industry

Nissan

Electric Vechicle

• Announced earlier this week, Nissan has designed new battery technology for electric vehicles that cuts charging time from eight hours down to just ten minutes to fully recharge the battery. Assuming electric vehicle charging stations become more widespread across the United States, a driver could potentially take a long-distance trip from New York City to Los Angeles only having to stop for ten minutes at a time to recharge the vehicle. Researchers at at Kansai University in Japan claim that the breakthrough in this charging method comes from swapping out the electrode utilizing carbon inside a capacitor to an electrode using tungsten oxide and vanadium oxide.

Nissan’s stock performance

IBM

Smart Grid

• IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has joined a collaborative consortium to help develop an energy grid that uses at least 50 percent of renewable energy sources, such as wind power, solar energy and biogas. Led by a European Union-funded consortium, the EcoGrid EU project will demonstrate a smart energy grid that will allow smart

devices to use renewable electricity based on near real-time pricing and availability.

IBM’s stock performance

Panasonic

Smart Grid

• Panasonic continues to contribute to society through its unique total energy solutions offering safe and secure living environment, according to a top official of the company. The Japanese electronics giant, which is supporting Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, also working with different governments in Japan, China and other countries to build sustainable smart towns by using solar energy.

Solar Panel

• Panasonic Corp will drop a plan to convert a television panel plant in Japan into a solar panel factory, hit by an industry price war and a strong yen that is making exports less competitive, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Electric Car

• Tesla Motors, a manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs), and Panasonic, a battery cell manufacturer have signed a supply agreement for automotive-grade lithium-ion battery cells. As per the agreement, Panasonic will supply lithium-ion battery cells to Tesla to


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build more than 80,000 vehicles over the next four years. The EV manufacturer said Panasonic's automotive grade lithium-ion battery cells will be used in its premium electric sedan, Model S. Both the companies have an existing multiyear collaboration formed in 2009 to develop next-generation automotive-grade battery cells and speed the market expansion of EVs. In 2010, Panasonic has invested $30m in Tesla to deepen the partnership and support the growth of the electric vehicle industry.

LG

Solar Energy

• LG Electronics is showcasing its latest solar energy solutions – led by its new, high-efficiency solar modules and cell technology – at the largest business-to-business solar conference in the western hemisphere, Solar Power International 2011.

Enecys

Zigbee for Photovoltaic systems

• Enecsys Limited has teamed with Ember to bring wireless ZigBee communications to roof-top solar photovoltaic (PV) systems so that households and businesses can better monitor and optimize their systems' performance.

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