July 2018 Market Insights – Technology

Complimentary Content

Automotive Technology

• Qualcomm calls off bid to acquire NXP Semiconductors: a setback…for now – Phil Amsrud
  American chip manufacturer Qualcomm abandoned its $44 billion bid to acquire Dutch firm NXP Semiconductors. The attempted merger failed when no official ruling was handed down by regulators in China, where both firms do substantial business.
• EMCC event tackles multi-core processing for autonomous vehicles of the future – Antonio Garzon
  Experts from the automotive software and hardware industry met last month in a technical gathering to discuss the latest trends and developments in multi-core processing architecture for automated driving and the car of the future.
• Magnetic sensors refresh in new automotive economy – Richard Dixon, Ph.D.
  With the electronics architectural landscape for vehicles changing dramatically in the next 15 years, automotive sensors are also undergoing their own evolution in response to new requirements on performance, safety, Big Data analysis, robustness, security, and economy.

Building, Home & City Technology

• Monthly LED lamp retail price stabilizes at $12.81 in June – Paul Bremner
  Global LED lamp retail prices in June were 0.7% higher than in May 2018. Despite this slight increase, the trend line for global ASPs continues downwards, with prices declining at a 16.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the six-year period from June 2012 to June 2018.

Enterprise & IT

• AI’s role in boosting Wi-Fi performance and enabling new revenue streams – Julian Watson, Yogita Kanesin
  In this insight, we discuss how companies such as Aerial Technologies, Mist Systems, Mojo Networks, and Quantenna Communications are adding intelligence to W-Fi hardware and software to drive improvements in customer experience.
• Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X): still in its infancy yet very promising – Christian Kim
  New research from IHS Markit provides a snapshot of the current V2X market and brief summaries of two V2X standards—Cellular V2X (C-V2X), and Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC).
• Defending the data, securing the IoT comes into focus at IoT World 2018 – Tanner Johnson
  When it comes to the IoT, many organizations have a "connect first, secure second" mentality. The IoT World 2018 conference showcased many solutions to address this fundamentally flawed practice.
• The IoT grabs a foothold at RSA 2018 – Tanner Johnson
  Although seemingly overshadowed by discussions and focus surrounding AI and machine learning, cybersecurity for the IoT established a substantive presence at the conference.
• Monthly LED lamp retail price stabilizes at $12.81 in June – Paul Bremner
  Global LED lamp retail prices in June were 0.7% higher than in May 2018. Despite this slight increase, the trend line for global ASPs continues downwards, with prices declining at a 16.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the six-year period from June 2012 to June 2018.

Healthcare Technology

• The UKRCO conference: a microcosm of healthcare in the UK? – Bhvita Jani
  The UKRCO could be considered the perfect platform and opportunity for medical imaging providers to showcase their transformative technologies.

Manufacturing Technology

• Japanese automation suppliers post strong financial results for 2017 – Daisuke Muto
  Japanese automation supplier performance was strong in 2017 and is forecast to remain the same in 2018. Results of fiscal year 2017 for industrial automation suppliers in Japan were good overall.
• Global industrial automation equipment market will post $209.8 billion revenue in 2018 – Nitin Sharma
  The global industrial automation equipment (IAE) market was estimated at $202.2 billion in 2017, and is projected to grow 3.8% in 2018 to $209.8 billion.
• Asia Pacific takes lead in driving growth of global motion control hardware market – Preston Reine
  The global motion control hardware market achieved record-high revenue growth of 19% from 2016 to 2017, with revenue this year reaching $13.4 billion.
• How are motor manufacturers differentiating in a mature market? – Ivan Campos
  Many developments are taking place in the industrial motor market as suppliers more actively pursue merger-and-acquisition opportunities and seek new ways to differentiate their value-add.
• New technologies drive replacement market for low-voltage-motor control centers (LV MCCs) – Brian Arbuckle
  The LV MCC market was worth $3.08 billion in 2016, up 2.2% Y/Y. Growth was most pronounced in EMEA and Asia Pacific, while the Americas market shrank.
• Service Robots - A Greenfield Opportunity for Electric Motor Manufacturers – Joanne Goh
  Robotics and automation technologies, available in the industrial sector for decades, are now integrating into the daily lives of consumers.
• Global market for mounted roller bearings makes strong gains – Sudhakar Chaudhary
  The mounted ball and roller bearings market worldwide grew 8.1% in 2017 to $3.4 billion.

Media & Advertising

• Telefónica Spain increases the value of its retained customer base – Martyn Hannant, Maria Rua Aguete
  Spanish telco Telefónica managed to sustain its pay-TV growth and increase its ARPU in Q2 2018.
• DAZN pacts with Sky and Mediaset as it prepares to launch in Italy – Matteo Marchello
  DAZN, the online subscription sports service owned by the UK's Perform Group, has reached agreement with Italy's two main pay-TV providers, Sky and Mediaset.
• Disney signs multiyear deal with Blizzard to broadcast Overwatch League – Steve Bailey, Matteo Marchello
  US cable channels ESPN and Disney XD are broadcasting the Overwatch League (OWL), billed as the world’s first major esports league, under a multiyear agreement with the Walt Disney Co and Activision-Blizzard.
• Comcast drops bid for Fox to focus on Sky – Tim Westcott
  US cable group Comcast says it will not pursue acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets and will instead concentrate on its bid for Sky, the UK-based pay-TV platform.
• Nexon cancels development of Titanfall OL – Chenyu Cui
  The freemium version of Titanfall was designed exclusively for Asian markets with development handled by Nexon GT, the team responsible for Sudden Attack.
• WeGame's global release illustrates Tencent's strategic ambition in games distribution – Piers Harding-Rolls, Chenyu Cui
  Tencent is building an international version of its PC games distribution platform WeGame, which, for the first time, will put it in direct competition with Valve's Steam platform in markets outside of China.
• Facebook buys rights to Premier League in four Asian markets – Tim Westcott, Matteo Marchello
  In a further move into live sports streaming, Facebook is reported to have bought the rights to Premier League games for three seasons beginning in 2019/20 in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
• Record first half for box office in North America and China – Charlotte Jones
  Total box-office revenue in North America reached $6.18 billion in H1 2018, marking a large 9.6% increase on the same total in 2017.
• African TV and OTT video markets poised for growth, despite challenging environment – Constantinos Papayassilopoulos
  The number of households in the Sub-Saharan African region grew 21.8% between 2010 and 2017, while TV households grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.6% at the same time.

Mobile & Telecom

• Huawei overtakes Apple in Q2 smartphone unit shipments – Gerrit Schneemann
  According to IHS Markit preliminary smartphone data, global smartphone shipments reached 344.6 million units in Q2-18—a 1.8% decline year over year, and down slightly from the previous quarter. Huawei beat Apple, to reach the second-ranked position in global shipments.
• Taking complexity out of LTE radio front-end designs – Wayne Lam, Alina Sargiss
  As the smartphone industry passes its decade-long run being the most popular consumer electronics of all time, the market is beginning to see signs of maturation and slowdown.

Mobile, Consumer & Connected Devices

• Huawei overtakes Apple in Q2 smartphone unit shipments – Gerrit Schneemann
  According to IHS Markit preliminary smartphone data, global smartphone shipments reached 344.6 million units in Q2-18—a 1.8% decline year over year, and down slightly from the previous quarter. Huawei beat Apple, to reach the second-ranked position in global shipments.
• Taking complexity out of LTE radio front-end designs – Wayne Lam, Alina Sargiss
  As the smartphone industry passes its decade-long run being the most popular consumer electronics of all time, the market is beginning to see signs of maturation and slowdown.

Power & Energy Technology

• Power semiconductor market remains buoyant: Highlights from PCIM Europe 2018 – Richard Eden
  The following insight from IHS Markit details key themes and takeaways from the PCIM Europe 2018 trade show and conference, held in Nuremberg, Germany, earlier this month.
• China’s solar policy change triggers another cycle of price pressure and industry consolidation – Edurne Zoco
  Although photovoltaic (PV) industry fundamentals remain solid, recent solar industry policy changes in China will lead to overproduction, price declines, and market consolidation.

Security Technology

• Growth in global professional video surveillance equipment market accelerated in 2017 – Jon Cropley
  The world market for professional video surveillance equipment grew by 9.3% in 2017.

Semiconductors

• Qualcomm calls off bid to acquire NXP Semiconductors: a setback…for now – Phil Amsrud
  American chip manufacturer Qualcomm abandoned its $44 billion bid to acquire Dutch firm NXP Semiconductors. The attempted merger failed when no official ruling was handed down by regulators in China, where both firms do substantial business.
• Semiconductor design spending to hit historic high and break through $300 billion ceiling – Myson Robles-Bruce
  By the time the year is over, the world’s top industrial and electronics manufacturers will have spent more than $300 billion in semiconductor design, a threshold being crossed for the first time as robust demand continues unabated in the seven major markets where chips are continually used and needed.
• Taking complexity out of LTE radio front-end designs – Wayne Lam, Alina Sargiss
  As the smartphone industry passes its decade-long run being the most popular consumer electronics of all time, the market is beginning to see signs of maturation and slowdown.

Teardowns & Cost Benchmarking

• Taking complexity out of LTE radio front-end designs – Wayne Lam, Alina Sargiss
  As the smartphone industry passes its decade-long run being the most popular consumer electronics of all time, the market is beginning to see signs of maturation and slowdown.

Subscriber Content

Displays

• Automotive monitor touch market trends – Kimi Lin
  The overall automotive touch panel market reached 54.8 million units in 2017, and good growth can be expected.
• Borderless monitor panel sharp growth in 2018 – Peter Su
  Borderless monitors are becoming mainstream with so many units sold in 2018.
• Curved monitor panels trend toward larger sizes in 2018 – Peter Su
  The curved monitor industry expanded to offer larger-than-31.5-inch monitors.
• Gaming monitor panel 144-Hz frame-rate trends in 2018 – Peter Su
  The gaming monitor industry greatly expanded with premium specifications, offering monitor panels in 144 Hz, 165 Hz, and 240 Hz.
• JOLED first to mass produce inkjet AMOLED – Charles Annis
  JOLED moves forward with world’s first inkjet-printed AMOLED panel mass production facility.
• OLED display market in position for great growth – Ricky Park
  OLED demand is forecast to steadily increase in the fourth industrial revolution.
• Smartphone displays rapidly moving to 18:9 and wider screens – Hiroshi Hayase
  All smartphone makers will switch to 18:9-and-wider aspect ratios for 2018 models, much faster than expected.
• Coming oversupply to balance legacy LCD factory shutdown - Charles Annis
  Forecasts point to an unusual and presumably unrealistic oversupply, but the market is more likely to correct itself.
• Large-area panel shipments increase 3% M/M in June – Robin Wu
  Combined, large-area and small/medium TFT LCD panel shipments decreased 4% M/M.
• Large-area TFT LCD panel profit margins become losses in Q2 – Charles Annis
  After average profit margins turn to losses, expect further deterioration through 2018.
• Samsung Display’s AMOLED fab utilization to recover to above 80% in Q3 2018 – Alex Kang
  In Q3 2018, monthly glass input area at Samsung Display’s AMOLED panel fabs will top the previous record high.
• Supply of TDDI chips tight in Q2 – Calvin Hsieh
  Wafer capacity and allocations have become critical to TDDI growth in 2018, with the emerging IoT and automotive applications competing with the display industry to acquire capacity.
• 43-inch market likely to be tight – David Hsieh
  Limited capacity and TV-maker product-mix adjustments might make the 43-inch market tight in the short term.
• AMOLED shipments reach 101M in Q1-18, down 9% Q/Q from 112M in Q4-17 – David Hsieh
  BOE struggles to grow flexible OLEDs, while Visionox continues to grow rigid OLEDs.
• What is driving the surge in demand for public and industrial displays? – Yoonsung Chung
  With China’s new large-area display fabs starting operation, concerns are growing over falling prices and oversupply. To overcome the difficulties, panel makers have started considering public and industrial displays.
• 2018–2021 TFT LCD overcapacity and panel-maker dilemmas – David Hsieh
  From 2018 to 2021, display capacity by area growth rates will be greater than demand by area growth rates, which translates into oversupply.
• LCD TV panel price approaching display manufacturer cash cost – David Hsieh
  Open cell prices for the 32-inch HD, 43-inch FHD, 49-inch UHD, 55-inch UHD, and 65-inch UHD LCD TV are at an all-time low, approaching panel-maker cash cost after 15 months of reduction.
• LCD TV panel prices continue to decrease in June; will they increase in H2 2018? – Yoonsung Chung
  LCD panel prices have been falling since H2 2017. Given that panel prices follow a one-year cycle, they should increase in H2 2018. However, the current supply/demand is different from the previous ones, raising doubts about the cycle.
• Panel makers clear inventory in May, prepare to increase Q3 prices – Nick Jiang
  TV-maker margins are better than last year, especially for the 32- and 50-inch, and they may still have high 32-inch demand.
• Samsung Display’s A2 fab utilization rebounded from Q2 2018 – Brian Huh
  Chinese brands are adopting more rigid AMOLEDs for new smartphones in 2018, allowing the share of shipments in Q2 of Samsung Display’s 6.x inch full-screen displays to post remarkable growth.
• Sharp acquires Toshiba PC business – Linda Lin
  Sharp may not see its PC business revive by acquiring a company with a small market share, but it will gain technological expertise.
• Smartphone large-display market shifts quickly from 5.x to 6.x inch – Brian Huh
  The 6.x-inch display market is growing rapidly, as smartphone brands introduce larger full-screen smartphones.
• 3D cover glass growth momentum in coming years – Kimi Lin
  Total shipments of 3D cover glass reached nearly 151 million units in 2017, and shipments are expected to reach more than 223 million in 2018, up 47.7% Y/Y.
• Large-area panel shipments increase 7% M/M in May – Robin Wu
  Combined, large-area and small/medium TFT LCD panel shipments decreased 3% M/M.

Enterprise & IT

• Industry consolidation continues: Infinera to acquire Coriant – Heidi Adams
  On 23 July 2018, Infinera announced its intent to acquire networking solutions vendor Coriant for $430 million in cash and stock.
• Platforms that drive UCaaS – Diane Myers
  The adoption of UCaaS continue to expand worldwide, but the market remains highly fragmented with a wide range of offerings from a variety of providers.
• Cavium (now Marvell) is the next hope for ARM-based CPUs in the data center – Vladimir Galabov
  With Applied Micro spinning off its server CPU business to newly founded Ampere Computing and with Qualcomm demonstrating no tangible design wins after announcing commercial availability for its Centriq SoC in November 2017, hopes for success of an ARM-based CPU ecosystem moved to Cavium.

Media & Advertising

• IQiyi acquires game developer Skymoons for $190 million – IHS Markit Technology Expert
  Chinese online video platform iQiyi has acquired mobile games developer Skymoons for $190 million, including a fixed payment of RMB 1.27 billion as well as a further investment of RMB 730 million, depending on Skymoons performance in the next two years.
• Eleven Sports to launch online in UK and Ireland – IHS Markit Technology Expert
  Eleven Sports is launching an online subscription service in the UK and Ireland in partnership with IMG, the UK-based rights and production company.
• Telia to acquire Bonnier Broadcasting in latest Nordics M&A move – IHS Markit Technology Expert
  Nordic telecoms operator Telia has announced the acquisition of Bonnier Broadcasting, subject to regulatory approval. Telia has operations in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
• Fox increases offer for full control of Sky – IHS Markit Technology Expert
  21st Century Fox has raised its offer for the 61% of Sky it does not own to £14 a share, valuing the company at £24.5 billion ($32.5 billion).

Mobile & Telecom

• Industry consolidation continues: Infinera to acquire Coriant – Heidi Adams
  On 23 July 2018, Infinera announced its intent to acquire networking solutions vendor Coriant for $430 million in cash and stock.
• Platforms that drive UCaaS – Diane Myers
  The adoption of UCaaS continue to expand worldwide, but the market remains highly fragmented with a wide range of offerings from a variety of providers.
• Despite an onslaught of efforts, vRAN is not ready for prime time – Stephane Teral
  As inquiries about the prospect of potentially virtualizing radio access networks (vRAN) are mounting, this piece analyzes the most recent vRAN developments and explains why there remains substantial work to do before truly achieving the migration from current centralized RAN to cloud RAN architectures.
• Cavium (now Marvell) is the next hope for ARM-based CPUs in the data center – Vladimir Galabov
  With Applied Micro spinning off its server CPU business to newly founded Ampere Computing and with Qualcomm demonstrating no tangible design wins after announcing commercial availability for its Centriq SoC in November 2017, hopes for success of an ARM-based CPU ecosystem moved to Cavium.
• Telia to acquire Bonnier Broadcasting in latest Nordics M&A move – IHS Markit Technology Expert
  Nordic telecoms operator Telia has announced the acquisition of Bonnier Broadcasting, subject to regulatory approval. Telia has operations in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
• CBRS update: LTE network, anyone? – Abel Nevarez, Richard Webb
  CBRS—or Citizens Broadband Radio Service—has the potential to help mobile operators, MSOs, and private enterprises offer increased mobile network capacity and connectivity via the use of shared 3.5 GHz spectrum for TD-LTE.

Power & Energy Technology

• Key takeaways from ees North America 2018 – Cormac Gilligan, Camron Barati
  The ees North America show is a growing event co-located with Intersolar North America that focuses on energy storage industries in the United States.
• Key takeaways from Intersolar North America 2018 – Josefin Berg, Cormac Gilligan, Christine Beadle, Camron Barati, Miguel de Jesus, Maria Chea
  Intersolar North America is a leading trade show and conference for the solar and energy storage industries in the United States.
• 10% tariffs proposed for PV inverters and AC modules manufactured in China under Section 301 action – Cormac Gilligan, Miguel de Jesus
  A 10% tariff on Chinese-manufactured PV inverters and AC modules has been proposed by the United States Trade Representative.

Security Technology

• Enabling smarter emergency response through PSAP interoperability – Alexander Richardson
  This white paper and webinar explore drivers for interoperability like FirstNet and NG911, what makes interoperability attractive to agencies, and the various architectural models for organizations of all sizes.