DigiTimes

Major DRAM module makers A-Data Technology and Transcend Information, though seeing their June sales dampened by weak memory pricing, both anticipate improving demand in the second half of 2008.

Demand for small- to medium-size LCD panels dropped rapidly in the second quarter and the drop was reflected in revenues for small- to medium-size panel makers in June, according to market sources.

Displaybank has forecast that LCD TVs equipped with LED BLUs (backlight units) instead of CCFLs (cold cathode fluorescent lamps) will reach 8% of the total market by 2011.

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Following the recent launch of the ATI Radeon HD 4850 and 4870 GPUs, AMD plans to introduce the high-end dual-GPU HD 4870 X2 by the end of July, according to sources at graphics card vendors.

Worldwide PDP module shipments reached 1.39 million units in May, rising 10% compared to April because of increases in Matsushita shipments, according to Displaybank.

Graphics card vendor Gainward, previously an exclusive AIB partner of Nvidia, has begun working with AMD and will launch ATI Radeon HD GPU-based products soon, according to market sources.

BLU makers are expected to face increasing pressure to reduce prices in the third quarter, according to industry sources.

The worldwide market for flat panel TV ICs is expected to be $1.

MSI and GeCube have unveiled ATI Radeon HD 4870-series graphics cards.

As in past Crystal Cycles, surging investment in new fab capacity is providing LCD panel buyers with the ability to drive prices down as panel suppliers become eager to sell their output.

Although Intel is optimistic about the sales performance of Atom-based nettops, some PC vendors doubt nettops will be as successful as netbooks.

According to new a research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, WLAN will become the next prevalent connectivity technology in mass-market mobile handsets.

The falling prices for 7" LCD panels may spur digital photo frame makers into increasing their orders in the second half of the year, according to industry observers.

Asustek Computer and GeCube have unveiled graphics card products based on AMD's ATI Radeon HD 4850 GPU.