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positive agm today.

Alex Wolfgram, DIGITIMES, Taipei [Monday 1 September 2014] The 2014 Touch Taiwan exhibition focused mainly on larger-size, higher-resolution technologies, ranging from TV and monitor applications to handset and tablet technologies, with the show demonstrating that value-added features and services are now a crucial aspect to makers' development, as is supply chain integration. AU Optronics (AUO) featured Ultra HD display technologies and applications for mobile devices, including five-inch Full HD and 8-inch WQXGA (1600 by 2560) LCD panels adopting a-Si (amorphous silicon) display technology, AHVA high resolution car and medical displays, oTP (On-cell Touch Panel) integrated touch solutions for five- to 15.6-inch smartphones, tablets and notebook PCs, along with 4.3-inch ultra thin LTPS TFT-LCD, and 5.5-inch Full HD in-cell touch AMOLED panels. Innolux meanwhile introduced an 85-inch 3D Ultra HD 100% NTSC high-color-saturation TV panel as part of its efforts to promote high color gamut technology. Panels sized 75-, 65-, 58- and 50-inches were also on display in addition to integrated touch screen monitor panels labeled as "InnoTouch" in sizes 23.6- and 28-inch. InnoTouch monitor panels are fabricated on a vertically integrated streamlined manufacturing process to solve problems associated with assembly yields and reducing costs, the company said. Additionally, Corning featured Corning Eagle XG Slim Glass for a-Si displays in addition to its Antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass, the world's first EPA-registered antimicrobial cover glass; and Corning Gorilla Glass NBT, designed especially for touch-enabled notebook displays. In terms of further supply chain integration, the Taiwan government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) displayed its new metal mesh technology that features a "one-step" roll-to-roll production method.The one-step method is capable of reducing the production facilities and materials needed to manufacture the technology, and reduces costs by as much as 30%. ITRI said the production method can give Taiwan's touch panel makers advantages in the market, particularly in terms of cost, which is becoming an increasing concern for makers in order to secure orders in the market. Several other panel makers noted they are now looking to beef up cooperation with vendors in order to combat increasing demand for cheaper products and quicker time-to-the-market results.

IFA 2014 Consumer Electronics Unlimited will take place at the Exhibition grounds at Funkturm, Messedamm in Berlin, Germany from Sept. 5 to 10, 2014. For those who are not familiar with IFA, it is Europe's answer to the United States' CES. Its the largest consumer electronics event in the tech calendar.

AMOLED leads new applications on ultra slim, high resolution mobile and wearable devices AUO has been devoted to the development of AMOLED technology. By capitalizing on its high color saturation, high contrast, slimness, flexibility and low power consumption, various applications for mobile devices have been designed. AUO's 5.5-inch Full HD in-cell touch AMOLED panel has integrated touch function within the AMOLED panel. By using the glass thinning technology, panel thickness has been significantly reduced to 0.45 mm. The panel resolution has also been raised to 403 PPI. The 1.6-inch in-cell touch AMOLED panel for smart watches is suitable for sport, healthcare and medical purposes to provide comfortable wearing experience. AUO will also demonstrate 5-inch flexible AMOLED touch panel. It adopts plastic substrate and thin film encapsulation to achieve the minimum bending radius of less than 1cm. The panel is only 0.2 mm thick and can be used for smartphones with screens extended to the sides. The user will be able to set function keys in their desired locations to increase more space for operation and viewing area.

Car displays with wide viewing angle and high resolution for various intelligent vehicle systems The growth of intelligent vehicles has spurred the demand for car displays. AUO has developed a lineup of car displays with high resolution, wide viewing angle and ultra high brightness for audio-visual entertainment, communications and safety purposes in diverse vehicle telematics systems. They include 1.8-inch head-up display (HUD), 7-inch capacitive touch display for center consoles, 9-inch portrait car display for center consoles, and 12.3-inch high resolution cluster display. The 1.8-inch head-up display adopts LTPS production and features high resolution, wide viewing angle and ultra high brightness. Driving information can be projected directly onto the windshield and images can be viewed clearly even under direct sunlight, so that the driver can navigate more safely while retrieving the information. The 7-inch capacitive touch panel for center consoles has AHVA wide viewing angle, low reflection, high color saturation, and fast response time even under drastic temperature conditions.

Complete array of ultra high resolution display technologies for mobile device In meeting the trend for high picture quality on large screens in the 4G era and the demand for various strains of smartphones, AUO has been applying a-Si and LTPS TFT manufacturing technologies to create high resolution displays. AUO's a-Si TFT LCDs for mobile device possess high resolution, high brightness, slim and light design, and are power-saving. The 5-inch Full HD high resolution smartphone panel to be debuted has an ultra narrow border of 1 mm. The 8-inch WQXGA a-Si TFT-LCD for tablet improves the transmittance to enhance image resolution, color saturation and sharpness. It is slimmer and lighter, and easy to carry. AUO has also developed 5.5-inch Full HD smartphone panel utilizing oxide TFT technology. Its narrow border and design for lower power consumption make mobile devices even lighter and more energy-saving. Ultra high resolution panels employing the LTPS process are also being showcased. AUO's 5.5-inch WQHD (1440x2560) smartphone display utilizing LTPS process has further raised pixel density to 538 PPI. The panel uses AHVA technology. Its narrow border design results in a mere 0.7 mm width from display area to panel border, increasing the viewing area. The 5.5-inch Full HD in-cell touch panel also employs LTPS production and integrates the 120Hz in-cell touch refresh rate. The in-cell touch technology enables thinner and light panels, achieves better anti-glare performance, and increases visibility under sunlight in the outdoors. Also in the exhibition is the 4.3-inch LTPS TFT-LCD adopting ultra thin glass on carrier technology. The panel is less than 0.92 mm thick and has Full HD resolution.

AUO to showcase high resolution a-Si TFT-LCDs for mobile devices at Touch Taiwan 2014 Press release; Rodney Chan, DIGITIMES [Monday 25 August 2014] AU Optronics (AUO) has announced its ultra high resolution display technologies and applications for mobile devices, including 5-inch Full HD and 8-inch WQXGA (1600x2560) LCD panels adopting a-Si (amorphous silicon) display technology, AHVA high resolution car and medical displays, the full series of oTP (On-cell Touch Panel) integrated touch solutions for 5- to 15.6-inch smartphones, tablets and notebook PCs, 4.3-inch ultra thin LTPS TFT-LCD, and 5.5-inch Full HD in-cell touch AMOLED panel. The products and technologies will all be present from August 27 to 29 at Touch Taiwan 2014 (International Touch Panel and Optical Film Exhibition 2014), held in Taipei Nangang Exhibition Hall.

Roughly 400 vendors preparing to feature new technologies at Touch Taiwan Julian Ho, Alex Wolfgram, Taipei [Wednesday 20 August 2014] Approximately 1,100 booths from 400 vendors will be on display at the 2014 Touch Taiwan exhibition where experts from the display industry will also be sharing their market forecasts and prospects. The roughly 30,000 visitors that are expected to attend can expect to see the latest in TFT LCD, OLED and Ultra HD technologies in addition to touch panel solutions and new display innovations. Visitors can also expect to hear presentations from representatives at Sharp and TDI as well as forecasts from industry analysts from Taiwan, China and Japan. Touch Taiwan will take place from August 27-29 at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall.

BUSINESS Suppliers hint at setback in iPhone 6 production BYREUTERS | AUGUST 22, 2014 , 7 : 33 PM GST Tokyo: Suppliers to Apple are scrambling to get enough screens ready for the new iPhone 6 smartphone as the need to redesign a key component disrupted panel production ahead of next month's expected launch, supply chain sources said. It's unclear whether the hiccup could delay the launch or limit the number of phones initially available to consumers, the sources said, as Apple readies larger-screen iPhones for the year-end shopping season amid market share loss to cheaper rivals. But the issue highlights the risks and challenges that suppliers face to meet Apple's tough specifications, and comes on the heels of a separate screen technology problem, since resolved, in making thinner screens for the larger iPhone 6 model. Cupertino, California-based Apple has scheduled a media event for September 9, and many expect it to unveil the new iPhone 6 with both 4.7 inch (11.94 cm) and 5.5 inch (13.97 cm) screens — bigger than the 4-inch screen on the iPhone 5s and 5c. Two supply chain sources said display panel production suffered a setback after the backlight that helps illuminate the screen had to be revised, putting screen assembly on hold for part of June and July. One said Apple, aiming for the thinnest phone possible, initially wanted to cut back to a single layer of backlight film, instead of the standard two layers, for the 4.7-inch screen, which went into mass production ahead of the 5.5-inch version. But the new configuration was not bright enough and the backlight was sent back to the drawing board to fit in the extra layer, costing precious time and temporarily idling some screen assembly operations, the source said. Output is now back on track and suppliers are working flat-out to make up for lost time, the supply chain sources added. Japan Display, Sharp and South Korea's LG Display have been selected to make the iPhone 6 screens, the sources said.

FINANCIAL CALENDAR Date Event 27 Aug 2014 Ex-dividend date 04 Sep 2014 Annual general meeting 2014 03 Oct 2014 Final dividend for 2014 18 Nov 2014 Interim report for the half year ending 30 September 2014 09 Jun 2015 Preliminary announcement of the results for the year ending 31 March 2015

TIPR... thanks for your input, good post. I disagree (slightly) that XSense as a TS mobile sensor is priced in at around zero, I believe that there is around 20p 'sensor expectation' still built in but that's fine. These companies ARE about 'expectations' rather than reality. You may be correct about the CEO, much more realistic, both the Atmel acknowledgement RNS plus the Interim RNS had no need whatsoever to mention "tracking expectations for the current financial year". BOTH statements could have simply stuck to the Atmel line about the China award plus levels of OEM interest & design wins etc. etc. I believe the reason they stuck that seperate sentence in... was to purposely dampen down investor expectations for the future of the sensor in the mobile space. It indicated to me that Carclo themselves were going, as far as they could, to say they don't hold out a great deal of hope for it anymore. If Apple haven't gone for it... & they are now about the ONLY company that could get away with charging premium prices... then I can't see any 'lesser players' getting on board. Below Apple the mobile market has become extremely fragmented with prices dropping all the time. Quite simply not even Samsung are turning a profit anymore. Even for the existing well established players its now becoming a fight for survival. IMO only fully verticaly integrated companies are going to survive. But yes, the rest of Carclo is doing well & printed film will hopefully gain some traction in other industrial markets over the next 2/3 years... but I think the 'blue sky' hopes now rest with the CDS division... but it's in very early stage development & probably around 3/5 years away from making it to market. GLA

Hi gocarclo, a vertically integrated company is a 'one stop shop' that can manufacture the film plus pattern it & laminate it & also produce the LED in other words the WHOLE display panel... its in a far better place cost wise than those like Carclo who have to ship the coated film all over the place before it lands in the hands of the OEM for assembly into whatever device the completed panel is intended for. Cutting out Atmel by shipping the rolls of coated film directly to a licensed ODM for sensor patterning & lamination will certainly help reduce overall production costs but still not on the scale of a fully integrated company. I can't see Carclo licensing or wanting to let an ODM also produce the coated film... they will want to keep a grip on that in order to protect their IP. So even if they licence out the sensor production they will still be at a cost disadvantage. If XSense is as good as its claimed to be then a reasonable price premium may not matter much for high end sort after devices... but if it IS that good then why have Apple not bought into it for their upcoming iPhone? Atmel have demonstrated the new offering of Corning's ultra thin glass with XSense so we know that works... but it does look like Apple have gone for another solution just as Microsoft did! That to me is NOT good news. Why are sales of coated film only 'tracking expectation' for the current financial year? Those sales expectations WERE very poor anyway... & don't forget that margins have been admittedly reduced. Why have HP seemingly ditched it? Why have HP been the ONLY OEM to have wanted it since validation was achieved 12 months ago? Why has their been not one other PO's since February? I really can't see why anyone would want to hold Carclo hoping for XSense to come good... at best I can't see its use as a mobile device sensor being any more than a bit part player in TS market. IMO all the available evidence to date points to it eventually disappearing (it HAS since February!) & some capex write downs being required.

Rebecca Kuo, Tainan; Alex Wolfgram, DIGITIMES [Tuesday 19 August 2014] Panel makers are shifting their focus to new applications as tablet demand in the second half of 2014 is expected to be limited, according to industry sources. Market observers estimate that tablet shipments during the second half will grow less than 5% due to competition from large-size smartphones as well as lower-than-expected sales of new units. Lower priced notebooks around US$250 in addition to wearable devices will also affect tablet shipments, the observers said. Additionally, as vendors are looking to use pricing strategies to combat competition, they are looking to vertically integrate supply chains offering production from touch panels to LCD modules. This is helping vendors save costs and reducing time to market, but is decreasing the role tablet panel makers play in the supply chain. Moreover, vendors are increasingly looking to purchase open cell panels, which could limit profits for panel makers compared to sales of higher-end technologies. While panel makers are forming new strategies to partner with other supply chain makers, choices are limited and such a business model is leaving some makers worried, particularly due to the limited demand tablets are expected to see in the second half. The makers therefore are looking to new applications to set the bar for vendors to follow as well as make up for limited shipments in the tablet segment, said industry sources.

Don't know where you have seen those rumours, Carclo's RNS last week said: "Sales of coated film by our Conductive Inkjet Technology division are tracking expectations in the current financial year" If they were producing flim for Apple next IPhone then they would by now be 'exceeding' expectations... by a very long way!

Oppenheimer 17th Annual Technology, Internet & Communications Conference Aug 12, 2014 9:45 AM ET Speaker: Steve Skaggs, SVP & CFO Location: Four Seasons Hotel Boston 200 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02116 US Listen to webcasts: http://ir.atmel.com/eventdetail.cfm?EventID=146960 Canaccord Genuity 34th Annual Growth Conference Aug 13, 2014 2:30 PM ET Speaker: Steve Skaggs, SVP & CFO Location: InterContinental Boston 510 Atlantic Avenue Boston, MA 02210 US Listen to webcast

"Sales of coated film by our Conductive Inkjet Technology division are tracking expectations in the current financial year". IMO this indicates they are NOT producing film or been contracted to produce film to meet any near future OEM device launch schedules at the present time. As we are now close to the big autumn selling season that isn't particularly good news. It also incidentally... seems to indicate (given HP have launched several new upgraded tablet devices recently)... that HP have now ditched XSense. The Interim management statement is due next week on the 11th but I don't expect to be be hearing anything particularly exciting for XSense so IMO although 130p is ok & fair given Atmel's 'positive' statement... its not worth much more at the present juncture.

John Vinh - Pacific Crest Securities, Inc., Research Division And then my follow-up question I wanted to touch on the XSense business. You talked a little bit about earlier in the prepared remarks. Do we currently have a line of sight to break even at this point? Alternatively, I know you guys have talked about being open to monetizing the IP in other ways if this fell short of your expectations. If you could update us on your current thoughts on XSense, that'd be great. Steven A. Laub - Chief Executive Officer, President and Executive Director As we mentioned in the prepared remarks, the business actually grew very nicely in Q2. And we are winning new designs with respect to the business. We also -- we do look at it as if like any business, it is something invested in and you expect a return from. We aren't sharing specifically the timeframe for when the thing does begin to break even and contribute. But as we discussed earlier, we are looking at alternative ways to maximize return in this business, including optimizing the IP and so forth. And at this point it wouldn't be right to elaborate beyond that.

Something big is going on in the background here. No hype whatsoever this time. Basically a shut your mouth & wait & see job due to confidentiallity issues. Brilliant!

.... Yeah, al I fought too. Commentary about XSense is ALWAYS 'positive' :) lets see what if the mob ask some meaty questions!

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Atmel® Corporation (ATML), a leader in microcontroller and touch solutions, will hold a conference call Wednesday, August 6, 2014 at 2 p.m. PT to discuss its second quarter 2014 financial results. Atmel President and CEO, Steven Laub, and Senior Vice President and CFO, Steve Skaggs, will be participating on this call. The earnings release will be issued at the close of market that same day. . The conference call will be webcast live and can also be monitored by dialing 1-706-758-4519. The conference ID number is 62444267 and participants are encouraged to dial-in 10 minutes prior to the 2 p.m. PT call to ensure a timely connection. The webcast and earnings release will be accessible at http://ir.atmel.com/. A replay of the August 6, 2014 conference call will be available at approximately 5 p.m. PT that same day and archived for 48 hours. The replay access number is 1-404-537-3406. The access code is 62444267.