On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

Tablets are big business this year, with shipments for 1H 2011 growing by 420% Y-o-Y according to Digitimes-- and the analyst expects 150% Y-o-Y growth for 2H 2011.

Digitimes also expects tablet shipments to surpass 65m in 2011 with 200% Y-o-Y growth.

Apple will remain the tabet market's dominant force but its competition won't do badly either-- Digitimes says over 20m non-iPad tablets will ship in 2H 2011.

Android also shows rapid growth, with a penetration rate of over 30%.

When it comes to the tablet processor field, Texas Instruments will probably remain the firm to beat-- even if the non-Apple brands also show strong support for Nvidia's Tegra series.

Finally, Taiwan's touchscreen panel makers appear to be the partner of choice for brans "wishing to move into the tablet market quickly", according to Digitimes' report.

Go Expectations for the 2H 2011 Tablet Market (Digitimes)

Swedish CE retailer ONOFF files for bankruptcy, citing stiff competition, declining prices and low profit margins.

The company says it was running belt-tightening programs, as well as talks for either sale or merger-- negotiations failing to lead to a finalised deal.

ONOFF's 2010 losses total 152m kronor, while losses reach 44m kronor for 2009.

Operating since 1982, ONOFF has 67 stores in Sweden, 6 in Estonia and 1 in Finland.

Meanwhile sources report Media Markt is planning its expansion towards Swedish territories, and rival store Elgiganten says its "not surprising to see one (Swedish) player disappear."

Go ONOFF Files for Bankruptcy

LG Display CEO Kwon Yong-soo announces the company will launch a 55" OLED TV by Q2 2012.

Currently OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays come in either small and medium sizes for use in tablets and mobile devices-- a field LG Displays will invest no longer in, as it will put the technology into larger uses instead.

The company also has a 31" OLED display in the works, previously announced at CES 2011.

TV panels make around 50% of LG Displays' sales, a sector going through intense pressure and oversupply issues, thus its need for a premium product-- something large-screen OLED displays cound supply.

Go LG

More details emerge regarding a China-based blogger's discovery of counterfeit Apple stores in Kunming-- authorities close down two such stores while comments reveal such blatant copying is not exclusive to China.

Reuters says the closing of the 2 fake Apple stores (out of a total of 5) is not due to piracy- or copyright-related reasons, but "because the stores in the southwestern city did not have an official business permit."

China does have laws prohibiting the copying of other stores' "look and feel," but enforcement appears to be rather lacking-- not to mention the country's generally dismal record in intellectual property protection.

Reuters quotes authorites saying all 5 fake Apple stores sell "genuine Apple products". Kunming itself has 13 official Apple resellers, but no comment is available from them as yet.

Meanwhile the original blog post inspires an international hunt for similar fakes-- with commentors saying there's Apple imitation stores in Colombia and Vietnam, amongst others. It also gets an update, complete with video of one of the stores.

Go Chinese City Orders Two Fake Apple Shops to Close (Reuters)

Go China's Apple Store Knockoffs

Go Fake Apple Store Update (Birdabroad)