WASHINGTON -- New orders for durable goods slipped in March, falling 1.3% to $176.7 billion, the US Department of Commerce said, as demand for civilian aerospace and certain transportation goods dragged down the rest of the index.

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NEW YORK – Electronics components remain in short supply, with major distributors upping lead times by as much as 100%.

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AUSTIN – The popularity of e-books, particularly Amazon’s Kindle, drove electronic paper display shipments to 5 million units in 2009, up 417% year-over-year, says DisplaySearch.

“Seeing this growth for a new application, especially in the second half of last year, is a vote of confidence from consumers who seem to have embraced e-books,” said Hiroshi Hayase, DisplaySearch director of small/medium displays. “Momentum from e-book popularity last year combined with new, larger-screen products hitting the market right now means that this trend will continue, so we will see large shipment volume increases in the first half of 2010.”

Amazon’s Kindle e-book, with a 6" display, captured 66% of the total EPD market in 2009, says the research firm. This market domination is expected to increase as the Kindle DX, with a 9.7" display, is positioned to compete with Apple’s iPad, released earlier this month, which uses a 9.7" TFT LCD.

“We expect to see other service providers increase their presence in the US and expand e-book adoption in Europe and Asia as well,” Hayase added.

AUSTIN – DisplaySearch today raised its forecast for 3D-capable TV shipments as hype turns into “real products.”

The research firm said shipments would grow from 2.5 million in 2010 to 27 million sets in 2013, dominated initially by developed regions, with North American shipments accounting for more than half of shipments this year.

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