Flat panel screen sales to double

Taiwan's sales of flat-panel monitors, which are replacing bulkier cathode-ray tube displays in personal computers, will double this year after lower prices spurred demand, according to a report issued yesterday by the government run Market Intelligence Center.

Taiwanese companies secured about half of the global market for the screens during the first quarter, the research agency said. Sales of Taiwan-based companies such as Benq Corp will reach US$6.3 billion this year, up sharply from US$3.1 billion a year ago.

The thin monitors are increasingly used with personal computers because they use less desktop space, consume less power and emit no radiation compared with the cathode-ray tube displays.

Demand surged during the fourth quarter as flat-panel prices fell to a record low during a global slump in the electronics industry.

Prices of liquid-crystal display screens, which are used in the monitors, are rising and will continue to increase during the second quarter because of growing demand, the research agency said. Demand growth may slow during the second half because of higher prices.

AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Taiwan's largest maker of TFT-LCD panels, said its second quarter profits should be higher than its previous forecast of NT$3.4 billion, local newspapers reported yesterday, citing AU chairman Chen Sheun-bing (陳炫彬). Sales this month are expected to break new records as the price per panel rises. Analysts say sales could top NT$7.6 billion, a new monthly record for the company.

The local TFT-LCD panel industry is racing to see which company will be the first to construct an advanced panel-making plant, dubbed a "fifth-generation plant."t. Quanta Display Inc (廣輝電子) and AU are currently seen as the two front runners.