The biggest challenge facing the nation's flat-panel manufacturers is the availability of key components, and not merely the delayed output of fifth generation (5G) factories, analysts and industry leaders said.
"The shortage of color filters and substrate glass will be severe next year. But the fist-tier panel makers such as AU Optronics Corp (
Color filters and substrate glasses account for roughly 40 percent of panel-making costs, Wu said.
Second-tier companies including Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (
At an investor conference held late last month, AU chairman Lee Kun-yao (
The shortage of color filters has been endemic for two to three years, mainly because the capacity for expansion of color-filter manu-facturers has lagged behind LCD panel makers' pace in building factories, AU vice president Lu Po-yen (
Echoing Lee's concerns, Chi Mei president Ho chao-yang (何昭陽) said last week that "Chi Mei's panel shipments will be capped by smaller supplies of certain key components."
Chi Mei is more concerned about the supply of substrate glass as the company has an advantage in that area by owning two in-house color-filter plants, compared with most panel manufacturers' worry about shortage of color filters.
The component shortage is expected to be tempered after the second quarter next year due to slow panel demand and increasing supply, Wu said.
AU's fifth-generation color filter plant started operation in October, but will begin massive production next year, while Chi Mei's 5.5G filter plant is scheduled to start massive production in mid-2004, Wu added.
To ensure the stable supply of color filters, several flat-panel makers have aggressively built their own component plants or engaged in partnership with upstream suppliers. One of the latest team-ups occurred with BenQ Corp's (
In a statement filed with the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp on Friday, Cando said it signed a memorandum of understanding with two venture capital firms associated with BenQ.
Under the proposed deal, Cando will sell 100 million new shares at NT$5 each, which is about a 50 percent discount of its closing price of NT$10.49 Friday. The company said the proceeds will be spent on improving its financial situation and on building a next-generation plant.
Rival Chi Mei did not expect the partnership would greatly boost AU's supplies of color filters.
"Cando, one of AU's important color filter suppliers, has been suffering financial problems since last year. AU will not risk the loss of a main supplier by letting the company collapse," Chi Mei finance manager Eddie Chen (陳彥松) said yesterday.
By any account, the deal is to maintain the stable color filter supply that AU currently enjoys, Chen added.
But ABN-AMRO analyst Wu said the deal was good for BenQ because the company spend merely NT$500 million to keep the supply steady for AU.
Cando currently shipped two-thirds of its color filters used in 17-inch flat panels to AU and the percentage is likely to rise after the share purchase, Wu predicted.
Two other flat-panel makers have pursued a similar strategy to to ensure stable supplies, said Wu. HanStar and Quanta Display invested in filter makers Nan Shih Enterprise Co (
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