A trend of falling prices for larger-sized flat-display panels is expected to slow in the final quarter due to improving demand for computer monitors in the Christmas shopping season, market researcher Display-Search said yesterday.
An oversupply built up mostly in the second quarter has caused around a 30 percent drop in prices of computer monitors in the three months to August, DisplaySearch said.
Monitors consume 90 percent of liquid crystal display (LCD) panel production.
"Now there is the smell of stabilization in the air," said David Hsieh (
For example, Hsieh said, 17-inch LCD panels have fallen 25 percent to a recent price of US$220 per unit from US$295 in June.
The price decline should slow to a manageable 5 percent in the October-December quarter from three months ago, Hsieh predicted.
In the current quarter, panel supply has exceeded demand by 8.6 percent and will remain flat at 9 percent in the final quarter, according to DisplaySearch.
The supply-demand situation is expected to improve to a 7 percent surplus in the first three months of 2005, the research house said.
Giving a more upbeat outlook for the LCD panel sector, Ken Yu(
That was mostly because computer vendors, including Dell Inc, are aggressively building up their inventories to prepare for peak-season demand, Yu said.
Computer vendors' purchases are expected to increase by over 30 percent in the current quarter versus the second quarter, he said.
"Additionally, as the panel prices already fell to a near-cost level, I believe there's scant room for any further dip," Yu said.
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