AU Optronics looks to break even in Q2

AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the world's third-largest maker of LCD panels, aims to break even in the current quarter as rebounding demand will offset pressure of further price declines, a company executive said yesterday.

"We already saw some light in the tunnel," president Chen Hsuan-bin (陳炫彬) said yesterday.

After three quarters of decline, there would be a good chance for the industry get back on track, he told reporters on the sideline of the annual seminar organized by DisplaySearch.

"We hope to break even in the second quarter at the earliest. This is the goal most companies are working on," Chen said.

AU Optronics posted its first loss in two years during the final quarter of last year, blaming an overcapacity-driven price collapse behind the quarterly loss of NT$2.23 billion.

Sales in the second quarter will not be lower than the previous quarter as panel prices will be relatively stable on rebounding demand. The second quarter is conventionally a slow season for the industry.

Demand spurred after a drastic price decline, as reflected in consumers' growing appetite for computer monitors with 15-inch, 17-inch and 19-inch TFT-LCD screens, Chen said.

AU Optronics posted a lower first-quarter sales of NT$38.84 billion on Wednesday, down 6 percent, from NT$41.33 billion a year ago.