AU Optronics expects LCD prices to fall

AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the world's third-largest maker of liquid-crystal displays for computers and televisions, said global sales and prices for LCDs in the first quarter may fall from the previous three months as the year-end Christmas shopping season ends.

The first quarter will be a "mild off-peak season," said Hsiao Ya-wen (蕭雅文), a corporate communications executive at the company, with demand possibly dropping less than 10 percent from the fourth quarter and prices declining. The company maintains its guidance for the fourth quarter issued in October, Hsiao said.

AU Optronics said on Oct. 25 it expects fourth-quarter shipments of large-sized panels to rise by a "mid-teen percentage point" from the third quarter. Shipments for small and medium-sized panels are forecast to fall by a "low-teen percentage point" in the fourth quarter from the third, the company said. Large panels are used in computers and televisions, while smaller ones are used in consumer electronics including mobile phones and digital cameras.

Global sales of LCD panels will rise next year from this, as demand for their applications increase, Hsiao said.

The world's unit sales of computer monitors may rise between 20 percent and 25 percent next year from this year, while those of notebooks may climb more than 25 percent, compared with an increase of between 80 percent and 100 percent for LCD televisions, she said.