The liquid-crystal display (LCD) industry is expected to enjoy healthy growth this year and next year, helped by rapidly growing demand for slim-screen televisions, market researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said yesterday.
But LG Display Co Ltd’s recent plan to build a new sixth-generation (6G) plant, which is scheduled to ramp up production in the second half of next year, could slow the panel price hikes, IDC said.
“We are bullish about the LCD industry in 2008 and 2009 as demand for LCD TVs is growing really fast,” IDC display analyst Annabelle Hsu (徐美雯) said in an interview yesterday.
That was also reflected in new capacity expansion plans by major players, including the world’s biggest LCD panel maker Samsung Electronics Co and Taiwan’s AU Optronics Co (友達光電), Hsu said.
LCD TV sales may expand by 41 percent to about 102 million units this year from last year’s 72 million units and may grow by another 28 percent to 131 million, Hsu said.
Hsu factored in the potential impact of the weakened economy on consumer purchasing of LCD TVs in the US, the world’s second-largest LCD TV market.
Hsu expected unspecified price hikes for 32-inch and smaller-sized TV screens starting in the third quarter.
“The supply and demand situation will be healthy in the second half,” Hsu said.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
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