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.
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