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LCD panel prices to hold steady after recent declines

A model displays Japanese electronics giant Toshiba’s new line up of LCD “Regza” televisions in Tokyo on Sept. 18. PHOTO: AFP

Prices for liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panels may hold steady in the first half of this month after constant price declines have eaten into the bottom line of certain suppliers, ending the downward spiral that began in June, market researcher DisplaySearch’s latest report said.

But, price pressure may remain in place this month with no marked recovery in demand.

PC and monitor vendors may become conservative about panel purchases after they posted slower-than-expected sales as corporations and consumers cut PC spending amid a weaker global economy, the Austin, Texas-based researcher said.

“There will be some stabilization in panel prices in the first half of October, because prices are down to the cost lines and panel makers are operating with losses, leaving limited room for further price reduction,” DisplaySearch said in a report released on Saturday.

Mainstream 19-inch LCD panels for PC monitors are expected to be unchanged at US$80 per unit, the same as in the second half of last month, following a 36 percent decrease over the previous four months since mid-June because of a supply glut, the report indicated.

In July, major LCD panel makers, including the world’s second-largest panel maker LG Display Co Ltd, said they planned to cut output by 10 percent to 15 percent to ease oversupply as demand weakened suddenly.

Morgan Stanley LCD industry analyst Frank Wang (王安亞) projected Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), the nation’s second-biggest LCD panel supplier, may drift into quarterly losses in the third quarter, the first quarterly losses in almost two years, as prices dropped faster than expected because of excessive inventories.

Bigger rival AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) may swing into quarterly loss later in the final quarter of the year, Wang said.

He expected the LCD industry to bottom out in the first quarter of next year before a V-shaped recovery arrives in the second half of next year, his report dated Sept. 24 said.

Prices for mainstay television panels are also expected to slide about 3.9 percent to US$245 per unit in the first two weeks of the month from the last two weeks of last month, smaller than the 5.6 percent decline in the previous two weeks, the report released by DisplaySearch said.

Supply in the mainstay 32-inch LCD panels would remain loose as TV vendors were conservative about ordering panels after TV set demand had not picked up as expected, the researcher said.

Panel makers may continue to feel a lot of pressure to lower prices for TV panels, DisplaySearch said.
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