Local liquid-crystal-display (LCD) monitor exports are expected to grow by 4.3 percent quarter-on-quarter for the second quarter in a row thanks to depletion of old inventory and a rebound in global demand, a Taipei-based research institute said.
The Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute (MIC, 產業情報研究所) in a report attributed the increased demand to rising shipments to China, which was spurred on by the Chinese government’s subsidy program to promote the use of consumer electronics in rural areas.
The MIC said 21 percent of all LCD monitor exports went to China in the fourth quarter of last year.
This year, as developed countries slowly recover from the global economic recession, exports to mature markets are expected to continue their descent, while exports to emerging markets such as China, Latin America and Eastern Europe are projected to grow, MIC analyst Yuki Kao (高興玉) wrote in the report.
Despite the optimistic outlook for second-quarter growth, the research house said shipments in terms of volume and value would continue to decline in the first quarter even with a wave of recent rush orders.
Local LCD monitor makers suffered year-on-year declines of 7.2 percent and quarter-on-quarter declines of 7.4 percent in fourth-quarter shipments, dropping to 26.1 million units. In dollar terms, local companies exported US$3.52 billion worth of LCD monitors for the quarter, down 10.9 percent from the previous quarter and falling 26.7 percent from a year ago, MIC tallies showed.
The MIC attributed the declining shipments in the first quarter to fallout from the global financial crisis, but more noteworthy was the massive entrance of low-priced notebooks, or netbooks, and all-in-one PCs into the market, which ravaged demand for regular desktop add-ons.
“Growth momentum in regional markets weakened, and emerging markets were also unable to escape the effects of the crisis. Meanwhile, LCD monitor brands and distributors cleared inventories and reduced the number of orders given to contract manufacturers,” Kao said.
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