Liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panel prices are expected to remain flat over the first two weeks of this month as supply constraints ease and manufacturers of TVs and PCs wrap up inventory replenishment in preparation for the current quarter’s traditional buying spree, a report released by DisplaySearch said.
The firm’s flat trend forecast followed a similar outlook in its previous projection, issued in the middle of last month, strengthening expectations of a reversal of last year’s uptrend in this year’s final quarter. The fourth quarter is traditionally a slow season for the electronics manufacturing sector.
Panel prices have climbed nearly 30 percent since the first quarter of this year, figures compiled by DisplaySearch show.
“Overall, there is no change in prices from the last update. The panel supply is reversing from [a] shortage to be more balanced now, and some TV brands and OEMs [contract TV makers] are asking for price concessions from September,” DisplaySearch said in its biweekly report issued on Saturday.
The price of a mainstream 32-inch TV panel is expected to remain unchanged from two weeks ago at US$215 per unit in the first half of this month, the Austin, Texas-based research house’s statistics show.
“The panel price negotiation will be tough for some panel makers,” DisplaySearch said, although some Chinese TV manufacturers are increasing inventories ahead of the traditional shopping season starting next month.
Reflecting the weak price trend, the stock prices of the nation’s two largest LCD panel suppliers, AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), have slid by 9.51 percent and 6.67 percent respectively to NT$33.3 and NT$16.8 over the past month.
The benchmark TAIEX edged up 1.36 percent during the same period.
In response to the possibility of a further decline in panel prices in the fourth quarter, Chi Mei said on Aug. 25 that it expected panel prices to remain flat or increase slightly this month from last month.
Chi Mei said it did not expect the downtrend to lead to a severe price decline in the final quarter.
“We have not seen any adverse factors [that could hurt prices in the fourth quarter],” company president Wang Jyh-chau (王志超) told a media briefing at its Tainan headquarters.
Insufficient supply of glass substrates from major supplier Corning Inc may partly offset the current swift rise in factory utilization in the panel industry, Wang said.
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