Flat panel prices could start falling over the next few months amid increasing signs that a recent supply constraint is easing, market researcher DisplaySearch said yesterday.
“Recent signs also show that liquid-crystal-display [LCD] monitor panel tightness has eased and panel demand is also slowing down, indicating a potential panel price reduction in coming months,” David Hsieh (謝勤益), a vice president of the Austin, Texas-based research house, said in a report issued yesterday.
Earlier this month, DisplaySearch forecast that the prices for most LCD panels would remain unchanged, while those for some monitor panels could rise by 2.6 percent in the second half of this month, compared with the first half, heralding a downtrend for the remainder of the year.
Hsieh said that more LCD panel manufacturers could allocate more capacity at advanced plants, such as seventh, eighth, or 10th-generation plants — which are used to make TV panels — to produce PC monitor panels this quarter after TV demand weakens in the traditionally slow fourth quarter.
A bigger share of production from the world’s 8G plants — at 10 percent — would be used in PC monitors, up from 8 percent estimated for this quarter, DisplaySearch said.
The 8G plants produce mother glasses of 2200cm² x 2500cm², which are cut to make 46-inch, 47-inch and 55-inch TV panels.
RSS