Global shipments of liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panels are expected to drop more than 10 percent next quarter as demand dwindles after the Christmas shopping season, market researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said yesterday.
As the global economy recovers, spurring demand for consumer electronics like LCD TVs, panel makers would focus on inventory management as the “crystal cycle” again swings the industry, IDC industry analyst Annabelle Hsu (徐美雯) said.
As the first quarter is a traditionally slack season, falling demand is likely to cause oversupply and drive prices for LCD TV panels US$10 to US$15 lower per unit quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of next year, extending early price drops in the third quarter, Hsu said. PC panels may drop by between US$5 and US$12 quarter-on-quarter, she said.
IDC forecast that global panel shipments would decrease by another 11 percent to around 122 million units in the first quarter from 138 million in the fourth quarter.
To ease the glut, panel makers may lower the current 80 percent equipment utilization rate by between 10 or 15 percentage points, Hsu said.
For the whole of next year, Hsu was cautiously optimistic about the LCD industry as the adverse impact of the economic recession on the LCD industry would diminish as the economy improves.
“People will start spending on consumer electronics again when they have more money in their pocket, but it will be difficult for the industry to grow as strong as it was in 2008,” she said.
Overall LCD panel shipments are expected to expand nearly 10 percent to 556 million units next year, driven primarily by growing flat-screen TV and notebook computer demand, compared with an estimate of 506 million this year, IDC forecast.
Revenues as a whole may grow about 7 percent to US$62.18 billion next year from US$58 billion this year, Hsu said, with emerging markets, especially China, becoming the fastest-growing areas.
Separately, AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) yesterday reported 3.4 percent lower sales of NT$39.6 billion for last month from September, ending eight straight months of growth since February.
Shipments of TV and PC panels dropped 4.5 percent month-on-month to 8.96 million units last month as some IT panel applications are in a seasonal slowdown, the company said in an e-mailed press release.
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