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Chunghwa Picture expects losses to drop this quarter

“There will be no price collapse in the fourth quarter, as inventory, which was the main factor behind last year’s price slump, appears healthy.” — Kay Chiu, Chunghwa Picture Tubes president

Local liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管) expects to cut back operational losses further this quarter as prices look set to stabilize on rebounding demand and a rise in new orders.

In addition, an easing glass supply crunch from Corning Inc in the wake of a power disruption at a Taichung plant, which limited the company’s shipments last quarter, is expected to help raise equipment utilization, Chunghwa Picture president Kay Chiu (邱創儀) told a media briefing yesterday.

“Without the tight glass supply, operations will improve,” Chiu said. “The worst point was in October. Supply should start to improve from now on.”

Chunghwa Picture’s sales fell 17.7 percent to NT$5.31 billion last month from September, representing a year-on-year decline of about 29 percent, the company said.

Because of its smaller scale, Chunghwa Picture has lagged behind its local rivals in benefiting from the economic recovery to swing back to profitability.

It would still be “quite difficult” for Chunghwa Picture to return to the black this quarter, Chiu said.

“But operations will improve gradually,” Chiu said. “There will be no price collapse in the fourth quarter, as inventory, which was the main factor behind last year’s price slump, appears healthy.”

Operating losses narrowed to NT$4.51 billion in the third quarter, from losses of NT$8.65 billion in the second quarter, Chunghwa Picture’s financial statement showed.

Shipments of computer and TV panels are expected to grow by between 5 and 15 percent this quarter from 5.2 million units last quarter.

To improve its financial structure, Chunghwa Picture said it would not rule out reducing some capital shares by canceling them.

The company would focus on niche and high-margin products such as 3D and touch-panel displays to optimize its product line, rather than providing a full range of products, Chiu said.

The company planned to ship new 15.6-inch 3D panels for use in PC monitors later this month after shipping a small volume of 7-inch and 10-inch 3D panels to Japanese and Chinese customers recently.

“Our potential customers are in PC games and the Pachinko machine sector,” said Chen Kuang-lang (陳光郎), a vice president of Chunghwa Picture’s research and development center.

“The margin is three times higher than for the regular two-dimensional display panels,” Chen said.

The company also planned to ship its first batch of 10.1-inch touch panels for use in netbook computers in January and to supply 15.6-inch notebook touch panels to customers in the second quarter of next year, Chen said.
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