Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管), the nation’s third-biggest maker of flat panels, yesterday posted a sixth straight quarterly loss because of constant decline in price and reduced demand.
Fourth quarter losses narrowed slightly to NT$11.92 billion from losses of NT$11.98 billion in the same period of 2008, the company said in a financial statement. On a quarterly basis, losses deepened from NT$4.82 billion in the third quarter.
Company president Lin Sheng-chang (林盛昌) told a quarterly investor teleconference that the top priority was returning to net profits this year.
Chunghwa Picture said tight supply of key components, including glasses and a labor shortage in China, would cause supply problems in PC and TV panels in the first and second quarters.
Shipments of PC and TV panels are expected to grow 25 percent quarter-on-quarter in the current quarter and to increase another 10 percent, at the most, next quarter, driven by corporate PC replacement demand and increasing subsidies on TV sales in China, the firm said.
It said a 4.5-generation line would resume production in April.
Lin denied speculation that there would be an alliance with Samsung Electronics to facilitate expansion in the Chinese market.
“We are open to any possible cooperation, but no substantial progress has been made,” Lin said.
The company said it would spend NT$5.7 billion on new equipment.
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