Global shipments of LCD panels set an all-time high again last month, as computer and television makers started restocking after inventories fell and concern over demand next quarter eased, a local market research firm said.
Last month, shipments of PC and TV panels expanded 8.5 percent to 55.8 million units, from the 51.44 million units shipped in April, according to the latest statistics compiled by TrendForce Corp (集邦科技), formerly known as DRAMeXchange Technology Inc.
Electronics makers “are aggressively restocking inventories in preparation for the third quarter in expectation that supply could not reach parity with demand,” the Taipei-based researcher said in a survey released on Tuesday.
TrendForce said in April that PC and TV makers were unwilling to buy panels as they waited for prices to drop and for more positive signs of a demand pickup in the second half of the year.
Starting next quarter, electronics makers will step up promotion activities as PCs and TVs enter their high season, the reseacher said.
In China, there would be promotions for TV sales during the holiday season beginning on Oct. 1, it said.
TrendForce expected falling inventories and improving end product demand would spur demand for panels, but this could be weakened by the earlier-than-usual inventory buildup, it said.
The market researcher forecast in April that overall shipments of PC and TV panels in the second quarter would grow 2 percent from 148 million units.
Major LCD panel makers — including AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管) — said last week that recovering demand, primarily from China and the US, have boosted their factory usage to full.
AU Optronics, the nation’s No. 2 flat panel maker, said the European debt crisis was not a top concern as consumers in other major European countries were still buying electronics. Meanwhile, Chunghwa Picture Tubes said it expected quarterly shipments to grow 10 percent sequentially.
Shares of AU Optronics and Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子) have risen for the past four consecutive trading sessions to NT$31.30 and NT$36 respectively on Tuesday. The local stock market was closed yesterday because of a national holiday.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained