The decline in the prices of LCD panels used in computers and TVs will accelerate this month after slower-than-expected TV and notebook computer sales caused excess inventories, a market researcher said on Friday.
DisplaySearch said in its latest report that it expected prices for mainstream 32-inch LCD panels to suffer the brunt by falling 5.1 percent from the second half of last month to US$186 per unit in the first half of this month, faster than a 1.5-percent decline two weeks earlier.
AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Taiwan’s No. 2 LCD panel manufacturer, recently told investors in Taipei that that slower-than-expected TV sales in China during the Labor Day holiday in May has caused two weeks worth of inventories more than is usual at Chinese TV brands such as Haier Group (海爾), TCL and Skyworth Group (創惟).
For this reason, TV brands and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have continued to negotiate for better panel prices in order to stimulate demand with substantial retail price reductions in the promotional season, DisplaySearch said in the report.
According to the researcher’s estimate, prices of 40-inch and 42-inch LED-backlight panels would drop 1 percent to US$460 per unit in the first two weeks of this month from the second half of last month, as consumers shun LED TVs because of high price tags. In the first two weeks of this month, prices for monitor panels would see the biggest drop, with a more than 4 percent drop in prices for the mainstream 19-inch panels to around US$71 per unit from two weeks ago, the Austin, Texas-based researcher’s report showed.
“The demand for monitor panels in August is down. To stimulate demand and secure volumes, some panel makers are proposing strategic promotional prices for some brands and OEMs,” the report said.
Notebook computer sales felt short of expectations last moth, leading to a pile up in inventories and lower panel prices, DisplaySearch said, adding that it would take the next few months to digest excess inventories.
DisplaySearch predicted demand for notebook computer panels would pick up this month.
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