Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子), the nation’s biggest LCD panel maker, yesterday reported its lowest monthly sales since a three-way merger in mid-March because of a decline in shipments of PC and TV panels and lower prices amid slack demand.
Sales fell 10.7 percent to NT$40.69 billion (US$1.33 billion) last month, from NT$45.57 billion in September, the Miaoli-based company said in an e-mailed statement, marking the weakest performance since March, when it reported NT$38.38 billion in sales.
The decline was smaller than a 16 percent drop local rival AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) posted for its sales last month on Monday.
Chimei said shipments of LCD panels used in PCs and TVs decreased 8.2 percent to 9.65 million units last month from 10.51 million units the previous month.
Some positive signs have emerged recently as prices for computer panels are expected to be unchanged or rebound by around 2 percent in the first half of this month, from two weeks ago, after prices fell below panel maker’s costs for certain models, according to market researcher DisplaySearch’s survey.
The price of TV panels, however, would slide by a further 2 percent to 6 percent in the first two weeks of this month from the second half of last month, the researcher said.
Smaller LCD panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (華映) yesterday said sales last month shrank 4.9 percent to NT$5.6 billion from NT$5.89 billion in September. Shipments of PC and TV panels, however, expanded 10.2 percent month-on-month to 1.82 million units.
Separately, local power supply unit maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) said it is signing a new contract with Japan’s Bridgestone Corp to jointly develop new-generation e-paper displays, Delta said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
That would deepen Delta’s partnership with Bridgestone in the e-paper display business to compete with industry leader E Ink Holdings Inc (元太), which supplies e-paper displays to Amazon’s Kindle series and Beijing-based Hanvon Technology’s (漢王科技) latest color e-reader.
Two years ago, Delta inked an agreement to diversify into the e-paper display business using Bridgestone technology.
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