Prices for LCD TV panels dropped 2 percent in the first half of this month, extending a downtrend for the past nine months as demand has slackened on excessive inventory, the latest price information from market researcher NPD DisplaySearch indicated.
“TV panel prices continue to fall in the first half of October because panelmakers feel pressured to push out their TV panel supply while demand is not strong and inventory remains an issue for many TV makers,” the US market researcher said in a report released on Saturday.
“The panel price competition in the Chinese market is particularly tough,” it said. “The [price] gaps between prices for sizes such as 39-inch, 40-inch, and 42-inch [panels] are getting much narrower.”
As competition stiffened, panelmakers were cutting prices to secure orders and that came at the expense of margin, NPD DisplaySearch said.
Prices for a mainstream 32-inch LCD TV panel fell 2 percent, or US$2, to US$86 per unit in the first two weeks of this month, from US$88 two weeks ago, according to NPD DisplaySearch’s tally. Prices for 32-inch screens, along with other sizes of TV panels, have been in decline since January.
Prices for panels used in notebook computers and LCD monitors continued to drop slightly in the first half of this month compared with the second half of last month as strong demand from emerging markets partly offset weak demand from PC makers on slightly higher stockpiles, NPD DisplaySearch said.
“Major notebook PC brands are still adjusting inventory in October for their quarter-end financial results. Both panel and set inventories are slightly higher than normal,” the researcher said.
However, consumers in the “emerging markets are more willing to purchase cheap notebooks before the expiration of Windows XP,” it said.
Prices for mainstream 13-inch notebook computer panel fell US$0.10 to US$45.30 per unit from US$45.40, according to NPD DisplaySearch.
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