The shipments volume of large, thin-film-transitory liquid-crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels manufactured locally is to increase by more than 3 percent in the second half of the year, compared with the first six months, Digitimes Research has predicted.
Taiwan-made TFT-LCD panel shipments are expected to reach 134.7 million units in the July-to-December period and post annual growth for the whole year, Digitimes Research said last week.
The second-half target would represent a 3.8 percent increase from the first half, but would still be below the average growth expected from the global panel industry, the research firm said.
This is due to Taiwanese panel makers not being part of the supply chain for Apple Inc’s tablet devices, as well as because LG Display Co and Samsung Display Corp of South Korea are expected to launch new products later this year, it added.
Digitimes Research forecast shipments of large panels from Taiwan to peak in the third quarter, driven by strong demand for LCD TVs, monitors and laptop computers.
Last week, AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) said it expects sales of its large panels to be flat this quarter from last quarter due to capacity restrictions, but forecast that sales in the small panel segment would increase by between 5 and 8 percent over the same period. Innolux Corp (群創光電) also projected a flat quarter in terms of sales over capacity restraints.
As Taiwanese panel makers adjust production to better suit small and medium-sized panel manufacturing, second-half production capacity for large panels is set to fall by 0.1 percent from the first half, Digitimes Research said.
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