Innolux Corp (群創光電), which counts US electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc as one of its major clients, yesterday said it shipped 7.33 million flat panels used in cars in the first half of this year, making it the world’s No. 2 car display supplier.
That also helped Innolux seize a 16.8 percent share of the world’s car display market, slightly behind Japan Display Inc’s 18.9 percent, according to a company statement released yesterday. Japan Display shipped 8.23 million units in the first half, the statement said.
The Miaoli-based company’s comments came after market researcher NPD DisplaySearch predicted that Innolux would lose its title as the world’s top car display supplier this year and would see its market share plunge to just 9 percent from last year’s 24.5 percent.
The research house attributed its prediction to Innolux’s new strategy of diverting its focus to high-margin products, as well as focusing on the US and European markets while reducing its presence in China.
“NPD DisplaySearch underestimates Innolux’s shipment performance, as it did not include the company’s car displays shipped to after-market [retailers] in China and other regions,” Innolux spokesman Wang Jyh-chau (王志超) said in the statement. “Innolux is working hard on boosting its profitability by expanding its business to supply car displays directly to major automakers in the US and Europe.”
“We did win good orders. As for China, the company has built an intensive sales network to supply our displays to after-market [retailers], which is a thriving market,” Wang said.
Innolux also supplies car display panels to BMW AG and Ford Motor Co.
NPD DisplaySearch forecast that the car display market would grow 30 percent annually to 85 million units this year, as automakers replace traditional dashboards with LCD screens and install new LCD displays, such as central information displays, head-up displays, or navigation systems in high-end vehicles.
Such strong demand is set to help boost the total auto display market to 100 million units in 2016, one year ahead of the researcher’s original estimate.
In a separate statement, Innolux said revenue jumped 18.8 percent to NT$38.48 billion (US$1.26 billion) last month, compared with NT$32.39 billion in the same period last year.
On a monthly basis, revenue rose 0.8 percent from August’s NT$38.18 billion. That brought the panel maker’s revenue last quarter to NT$113.09 billion, up 1.8 percent from NT$111.06 billion in the second quarter, or up 16.32 percent from NT$97.22 billion a year ago.
During the July-to-September quarter, shipments of PC and TV panels shrank 0.4 percent to 36.98 million units from the second quarter’s 37.14 million units, which included some inventories. That matched Innolux’s forecast in July, as the company expected shipments to be flat due to capacity limitation.
Wang said in August that the company was considering expanding its capacity to tackle ongoing supply constraints, primarily due to fast-growing demand for larger TV panels.
He said demand so far had exceeded the company’s expectation, adding that the growth momentum should carry into this month.
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