Global LCD panel makers are facing mounting pricing pressure this quarter as a run-up in new capacities from China’s advanced factories has tilted the supply-demand balance, boding ill for shipment prospects, market researcher IDC said yesterday.
With more production lines starting to crank out large-sized panels, a supply surplus was seen last quarter in the LCD TV panel segment, a major profit contributor for most panel makers, IDC said in its latest quarterly report.
That led to a price correction early last quarter, snapping several quarters of price hikes since the second half of last year, IDC said.
“We are afraid that the growth momentum in the third quarter, a peak season for the industry, is not going to carry into the fourth quarter due to diminishing demand for large-sized LCD panels,” the report said.
A deceleration in adopting larger-screen LCD TVs has set the scene for a tougher pricing environment this quarter as part of those new capacities would produce a surplus, the researcher said.
This year as a whole, the average LCD TV panel size is forecast to increase by 1.2 inches, instead of 1.8 inches, as IDC estimated in June.
“The industry will continue to face an oversupply challenge in the large-sized panel segment during the fourth quarter,” IDC said. “We are conservative about LCD shipments.”
IDC expects prices for all applications — from tablet to PC and TV — to continue to decline this quarter, as more capacities come onstream from China’s 8.5G and 10.5G fabs.
“The third quarter is usually a peak season, but LCD shipments showed mixed results,” IDC panel industry analyst Kevin Chen (陳建助) said in the report.
During the quarter ending Sept. 30, shipments of PC and TV LCD panels climbed 5.7 percent quarter-on-quarter to 220 million units, the report said.
However, while shipments of panels for TVs and tablets increased 7.6 percent and 16.6 percent respectively, those for laptops and monitors declined 3.5 percent and 0.1 percent, the report showed.
Innolux Corp (群創) and AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) saw their market shares advance slightly to 16.6 percent and 13.8 percent last quarter from 16 percent and 13.6 percent respectively in the second quarter, allowing them to retain their third and fourth positions in the global large-sized LCD panel market, IDC statistics showed.
China’s BOE Technology Group Co (京東方) maintained its top position, expanding its market share to 23.5 percent last quarter from 21.3 percent.
South Korea’s LG Display Co came next with 16.8 percent, down from 19.5 percent in the second quarter.
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