Global LCD TV shipments are forecast to grow 1.3 percent year-on-year to 221 million units next year as falling TV panel prices give leeway for vendors to cut TV prices to stimulate replacement demand, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said.
This year, global TV shipments are to grow at an annual rate of 3.4 percent to 218 million units, driven mainly by the FIFA World Cup in the summer, the Taipei-based researcher said.
“This year, TV vendors are offering big discounts during Black Friday sales. They might retain the bargain prices through 2019, making it an effective catalyst for sales,” TrendForce analyst Jeff Yang (楊晴翔) said in a report last week.
China’s TCL Corp (TCL集團) slashed the price of 55-inch Internet TVs to US$349, while a 65-inch Internet TV only cost US$398, the report said.
TrendForce did not provide comparative figures.
TCL is the world’s third-largest TV vendor, with annual sales this year estimated at 17.5 million units, after Samsung Electronics Co’s 40.8 million units and LG Electronics Co’s 28.8 million units, the researcher’s data showed.
With more 10.5-generation LCD plants entering production this year, panel makers are seeing their manufacturing costs for 65-inch and 75-inch panels continue to improve, TrendForce said.
That would reduce panel prices and prices for TV sets, it said.
As BOE Technology Group Co (京東方), China’s biggest panel maker, is to ramp up a new 10.5-generation plant later this year, Chinese TV vendors would have a greater supply of 65-inch and 75-inch TVs, Yang said.
That would bode well for TV sales in China next year, he said.
China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co (華星光電) is to ramp up a new 11-generation plant next year, he added.
The world’s No. 4 TV vendor, Hisense Electric Co (海信) has lowered the price of 40-inch TVs to US$99 per unit and cut the prices of 55-inch and 65-inch Internet TVs to US$349 and US$398 respectively, the report said.
The world’s major TV brands, Samsung and LG, are adopting a different strategy. They are offering more advanced high-resolution 8K TVs, premium OLED TVs or QLED TVs to drive sales next year and to safeguard market share, Yang said.
SETBACK: Apple’s India iPhone push has been disrupted after Foxconn recalled hundreds of Chinese engineers, amid Beijing’s attempts to curb tech transfers Apple Inc assembly partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has recalled about 300 Chinese engineers from a factory in India, the latest setback for the iPhone maker’s push to rapidly expand in the country. The extraction of Chinese workers from the factory of Yuzhan Technology (India) Private Ltd, a Hon Hai component unit, in southern Tamil Nadu state, is the second such move in a few months. The company has started flying in Taiwanese engineers to replace staff leaving, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named, as the
The prices of gasoline and diesel at domestic fuel stations are to rise NT$0.1 and NT$0.4 per liter this week respectively, after international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to rise to NT$27.3, NT$28.8 and NT$30.8 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to rise to NT$26.2 per liter at CPC stations and NT$26 at Formosa pumps, they said. The announcements came after international crude oil prices
SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) is weighing whether to add a life insurance business to its portfolio, but would tread cautiously after completing three acquisitions in quick succession, president Stanley Chu (朱士廷) said yesterday. “We are carefully considering whether life insurance should play a role in SinoPac’s business map,” Chu told reporters ahead of an earnings conference. “Our priority is to ensure the success of the deals we have already made, even though we are tracking some possible targets.” Local media have reported that Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽), which is seeking buyers amid financial strains, has invited three financial
CAUTION: Right now, artificial intelligence runs on faith, not productivity and eventually, the risk of a bubble will emerge,’ TIER economist Gordon Sun said Taiwanese manufacturers turned more optimistic last month, ending a five-month streak of declining sentiment as concerns over US tariffs, currency volatility and China’s overcapacity began to ease, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) said yesterday. The manufacturing business confidence index rose 1.17 points from June to 86.8, its first rebound since February. TIER economist Gordon Sun (孫明德) attributed the uptick to fading trade uncertainties, a steadier New Taiwan dollar and reduced competitive pressure from Chinese producers. Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is unlikely to face significant damage from Washington’s ongoing probe into semiconductors, given the US’ reliance on Taiwanese chips to power artificial
RSS