The nation’s two biggest flat-panel makers, AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) and Innolux Corp (群創), yesterday said that revenue last month rebounded due to rising panel shipments across the board.
Hsinchu-based AUO said that its revenue climbed 17.4 percent to NT$24.39 billion (US$790.8 million) last month from NT$20.78 billion in February, breaking a six-month downward spiral due to overcapacity.
Shipments of TV and PC panels rose 19 percent sequentially to 9.68 million units last month, while shipments of small and medium-sized panels rebounded 50.7 percent to 102.7 million units, a company statement said.
However, the first quarter remained a weak period for AUO, with revenue sliding 10.4 percent to NT$66.71 billion from NT$74.45 billion in the same period last year.
Compared with the fourth quarter’s NT$77.09 billion, revenue fell 13.46 percent.
Shipments of TV and PC panels fell 9.1 percent quarter-on-quarter to 258.7 million units, matching the company’s estimate of a high single-digit percentage sequential decline due to seasonal weakness.
AUO in January said that average selling prices would fall by a low to mid-single-digit percentage in US dollar terms.
Innolux yesterday said its revenue grew 13.4 percent to NT$20.57 billion last month from NT$18.14 billion in February, ending four straight months of decline.
That brought last quarter’s revenue to NT$59.92 billion, down 17 percent from NT$72.24 billion.
Shipments of TV and PC panels shrank 14.9 percent quarter-on-quarter to 258.3 million units.
That was largely in line with the sequential decline of 15 percent in shipments of large-sized panels forecast by the Miaoli-based company in February.
Shipments of small and medium-sized panels fell 2.5 percent quarter-on-quarter to 603.5 million units, the company said.
Innolux expects prices of TV panels to hit the bottom in the current quarter, which should help lift prices for large-sized panels, the company said at the time.
“The first quarter was a slow season as usual, with four major applications showing sequential declines. Overall, panel demand shrank 6.1 percent from the fourth quarter [of last year],” market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report on March 27.
However, TrendForce found that demand for TVs with screens larger than 55 inches was on the rise, as retail prices had fallen to a sweet spot.
Another encouraging sign was supply of TVs with screen sizes smaller than 55 inches became tight, allowing panel makers to raise prices this quarter, the Taipei-based researcher said.
Panel supply has grown at the fastest pace since 2013, as Chinese makers and AUO introduced new production lines, it said, with annual growth of 9.5 percent last year.
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