Market analysts said yesterday that prices of TFT-LCD panels used in notebook computers and flat TVs are likely to keep falling.
"Because of an oversupply and weak demand, the inventory problem will continue to drag TFT-LCD panel prices down," said Steven Tseng (
Tseng made the remarks after South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co, the world's leading producer of TFT-LCD panels, announced plans to stop reducing prices.
"We expect market demand to rebound in the fourth quarter, so there is no need to cut prices further," Harry Chao, an executive at Samsung Taiwan said yesterday.
Several major US-based information-technology companies are poised to launch new projects and upgrade production volume in the fourth quarter, he said.
"We won't make any price adjustments for the rest of this year," Chao said.
TFT-LCD panel prices have steadily declined since the middle of this year. The market price for a 15-inch panel slid to US$235 in August, down from US$265 in July.
"Market prices are unstable ... they change almost every week," said Sean Wu (
Samsung hopes manufacturers will soon place orders to meet year-end holiday demand, Wu said.
"Samsung is concerned that manufacturers may decide to delay placing orders in an effort to get cheaper panel prices," he said.
But Tseng warned that if market demand remains sluggish, Samsung will be forced to cut prices.
Meanwhile, several Taiwanese TFT-LCD makers may opt to cut prices further, media reports said.
HanStar Display Corp (翰宇彩晶) will cut TFT-LCD panels used for notebooks by US$20 to US$230 per unit in October, Chou Ting-heu (周定輝), HanStar's vice president, was quoted as saying in a Chinese-language newspaper yesterday.
The local media also speculated that Au Optoelectronics Corp (
Both Au Optoelectronics and Hanstar officials were unavailable for comment.
Tseng said Samsung is the market leader and most Taiwanese makers usually follow Samsung's pricing strategy. But this time, "with the gap between supply and demand too big, market stability may be lost, forcing Taiwanese companies to cut prices further to stimulate demand."
Au and Hanstar may also try to make use of this opportunity to undercut Samsung and boost their market share, he said.
Tseng forecast TFT-LCD panel prices will fall to as low as NT$190 per unit before rebounding. "This might happen late this year or early next year."
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