Shares of flat-panel display makers dropped yesterday on reports that panel prices will decline in the first quarter, but analysts said the likelihood of a market crash next year is slim.
Chinese-language newspapers reported that flat-panel display prices will decline in the first quarter due to rising supply and weaker-than-expected demand, citing Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘).
In the reports, Gou said Taiwan's liquid crystal display (LCD) industry is expected to experience a crucial point during the first quarter as a result of fast expansion of capacity. He based his forecast on the theory that ongoing high price tag could dampen buying sentiment for flat-screen televisions.
On the TAIEX, the nation's three largest flat-panel makers AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管) dropped nearly 5 percent, respectively, while smaller rivals Quanta Display Inc (廣輝電子) and Hannstar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶) were set back about 7-percent to end at NT$15.90 and NT$13.60 each.
"I still hold a positive outlook for the flat-panel industry as the demand remain very strong," said Sean Wu (
Analysts said the demand for flat panels will primarily come from the need for monitors and notebook computers, while those for flat-screen televisions will remain lukewarm.
That booming demand will drive local LCD makers' earnings next year, Wu said. The earnings growth will be at 50-percent pace on annual base to total about NT$22.7 billion, he added.
Wu said that slow demand in flat-panel TVs will only wield very limited impact on profitability as the gross margin for such TVs is as high as 60 percent.
"Taiwanese flat-panel makers still have ample room to drop their prices, while keeping their earnings healthy," he said.
Martha Chen (
"Though overcapacity remains a concern for industry watchers, I still think the demand will mostly match supply for the full year of 2004," Chen said.
It is premature to say how strong the demand for LCD-TV will be, but one thing that is certain is that the increasing application of flat panels will offset the potential impact of weaker-than-expected demand for televisions, she said.
Taiwan's major flat-panel players did not expect their earnings to erode oversupply next year.
AU chairman Lee Kun-yao (李焜耀) said in late October that he was cautiously optimistic about the demand-supply situation next year, despite the emergence of a temporary and single-digit oversupply in the slack third quarter next year.
Chi Mei president Ho Chao-yang (何昭陽) shared the optimism about the balance of demand and supply, saying that it will be a profitable year for Chi Mei next year.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
RSS