AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the nation’s No. 2 LCD panel maker, yesterday said sales last month edged up 1.2 percent from a month ago to NT$41.15 billion (US$1.29 billion), as rising prices offset declines in shipments.
In March, the Hsinchu-based panel maker made NT$40.67 billion in sales, according to a company statement.
On an annual basis that represented nearly 70 percent growth as demand for electronics recovers from last year’s economic slump.
Last month, shipments of flat panels used in computers and televisions slid 1.1 percent to 9.66 million units, from a record high of 9.77 million in March.
AU Optronics forecast that prices for PC and TV panels would be flat or rise only slightly this quarter from last quarter, while shipments would grow 10 percent quarter-on-quarter.
“The slight decline is mostly in line with our expectation as the second quarter is a traditionally slack season,” said Corwin Lee (李秋緯), a flat-panel industry analyst with research house Topology Research Institute (拓墣產業研究所).
Shipments could spike next month as PC makers start building up inventories for the second half of the year, Lee said, adding that AU Optronics could find it difficult to reach its shipment target.
Market researcher DisplaySearch expected prices for panels used in LCD monitors and TVs to fall as demand weakens in the current quarter.
Prices for mainstream 32-inch TV panels fell in the first half of this month by 0.96 percent to US$208 per unit from the second half of last month, while prices for 40-inch panels fell 1.5 percent to US$335 per unit, DisplaySearch’s statistics showed.
The price of a 19-inch LCD monitor panel is expected to fall 1.12 percent to US$84 from two weeks ago.
Smaller rival Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管) said sales fell 6.8 percent last month to NT$7.7 billion from NT$8.27 billion in March, after shipments of PC and TV panels fell 8.2 percent month-on-month to 2.28 million units, according to a press release from the company.
However, sales last month increased by 91.2 percent year-on-year.
Bucking the downtrend, HannStar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶), which mainly makes PC panels, said sales grew 9.68 percent to NT$5.81 billion last month, up from NT$5.3 billion in March.
CHIP WAR: Tariffs on Taiwanese chips would prompt companies to move their factories, but not necessarily to the US, unleashing a ‘global cross-sector tariff war’ US President Donald Trump would “shoot himself in the foot” if he follows through on his recent pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese and other foreign semiconductors entering the US, analysts said. Trump’s plans to raise tariffs on chips manufactured in Taiwan to as high as 100 percent would backfire, macroeconomist Henry Wu (吳嘉隆) said. He would “shoot himself in the foot,” Wu said on Saturday, as such economic measures would lead Taiwanese chip suppliers to pass on additional costs to their US clients and consumers, and ultimately cause another wave of inflation. Trump has claimed that Taiwan took up to
SUPPORT: The government said it would help firms deal with supply disruptions, after Trump signed orders imposing tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico The government pledged to help companies with operations in Mexico, such as iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), shift production lines and investment if needed to deal with higher US tariffs. The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday announced measures to help local firms cope with the US tariff increases on Canada, Mexico, China and other potential areas. The ministry said that it would establish an investment and trade service center in the US to help Taiwanese firms assess the investment environment in different US states, plan supply chain relocation strategies and
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal