Taiwanese contract LCD TV makers saw their shipments fall more than 5 percent from 2012 last year, a decline that reflected weakening global demand in a slow economy, according to a research report released yesterday by WitsView.
In the report, WitsView — a research division at Taiwan-based market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) — said that shipments from local contract LCD TV assemblers fell 5.4 percent last year from a year earlier to 35.85 million units.
Among the Taiwanese contract TV makers, only TPV Group (冠捷) and Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團) enjoyed year-on-year increases, posting rises of 5.2 percent and 19.2 percent respectively in their shipments last year, the report said.
SHIPMENTS
TPV’s shipments totaled 14.7 million units, making the company the largest contract LCD TV manufacturer in Taiwan, followed by Hon Hai, which shipped 8.1 million units, the report showed.
WitsView said that economic weakness caused international brands to turn cautious in their market outlooks, resulting in in them cutting orders to contract TV makers, a move that dragged down shipments for the whole of last year.
In the fourth quarter of last year, shipments from Taiwanese contract LCD TV manufacturers rose 17.5 percent from the third quarter to 10.28 million units, in reflection of the peak-season effect, but the October-to-December figure fell 6.4 percent from the same period last year, the research group said.
SLOW SEASON
In the first quarter of this year — a traditionally slow season for the TV industry — shipments from contract flat-panel TV makers are expected to fall 23 to 25 percent from the previous quarter.
For the entirety of this year, shipments of Taiwan-assembled LCD TVs are expected to be between 36 million and 39 million units, compared with the 35.85 million units shipped last year, as the global economy progresses on the road to recovery, WitViews said.
Local contract LCD TV makers appear to be more upbeat, expecting shipments for this year to hit about 46.1 million units, according to WitsView.
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