Global shipments of LCD TV and PC panels grew 11 percent last month from February, thanks to increasing demand for TV panels ahead of the Labor Day holiday in China, market researcher WitsView said yesterday.
Panel shipments rose to 66.57 million units last month from 59.79 million units, said WitsView, TrendForce Corp’s (集邦科技) flat-panel research arm.
TV panel shipments surged 22.4 percent sequentially to 20.99 million units last month from February’s 17.15 million units, boosted by demand for ultra-high-definition, or 4K2K, panels, which soared 1.75 times to 1.06 million units last month from February, the researcher said.
“Restocking demand for China’s Labor Day holiday and the launch of new television sets by global brands has spurred demand for 4K2K LCD panels,” WitsView analyst Jeffry Chen (陳建安) wrote in a report.
Although 4K2K TVs’ penetration rate rose to 5.3 percent last month from 2 percent in February, Taiwan’s Innolux Corp (群創光電) and AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) saw their combined market share in the ultra-high-definition panel sector drop to 50 percent last month from 55 percent the previous month, amid growing competition from South Korean rivals, WitsView said.
South Korean panel makers’ share of the market expanded to 41 percent last month from 35 percent in February, as they began ramping up production of 4K2K TV panels smaller than 50 inches, the report said.
Last year, Innolux had a 64 percent share of the 4K2K panel segment, followed by AUO with 12 percent, and Samsung Electronics Co and LG Display Co with 5 percent each, WitsView said.
Chen forecast that shipments of TV and PC flat panels would drop 6 or 7 percent this month from last month, while shipments of TV panels would contract by 4 or 5 percent sequentially over the same period.
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