Taiwan’s two biggest LCD panel makers, AU Optronics Corp ( 友達光電) and Innolux Corp (群創), on Friday reported that revenue soared more than 50 percent year-on-year last quarter, as prices continued to rise amid supply constraints and strong demand for laptops.
AU Optronics’ revenue surged 54.5 percent to NT$82.94 billion (US$2.92 billion), compared with NT$53.69 billion a year earlier, it said.
Revenue expanded 3 percent from NT$80.54 billion in the previous quarter, the company added.
Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei Times
AU Optronics’ strong quarterly results were boosted by its best monthly revenue in the past four years at NT$30.72 billion last month, after flat-panel shipments rose 10.1 percent month-on-month to 2.21 million square meters.
However, shipments in the first quarter of this year dropped 6.3 percent to 6.35 million square meters from the previous quarter, the company said.
AU Optronics in February said that fewer working days and tight supply of key components would reduce its quarterly shipments.
The LCD panel industry expects the price uptrend from the second quarter of last year to continue through August or September, as the COVID-19 pandemic would continue to stimulate demand for laptops, TVs and other information technology devices, the Hsinchu-based firm said.
Separately, Innolux reported that first-quarter revenue rose 66.38 percent to NT$83.84 billion from NT$50.39 billion a year earlier.
Revenue increased 7.4 percent from NT$78.07 billion the previous quarter, the company added.
The increase was boosted by Innolux’s monthly revenue of NT$30.99 billion last month, soaring 57.5 percent from NT$19.68 billion a year earlier and up 22.3 percent from NT$25.34 billion in February, it said.
Shipments of LCD panels for TVs and computers expanded 15.4 percent month-on-month to 13.36 million units last month, an increase of 1.2 percent to 37.47 million in the first quarter from the previous quarter, the Miaoli-based manufacturer said.
In the current market environment, most LCD panel makers can only supply 30 to 50 percent of orders of screens for notebook computers, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report.
The panel shortage over the past three quarters was due to a supply shortage of driver ICs and timing controllers, TrendForce said.
However, Innolux’s and AU Optronics’ revenue results showed that they were less affected by key component supplies than their international competitors, as the Taiwanese firms have long-term partnerships with their suppliers, TrendForce said.
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