Large size TFT-LCD panel shipments drop in all 3 segments for December 2006, says WitsView

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2007-01-19 16:58

Taiwan--(뉴스와이어)--WitsView recently reported the worldwide large-size panel shipments in December dropped to 22.8 million units, a 13.3% MoM decline. The arrival of the weak seasonality and year-end inventory checks by the various panel makers were the two primary aspects in contributing to the panel shipment decline. Among the three mainstream applications, TV panels experienced the biggest drop, down 19.6% from 5.7 million to 4.6 million units. Monitor panels came in second, losing 12.9% from 13.3 million units to 11.5 million. A total of 6.6 million Notebook panels were shipped in December, which was a 9.3% MoM drop. In general, compared to the single digit MoM drop between the November and October period, a much bigger decline is seen between the December and November period.

On area basis, the aggregated large size panel area shipments in December slumped 12.8% MoM to 3.2 million square meters. Similar to the unit shipment results, declines in the area shipments were seen in all three sectors, as well. In contrast to November, there were 1.5 million square meters in TV area shipments, down 14.2%, compared to last month. Notebooks and monitors respectively experienced an 8.3% and 12.7% sequential decline to 0.46 million and 1.3 million square meters.

Large-size TFT-LCD Panel Shipment in December

LCD TV Panels

The worldwide large size TV panel shipment in December reached 4.6 million units, a 19.6% MoM decrease. TV panels accounted for 20.2% of the overall panel market share, compared to the 21.8% ratio in November. Area-wise, the area shipment ratio was roughly 46.4%. In terms of the unit shipment, among the 32”, 37”, 40”,42” and 47” category, the shipment ratio was all higher than in November. The 37” and 40”inch class enjoyed a growth of roughly more than 1 percentage point, an indication that such sizes are gaining popularity over their 32” counterparts.

LCD Monitor Panels

The aggregated LCD monitor panel shipments in November slipped 12.9% to 11.5 million units. Monitors accounted for roughly 50% of the market share. However, in terms of area, they took up roughly 39%. Many of the different monitor sizes witnessed a drop in the shipment ratio. However, 19”, 17” W and 22”W were three exceptions, which may indicate a stronger focus is being laid on the three sizes by the various market players.

Notebook Panels

For the aggregated Notebook panel shipments in December, it reached 6.6 million units, down 9.3%. Notebook panels took up 29% of the market share and 14.3% in terms of area shipments. In contrast to the 48% market share in November, 15.4 inch notebook panels captured 50% in December.

Conclusion

The aggregated panel shipments have apparently decreased sharply in December. The weak seasonality and year-end inventory checks were the two main factors for the decline. All in all, with the panel demand from the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year holidays in February moved up to January, the panel demand should be stronger than in December, 2006. However, how the market sentiment will be after the Chinese New Year is a development worthy to see.

웹사이트: http://www.witsview.com