Large-sized panel shipments rose by 7.0% MoM to 46.39 million units in July
According to WitsView’s latest survey, global large-sized panel shipments (including the 8.9-inch and above) reached 46.39 million units in Jul09, up by 7.0% MoM and 36.7% YoY. As 2HAug marks the beginning of strong back-to-school demand, brand vendors have begun to pull in. Meanwhile, as US and European markets have gradually recovered, consumers are more inclined to increase their spending on electronic products, and therefore, both unit and area shipment in July maintained its growth momentum.
However, since Jan09, panel shipments have been growing consistently due to robust market demand and aggressive downstream inventory replenishment; panel makers and retail channels’ inventory levels have already reached a healthy status; in addition, panel prices have increased persistently since February, though it has been acknowledged that August panel prices will either maintain or increase slightly, if the turning point for panel prices occur, it may subsequently dampen the upward momentum of panel demand. That said, with the second half of the year as the traditional hot season, end-customer demand is likely to surge, therefore, the overall performance for Q3 may be fairly upbeat.
Looking at shipments of the 3 main applications, in the IT product segment, thanks to the launch of new models and back-to-school demand, notebook panel shipments reached 16.79 million units, up by 17.2% MoM. Similar trends were observed for another product in the IT segment – monitor shipments also benefited from back-to-school demand and climbed by 1.7% to 17.19 million units. As for LCD TV, driven by strong market demand and brand vendors’ aggressive promotion of new models in the second half of this year, TV panel shipments in July also added 2.4% to 12.41 million units. In a nutshell, notebook panel shipments showed strong growth, while growth of monitor panel and TV panel shipments softened.
Table 1: TFT-LCD Panel Shipment in July-09 (K units)
The aggregated area shipment in July advanced by 5.1% MoM from 7.09 to 7.45 million square meters, where all 3 main applications celebrated positive MoM and YoY growth. Among which, NB panel area shipment was driven by its unit shipment and grew by 16.2% MoM to 950 thousand square meters; monitors only inched up 1% to 2,05 million square meters; as for TV panels, due to its relatively large size, a unit increase of 2.4% translates to a 4.9% area increase, it recorded a total area of 4,445 million square meters.
Another noteworthy aspect in area shipment is the ratio of the applications, compared to that of June, notebook is the only application that increased in ratio, by 1.2%, whereas both monitor and TV panels slid by 1.1% and 0.1% respectively. Even though a single unit increase of notebook panel makes little contribution to the area shipment, however, due to a substantial increase of its quantity, notebook panels also brought about a significant increase to the overall area shipment.
Table 2: TFT-LCD Panel Area Shipment in July-09 ( K square meter)
LCD TV Panels
In Jul09, global TV panel shipments reached 12.41 million units, up by 2.4% MoM, and an astonishing 60.8% YoY. The analysis of shipment ratio showed that 40-inch and above TV panels increase by 2.2%, showing growth across the board, such as, 42”W(+1%), 46”W(+0.4%) and 47”W(+0.9%), indicating a trend that panel makers’ inclination to promote sales of the larger-sized LCD TV.
As for 40’’W and below – the 32’’W, an entry-level model in the past, its ratio reduced by 2.2%, the most severe drop in July; however, with its high profit margin, the 32’’W still retains 40.1% of total unit shipment. According to our observation, in the 16:10 segment, 19" W and 22"W slipped by 0.3% and 0.6% respectively; while in the 16:9 segment, 18.5’’W and 26’’W inched up 0.2% and 0.3% each, showing continued increase in the 16:9 segment. Moreover, the introduction of the energy-efficient and compact LED TV and China’s various electronic product subsidy programs further fueled the upward momentum of TV panels.
Notebook Panels
Spurred by the preparation for back-to-school demand and brand vendors’ continual introduction of new models, the aggregated NB panel shipments (including the 8.9” and above) in July hit a single-month record high with 16,79 million units, an increase of 17.2% MoM; showing the most substantial growth since 2Q09, and 35.3% growth YoY.
Size-wise, 12.1-inch and below Netbook panels advanced by 1.6%, among those, 10.x’’W shipment showed most salient growth due to the launch of new models, its ratio rose by 2.9% from 18% to 20.9%. As for 12.1-inch and above NB panels, the overall ratio dropped 1.6%; individually, those that reduced in ratio were: 13.3”W(-1.8%), 13.4”W(-0.7%), 15.4”W(-3.2%),16”W(-0.6%) and 17”W(-0.5%), and ones that gained were 14”W(16:9), 14.1”W(16:10),15.6”W(16:9) and 17.3”W(16:9), up by 1.7%、2.3%、0.9% and 0.6% respectively.
For notebook panels as a whole, the continued increase of 16:9 models and the merits of LED backlight’s energy-efficient nature and compact size, which reduces NB thickness by 50%, are expected to further drive up the market growth.
LCD Monitor Panels
Stimulated by the anticipation of ongoing price increase and the coming traditional hot season in the second half of the year, IT product vendors are pulling in inventory in advance, therefore, panel shipment performance continue to exceed the historic level. As a result, global monitor panel shipments rose 1.7% MoM to 17,19 million units in Jul09, and 24.4% YoY.
In shipment ratio, 22’’W and below monitors maintained at 90% with 18.5" W, 19 "and 21.5" W as the main growth drivers of the month, increased by 1.2%, 1.1% and 0.8% respectively. Among those, shipment of the 18.5’’W is expected to climb thanks to its high profit margin and its versatility as a Moni-TV. On the other hand, 17”W, 19”W and 22” dipped 0.6%, 0.6% and 1.3% respectively, indicating a downturn of the 16:10 segment.
