Global large-sized panel shipments rose by 0.5% QoQ to 148 million units in 1Q10
Overall Panel Shipment Review for 1Q10
Extending the shipment growth momentum from 4Q09, global large-sized TFT-LCD panel shipments recorded another all time high at 148 million units in 1Q10. Although QoQ growth only reached 0.5%, YoY growth surged by an impressive 71.9%. In 1Q10, under the expectation of a supply shortage, downstream customers’ demand remained strong. Moreover, in the period before and after the Chinese New Year(CNY) holiday, panel shipments were impacted by labor and material shortage in the overall supply chain, which led to the tight supply of panels. In addition, the average panel prices reached a high point in March, therefore, panel makers have been aggressive their shipment strategy in order to boost their financial performance before the end of the quarter. Hence, it also spurred the continued growth in 1Q10 shipments.
Among three main applications: first, netbook and notebook panel shipments fell by 11.2% and 2.3% respectively, due to the impact from the down cycle. Second, supply of monitor panels was tight because in capacity allocation, priority was given to TV panels. Therefore, monitor panel prices have been rising sequentially till March, which led to the 6.5% shipment growth; monitor panel shipments are the main product that drives the shipment growth in 1Q10. Third, thanks to demand from restocking for CNY holiday, LCD TV panel shipments were fairly maintained compared to that of 4Q09; down by a moderate 0.4%.
Table 1: TFT-LCD Panel Shipment in 1Q10 (K units)
TV panel shipment
In 1Q10, global LCD TV panel shipments fell by 0.4% QoQ to 45.10 million units; but its YoY shipments surged by 87.5%. This shipment performance showed a stronger than usual traditional weak seasonality, thanks to the Super Bowl and CNY holiday. In particular, demand for LED TV panels was strong, due to brand vendors’ new model launches. However, affected by slow ramp-up schedule of LED panels, and the shortage of light guide plate, supply of LED panels was tight. Size-wise, 32”W and 40”W are the two models that posted the largest growth this quarter: shipment ratio of 32"W, the ideal entry-level model, rose by 2.9% to 41.5%; and shipment ratio of 40"W also increased by 2.2% to 11.5%.
Monitor Panel Shipment
In 1Q10, global LCD monitor panel shipments grew by 6.5% QoQ to 52.53 million units; and YoY growth reached 46.3%. Size-wise, 20"W and 21.5"/21.6" recorded the highest growth in shipment ratios, both increased by 1.9% to 9.8% and 10.4% respectively; followed by 23"W, 23.6"W, and 18.5"W, whose shipment ratios rose by 0.8%, 0.6% and 0.6% respectively. On the other hand, because the commercial market has not recovered, and the conversion to 16:9 products continued, shipment ratios of 17", 17"W, 19" and 19"W declined by 2.2%, 0.8% , 0.6% and 1.7% respectively.
Netbook/Notebook Panel Shipment
Affected by the down cycle, shipments of netbook and notebook panels declined by 11.2% and 2.3% respectively in 1Q10. Netbook shipments have been surging since its introduction in 2008. However, affected by the limited development of its product specifications, and the launch of other applications, such as Tablet PC, netbook gradually lost its appeal in the market. Furthermore, due to its inadequate marketing strategies, netbook demand weakened slightly; among them, shipment ratio of 10.x"W declined the most this quarter, down by 1.2%.
In the notebook segment, 15.6"W is still the mainstream size with 34.8%, a 3% growth from 4Q09. Shipment ratio of 14"W (16:9) also grew by 2.9% to 16.3%. On the other hand, amid the continued conversion to 16:9 products, shipment ratio of 14.1"W (16:10) fell by 2.1% to a mere 7%; shipment ratio of 15.4"W also decreased by 1% to 4.7%.
Regional TFT-LCD Panel Shipment
Looking at the market share of regional large-sized TFT-LCD panel shipments in 1Q10 – affected by shipment growth from Taiwan, Japan and China panel makers, Korean panel makers’ market share decreased by 1.7%. First, as capacity of Sharp’s G10 fab continued to ramp up, its TV panel market share increased by 1.5% QoQ to 3.2% in 1Q10. Furthermore, as capacity of Chinese panel makers’ netbook and notebook panels continues to ramp up, China’s netbook and notebook market share increased by 3.7% and 1.3%; China’s overall market share also increased by 0.5% to 4.5%. Finally, Taiwan panel makers’ market share only grew by 0.8% QoQ. Among them, monitor panel market share grew the most, up by 2.8%. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s TV panel market share fell by 1.1%, affected by the growth of Korean and Japanese panel makers; Taiwan’s netbook and notebook panel market share was fairly maintained.
Table 2: Regional TFT-LCD Panel Shipment (unit base)
Panel ASP
As for panel ASP by unit in 1Q10, although ASP of notebook and LCD TV panels declined by 5.2% and 0.4% QoQ respectively, ASP of LCD monitor panels rose sharply by 9.2% to $88. Therefore, the overall ASP reached $123, up by a moderate 0.8% QoQ. In panel ASP by area, the average price per square meter rose by 1.0% QoQ from $706 in 4Q09 to $713 in 1Q10.
