Large-size TFT LCD: Q3 shipments and revenues fall, Q4 expects to be conservative

Market penetration of LED backlight modules in LCD TV panels reached 26% in the third quarter of 2010

Shipments of large-size TFT LCDs exceeding 9.1 inches fell to 163 million units in the third quarter of 2010, a decrease of 4% from the previous quarter but a 7% increase compared to the same period last year. Revenue reached US$21.3 billion, down 7% from the previous quarter, but it grew by 7% compared to the same period last year. According to the newly-published Quarterly Large Area TFT LCD Shipment Report, the panel makers will be in the fourth quarter of 2010 when the capacity utilization rate is slowed down due to the slowdown in the end market and the inventory adjustments of the individual vendors in the supply chain can be controlled in an appropriate range. The growth target for shipping is set at 3% growth rate.

Mr. Xie Qinyi, Deputy General Manager of DisplaySearch Greater China, pointed out that due to the lack of orders and downstream inventory reduction, the TFT LCD industry in the third quarter faced an oversupply situation. Shipments fell while panel prices fell, and panel makers further reduced capacity utilization. . However, even if the overall shipment volume declines, the shipment of LED backlight module panels continues to grow, making the industry's development towards LED a more definite trend.

Xie Qinyi emphasized that “part of the poor market in the third quarter of 2010 was due to overoptimism and excess inventory in the second quarter. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, we expect panel prices, inventory and capacity utilization will be reduced to even lower levels. However, we believe that the TFT LCD industry will have the opportunity to overcome these challenges before the end of the year to return to a more normal situation."

In terms of applications, shipments of monitors and notebooks fell from the previous quarter, but the use of LCD TVs and tablets continued to grow in the third quarter. Notebooks fell 14% from the previous quarter, the largest single-season decline in history, while the display fell 8% from the previous quarter. Panel prices for these two applications have shown a significant decline from July to October, and it is estimated that it will not begin to stabilize until November. Shipments of 9.7-inch panel shipments rose sharply, bringing the volume of mini-notebooks and tablet PCs up 8% from the previous quarter. Overall shipments grew from 3 million in the second quarter of 2010 to 5 in the third quarter. 1.6 million tablets.

Although the market showed an oversupply situation, due to the increase in the number of special deals for brand manufacturers seeking low-cost solutions for the end of the season sales season, the shipments of LCD TV panels rose in the third quarter, especially for those over 40 inches. Kind of species with LED backlight. In the third quarter, shipments of 40-inch and larger-sized LCD panels reached 18.01 million, an increase of 13% from the 16 million in the second quarter, and LED backlight panel shipments reached 7.8 million. Compared with the previous quarter, it has grown by 2 million.

Table 1. Production volume and growth rate of large-size TFT LCD by application product in the third quarter of 2010 (Unit: 1 million)

Source: DisplaySearch Quarterly Large-Area TFT LCD Shipment Report

In terms of revenue, Samsung Electronics and LG Display are market leaders with market share of 26.0% and 25.9%, respectively, and total sales amount of US$5.5 billion. AUO ranked third with revenue of $3.4 billion and a market share of 16.1%. Chimei Innolux immediately followed with a market share of 14.0% (down from 15.7% in the second quarter of 2010) and revenue of $3 billion.

DisplaySearch tracked shipments of LCD panels using LED backlight modules from size, resolution, panel suppliers, and backlight types, respectively. In the third quarter of 2010, the revenue of large-size TFT LCDs was US$21.3 billion. The market share of the panel using LED backlight modules jumped from 37% in the second quarter of 2010 to 44%. In terms of shipments, shipments of LED panels reached 77 million units in the third quarter of 2010, which is a 6% increase from the second quarter of 2010. The market penetration rate of the entire LED backlight module jumped from 42.7% in the second quarter of 2010 to 47.2%. In the third quarter of 2010, the market penetration rate of LED backlight modules was 21% in the monitor, 93% in the market penetration of laptops, 100% in the market of small laptops and tablet computers, and in LCD TVs. The market penetration rate is 26%. From a manufacturer's point of view, LG Displayer is the leading manufacturer of LED panels.

Table 2. Leading manufacturers of the top three LED panels by application in the third quarter of 2010 Source: DisplaySearch Quarterly Large-Area TFT LCD Shipment Report

Looking to the next quarter, panel makers’ target shipments in the fourth quarter were set at 168 million units, up 3% from the previous quarter, but the LED panel growth target was as high as 12%. However, due to the continuous decline in LCD TV panel prices, it is expected that the revenue of large-size TFT LCDs will decline by 9% in the fourth quarter of 2010. At the same time, although LED shipments are expected to have strong growth, for LCD TV panels, LED panel prices will decline more than CCFLs, so it is estimated that LED backlight module LCD panel revenue will decline. 2%.