The production value of Taiwan`s flat panel display (FPD) industry rose 37.6% to about NT$1,750 billion (US$54.69 billion at NT$32:US$1) in 2007, according to statistics released by Industry & Technology Services (ITIS), a project sponsored by the Department of Industrial Technology under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Of the total amount, assembled FPDs made up NT$1,285 billion (US$40.16 billion, up 41%) and parts and components contributed NT$465.2 billion (US$14.54 billion, an increase of 29.1%).
ITIS predicts that production will grow by another 22.6% this year to NT$2,145 billion (US$67.03 billion), of which FPDs will account for NT$1,591 billion (US$49.72 billion, up 23.8%) while key parts will make up NT$554.2 billion (US$17.32 billion, up 22.0%).
Of the 2007 FPD production value, large-sized TFT-LCDs reached NT$1,087 billion (US$33.97 billion, up 42%), small- and medium-sized TFT-LCDs accounted for NT$127.1 billion (US$3.91 billion, an increase of 69.3%), and TN/STN panels NT$67.34 billion (US$2.1 billion, down 3.6%). This was the first-ever decline in TN/STN-LCD production value.
Within the overall production of key FPD parts in 2007, color filters made up NT$132.34 billion (US$4.14 billion, up 43.3%), polarizers contributed NT$68.57 billion (US$2.14 billion, up 13.8%), glass substrates accounted for NT$114.2 billion (US$3.57 billion, up 42.5%), and backlight units contributed about NT$150.1 billion (US$4.69 billion, up 17.5%).
Q4, 2007 Production
In the fourth quarter of 2007, the overall FPD production value of LCD products was NT$534.15 billion (US$16.69 billion, up 8.9%), including NT$392.8 billion (US$12.28 billion) worth of FPDs and NT$135.9 billion (US$4.25 billion) worth of key parts.
Within the fourth-quarter production, large-sized TFT-LCDs made up NT$336 billion (US$10.5 billion, up 7.5% from the previous quarter), small- and medium-sized TFT-LCDs accounted for NT$45.28 billion (US$1.42 billion, a quarterly increase of 32.4%), and TN/STN panels commanded NT$14.94 billion (US$466.88 million, a drop of 6.0%). FPD parts production for the quarter was valued at NT$135.92 billion (US$4.25 billion), up 8.2% from Q3, including NT$42.7 billion (US$1.33 billion) worth of color filters (a quarterly increase of 13.8%), NT$19.81 billion (US$619 million) worth of polarizers (up 10.8%), NT$33.23 billion (US$1.04 billion) worth of glass substrates (up 12.9%), and NT$40.17 billion (US$1.26 billion) worth of backlight modules (down 1.5% for the quarter).
Demand for large-sized TFT-LCDs remained strong during the fourth quarter, but limited new capacity kept prices stable. Demand for monitor and notebook PC panels remained flat compared with the back-to-school peak season in the third quarter, but demand for TV panels was strong due to the Christmas-New Year high season.
The 32% growth for small- and medium-sized LCDs was caused by a rapid expansion of the consumer-electronics market, the Thanksgiving high season, and a growth of consumption power in emerging markets. Hot global sales of Asustek`s ASUS-branded Eee PC ultra mobile PC (UMPC) have created a new and rapidly expanding application market for medium-sized TFT-LCD panels, ITIS said, and this has brought substantial growth in demand for related display panels.
The TN/STN-LCD sector continued to suffer a decline in the fourth quarter of 2007 (in fact, it declined in all four quarters of the year), due mainly to ongoing shrinkage in the cellphone-application market. However, most TN/STN-LCD panel makers have been boosting the ratio of TFT-LCD modules in their overall shipments, in many cases to more than 50%.
In addition, some major TN/STN-LCD makers have begun forming strategic alliances with local manufacturers of small- and medium-sized TFT-LCD panels so as to assure steady supplies for the front (array) and rear (cell) production processes.
In the fourth quarter of 2007, the production value of color filters grew by 14% from the previous quarter, due mainly to a stronger-than-expected demand from makers of medium-sized TFT-LCD panels which led to supply shortages and price hikes for 5G color filters. Growing exports of color filters also helped boast their production value.
Production of polarizers enjoyed a 10.8% growth in last year`s fourth quarter. ITIS pointed out that the high-season effects for IT, cellphone, digital-camera, and other products came to an end during that period, while the demand for LCD TV panels continued increasing.
The production value of glass substrates grew 12.9% in Q4, despite the fact that demand for large-sized TFT-LCD panels for IT use began to decline due to the end of the back-to-school buying season, thanks to a substantial growth in the production of LCD TV panels.
The demand for FPD products weakened as the Christmas holidays came to an end. This drove down the production value of backlight units, which slipped by a marginal 1.5% from the previous quarter.
2008 Outlook
ITIS predicts that overall FPD production value will grow by another 22.6% this year to NT$2,145 billion (US$67.03 billion), with FPDs accounting for NT$1,591 billion (US$49.72 billion, up 23.8%) and key parts making up NT$554.2 billion (US$17.32 billion, up 22.0%).
This year, ITIS predicts, production value will reach NT$1,307 billion (US$42.8 billion) for large-sized TFT-LCDs, NT$156 billion (US$4.88 billion) for small- and medium-sized TFT-LCDs, NT$57.5 billion (US$1.8 billion) for TN/STN-LCDs, and NT$6 billion (US$187.5 million) for OLED panels. The predicted production value for key parts is NT$158 billion (US$4.94 billion) for color filters, NT$81 billion (US$2.53 billion) for polarizers, NT$138 billion US$4.31 billion) for glass substrates, and NT$177.2 billion (US$5.54 billion) for backlight units.
Taiwan`s FPD Production Value Unit: NT$100 million |
| | Category | 4Q 2007 | 2007 | 2008 (e) |
| | | Revenue | Q/Q | Revenue | Y/Y | Revenue | Y/Y |
FPDs | Panels | TFT-LCD (>10") | 3,360.3 | 7.5% | 10,870.3 | 42.0% | 13,700.0 | 26.0% |
| | | TFT-LCD (<10") | 452.8 | 32.4% | 1,271.2 | 69.3% | 1,560.0 | 22.7% |
| | | TN/STN LCD | 149.4 | -6.0% | 637.4 | -3.6% | 575.0 | -9.8% |
| | | OLED | 18.2 | 2.2% | 63.4 | 46.8% | 60.0 | -5.4% |
| | | Others* | 1.6 | -15.8% | 6.7 | 1.5% | 18.0 | 168.7% |
| | | Sub-Total | 3,982.3 | 9.2% | 12,849.0 | 41.0% | 15,913.0 | 23.8% |
| | Key Parts | Color Filters | 427.0 | 13.8% | 1,323.4 | 43.3% | 1,580.0 | 19.4% |
| | | Polarizers | 198.1 | 10.8% | 685.7 | 13.8% | 810.0 | 18.1% |
| | | Substrates | 332.3 | 12.9% | 1,142.1 | 42.5% | 1,380.0 | 20.8% |
| | | Backlight Units | 401.7 | -1.5% | 1,501.0 | 17.5% | 1,771.8 | 18.0% |
| | | Sub-Total | 1,359.2 | 8.2% | 4,652.2 | 29.1% | 5,541.8 | 19.1% |
Total | 5,341.5 | 8.9% | 17,501.2 | 37.6% | 21,454.8 | 22.6% |
* Plasma display panels (PDPs), micro-displays, vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs) etc. Source: ITIS |
Performance of Taiwan`s Large-sized TFT-LCD Industry Unit: NT$100 million |
Year | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 (e) |
Production Value | 2,638.4 | 4,408.0 | 5,692.1 | 7,635.5 | 11,234.0 |
Added Value | 828.5 | 1,397.3 | 1,132.7 | 1,591.9 | 2,359.1 |
Added-value Ratio | 31.4% | 31.7% | 19.9% | 20.8% | 21.0% |
Source: ITIS, December 2007 |
(by Quincy Liang)
