Makers of Small/Medium-sized LCDs See MoM Revenue Drop in May

Taipei, June 15, 2009 (CENS)--Affected by the key-parts supply shortage and dropping cellphone sales in mainland China, most makers of small/medium-sized liquid crystal display (LCD) panels in Taiwan saw monthly revenue declines in May.

Small/medium-sized panel makers said that markets in the second quarter were not bad but the supply of some key parts, such as driver ICs, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), glass substrates etc., could not keep up to overall demand.

Sales of cellphones in China began dropping after the May 1 (Labor's Day) long holidays, leading to handset makers' slowing panel purchases, Giantplus Technology Co., Ltd. said.

Giantplus registered consolidate revenue of NT$925 million (US$28.5 million at US$1: NT$32.5) in May, an about 10% month-on-month (MoM) decrease from NT$102 million (US$3.1 million) in April, when the company's equipment utilization reached 100%.

Wintek Corp. estimated that its May revenue was NT$1.99 billion (US$61.2 million), down 15.66% MoM. Institutional investors estimated that Wintek's capacity utilization has risen to 40% to 45% in the second quarter.

Most institutional investors forecasted that major suppliers of small/medium-sized panels would enjoy a 20% to 30% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) revenue growth in the second quarter, though their shipments in May were not as good as original expectations.

Giantplus said that orders from major international cellphone brands are still gradually increasing. In the second quarter, the company's shipment rate to international customers is expected to grow to about 30% in the second quarter.