AUO's Shipment of Large-sized Panels Hit New High in Sept.

Taipei, Oct. 13, 2009 (CENS)--AU Optronics Corp. (AUO), the largest thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel manufacturer in Taiwan, recently announced that its consolidated revenues topped NT$111.34 billion (US$3.4 billion at US$1: NT$32.5) in the third quarter of the year, up 7% from a year earlier and 35% from the previous quarter.

In the third quarter, AUO shipped 26.71 million large-sized (over-10-inch) and 64.8 million small/medium-sized panels, showing its continued shipments increase.

AUO attributed the increase in its large-sized panel shipment in September to strong demand for LCD TVs. In September alone, the company delivered more than 9.38 million large-sized panels, which was a record monthly high and up 3.5% month-on-month (MoM), for LCD TV, desktop monitor, notebook PC applications. About 23.6 million small/medium-sized panels were also shipped in September, up 19.8% MoM.

Nevertheless, DisplaySearch, a major player in display market research and consulting, however, warmed that the LCD panel sector again entered an oversupply phase in September due to panel makers' continued expansion of new-generation panel capacities. That caused the price quotations for TV and monitor panels to drop and the overall panel quotations are forecasted to trend downward in the fourth quarter this year and the first quarter of 2010.

AUO's chairman K.Y. Lee recently said that the overall market demand in the fourth quarter would be better than a year earlier, while average selling prices (ASP) and shipments of panels are expected to slide slowly in the traditional off season.