Taiwan's Touch Panel Makers Suffer Revenue Declines in Jan.

Taipei, Feb. 11, 2011 (CENS)--Affected by seasonal recessions along with customers undergoing product transformation, most Taiwanese touch panel makers saw their January revenues drop from a month earlier.

For example, TPK Holding Co., Ltd. reported a steeper-than-expected drop of 27.5% month-on-month in its combined revenue of NT$6.935 billion for January, while Wintek Corp. also saw its sales revenue decline by 13.2% to only NT$6.994 billion.

The two firms' monthly revenues are expected to drop deeper in February due to seasonal factors, noted institutional investors, who have projected the two firm's first-quarter revenues to slide 10-15% quarter-on-quarter.

In the meantime, JTouch Corp.'s sales revenue of NT$326 million for January was 32% less than NT$486 million posted a month earlier, or down 20% from a year earlier. Institutional investors have also forecast the firm's first-quarter revenue to decline 10-15% from the fourth quarter of 2010.

However, industry insiders pointed out that the aforementioned firms will turn around in March, mainly because of customers' inventory draw. For instance, TPK is likely to see influx of contract orders from Apple Inc. starting in February, as the later is believed to release its newest iPad 2G in March.

While touch panel makers were plagued by revenue declines, some firms in the industry were impervious to the seasonal recession for different reasons, and scored brisk revenues in January. One of them was Aimcore Technology Co., Ltd., an ITO glass supplier, who raked in sales revenue of over NT$119 million in January for a 20% growth from NT$98.7 million posted a month earlier. Institutional investors have estimated the firm's first-quarter revenue to edge up to NT$250 million.

The firm reasoned that the banner revenue growth was attributable to popularity of projective capacity touch panels, which has significantly driven market demand for ITO glass to benefit suppliers of this kind. Since the fourth quarter of last year, ITO glass supply has lagged behind demand, the firm confirmed.