China Purchases 5.6 M. LCD TV Panels in Dec.'11

Taipei, Jan. 11, 2012 (CENS)--Chinese TV vendors procured some 4.89 million and 5.6 million thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) TV panels in November and December, respectively, of 2011, hitting two new straight monthly records, according to DisplaySearch, who said, however, that China's TV-panel procurements in January and February 2012 are expected to slide and will rebound after March.

Facing possible strong demand from the sales peak before Chinese New Year (starts from late January), Chinese TV vendors who are optimistic about sales in the upcoming high period have raised TV-panel inventories to an average of three to four weeks, from about two to three weeks in early December 2011.

Taiwan-based Chimei Innolux Corp. maintained its leading position among major TV-panel suppliers to Chinese TV vendors in December 2011 by shipping 1.5 million panels, followed by Korean company LG Display's 1.4 million units and Taiwanese counterpart AU Optronics Corp. (AUO)'s one million units. Currently, Samsung of South Korea is the fourth-largest TV-panel supplier to Chinese TV vendors. Samsung adjusted down its shipment goal for December 2011 by 8%, comparing to 17%, 15% and 8% increases of AUO, Chimei Innolux and LGD.

A senior manager of DisplaySearch pointed out that demand for TV panels from China would drop clearly after January 20, when all the distributors have filled inventories for retail TV sales, forcing panel makers to lower equipment utilization rates.

DisplaySearch forecasts that TV-panel demand from China would slide by 34% month-on-month (MoM) to some 3.68 million units in January 2012, and continue to drop by 3% MoM to about 3.57 million units in February. In March, the market-research firm said, demand might recover to 5.15 million units from mainly vendors preparing for the sales peak in the "Golden Week" in early May.