CPT aims for world's No. 4 TFT-LCD panel maker in 2005

Taipei, Nov. 12, 2004 (CENS)--Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd. (CPT), No. 3 thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel maker in Taiwan, has announced plans to ship 16.3 million large-sized TFT-LCD panels next year and challenge the world's No. 4 position in the line.

C.H. Lin, CPT chairman, made the statements at his company's recent institutional investors' conference. C.C. Liu, company vice president, said that the supply-excess ratio for large-sized TFT-LCD panels is expected to shrink to 7% in the fourth quarter from 14% in the third quarter.

The prices of 15- and 17-inch panels, however, would continue falling at a monthly pace of US$5 in the coming few months. Unless the price fall stops, Liu said, CPT's TFT-LCD business division is expected to suffer losses in the fourth quarter.

According to Liu, the quotation for large-sized panels declined 31% in the third quarter but the prices of finished products fell by only 13% as it usually takes two to three months to digest inventory. Liu pointed out the prices of finished products are expected to see a greater decline in the first quarter next year, thus further stimulating market demand.

From October, Liu said, downstream customers turned active taking delivery of panels while the supply of 17-inch panel products became tight. According to the vice president, the overall panel supply excess is expected to decrease to 7% in the fourth quarter but rise slightly to 9% due to increased capacities of panel makers' new-generation panel facilities. In the second half of next year, Liu stressed, the supply excess is expected to drop again to only 6%, a reasonable level.

According to Liu's estimates, the quotation prices for 17- and 15-inch panels will slide to US$160 and US$140, respectively, per unit in December, for a monthly fall of about US$5. Though CPT is expected to suffer losses in the fourth quarter due to the falling panel prices, but the company's cathode-ray tube (CRT) business is expected to maintain monthly earnings of NT$500 million (US$15.1 million at US$1: NT$33.1), more or less making up for the panel business loss.

CPT expects to ship 16.3 million large-sized panels next year, Liu said, including 3.5 million panels for notebook PCs, 11 million panels for LCD monitors, and 1.8 million panels for LCD TVs. The TV panels are expected to enjoy an explosive shipment growth of 550% next year.

Currently, CPT is the world's No. 5 panel maker commanding over 14% of the global market in the third quarter.