LCD Panel Makers See Shipments Ramp Up
Large-area TFT-LCD (thin film transistor liquid crystal display) panel shipments for August 2009 totaled 50.18 million units, a 27.1 percent increase from August 2008, according to Displaybank. The recovery has been slow but steady since January, when large-area TFT-LCD panel shipments were 23.7 million units, the research firm said.
Samsung Electronics retained its No.1 position in market share in August based on unit/volume. The company claimed 27 percent of the market in August, followed by LG Display with 24 percent market share. Trailing far behind, but maintaining its No. 3 ranking, was AUOptronics, with 17 percent market share.
Broken into three segments -- LCD monitors, notebooks and LCD TVs -- Displaybank found that LCD monitor shipments climbed to 17.7 million units, up from 16.1 million in August 2008. In spite of the economy, or maybe as a sign of recovery, LCD TVs also showed year-over-year growth, climbing from 9.7 million unit shipments in August 2008 to 13.6 million units this past August.
Notebook PC panel shipments -- including mini notebook PC panels -- showed the largest growth, at 17.7 million units, up from 12.7 million units in August 2008.
"The reason for such high growth in notebook panel shipments is due to sharp increase in notebook demands compared to desktops and also due to mini notebook demand increase that has been continuing from last year," according to Ricky Park, senior analyst at Displaybank.
With the holidays just three months away, the future may be bright -- or at least brighter -- for the LCD panel market.