Large-Size LCD Panel Shipments Posted Monthly Growth of 6.5% in May

The latest LCD panel shipment report from WitsView, a division of TrendForce, finds large-size panel shipments totaled 60.25 million units in May, up 6.5% from the prior month. The strong monthly shipments across all applications were attributed to the anticipation of rising prices and increased inventory-replenishment efforts. Among the applications, the notebook panel market had the best shipment performance.

Looking at June, WitsView Research Manager Iris Hu said that panel prices have been on the rise, so branded device vendors are stocking up earlier for the coming peak season in order to lower their procurement costs. TV and monitor panel shipments are expected to grow by 3~4% on a monthly basis, respectively. Notebook panel shipments in June will either remain steady or dip slightly by 1% monthly because some orders for this month have been shifted to May. Furthermore, U.S.-branded vendors will also be making season inventory adjustments. As for tablet panels, demand is gradually returning and shipments are projected to expand 6~7% monthly.

SDC posted a 17.5% monthly increase in TV panel shipments while BOE’s monitor panel shipments reached a historic high of 2.48 million units

TV panel shipments in May grew 1.4% monthly to 21.1 million units. Samsung Display (SDC) in the second quarter switched to the Color Filter on TFT Array (COA) process and raised its yield rate significantly. The South Korean panel supplier shipped 3.83 million units of TV panels, representing a monthly increase of 17.5%.

Innolux’s fabs in southern Taiwan had fully recovered from earthquake damages and were fully operational in May. In addition, the panel maker has replaced the 39.5-inch panel with the 65-inch as the main product for its Gen-6 fabs. While Innolux’s overall TV panel shipments grew only 3.7% monthly in May to 3.6 million units, the panel maker posted its largest shipment increase for the 65-inch TV panel since June last year, totaling at 150,000 units.

Monthly monitor panel shipments reached 11.99 million units in May, up 7% from the prior month. Branded monitor vendors have experienced low inventory recently because panel makers on account of low margins have scaled back their production of monitor products sized 21.5 inches wide and under. Furthermore, panel prices have started to recover after hitting bottom, and they are anticipated to go up even further in July, when the Energy Star Version 7.0 standards become effective. Hence, monitor vendors are spurred to replenish their inventories in advance. Monitor panel shipments from BOE Technology (BOE) reached a record high in May, registering a monthly growth of 8.8% at 2.48 million units. Other Taiwanese and South Korean panel makers have adjusted capacities to focus on more profitable size segments, so a lot of monitor panel orders were transferred to BOE.

Notebook panel shipments surged 37.9% monthly for Innolux; SDC and LGD saw declines in tablet shipments due to poor sales of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro

After SDC announced it will cut back the production of HD TN panels of all sizes, branded notebook vendors moved their purchasing schedule forward to second quarter in order to avoid possible supply shortage in the peak season later on. Hence, May’s notebook panel shipments grew 17.7% monthly to 13.88 million units. Innolux in particular shipped 3.47 million units, amounting to a huge monthly increase of 37.9%. The Taiwanese panel maker had to postpone its FHD panel deliveries after the February earthquake and instead relied on HD TN products to maintain its capacity utilization rate for a short duration. This move produced an unexpected shipment growth as HD TN panel orders that Samsung could not fulfill were redirected to Innolux. Likewise, BOE benefitted from the surge of HD TN panel orders since FHD panels account for a relatively small share of the panel maker’s product mix. May’s notebook shipment result was also a historic high for BOE as it delivered 2.52 million units, up 27.5% from April.

In the tablet panel market, SDC and LG Display (LGD) faced serious challenges in May. The two South Korean panel makers were the main suppliers for Apple’s 9.7-inch iPad Pro, which hit its peak shipments soon after the market release. Shipment forecasts of this product were then significantly lowered following the brief market success, and SDC’s and LGD’s respective tablet panel shipments fell over 30% monthly as a result. Conversely, panel orders from other branded and white-box vendors were steady in May because they have already adjusted their inventories in the first quarter. Also, prices of low-end panel products for tablets have been on a stable trend as non-Apple branded vendors upgraded the display resolution specs of their devices.The overall tablet panel shipments in May therefore grew 4% monthly to 13.28 million units.