Taiwan's small- to medium-size TFT-LCD panel shipments in the third quarter of 2010 are expected to increase 10.4% sequentially and 48.1% on year, driven mainly by demand from China where clients are preparing for the upcoming National Day holiday sales in October, according to Digitimes Research.

Digitimes Research analyst Jason Yang said that Taiwan's small- to medium-size panel shipments to international vendors will also grow in the third quarter. The debt crisis in Europe has hit these first-tier clients' sales from the area, but the US market has been unaffected, Yang explained.

Strong panel demand will come from China for music player applications and from first-tier DSC vendors, with both segments expected to see over 14% growth in shipments in the third second quarter. Car-use display panel shipments are expected to increase 5.7% sequentially, while the digital photo frame and portable DVD player segments will have growth of 4.6% and 3.9% respectively, Yang added.

In the fourth quarter, Taiwan's small- to medium-size panel shipments are expected to drop by 9.4% sequentially because of a seasonal downturn, Digitimes Research added.

Global small- to medium-size panel shipments are expected to increase by 23% in 2010 amid better-than-expected recovery of the global economy, as well as the fast phasing out of STN LCD from the market, Digitimes Research noted.

Taiwan will account for over 60% of the global small- to medium-size TFT LCD panel shipments in 2010 due to increasing orders from first-tier vendors, especially orders for entry-level a-Si cell-panels from Korea-based vendors.

Taiwan's small- to medium-size panel shipments are expected to increase 51.6% on year in 2010, and cell-panel orders from Korea-based vendors are expected to account for 12% of the total small- to medium-size panel shipments from Taiwan in 2010, Digitimes Research said.

Source: Digitimes Research, July 2010