Recent news from the Chinese-language newspapers.
Yong Meng schedules CCFL capacity expansion
Yong Meng Optoelectronics plans to expand 5 CCFL lines by investing NT$250m, with volume production to commence next month, expanding its current monthly capacity of 600-800k units to 1m units. The company currently now ships scanner-use CCFLs to China makers and will ship CCFLs for 7-inch displays and monitors. It expects to be among the top-4 Taiwan-based CCFL makers next year with sales of NT$700m. [DigiTimes]
Deutsche Securities: Slow demand for PC panels in 3-6 months
Analysts at the firm expect slowed demand in 4Q, indicating that 3Q will be the peak season for PC panel demand this year. Declining prices for PC-use panels will hurt panel makers' profitability. However, the downturn in the crystal cycle will last a shorter period of time than that during last year, with a less severe impact. [EDN, Oct 18]
IDC: TFT LCD demand/supply will remain balanced for NBs in 2006, potential oversupply exists for monitors and TVs
The notebook panel demand/supply ratio is expected to stay in balance through the end of 2006, but a potential oversupply for monitor panels will exist in 2006. Although demand is expected to surge for TV panels, the current balance ratio will quickly turn to oversupply in 1H06 due to seasonality. The overall panel market has been in balance in 2005, but there will be slight oversupply in 2006, especially in 1H06, as panel vendors continue to build up new capacity for next-generation panels.
China market: Prices for flat-panel TVs slashed to new lows
Skyworth slashed prices for its 32-inch LCD TVs by 20% to less than 10k yuan. Hisense cut prices of its 32-inch LCD TV by 1,000 yuan to 11,999 yuan. Philips cut its 37-inch LCD TV prices by 1,900 yuan to 19,900 yuan. Sanyo's 42-inch PDP TV is now priced at 18,800 yuan, 2,000 yuan lower than before. [Sina.com, Oct 18]
Japan market: Sharp tops LCD TV sales
According to Japan-based channel distributors, Sharp's AQUOS LCD TV series is the bestseller in the local market, trailed by Sony's Bravia line-up. 32-inch and 37-inch LCD TVs from Sharp are priced at 182,500 yen and 315,800 yen, respectively. [Apple Daily, Oct 18]
Taiwan market: BenQ to release 2ms LCD monitors
BenQ said the company will speed-up development of its high-end LCD monitors and plans to roll out 2ms LCD monitors this quarter, targeting game players. 19-inch LCD monitor shipments account for 30% of BenQ's overall outputs in 3Q, up 20% in 1H05. [DigiTimes]
Taiwan home appliance makers to bet on 3C products
Facing sales pressure from local 3C distributors, Taiwan-based home appliance makers are now forced to change their business model by adding more 3C-related products to local sales. Most home appliance makers including TECO, Sampo, and Kolin have already closed retail stores in order to survive in such a competitive market. [DigiTimes]
Taiwan-based home appliance makers see positive results in 2005
Taiwan-based distributor Joshin is expected to break even by year-end, according to its parent company, Sampo. Joshin had NT$10 million in losses every month during 1H04. The company foresees the losses will decrease to NT$3 million per month in 2H05. Tatung Consumer Products Company (TCPC), a subsidiary of Taiwan-based home appliance maker Tatung, posted more than NT$5 billion in profits from Jan-Sep this year. [DigiTimes]
Chipbond: LCD driver IC packaging prices unlikely to fall
Chipbond indicated that panel makers, even by offering higher quotes, are unable to secure sufficient LCD driver IC backend production capacity, so related quotes are unlikely to fall. Chipbond also plans to expand its gold bumping capacity to 200k wafers with TCP/COF capacity at 20m units. [Central News Agency, Oct 18]
Nanya PCB attributes outstanding financial performance to ramping yields and insufficient flip chip substrate supply
Nanya PCB has again hit record-high revenues with NT$2.26b in Sep and the company expects the strong demand for flip-chip (FC) substrates to persist through 2006. The company also plans to double its annual FC capacity to 26m in 2006. Analysts commented that the high FC quotes for Xbox 360 FC (with graphics and Northbridge) is quoted at US$7, which is much higher than the market's expected US$2-3.
PCB maker Tripod attains revenues over NT$1 billion through 3Q
Tripod reports attaining consolidated net profit of NT$1.37b through 3Q, outpacing the annual profit amount for last year. The company stated that the traditional hot season and the appreciation of the yuan against the US$ are major factors. [EDN, Oct 18]
Intel plans to standardize NB component costs, focusing on panel, HDD and optical drives
Intel expects the NB components standardization will help lower costs, accelerate product launch schedules and allow component makers to focus on specific component production. For panel makers, CMO, AUO, CPT and Quanta Display will participate the plan for establishing standards for 14- and 15-inch panels. While Quanta, Compal, Wistron are some of the participating system makers. [Commercial Times, Oct 18]
Sunrex confident to achieve both NB and handset keyboard shipment goals in 2005
Sunrex posted accumulated NB and handset keyboard shipments of 13.04m and 7.3m, respectively, through 3Q. The company set a goal to ship 18m NB keyboards and 10m handset keyboards in 2005. As present capacity is almost full, the company is confident to beat its goals. [DigiTimes]
UMC buys back 1.7m shares again
UMC announced it will buy back 1.7m shares worth NT$338m. [DigiTimes]
MIC to extends on portable WLAN game console development
Mitac International Corporation’s (MIC) subsidiary company Mio Technology recently partnered with a China-based game developer to develop the portable WLAN game console “EZ Mini.” The device will support various file formats including DIVX, MPEG4, and WMA. [Commercial Times, Oct 18]
Keypad IC makers ride high on strong notebook demand in 3Q
Buoyed by rising keypad IC shipments to notebook customers including Wistron and Compal Electronics, Ene Technology is estimated to hit record monthly revenues this month. Global Media Technology (GMT) expects its quarterly gross margins to reach a new record of 37% in 3Q, mainly driven by strong demand for notebook applications. [DigiTimes]
Article edited by Eric Mah
