The LCD TV industry looked forward to reduced inventories as a result of strong sales in the fourth quarter of 2010, and based on that, had started to plan for a strong 2011. However, the major LCD TV brands have adjusted their first-quarter 2011 production plans downward, according to DisplaySearch.
The top-6 LCD TV brands, including global brands, such as Samsung and regional players like Konka in China, have reduced their combined monthly production plan from 18.3 million in November 2010 to 15.4 million units in March 2011. Overall, first-quarter production is forecast to be 46.3 million units, a 12% sequential decline from fourth-quarter 2010.
"The unstable market environment in many regions is creating uncertainty regarding TV demand. Despite this, some TV brands reportedly are increasing production quantities in January 2011 because of demand anticipated from Q1 product launches," noted Deborah Yang, research director of monitor and TV for DisplaySearch.
Despite the cautious stance of the TV brands, LCD TV sub-contract manufacturing (OEM/ODM) companies are increasing their monthly shipments from December 2010 to March 2011. This indicates that TV brands are increasing outsourcing manufacturing to OEM/ODM companies, which is driven by cost management, logistics, manufacturing scale, and in some cases, access to panel supply, DisplaySearch said.
It also noted that the supply of key TFT LCD panel components, such as glass substrates, color filters, polarizers, LED and light guide plates, is generally in balance in the first quarter.
January large-size TFT LCD panel shipments will fall 2% from December 2010, due to adjustments in capacity utilization rates, and decline a further 7% on month in February due to fewer working days in China. However, panel makers expect a big jump in March, with shipments passing 60 million units, according to the research firm.
Panel inventories at the top-five TFT LCD makers - Samsung Electronics, LG Display, AU Optronics (AUO), Chimei Innolux (CMI), and Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) - fell to safe levels at the end of 2010. TFT LCD makers will reduce their utilization rates in January and February, but expect to be over 90% on a global scale by March.
The top-10 LCD monitor OEMs plan to increase their production in January by 4.3% on month to more than 14 million units. However, they plan to reduce February and March production to just over 12 million units.
LCD TV panel shipments to China were 5.1 million units in November, and fell to five million units in December. DisplaySearch forecasts shipments will continue to fall to 4.6 million in January and 3.2 million units in February.
Article translated by Rodney Chan
