Fast facts on LCD industry: iSuppli

EL SEGUNDO, USA: To assist the media on the major news in the LCD industry, iSuppli Corp., is providing some fast facts that can add context to stories covering this topic:

* Following growth of 29.8 percent in 2007, global LCD panel revenue will rise by only 10.4 percent in 2008. Table 1 presents iSuppli’s historical and forecasted revenue for the global LCD panel market. The data is shown as both a combined LCD figure and segmented by large-sized (10-inches and larger diagonally) and small/medium sized (less than 10-inches diagonally).

* This forecast has already been reduced from our previous outlook, and iSuppli is likely to reduce its numbers for 2008 further during our next forecasting round given the global economic slowdown’s impact.

* LCD panel prices have been declining since June due to oversupply, excess inventories and decelerating demand from the major applications because of the slowdown in the global economy. However, the situation worsened starting in late September after the financial crisis flared up. For some panels, such as 19-inch WXGA panels for desktop PC monitors, pricing has already fallen below the manufacturing costs for suppliers. Table 2 shows pricing trends for select popular LCD panel sizes and purposes.

* LG Display Co Ltd. was the world’s second-largest supplier of large-sized LCD panels in the second quarter of 2008, with a 20.3 percent share of unit shipments.

* Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. (listed as “CPT”) was the world’s fifth largest supplier of large-sized LCD panels in the second quarter, with a 5.9 percent share of unit shipments.

* Sharp Corp. tied for the sixth-largest supplier ranking during the same period, with a 3.9 percent share of unit shipments.

* Fig. 1 shows worldwide unit market share for large-sized LCD panels in the second quarter.