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Tag: LCD

  • TV Panel Shipments Fell in June and July

    Market watchers had warned in July that LCD TV panel demand was severely weakened. Last week, confirmation of those worries came, with estimates showing that worldwide LCD panel shipments fell year-over-year during the third quarter. Now, a new report is showing that all flat-panel manufacturers, not just LCD panel makers, may be facing a rough year.

    Market research firm IHS today estimated that global flat-panel shipments fell year-over-year during July after also falling in June. This included combined shipment number of LCD panels and plasma panels. The firm estimated that around 14.88 million flat-panel displays were shipped during July, down 6.3% from July 2012. IHS predicts these declines will continue until at least the end of October, but that shipments will pick up during the holiday season.

    “Last year was the first time that global flat-panel TV shipments failed to grow, following a decade of blockbuster expansion and runaway success,” said Jusy Hong, senior analyst for consumer electronics & technology at IHS. “This year as recently as May, it appeared that the flat-panel TV market might pull off a rebound even if growth would have been marginal at less than 1 percent. However, with any increase unlikely to take place even in the fourth quarter, it appears more likely that TV shipments will post another year of decline in 2013. If so, this would make it the second year in a row that flat-panel TV shipments retrench – an unthinkable prospect just a few years back, during the flat-panel boom.”

    Of course, the falling LCD shipments were a large portion of this decline. LCD panel shipments alone were estimated to IHS to be down 5.7% from the same month last year. Plasma displays, however, were not immune to the decline. The IHS report shows that plasma panel shipments were down a whopping 15.8% to just 781,000 units in July.

  • LCD TV Panel Shipments Down Last Quarter

    LCD TV Panel Shipments Down Last Quarter

    Though panel shipments for tablets are rising once again, a new estimate shows that common TV panel shipments might be on the decline.

    Market research firm IHS today released estimates showing that LCD TV panel shipments declined during the third quarter of 2013. The firm’s estimates put third quarter shipments of the panels at 58 million, a small decline from the previous quarter’s estimated 58.8 million units shipped. Shipments were also down year-over-year, down from 60 million units shipped during the third quarter of 2012. The event is the first time even that particular market has shown a decline.

    IHS analysts went so far as to call the decline in LCD TV panels “worrisome” for the industry. The slowing shipments of LCD TV panels could be due to overall slowing sales of TVs in China. The firm believes that LCD TV panel manufacturers with clients outside of China could fare better and see growing market share.

    “LCD TV panel shipments went through a soft period in the third quarter,” said Ricky Park, senior manager for large-area displays at IHS. “The downshifting of the market comes as a surprise because the third quarter is usually a time when things start heating up, in preparation for the furious upcoming fourth-quarter selling season. However, consumers have not been buying as many new television sets as originally hoped, leaving TV brands with panels that they haven’t been able to move.”

  • LCD Panel Demand Weakening, Says Analyst

    LCD Panel Demand Weakening, Says Analyst

    Tech manufacturers are now gearing up for production runs of fall and holiday product launches. Those plans, however, have not translated to high demand for large-sized LCD panels, defined as those 7-inches or larger.

    Analyst firm IHS is now estimating that the supply of large-sized LCD panels will exceed demant by 15.9% from July to September. The oversupply is predicted to be smaller than that seen during the second quarter, but is still described by IHS as “elevated.”

    “This is the time of the year when LCD panel makers usually are ramping up production to meet holiday demand for televisions, notebook PCs, tablets and other consumer-oriented electronics,” said Ricky Park, senior manager for large-area displays at IHS. “However, the display industry is confronting the prospect of weak sales growth and a lack of visibility into future demand trends. With a combination of flagging economic conditions and the end of a popular television incentive plan in China, large-sized LCD panel supply is expected to overshoot demand by a higher margin than previously predicted.”

    The glut of LCD panels, says IHS, is due to slow growth in demand for the products. Their estimates put global large LCD panel demand to rise only 6% during the third quarter. This at the same time that LCD panel manufacturers are, according to IHS, utilizing an ever-greater portion of their production capacity.

    Part of the slow demand for LCD panels could stem from the contracting PC market. Shipments of notebook PCs in particular are dropping quickly, with tablet devices devouring the mobile PC market.

  • Apple TV May Come In Sizes Ranging From 46 To 55 Inches [Rumor]

    The Apple TV is already a thing, but people are still holding out for an actual television from the hardware giant. Rumors of an Apple HDTV have been around for years, but 2012 saw a decided jump in reports and rumors. Now at the end of the year, it’s looking more and more like Apple really is making some televisions.

    A report out of Focus Taiwan says that Foxconn is now testing several hardware designs for an Apple TV. The rumor states that Apple’s current TVs are being tested with displays ranging from 46 inches to 55 inches. The LCD panels for the televisions would come from either Japanese or Taiwanese companies.

    That being said, the rumors point to Sharp being the LCD panel supplier for Apple’s first real dive into the television market. The reasoning is that Foxconn’s chairman Terry Gou holds a stake in Sharp. Even then, the report states that it’s not yet known who exactly is providing the LCD panels.

    So, when can we expect to see an Apple TV unveiled or even mentioned? The report points to CES as a likely option, but Apple has traditionally avoided the trade show. The company usually opts to host its own events, but an Apple TV would most likely destroy the competition if it were to be shown at the largest consumer electronics trade show in the world.

    As for when the devices will actually be made available, the report says it’s “unlikely” for shipments to “begin as soon as the end of the year.” If true, we probably won’t see an Apple TV until 2014.

    It should be noted that all of this is just a rumor at this point. None of it has been confirmed and Apple has been famously tight lipped over the potential existence of an Apple TV. It’s looking like we won’t know for sure until next year, and even then, I wouldn’t expect it to be announced at CES. Apple always holds an event early in the year, however, and an Apple TV could be on the menu.

    [h/t: AppleInsider]

  • Samsung Spins Off LCD Business To Make Way For OLED

    Samsung has announced a new plan to return the company’s flat-panel display business to profitability. The company’s board of directors has voted to spin off Samsung’s LCD business into a separate firm called Samsung Display Co. The new firm will be entirely owned by Samsung Electronics, but will start off with 750 billion South Korean won (roughly $667 billion U.S.) in capital.

    The spin-off is effective April 1st, 2012. Samsung is one of many television manufacturers currently making the switch to OLED and AMOLED technology. The company showed off a 55-inch OLED HDTV at CES 2012 last month. The TV generated quite a bit of buzz and garnered several awards. Creating a separate firm for Samsung’s LCD business allows the company to focus its primary attention on OLED technology, while allowing Samsung Display Co. to survive more or less on its own. The proposal approved by Samsung’s board also mentions the possibility that Samsung Display Co. could merge at some point with either Samsung Mobile Display or S-LCD Corporation.

  • iPhone 5 Rumor: New iOS Device Could Have A 4-inch Display

    A Japanese Mac blog, Macotakara, is claiming that Sony Mobile Display Corporation and Hitachi Displays have begun shipping new 4-inch displays for a new iOS device. The blog doesn’t elaborate which device the new dispalys will be used for, but the obvious choice is the next generation iPhone.

    According to the blog:

    According to Asian source, Hitachi Displays, Ltd. and Sony Mobile Display Corporation started to ship 4-inch LCD for new iOS device and LCD for iPad 3. These 2 companies will be merged their business with Toshiba Mobile Display Co., Ltd., as “Japan Display” in 2012 spring.

    It’s often been rumored that Apple was exploring using a larger display on future iOS devices. To date Apple has only used a 3.5-inch display across its family of iPhones. Apple chose to stick with the 3.5-inch display because they felt it was better suited for one-handed use.

    Do you think we’ll see a larger display on the iPhone5? Tell us what you think in the comments.