MIAOLI: Innolux Corp had the fourth-biggest market share in the global LCD TV panel market last month, thanks to a pickup in seasonal demand, statistics provided by market researcher TrendForce Corp showed last week.
Innolux shipped 3.49 million units of TV panels last month, up 1.8 percent from June’s 3.43 million units, TrendForce said in a report on Thursday. Shipments of the company’s 23.6-inch panels last month increased by 74.2 percent month-on-month to 1.27 million units, it added.
However, Innolux’s 1.8 growth rate, which was limited by its capacity, was smaller than the 5 percent average monthly increase posted by the world’s top six TV panel manufacturers last month, TrendForce said.
Last month’s increase will help global TV panel shipments grow at a quarterly rate of between 8 and 9 percent this quarter, aided by seasonal demand for Black Friday sales in Europe and the US and holiday sales in China, TrendForce said.
However, Innolux has to find other channels for its new 23.6-inch TV panels, “as orders from Mexico stopped,” TrendForce analyst Iris Hu said in the report.
“Starting in the second quarter, Innolux has worked with TV brands to prop up the demand for the 23.6-inch panels and developed markets in other regions, including Southeast Asia and emerging markets,” Hu said.
Local rival AU Optronics Corp ranked sixth last month by shipping 2.26 million units, posting an increase of 0.8 percent from June’s 2.24 million units.
AUO has been fully operating its 7.5-generation and 8.5-generation plants to cope with increasing demand from TV vendors ahead of a coming peak season, TrendForce said.
However, the company’s shipment growth has been constrained by its “limited production capacity,” Hu said.
LG Display Co remained the world’s biggest TV panel maker last month, with shipments increasing by 5.7 percent to 4.49 million units from the previous month.
Samsung Electronics Co, the second-biggest TV panel maker, last month posted the largest growth in shipments, increasing them by 11.5 percent from a month ago to 4.46 million units, on the back of demand for 40-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch TV panels, TrendFroce said.
As Samsung plans to close down its L7-1 production line by the end of this year, the company might see TV panel shipments decline by 70 percent annually this year, TrendForce said.
China’s BOE Technology Group took the third spot last month by shipping 4 million units of TV panels, down about 1 percent from June’s 4.04 million units, while China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co came in fifth by increasing its shipments by 9.1 percent to 2.86 million units, TrendForce said.
