Samsung is the leader of the segment with a 23% market share

Jul 29, 2006 09:22 GMT  ·  By

I bumped yesterday into a piece of 'creepy news' regarding an expected shortage of demand for the LCD TV panels by 10-15% which will occur in September.

We all know summer is the period of time in which all of us run to retail stores to buy wide screen LCD TVs, media players, home entertainment systems and every piece of gadget we would love to have during our brief vacation and that it all stops when the first leaf falls on the ground.

But an estimated 15% percent drop in demand is too much to handle and we are talking about the strongest retail market - the US. And if we take into account this 'educated guess' made by several respected research companies, then I don't want to think what will happen on the European or Asian retail markets.

I'll give you some good news first. It appears that Samsung has surpassed LG Philips in June and is now ranked as the market leader with a 23% market share, while LG Philips is behind with a 21%. And it is no wonder, as Samsung released some pretty nice LCDs this summer and is continuing to do so.

And now the info that 'has kicked my brain': "As a result, supply for 32-inch panels will run short of demand by around 300,000 units, with the most serious tightness occurring in September and October, the makers said. Tight supply will also occur in the 26- and 27-inch segments. For the 40-inch-and-larger segments, the makers added," said Digi Times.

As I said before, we usually see a price cut and a loss of demand in this quarter, but a 15% drop is something rather unusual. Moreover, Hsiung Hui, executive vice president of AU Optronics (AUO), stated at a recent investors' conference that in the upcoming quarter we might see a 10 % drop in demand for the 32- and 37-inch panels, and a 5% price cut for the 26-inch panels. However, the analyst predicts a stabilization of the market in September. We will see about that.

"According to WitsView Technology, the ASP (average selling price) for 32-inch panels was US$375 in the second half of July, with quotes from first-tier vendors being US$380. The 32-inch panel segment enjoyed a major share of the global TV panel shipments in June, at 33.2%, followed by 20-inch and 26/27-inch panels, at 22.7% and 12.2% respectively," reports Digi Times.

And about all these LCD TV releases? Well, I guess that we will wait to see what happens next.