14 DAY TRIAL // As much as consumers may want it, displays aren't about to become any cheaper than they are, not suddenly at any rate, and definitely not from anything other than the natural improvements in manufacturing techniques.
December of every year is always followed by a general drop in product demand, on every layer of the IT industry, and every other market for that matter.
Obviously, product manufacturers know this, and since they have special incentive to prevent serious consequences, they are being especially cautious.
By special incentive, we mean the poor state of the memory market, as well as the worrisomely low consumer interest in buying new PCs of any sort.
Obviously, display manufacturers don't want to suffer bankruptcy or financial losses too severe to recover from.
They can't do anything about consumer demand though, which means that the only way to preserve any sort of balance, so to speak, between demand and supply is to control the latter as well as possible.
That is why, according to a report, Taiwan, China and Korea-based screen manufacturers have chosen to reduce production by 5-15% for the first quarter of 2013.
LG will cut back by 10-15%, BOE and China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) will side back by 5%, etc.
The reason China isn't pulling back as much as the rest of the world is simple, for those that know what to look for: the Chinese Lunar New Year Holiday.
A day of celebration for the large country, it takes place on February 10 and marks a one-week period of celebrations. During that time, there should be a spike in product demand, just like during the Christmas-induced winter shopping season, and Black Friday in the US.
A return to current display supply levels (that includes laptop screens) should happen around the end of March or so.