14 DAY TRIAL // Even though LCD TV shipments are expected to rise during the next three months, the same cannot, apparently, be said about LCD panels in general. Apparently, though some sub-segments of this market will perform well, the total shipments will not exactly reach a spectacular figure, for several reasons, some of which have already come to pass. Once again, Digitmes offers some details on the general outlook for the third quarter of 2010.
2008 went down in history as one of the most dismal years the IT industry ever experienced. 2009 was only slightly better, and that was only because netbooks surged in popularity. Now, 2010 seems poised to be remembered as one of the more unusual periods. This is because, against all odds, the so-called weak season, Q1, showed a stronger demand than expected. That performance may even match what Q3 will yield, but it still wasn't enough to offset the difficulties of the second quarter.
Digitimes' unnamed sources say that Europe's debt crisis and the weaker than expected sales during the Labor Day holiday in China (in May) led to high inventories. Granted, LCD panel demand in Q1 was strong, but inventories still piled up in the some markets in the end. This led to a weaker demand in the second quarter and, thus, to a less impressive amount of shipments.
Naturally, now that the third quarter has started, companies are very interested in quickly getting rid of the inventories that piled up. One method, of course, is reducing prices and it may just be used, because LG, Sharp and other LCD suppliers have to deal with increased capacity. This, of course, will cause consumers to rejoice, but it may also lead to unstable conditions. In the end, the sequential LCD shipments will either stay flat, or grow by a mere 2-3% in Q3 2010, not the 10% of the past years.