Output of Large TFT-LCD Modules Recovers Suddenly Amid Ongoing Recession
July 2, 2001 (TOKYO) -- Demand for semiconductors and electronic parts for IT products remains low, but the turnover of large TFT-LCD modules has started to recover at an unusually rapid pace.
According to a survey by Nikkei Market Access, the production of large TFT-LCDs more than 10.4 inches in size is likely to record an all-time high in the second quarter of 2001. The driving force is the sudden increase in demand intended for LCD monitors aiming to replace CRTs.
The production of large TFT-LCD modules for use in liquid-crystal monitors for desktop PCs is increasing. This is because the retail prices of TFT-LCD modules suddenly fell to US$500, the level believed to help spread the liquid-crystal monitors at a rapid pace.
In the past few years, the production of liquid-crystal monitors has been steadily rising, and the annual turnover was 7,110,000 units in 2000, up 46 percent from the previous year.
Of those, about 40 percent are for domestic consumption, and in the United States, which is considered to be the largest potential market, the product is intended for corporate use and other limited purposes.
The biggest factor obstructing its spread in the U.S. market was the high price. In the United States, prices get top priority over space merits. Until last year, it cost about US$1,000, and customers were limited mostly to corporations and diffusion among the general public seemed difficult.
However, now that the price of a TFT-LCD module has fallen below US$300, the retail price of a liquid-crystal monitor is about to come down to US$500. For that reason, both the monitor industry and liquid-crystal industry have begun to step up production in anticipation of rapid increases in demand.
Moreover, the turnover of large TFT-LCDs for notebook PCs, which had been sluggish after peaking in November 2000, is also picking up now that the PC makers have completed inventory adjustments.
As the result, the output of large TFT-LCD modules more than 10.4 inches in size is recovering rapidly. The production volume, which followed a downward trend in two consecutive terms after hitting the peak in the third quarter of 2000, suddenly turned for the better in the second quarter of 2001. The turnover increased by 15 percent from the previous term, and was up 19 percent compared with the same term a year ago to 8,900,000 pieces, a record-breaking increase in production on a quarterly basis, as estimated by Nikkei Market Access.
Will demand for large TFT-LCDs continue to grow in the second half of 2001? As the makers hope to raise the prices of large TFT-LCDs -- which had been cut to less than half of what they were a year and a half ago -- some sources in the liquid-crystal industry feel that the supply-demand relationship may become tight in the near future.
Trend of the worldwide production of large TFT-LCD modules
Over 10.4-inch display modules were targeted.
*Data for the second quarter of 2001 are estimated figures.
(Source: Nikkei Market Access)
Related story:
Worldwide Production of Large TFT-LCD Modules Increases 40 Pct.
(Ken Nakamura, Nikkei Market Access) |
