Taiwan's shipments of small- to medium-size LCD panels are expected to decrease 17.6% on quarter and 31.1% on year in the fourth quarter of 2019 due to off-peak season effects and reduced smartphone shipments resulted from the US-China trade dispute, according to Digitimes Research.
Shipments of small- to medium-size panels by Taiwan's makers grew 12.4% sequentially to 201 million units in the third quarter of 2019, driven by increased shipments for smartphone and feature phone applications. However, third-quarter shipment volumes were still down 34.9% from a year earlier.
In the third quarter, handset panel shipments alone surged 19.2% on quarter, while those for tablet applications were down 21.8% due to decreased demand for 7- to 8-inch panels.
Shipments of small- to medium-size panels for all applications will see a setback sequentially in the fourth quarter, with tablet panels to drop 8.1%, handset panels to plunge 18.4%, and those for other applications to slide more than 10%, Digitimes Research estimates.
For individual makers, HannStar Display will see its shipments of small- to medium-size panels fall 20.1% sequentially in the fourth quarter after registering a 20.1% gain in the previous quarter.
AU Optronics (AUO) and Innolux will suffer sequential drops of 8-13% in the fourth quarter after their shipments grew 6-7% a quarter earlier.