Taiwan's shipments of large-size panels in 9-inch and above sizes (excluding Sharp's) are expected to contract 7.8% sequentially in the first quarter of 2020 if the coronavirus outbreak is under control, according to Digitimes Research.
Taiwan's large-size panel shipments came to 59.12 million units in the fourth quarter of 2019, flat from the previous quarter but down 5.2% from a year earlier, as increased output from China's makers dragged down Taiwan's shipments of TV and monitor panels, Digitimes Research says.
For the first quarter of 2020, Taiwanese makers' performance will be better than a 10.3% decline predicted for the industry on average, as Korea's makers are reducing their LCD panel output and the production in China has been affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
Digitimes Research also believes that Taiwan's makers are poised to land more orders from brand vendors now as most of them have been keeping their front-end facilities for the production of large-size panels in Taiwan, without being affected by the virus.
Taiwan's shipments of large-size panels for TV applications will decline by a small range sequentially in the first quarter, while those for tablets will suffer the most due to squeezing demand for the products in the end market.
Taiwan's makers will account for 24% of the global production capacity for large-size panels in the first quarter due to Korean suppliers cutting down their capacity for LCD panels. Taiwanese makers will also account for an over 30% of global large-size panel shipments in the quarter thanks to increasing shipments of notebook and monitor panels.