Taiwan's large-size panel shipments (excluding Sharp's) are expected to decline 7.3% sequentially in first-quarter 2021, having expanded 4.4.% sequentially and 26.5% on year to 74.76 million units in fourth-quarter 2020, according to Digitimes Research.
In fourth-quarter 2020, Taiwan makers' shipments of large-size panels (9-inch and above) for tablet, automotive and PID applications enjoyed high sequential growths, Digitimes Research figures show.
Tablet panels alone grew over 40% in the quarter, driven by seasonal factors and remote education demand. In response to robust demand, HannStar Display relocated more of its capacity for tablet panels, resulting in large-size panels' shipment growth.
Looking into first-quarter 2021, shipments of IT panels (notebooks and monitors) will fall mildly within a range of below 5% sequentially thanks to more support from driver IC and power management (PWM) IC suppliers.
Taiwan makers' TV panel shipments are forecast to fall 8.1% due to a ramp-up in output from China's 10.5G/11G LCD fabs, and their tablet panel shipments will drop by a double-digit rate due to decreased demand from Huawei and other white-box tablet vendors.