Demand for monitor panels to pick up in 2H

It’s simple really - cheaper monitors equal more sales. Still, the companies making these do have to make money to survive of course. And this is where things get sticky…

Demand for monitor panels will pick up and average selling prices (ASP) will stabilize in the second half of the year because of seasonality, Intel’s price cuts for its desktop CPUs, and panel makers’ expected refusal to Dell’s demand for price reductions in the 17-inch segment, according to industry sources.

With prices in some monitor panel segments already lower than their production costs, the makers are unlikely to accept Dell’s latest demand that they cut their 17-inch monitor applications to under US$100, which is even lower than the material cost for the segment, the sources said.

Intel’s price cuts for its CPUs in the third quarter are expected to boost the desktop market, which will in turn drive up demand for the LCD monitor segment, the sources added.

Brian Lee, assistant vice president of sales and marketing division of Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT), expressed optimism that demand for monitor panels will grow increasingly strongly month by month during the second half of the year.

Monitor panel prices have been falling sharply since the fourth quarter of 2005. Panel makers previously expected that prices would stabilize during the second quarter, but instead they dropped further after a fresh price war triggered by Samsung Electronics’ cuts to its 17-inch monitor panel prices in April – a move aimed at reducing inventory levels – sources said.

Although panel makers will not rule out the possibility of raising prices for monitor panels in the fourth quarter because of strong demand, the sources noted that the 19-inch widescreen segment is likely to be an exception. The 19-inch widescreen segment will see prices drop further during the second half because of increased output by the makers, the sources added. Source: DigiTimes

[tags]monitor,cpu,samsung,electronics,panel[/tags]