Taipei, May 7, 2009 (CENS)--Poised for strong rebound from the troughs over the past few quarters, the global display panel industry is expected to enjoy a 47% and 37% quarterly growth in overall sales revenues and shipments in the second quarter of this year, said DisplaySearch.

According to the market survey institute, the global shipments of 10-inch and above large-sized TFT (thin film transistor) panels totaled 91.5 million units in the first quarter of this year, slightly down 3% from a quarter earlier, along with a 18% decline in shipment value in the quarter.

With a couple of display panel makers gearing up to resume production and already raising their shipment goals recently, DisplaySearch hence projects total display panel shipments to surge by 37% to hit 125 million units worldwide in the second quarter and overall revenues of the industry to sharply increase by 47%.

David Hsieh, DisplaySearch`s vice president in charge of the Greater China Market, indicated that with influx of orders, the industry is expected to average an 80% capacity utilization rate in the second quarter, driving growth of the downstream markets.

In overall shipments, Korean display panel suppliers, with Samsung and LGD as bellwethers, have commanded a 52.2% share of the global market in the first quarter, while Taiwanese makers have posted a 38% share. However, in shipments of display panels for netbook PCs, the hottest products in the PC market recently, Taiwanese makers, namely HannStar Display Corp., AU Optronics Corp. and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd., have dominated the segment as top three, according to DisplaySearch.


(by Steve Chuang)