Sharp orders 26-inch LCD TV panels from Quanta Display

Taipei, July 10, 2003 (CENS)--Quanta Display Inc. of Taiwan recently claimed that it has received orders for 26-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) TV panels from Sharp of Japan.

Quanta Display is scheduled to begin delivery of the panels to Sharp late in the third quarter. The order is expected to elevate the Quanta's profitability and help the company break even in the third or fourth quarter.

Quanta Display's parent company, Quanta Computer Inc., a leading notebook PC maker, will be responsible for the contract production of the 26-inch LCD TVs for Sharp.

Industry sources said that most LCD panel makers in Taiwan, including AU Optronics Corp. (formerly Acer Display Technology Inc. and Unipac Optoelectronics Corp.), Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. (CMO), HannStar Display Corp. and Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd., are striving to win LCD TV panel orders from such big international consumer electronic brands in Japan as Sony, Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba.

The sources said that Quanta Display would produce the 26-inch panels at its new fifth-generation panel plant. Quanta Computer is scheduled to begin shipment of the first batch of LCD TVs to Sharp this month and gradually elevate delivery volume over successive months.

Quanta Display said that 26-inch LCD TV panels command fivefold to sixfold the price of a 15-inch LCD monitor.

Quanta Display delivered about 280,000 LCD panels in May and slightly fewer last month, due to the increased delivery ratio of 17-inch panels. At Quanta Display's 3.5-generation plant, each substrate can be cut into six 14-inch panels or four 17-inch panels.

Quanta Display said that it would more actively develop 17-inch panels as several big international computer brands, including Dell and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), would gradually elevate the ratio of PC/LCD monitor sales in the second half and phase out PC/cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitor packages.

The said sources noted that only a few local makers of thin film transistor LCD panels currently have cooperation ties with Japanese partners. CMO, for example, currently produces mainly 15-inch and 20-inch panels and has just developed a 27-inch model, but most of the panels are supplied to local home appliance brands, including Teco and Proton, as well as LG of South Korea. CMO currently also supplies 17-inch and 20-inch panels to Fujitsu for use in LCD monitor products.

AU Optronics, which was Taiwan's No. 1 and the world's No. 4 LCD TV panel maker in the first quarter this year, currently ships mainly 20-inch panels for LCD TV makers. However, the company has sold most of the panels to local customers, including Teco and BenQ Corp. (formerly Acer Communications & Multimedia Inc.). The company is now developing 26-inch, 30-inch and over-30-inch TV panels.

HannStar has developed 23-inch LCD TV panels, while Chunghwa is planning to introduce similar panels.

According to DisplaySearch Taiwan, global demand for LCD TV panels is expected to hit about 4.3 million units this year, up from an originally estimated 3.6 million units. Though the volume is still relatively low in comparison with demand for LCD monitors, the high unit prices of such panels make this a lucrative segment for panel producers.