TFT-LCD Makers Up In-house Production of Backlight-module

Taipei, Feb. 11, 2009 (CENS)--Competition in Taiwan's thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) backlight-module sector is intensifying as Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. (CMO), the No. 2 panel maker on the island, recently began increasing its in-house production of such key parts.

Industry sources pointed out that backlight module is the most expensive key part in a LCD TV panel. All TFT-LCD panel makers, suffering the downturn, have been trying to cut cost by requiring suppliers to lower prices or, like CMO, increasing in-house production.

Industry insiders familiar with CMO's operation pointed out that the Taiwanese panel maker began shifting its idled labor at the firm's LCD module (LCM) facility in Ningbo of Zhejiang Province in mainland China to a backlight-module facility so as to greatly upgrade the in-house production rate of such key part to cut cost and losses.

Industry sources said that CMO is the earliest to enter into the backlight business among all local counterparts. In addition to its Chi Lin Technology Co., Ltd., one of CMO's many panel-parts subsidiaries, has become a leading backlight supplier. Chi Lin helped its parent company increase in-house backlight production, which can reduce excess workforces and up production capacity at CMO.

As more and more panel manufacturers have stepped into in-house backlight production, industry insiders said, existing backlight suppliers are facing decreasing orders and even more price-reduction pressure, forcing them to develop newer and better products to survive.