Chromebook’s Popularity Driving Big Shipment Increases in 11-Inch Panels, IHS Says

With global consumer preferences shifting away from conventional laptops with 15-inch displays, first-half panel shipments in the 15-inch class dropped 14 percent year over year, to 38.4 million units from 44.5 million, IHS said Thursday in a report. However, with the growing popularity of Chromebook, notebook display panel shipments in the 11-inch class grew to 11 million units first half from 8 million a year earlier, IHS said. “Thanks to affordable prices, and a completed ecosystem with a host of hardware and app choices and a user-friendly cloud environment, Chromebook has expanded its customer base from small- and medium-sized businesses and the education market to general users,” IHS said. With notebook panel prices remaining low, profitability has become an issue, and many panel makers are facing pressure to maintain fab loading and gain market share, it said. “Panel cost structure has become crucial in the struggle to stay competitive,” it said. “Continuous panel oversupply not only hurts profitability, but could also confuse the real panel market demand in the fourth quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016. It’s time for panel makers to revise their production numbers, and curb capacity utilization, to keep pace with actual market demand.”