‘Accumulated Gap’ Widening Between LCD TV Set, Panel Shipments, Says IHS

The “aggressive investment” in Gen 10.5 LCD fabs is helping to widen the “accumulated gap” between LCD TV set and panel shipments, said IHS Markit Thursday. Despite better than expected Q1 demand for LCD sets and panels, “market players would be well advised to adopt a more conservative outlook in demand growth for the coming quarters,” said IHS. Panel makers managed to sell more panels in Q1 than originally forecast “because panel prices declined much faster than expected,” it said. Global Q1 panel shipments increased 13.3 percent from a year earlier, while TV set shipments rose 7.9 percent, the firm said. “LCD TV panel shipments are expected to grow faster than the LCD TV set shipments, expanding the accumulated gap between the two even further.” With LCD fab capacity expected to increase more than demand as new Gen 10.5 plants come online, “panel suppliers will likely push to sell panels at lower prices while set makers are to hesitate buying panels expecting the price to drop even further,” the researcher said.