Shipments of large LCD panels (9″ and above) out of Taiwan (excluding Sharp) are expected to fall a further 1.4% quarter-on-quarter during the second quarter of 2018, having declined 4.3% in the first three months of the year, according to Digitimes Research. Though shipments fell from the fourth quarter of 2017, Taiwan’s first-quarter results actually exceeded expectations, reaching 58.82 million unit shipments, a 4.6% year-on-year growth compared to the first quarter of 2017.
Increasing output from 8.5G fabs in China is expected to have a debilitating effect on Taiwan’s panel shipments, with TV and monitor application segments predicted to be the worst affected. Digitimes Resarch also expects tablet panel shipments to drop by 2.8% — several firms have apparently ceased tablet panel production altogether, primarily because BOE has something of a monopoly on the sector in Taiwan. The company currently accounts for 30% of all tablet panel shipments globally and is still increasing its capacity going forward.
