WitsView: Sluggish demand sends SI and brand monitor shipments down in November

Taipei, December 24, 2008---According to WitsView’s Top 10 SI monitor survey, shipments slumped by 28.3% MoM during November. But given the deteriorating global economy, clients continued to cut orders, thus resulting in a bigger than expected decline.

As most of the makers posted a sharp decline, the huge shipment drops in November were mainly attributed to the persisting macroeconomic woes. As monitor brand vendors can not meet their respective sales target, the orders placed to the SIs’ has been sharply reduced. In general, demand in the entire supply chain is weak. Separately, another reason behind the SIs’ shipment drop also stemmed from inventory corrections, as the year-end inventory checks drew closer. WitsView projects their aggregate shipments may fall by 10% over November.

Worldwide top 5 LCD monitor SI shipments by unit in November (Unit: K pcs)

On the other hand, the aggregated monitor brand shipment declines in November were higher than original projections, impacted by the deteriorating global economic turmoil. On a MoM basis, they fell by 29.8%, the biggest drop since the start of 2008. Consumer spending has grown very weak in markets, such as North America and Europe. Despite the aggressive sales promotions of brand vendors, the end market demand remains slow, which is one of the root problems facing the industry.

Comparing the respective shipment performance of the top 10 monitor brand vendors, in contrast to October, most of player all fell by a two-digit figure. But some brand vendors have started preparations for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year holidays in Jan09, its shipment fall was more moderate. Meanwhile, with the IT panel price already below the material cost level, prices may have a chance to gradually hit bottom in the future. Thus, some brand vendors are considering drawing up inventory strategies in maintaining flexibility in their panel procurement and response to a possible improvement in market conditions.

Currently, the top 10 monitor brand vendors are still keeping a conservative and slightly downbeat outlook towards December and 1Q09. WitsView projects their aggregate shipments may fall by 11% over November.

Worldwide top 5 LCD monitor brand shipments in November (Unit: K pcs)

Note: The production volume covers both own-brand and outsourcing manufacturing

More information on LCD monitor SI and brand shipments are available on WitsView's web site at http://www.witsview.com/MarketTrend/Default.aspx

About WitsView

Founded in the year 2004, WitsView, a subsidiary brand of DRAMeXchange, is composed of a team of TFT-LCD industry experts. The research field covers the development and market trend of upstream components, mid stream panels and downstream system integrators and retailers.
For more about WitsView, please visit www.witsview.com