WitsView: Impacted by the shortage in labor, components, and the number of working days, panel shipments slid by 12% in February

According to WitsView’s latest survey, global large-sized panel shipments (including the 8.9-inch
and above) slid by 12% MoM to 44.34 million units in February 2010. The decline was mainly due
to the effect of Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday: First, the actual number of working days is only
about two weeks in February. Second, this year, China faced serious labor shortage problems both
before and after CNY holiday; hence, downstream customers’ demand was reflected in January,
ahead of schedule. Third, tight supply of several panel components, such as polarizers and IC,
continued. As a result, overall shipment in February recorded a double-digit decline. In terms of
annual growth rate, shipments in February rose by 58.5% compared to the same period last year
when the economic was on a gradual recovery post-financial downturn; therefore, the base
volume during that period was relatively lower.

In February, shipments of all three applications declined due to the aforementioned factors
related to CNY holiday. Of which, TV panel shipments fell by 10.1% MoM to 13.87 million units;
monitor panel shipments slid by 16.6% MoM to 15.15 million units; netbook panel (<12.1”)
shipments decreased by 14.3% MoM to a mere 3.2 million units; notebook (>12.1”) panel
shipments fell by 7% MoM to 12.12 million units.