WitsView：May 1st Labor Day in China and Olympics Pushes China LCD TV Brand’s Panel Demand to Increase

According to WitsView, a research division of TrendForce, and Chinese research institute Σintell, the total shipments of LCD TV set in Feb-12 reached 2.577 million units with a 40% MoM regression and a surging YoY of 102%, mainly due to the relatively lower base period compared to last year. The figures above are based on China Top 6 TV Brand Shipment and Panel Demand reports.

Due to the upcoming May 1st Labor Day holidays in China, LCD TV finished good shipments in Mar-12 are projected to increased by 17% MoM, inspiring an estimated QoQ growth around 7~9% in 2Q12. The panel procurement volume in Feb-12 amounted to 2.805 million units with a MoM regression of 11%. In March, an increased MoM growth of 7% is expected.

Burrell Liu, WitsView research director indicates that the lackluster panel market is expected to rebound, helped by global brands’ well-controlled inventory in 2H11 and the upcoming China May 1st Labor Day holidays; meanwhile, Samsung, LG and Toshiba have started making preparations for product launches in European market in response to the forthcoming London Olympics in July-12. As a result, the global LCD TV shipments in 2Q12 are projected to grow by 8% QoQ.

China top 6 TV brands’ overseas shipments accounted for 22.3% of their total shipments in 2011. This year, with their key strategies continues to focus on expanding international sales and targeting overseas channels, aiming at 39% YoY growth in overall international sales, accounting for 25% of the total shipments; which is a projected threat to other international brands. CMI’s panel shipments to China till Feb-12 took 32% of the market share as the first ranking, followed by AUO with the market share of 22%. Ranked by the top 6 TV brands’ targets of annual total panel procurement volume, CMI is forecasted to secure its dominance by taking 24% of the total procurement volume, followed by LGD (21%), AUO (19%), and Samsung Display (18.7%). The remaining panels makers such as BOE and CSOT are projecteto jointly take up 17.3% of the total volume.
 
According to WitsView, the 39” and 50” panels released by CMI accounted for 6.5% of top 6 TV brands’ total procurement volume in Feb-12. CMI’s new-sized model shipments in 2012 are estimated to take 27% of its full-year shipments (Table 1), resulting from its tight capacity due to more-than-expected client demand. WitsView research projects the new-sized LCD TV panel shipments to reach 23 million units, accounting for 10~11% of the total panel shipments in this year.   

2012 Projected New-sized LCD TV Panel Shipments (Unit: Mn-pcs)

Source: WitsView