TrendForce: Panel Shortage Arises the Pricing in Q3, LCD Monitor Brands Search for Way Out

Supply for LCD monitor panels is being pushed down by production of TV, notebook and small- to medium-size applications, which will lead to a 9.2% sequential decline in supply as well as increased pricing during the third quarter of 2014, according to WitsView, a research subsidiary of TrendForce. 

WitsView Research Manager, Anita Wang, said panels comprise approximately 40 to 60 percent of LCD monitor retail pricing and that the pricing will not necessarily increase despite the increased pricing in panel costs. Such trends can be found for 19.5-inch units, which have increased 7% in pricing from January to July 2014 and yet have decreased 1% in retail pricing over the same period. Profits from the LCD monitor sector, therefore, have been limited. 

Shortages in most of the panels, such as sizes 19.5W, 21.5W and 23.6 inches, have occurred since June and have affected OEM orders as well. This coupled with increased pricing from brand vendors for specialized sizes means that LCD monitor shipments in the third quarter will be limited, said WitsView. 

Brand vendors are turning to other counterstrategies such as replaceable sizes of panels, developing as well as establishing new sources for panel supply and searching for other new panels with more competitive prices, to replace the panels in shortage. Wang added that the brand vendors are also developing more niche products such as curved units that are expected to hit the market in order to maintain profits. 

Table: LCD monitor panel costs and retail pricing from January-July 2014