Taiwan-based panel makers' shipments of small- to medium-size TFT LCD panels are expected to reach 327 million units in the first quarter 2013, down 11.1% on quarter but up 5.8% on year, according to Digitimes Research.

The makers' on-quarter decline is due to the first quarter traditionally being a slow period compared to other quarters, while the on-year increase will be due to the makers bumping up cooperation with handset vendors such as Nokia and Sony, said Digitimes Research.

However, the makers' shipments of panels used in portable DVD players are expected to drop 38.3% on quarter during the period while shipments of panels used in digital photo frames are expected to decrease 29.4% on quarter largely due to increased demand for white-box tablets, noted Digitimes Research.