Taiwan's shipments of small- to medium-size LCD panels are expected to fall 9.5% sequentially but up 3.9% on year to 174 million units in the first quarter of 2021, Digitimes Research estimates.
Shortages of some crucial components such as LCD driver ICs and shortened workdays in the first quarter due to the Lunar New Year holidays will weigh down makers' sequential shipment performance in the quarter, says Digitimes Research.
Shipments of small- to medium-size panels decreased 25.3% on quarter and 17.8% on year to 193 million units in fourth-quarter 2020, affected by the impacts of the tightened US trade sanctions against Huawei and efforts by makers to roll out more notebook panels and over 10-inch tablet panels to satisfy market demand.
Panel shipments for handset applications decreased significantly in the fourth quarter due to off-peak season effects and a ramp-up in shipments in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, tablet panel shipments gained momentum thanks to demand from clients including Amazon, and automotive panels also rebounded in line with a recovery of the global car industry.
For all of 2021, Taiwan's small- to medium-size LCD panel shipments are likely to fall 6.8% on year to 790 million units as smartphone-use AMOLED panels will continue to gain momentum, eroding the market share of LCD.