Laptop and telly sales to suffer
Compal Electronics president Ray Chen is expecting a
possible panel shortage in the second quarter of 2010 just as demand for
notebooks and LCD TVs starts to pick up.
He said that the panel industry outlook is better than
previously expected as driver IC backend supplier International
Semiconductor
Technology has seen orders from panel makers recover for November and
December. It is looking like the panel industry has recovered
quickly, with fourth-quarter 2009 likely to be stronger than expected,
he said.
However this has caught many panel makers on the hop and
could mean that there are shortages just as the market starts to pick
up. It is not clear what action the panel makers are taking
but it could mean that there are less panels in the marketplace than
are needed
during the start of 2010.