也許現在是買LCD的好時機??

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=18862
LCD makers sell panels below production prices

But makers hope stock mountain crumbling

By INQUIRER staff: Monday 04 October 2004, 07:47

WHILE MAKERS of panels for LCD monitors and TVs are hoping that distributors and resellers have demolished inventory mountains over the last few weeks, giant manufacturer LG Philips is now selling units for less than it costs to make them, it has emerged.
The Taiwan Times today quotes AU Optronics CEO Chen Hsuen-bin as saying that rivals, such as LG Philips, is adding to the overcapacity. LG Philips, Samsung, and AUO are the big three players in panel production.

Although AU Optronics is optimistic that things are on the turn because distributors and dealers have flushed their excess stock, we wonder if he's just whistling in the wind. At the DisplayForum just two weeks ago the concensus was that things are still pretty dire.

AU Optronics head chieftain Lee Kun-yao told Taiwanese reporters that prices of displays are at their lowest since 2001. But he's optimistic rising demand will fuel more sales this quarter and thinks the market is recovering.

The oversupply of LCD screens has led to some curious anomalies in the channel, with small brand monitor brands churning out monitors from different display manufacturers, seemingly willy nilly.

In June, the panel makers were hoping against hope that the Olympic Games would spur sales of LCD TVs but now they're hoping in a similar way that we'll all have such displays in our living room at the "chestnuts roasting on an open fire" and "Yule log" season.

Meanwhile, the panel makers, according to the Taipei Times, here, are churning out notebook displays as that market is still pretty buoyant. µ