LCD TV panel demand to stay strong through 3Q09

LCD TV panel demand is estimated to stay strong until the end of the third quarter of 2009, driven by China's National Day holiday sales in October and the year-end shopping season in North America and Europe, according to market sources.

The TV panel industry will also see significant shipments in the fourth quarter, thanks to orders delayed from the third quarter amid glass substrate shortages and demand for Lunar New Year holiday sales in the first quarter of 2010, the sources indicated.

But the glass substrate shortages are expected to limit global large-size LCD panel shipment growth to less than 10% sequentially in the third quarter, the sources said, adding that TV panels currently account for up to 55% of total LCD area shipments.