By Simon Quicke1 August 2008
Faced with the prospect of large drops in market value some
of the largest LCD panel manufacturers have moved to cut production by 10 per
cent until the end of this month.
The announcement that panel production was being cut was
made by the second largest producer LG Display, which follows in the wake of a
similar move made by Taiwanese manufacturer AU Optronics.
In an interview with the Korea Times a spokesman for LG
Display said that it had made the move in response to worsening market
conditions and the need to control inventory levels.
The spotlight will now fall on the other major panel
producer Samsung Electronics, which has so far shown no sign of cutting its
production.
Pete Gamby, research director at monitor and display
research house Meko, said that the forecast for the third quarter saw things “falling
off a cliff” with 20% reductions across the board in the LCD market.
“Everybody is reducing capacity so its chicken and egg and is
it a move to influence pricing by creating shortages or is it a move being made
because of forward pricing?” he asked.
He added that the major stock ordering of the back to school
laptops and the fourth quarter television panels would have already been made.
