AU Optronics to Increase Share of LED-Backlit Monitors to 50 Percent in Q4 2010
Source/Type:  LIGHTimes Online - News - Staff reports

July 30, 2010... AU Optronics of Taiwan predicts that the global market share of LED-backlit TVs will surpass 20 percent in 2010, according to a Digitimes article. The company contends that the global market share increase will happen despite shortages in upstream LED supply.

According to the article, AUO expects its LED-backlit TV panel shipment share to reach 30% of its total TV panel shipments in the third quarter of 2010. That share of its total TV panel shipments is expected to grow to over 40% at the end of the year, according to AUO executive VP of global business unit Paul Peng.

Peng indicated that AUO's LED-backlit TV panel shipments are expected to reach one million units per month in the third quarter of 2010, and up to 1.2 million units per month in the fourth quarter. Peng added that LED-backlit models' share of the LCD TV market reached 14 percent in the second quarter, and will increase to 26-28 percent in the third quarter. Then it will surpass 30 percent in the fourth quarter.

AUO says that price will be the major factor affecting LED-backlit TV's popularity in the market. The company points out that the current retail price of a LED-backlit TV is aproximately 1.4-1.7 times the price of CCFL-backlit set. However, Peng contends that this gap is expected to narrow in the second half of 2010. He added that the price of LED-backlit TV panels will be 1.3-1.4 times the price of CCFL-backlit TV panels in the second half. Peng says that significant growth is expected when the price gap in the end market narrows to 1.2-1.3 times, and this is expected to happen in 2011 with LED-backlit TVs' market share exceeding 50 percent.

For LCD monitors, Peng said that LED-backlit models accounted for 22 percent of AUO's total monitor panels in the second quarter, and they will reach 30 percent in the third quarter and 50 percent in the fourth quarter. Peng contends that AUO may achieve the goal of 100 percent LED-backlit for all its monitor panels earlier than the target year of 2012. Despite industry shortages in LEDs for displays, Peng indicated that AUO will have sufficient supplies of LEDs from both in-house and outside sources. AU Optronics also announced plans to build TV set assembly plants in Europe and the United State. Peng sited heavy tariffs as the reason for the new plants.

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