Weak demand for televisions, desktop computer monitors and notebooks in the first quarter will lead to slowing shipment growth in the market for large liquid-crystal-display panels this year compared with the past two years, IHS iSuppli said Monday.
The research firm said it expects worldwide shipments for large LCD panels to rise 14% this year, down from the growth of 23.4% and 20.8% reported in 2010 and 2009. The forecast applies to panels that are 10.1 inches or larger in the diagonal dimension.
The first quarter is seasonally the slowest of the year, but iSuppli said this year's decline was more pronounced than last as shipments dropped 9.2% sequentially and 0.8% year-over-year.
Part of the problem, iSuppli said, can be attributed to efforts by branded vendors to reduce inventory, starting in December, which led to declining shipments and lowered production. In addition, the firm said slowing television sales in the U.S. and Europe in the first quarter were an issue, despite recent price declines.
iSuppli expects unit shipments to reach 740 million this year, up from 649.3 million in 2010.
