Even as the electronics industry pushes televisions for watching three-dimensional videos as a future growth area, Panasonic Corp. acknowledged that it will be challenging to get consumers to upgrade to 3-D sets so soon after many purchased new flat-screen TVs.
With the economy affecting all manner of consumer spending, it’s a little surprising to hear upbeat commentary from the flat-panel sector.
But according to Scott Birnbaum, vice president of Samsung’s LCD unit, its sales are benefiting from “vidification,” a term he uses to describe consumers trying to create a big-screen experience at home.
The makers of LCD panels for laptops and TVs are pressing on with churning out the glass, no matter how badly the industry is doing, reports trade pub DigiTimes. In an article on its Web site, the paper says that despite an expected 10 to 20 percent drop in factory use in the first quarter of 2009, many companies are not going to cease production entirely.
Things keep getting worse for Corning, as demand for large-screen LCD televisions sags in the face of a global consumer recession.
The LCD glass maker this morning said it is now withdrawing the financial guidance it provided just a few weeks ago for the fourth quarter and for 2009.
In a statement, CFO James Flaws said that “Panel makers, particularly those in Taiwan, have continued to reduce the utilization of their factories heading into the second half of this quarter in response to weakened retail demand for LCD televisions and desktop monitors.”
Corning will cut the production capacity of its glass business by 30-40 percent due to a lack of demand in the LCD television market. It wasn’t until after Labor Day that the decline reached the sector, though fears about the economy have been growing all year.
There’s still something not yet clear about the weird sell-off yesterday in shares of Photon Dynamics (PHTN).
To review: PHTN holders on Friday approved a pending $15.60 a share cash takeover of the company by Orbotech (ORBK), an Israeli-based rival in the LCD display equipment business. But the stock yesterday hit an air pocket, dropping $2.19, or 14.5 percent, to $12.89, and trading as low as $10.74. I theorized that the drop might have had something to do with the role in the deal played by Lehman Bros., which has been an adviser to Orbotech.
Shares of glass maker Corning (GLW), LCD panel producers AU Optronics (AUO) and LG Display (LPL) are all down sharply today amid a new wave of market jitters on the prospects for the flat-panel display market.
Several recent Street research reports note that conditions in the LCD panel sector have been difficult for much of the third quarter, raising questions about the companies’ ability to hit current Street estimates.
For those of us who follow such things, there’s always a bit of a disconnect when watching news reports that show domestic life in developing countries. Most of the time, the family in the living room or the men in the coffee house are huddled around picture-tube TVs.
Sony (SNE) this afternoon confirmed that it has temporarily reduced production at its Mount Pleasant, Pa., LCD television plant in response to slowing demand for 52-inch sets. Sony also makes 46-inch TVs at the plant.
A Sony spokesman told Tech Trader Daily that the plant, which is about 35 miles east of Pittsburgh, typically operates three production lines over the course of four 10-hour days a week.
Kids–they hate brushing their teeth. Sure, we try and show them pictures of zombie faces and toothless seniors, but it just doesn’t work. Finally, someone has come up with a solution to the problem: Make it fun. Researchers at the National Taiwan University have devised a scheme that turns brushing your teeth into a Webcam-tracked video game. Using an LED-studded toothbrush, a camera mounted above a mirror and an LCD display, kids can watch plaque and debris get annihilated from a cartoon mouth while they scrub their choppers.
Will collaboration among the manufacturers of flat-panel displays lead to slower price declines for high-definition LCD televisions?
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