PRICES for LCD TVs and monitors won't plummet during the National Day celebration as they did in past holidays, industry officials said yesterday.
The reasons: upstream LCD panel costs have risen and supplies are short.
Mainland TV makers and panel producers should invest more in their own advanced production lines to reduce their dependence on panels from makers based in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, speakers told the China FPD (flat panel display) Conference, which opened yesterday in Shanghai.
"Consumers won't see price-aggressive promotion next month as electronics makers are finding it difficult even to get panels," said Zhang Bing, a senior analyst at DisplaySearch, a US-based research firm.
New products, such as public advertising displays and digital photo display frames, have fueled the demand for liquid-crystal-display panels.
"It is peak season for the LCD panels as vendors are preparing for the Christmas shopping wave," said Claire Tien, senior marketing director for BenQ, which sells LCD monitors and TVs.
For example, a 32-inch LCD panel is expected to cost US$319 in the third quarter compared with US$303 in the second quarter and US$305 in the previous quarter, according to DisplaySearch.
SVA Group said two weeks ago that it will invest US$6 billion to build a sixth-generation LCD panel line in Shanghai. The line, which will allow SVA to make TV panels 32 inches and larger, will use the most advanced technology on the Chinese mainland.
"Chinese LCD panel makers need a strong partner and government capital support to develop further," SVA President Gu Peizhu told the forum.
SVA may construct the sixth-generation line based on its current fifth-generation line, which was jointly invested by NEC and SVA.
Among the other companies planning upgrades, Chinese TV maker TCL plans to invest US$200 million in a new LCD module factory in Guangdong Province.