Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) has announced consolidated revenues of NT$16.59 billion (US$565.64 million) for the fourth quarter of 2010, down 15.2% sequentially and 2.2% on year.
TFT consolidated revenues totaled NT$14.98 billion, representing a 14.9% decrease sequentially but a 3.1% increase on year.
The large-size panel shipments for the quarter totaled 5.3 million units, down 7.2% sequentially.
The revenues generated by small- to medium-size panels reached NT$5.97 billion, down 10.4% sequentially. Meanwhile, shipments of small- to medium-size panels were 106.4 million units, up 4.6% sequentially.
Inventory turnover days in the fourth quarter of 2010 went up slightly to 31.5 days from 30 days in the third quarter.
CRT consolidated sales revenue totaled NT$1.62 billion, down 15% sequentially and down 28.2% on year.
CPT has announced net losses of NT$5.86 billion for the fourth quarter of 2010, and company president Lin Sheng-chang noted that CPT is actively transforming its business due to long term losses. CPT will continue to reduce the production of IT (notebook and monitor) panels on 6G lines and speed up the development of niche products and introduce new production processes in 2011, he said. Most of the new products and technology will start production, shipments or mass production in the second quarter of 2011, Lin added, saying that small- to medium-size panel production is expected to account for over 50% of CPT's total production substrate volume in 2011 and help to improve the company's competitiveness, revenues and profit.
Although IT panel prices stopped falling in the fourth quarter of 2010, and with overall panel prices remaining low with seasonality, revenues and shipments for IT panels decreased in the fourth quarter of 17.6% and 7.2% respectively, Lin indicated. CPT's small- to medium-size panels reached a new record in the fourth quarter exceeding 100 million units, and overall shipments for the whole year totaled 350 million units, he added. Due to better product mix, net losses of CPT's TFT business reduced NT$440 million sequentially in the fourth quarter.
Looking into 2011, Lin said that growth drivers for notebooks, tablet PCs and smartphones will be strong, and CPT will need to speed up its transformation in order to improve competitiveness.
CPT will focus on 21.5- and 18.5-inch for monitors and 15.6- and 14-inch for notebooks, Lin added. For niche products and new production processes, he said that CPT has started mass production on substrates with 0.5t thickness. For touch panels, CPT will focus on 3.5- to 10-inch touch sensor production, and the company is ready for mass production. For EPDs, CPT has completed trail production of TFT e-book reader panels on 6G lines and is scheduled to start mass production in the second quarter of 2011. Furthermore, 7- to 10-inch wide viewing angle tablet PC panels have completed validation with clients and will start shipments in the second quarter, Lin said.
In terms of small- to medium-size panels, 10-inch and smaller medium-size consumer electronics panels have completed the transfer to 6G lines for production with monthly shipments of 1.8-2 million units and up to one-third of market share, Lin noted, adding that 5-inch and smaller products have been successfully produced on 0.5t-thickness substrates at 6G lines and will start mass production in the second quarter.
CPT aims to ship 500 million units of small- to medium-size panels in 2011, Lin said, adding that shipments to first-tier clients accounted for 37% of its total shipments in the fourth quarter of 2010, of which handset, DSC and car-use panels accounted for the majority of the shipments.
Regarding CPT's 4.5G plant, the company has introduced substrates with 0.3t thickness and already started production at the L1B 4.5G plant in January 2011, and production is estimated to exceed 30,000 substrates in April. The L1A 4.5G plant has also started remodeling and will start trail production in the second quarter and is expected to produce 40,000 substrates in September 2011.
Lin said that CPT will focus on touch panel shipments in 2011 and expects to ship 50-60 million units of 3.5- to 10-inch touch sensors for the year.
CPT's front- to back-end production line at its Fuzhou, plant in China is expected to start mass production in May. The production line covers cover glass, touch modules, binding and TFT LCD modules (LCMs), with a expected capacity of 40,000 units of 10.1-inch products and is scheduled to start mass production in May.
CPT's development of touch sensors on color filters, also known as One Glass Solutions is completed and products are expected to start mass production in the second quarter of 2011. The technology is expected to help reduce thickness, weight and production costs.
Lin remarked that CPT expects to strengthen its competitiveness in costs, speed up the overall reaction time in the supply chain and shorten product development time, and improve revenues and profitability through new products, technologies and improved production processes.