Chung Picture Tubes (CPT) is expected to see its shipments of 7- and 10.1-inch flat panels for tablet PC applications increase substantially starting the third quarter as the company's panels have entered design-in for more than 20 tablet PCs to be launched by PC vendors soon, according to market sources.

CPT has stepped into production of touch panels in order to provide a total panel solution for tablet PCs and therefore win more orders, the sources said. Other panel suppliers that also adopt a similar strategy include Chimei Innolux (CMI) and HannStar Display.

CPT now produces 1-1.5 million panel modules for tablet PCs, the sources indicated. The company is also outsourcing tablet panel production to meet customer demand.

Only Apple and Hewlett-Packard (HP) have products featuring a 9.7-inch panel, while other vendors including China's white-box players focus on 7- and 10.1-inch models, the sources commented.

Annual demand for tablet PCs is estimated at more than 50 million units, the sources said, adding that Apple currently grabs an almost 60% of the market. The remaining 40%, or 15-20 million tablets, is being shared among the other system vendors.