Roller coaster ride in LCD equipment industry

NEW TRIPOLI, USA: TFT-LCD equipment, which grew 28 percent in 2008, and dropped 16 percent in 2009, is geared to increase 66.8 percent in 2010, according to the report, titled: LCD Market: Technology Directions and Market Analysis, recently published by The Information Network.

At the end of 2009, we saw utilization rates above 90 percent for all TFT-LCD manufacturing and nearly 95 percent for G6 and above plants – a driver for increased capex and equipment purchases in 2010. The 66.8 percent growth is the greatest since 2000.

Sales of the array processing equipment were in response to the resurgence in purchases of TVs, notebooks, and desktops following the global economic recession in 2009. Korea led in capex spending from LG Display and Samsung.Source: The Information Network.

Large-size TFT-LCD panel shipments increased 21 percent from 436.6 million units in 2008 to 528.3 million units in 2009. Revenues decreased 15 percent from $72.7 billion in 2008 to $61.8 billion in 2009. LG Display led the market based on shipments with nearly 25 percent share, taking the lead from Samsung. The latter company led the market based on revenues with more than 27 percent share.

Ulvac continues to be the dominant supplier of equipment, having led the market for the past four years and with revenues more than twice its nearest competitor, TEL, in 2009. Applied Materials/AKT, the only non-Japanese manufacturer of equipment, was fourth in 2009 on revenues of $402 million.Source: The Information Network.