Shipments of liquid-crystal-display (LCD) monitors in Taiwan fell almost 11 percent in the fourth quarter of last year as economic woes took a toll on consumer and corporate spending on electronics, research house International Data Corp (IDC) said yesterday.
LCD shipments decreased by 10.9 percent year-on-year or 9.1 percent quarter-on-quarter to 403,707 units in the quarter ending Dec. 31, IDC said.
"The bleak economic outlook and delays in purchasing because of the government's consumer voucher program [starting on Jan. 18] affected consumer willingness to spend on LCD monitors," IDC analyst Kim Hye-jin said.
Companies also postponed replacement of old monitors given severe economic conditions, the researcher said.
The only bright spot is demand from government agencies and schools, which was stable, IDC said.
By value, the decline was bigger at 21.7 percent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter, indicating that the constant price war had eroded LCD monitor makers' profits and the effect could worsen in the long run, Kim said.
In terms of ranking, Asustek Computer Inc overtook ViewSonic International Corp for the first time to become the nation's top LCD monitor brand. Acer Inc and Chi Mei Corp occupied the third and the fourth places respectively.