SANTA CLARA – Total TV market shipments were up 3.7% year-over-year in the third quarter to 62 million units, up 12% sequentially, says DisplaySearch.

This marks a healthy rebound from the 1% year-over-year shipment decline in the second quarter and weak 1% year-over-year gain in the first. However, orders for LCD and plasma panels used in the production of TV sets were both down in the third quarter, resulting in a somewhat lean inventory situation toward the end of the period, says the research firm.

Many suppliers have taken a conservative approach to inventory for the holidays. Therefore, if demand is better than expected, there may not be much slack in the supply chain to fulfill restocking orders. This could potentially lead to some product shortages, the company says.

“End-market demand has been weak in North America during most of 2011, with unit shipments falling around 4% year-over-year through the first three quarters of the year,” noted Paul Gagnon, director of North America TV Research, DisplaySearch. “However, consumers, still quite sensitive to pricing, may be delaying purchases until the holidays when they expect to see the best deals. Consumers have learned this practice from observing previous holiday selling periods.”

LCD TV shipments worldwide were about 1% better than forecasted, rising 12.9% year-over-year to 51.5 million units compared to single-digit annual growth during the first and second quarters. This is a good indication of improving demand in end markets. Retail prices for some LCD sizes are falling below key price levels, like $300 for 32" and $500 for 40-42".

The transition to LED backlights continues, but the rate of adoption has been slower than expected. LED-backlit models have not been able to pass the 50% level, accounting for 48% of total LCD TV shipments, with the vast majority of those being edge-lit models.

Similarly, higher frame-rate models (120Hz or higher) have been mostly unchanged through 2011, representing about 22% of LCD shipments in the quarter. 3D grew to about 11% of LCD TVs, up from 9% in the second quarter. The slower growth of these two advanced features is indicative of a continuation of conservative consumer spending and reluctance to pay significant premiums, DisplaySearch says.

Plasma TV shipments have shown increasing softness in recent quarters, declining 6% year-over-year in the second quarter and falling 14% year-over-year in third to 4.1 million units. The decline in plasma TV shipments is the result of closer price competition with LCD models, leading to a transfer of market share at key sizes like 42" and 50". In addition, poor profitability at plasma TV heavyweight Panasonic has led to a shift in focus to larger models and more richly-featured sets with less emphasis on price competition. Within plasma, 720p models account for about two-thirds of unit shipments, but DisplaySearch forecasts a bigger shift to 1080p in the near future. Finally, 3D rose to about 27% of plasma TV shipments in the third quarter.

By region, China increased to more than 21% of all global TV shipments to become the clear leader in global TV demand. Shipments to China seasonally increase during the third quarter, ahead of October Golden Week promotions, but the level of share gain was substantial compared to previous years. The softness in consumer demand seen for developed regions led to much weaker growth than for emerging regions, with total unit shipments rising 12% year-over-year in emerging regions and falling 8% year-over-year in developed regions. China is a major driver of the stronger growth in emerging regions. In addition, adoption of advanced features, like 3D, has performed better in China than any other region. In fact, China was the leading region for LED LCD TV shipments, as well as for 3D LCD TVs.

Through the first three quarters of 2011, Western Europe and China were the leading adopters of 3D at 13% and 11% of total TV unit shipments, respectively. North America was initially forecast to be the leading market for 3D TV, but 3D accounted for only about 8.5% of total unit shipments. An unwillingness to pay much of a premium for 3D, and lower availability of low-cost 3D sets, compared to regions like China, have impacted uptake of 3D. During the upcoming holiday selling season in the US, 3D is not expected to be highly promoted. Instead, retailers will focus on large sizes with strong value pricing, but with lighter feature content, says DisplaySearch.

Samsung’s global flat panel TV revenue share was up slightly in the third quarter to 22.8%, a substantial lead over the No. 2 brand LGE. Samsung was the No. 1 brand on a revenue basis in every region, with the exception of Japan, where it does not sell TVs, and led LGE (a strong emerging market brand) in Asia Pacific and Latin America. Samsung was No. 1 in LCD and plasma TV revenues, No. 2 in CRT TV revenues, and was the only top-5 brand to post year-over-year growth in revenues.

LGE was the No. 2 brand worldwide at 13.1%, with small sequential and year-over-year revenue declines. LGE was No. 2 in LCD TV and No. 3 in plasma TV, but continued to lead in CRT TV with more than double the revenue share of any other brand. Sony remained the No. 3 brand in global flat panel TV revenues during the third quarter, but saw a significant decrease in market share and posted a 13% year-over-year decline in total revenues. Panasonic and Sharp rounded out the top 5, with Sharp gaining revenue share on increased shipments of large sizes like 60".

Samsung was the No. 1 global brand of 3D TV overall, accounting for all technologies, with 31% of revenues. Within the 3D LCD TV category, Samsung was No. 1, while Panasonic claimed the top 3D plasma TV revenue share.

NORWOOD, MA -- A new low-loss flip-chip package is said to provide an efficient, cost-effective chip-scale solution for power devices.

GLENVIEW, IL – Illinois Tool Works reported a year-over-year operating revenue increase of 14% for the three months ended Oct. 31.

WESTLAKE, OH -- Nordson has promoted John Byers, formerly president of its Asymtek unit, to chief information officer.

A Nordson employee since 1994, Byers had been president of Asymtek since 2006.

The company named Peter Bierhuis, formerly president of the company's March unit, to replace Byers as president of Asymtek. Bierhuis had been president of the plasma processing equipment OEM since 1999 and with Nordson since 1980.

March vice president of applications and business development Dr. James Getty will succeed Bierhuis.

Finally, Phil Vere has been promoted to president of Dage. He was managing director for bond testers. He succeeds Steven Kew, who is leaving to pursue other interests.

HONG KONG – VTech Holdings today reported fiscal first-half net profits fell 5.4% from last year to $88.5 million despite higher sales.

TIMISOARA, ROMANIA -- Flextronics has completed a 14,000 sq. ft. expansion to its facility here, paving the way for dedicated medical electronics production.

DANVILLE, VA -- EIT has opened its second manufacturing facility here, the fourth overall for the contract electronics assembler.

SAN JOSE – North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $939.4 million in orders in October (three-month average basis), down 41.1% year-over-year and up 1.4% sequentially, says SEMI.

The book-to-bill ratio was 0.74.

A book-to-bill of 0.74 means that $74 worth of orders was received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in October was $1.27 billion, down 22% year-over-year and down 3.6% sequentially.

“The recent period’s billings and bookings reflect the slowing capital investment in the industry that has been evident throughout the year,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. “While overall spending has declined, investments in NAND Flash, sub-30nm technology, and system LSI are ongoing.”

DONCASTER, UK -- SMT Xtra will begin offering contract electronics manufacturing services, the company said this week.

MUNICH -- Day 3 at Productronica has come and gone, with fireworks both literal and figurative.

VIENNA – Jabil Healthcare & Life Sciences, a design and manufacturing services company, has opened a new class 1K clean room in Austria, and inaugurated its medical new product introduction assembly work cell.

EL SEGUNDO – An unusually large decline of nearly 5% in the pricing of TV panels caused by anemic demand helped drive down overall prices of large-sized LCD panels in September by the highest margin in a year, says IHS iSuppli.

The 4.9% contraction in LCD TV panel pricing was the steepest in at least 12 months, and also was the second straight month of decline greater than 4%. In August, LCD TV panel pricing fell 4.3%, following dips averaging less than 1% in the prior four months. For an even bigger drop than that in September, one would have to go back a full 12 months to the same time last year, when LCD TV panel prices dropped 5.2% in September 2010. The price reductions on TV panels were continuing in October, as the end of 2011 approached, says the firm.

The weak pricing in the TV sector meant that overall prices remained depressed for large-sized LCD panels, including those used for monitors and notebook computers.

Average LCD panel pricing for all three sectors – televisions, notebooks and monitors – in September was down 3.8% sequentially. This marked the largest monthly decline since the 4.1% drop in September 2010.

“Slumping demand in Western Europe and North America are primarily to blame for the poor performance of LCD TV panels,” said Sweta Dash, senior director for liquid crystal displays research at IHS. “Given the already faltering economies of those regions and the threat of a double-dip recession looming, global LCD TV shipments continue to suffer, impacting the TV panel market especially hard.”

Also contributing to the depressed market for LCD TV panels was the China factor. Panel purchases in China are mostly completed by August in anticipation of the country’s National Day celebrations in October – a weeklong event that normally sees a surge in consumer purchases, including those for televisions.
The next big splurge by China on LCD TV panels is not expected until the end of the year, timed to coincide with Lunar New Year festivities in late January of 2012, says IHS.

In addition to the weak demand, the decrease in pricing is being spurred by moves among panel suppliers.

To boost LCD TV panel demand and entice TV manufacturers to buy more, panel suppliers offered very aggressive prices for the forthcoming Black Friday and Christmas holiday buying season in the US and Europe. But because TV brands also are setting highly competitive pricing to lure consumers in the weeks to come, that in turn has ratcheted up pressure on LCD TV panel manufacturers to lower their prices, especially on panels featuring the popular LED technology. With pricing on some TV panels reaching the cash-cost level, panel manufacturers cut utilization rates in their fabs to 70% in September, the lowest level for the year. They also trimmed inventories to reduce oversupply and restore balance to the panel market, the research firm says.

September pricing for 40" and 42" LCD TV panels fell by $10 to $15 on average and was down a smaller 5% for 46" and 47" panels. Rates continued to drop in October, though at lower levels, and US retailers are expected by Black Friday to offer 42" LCD TV sets featuring full high-definition and light-emitting diode technology at less than $400.

Unlike TV panels, monitor and notebook panels saw September pricing fall more moderately, in both cases dipping 1.7% from their August levels. Monitor demand fared better in the corporate segment worldwide than among consumers, who stayed more focused on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, such as Apple’s iPhone and iPad. Notebook panels, however, continued to struggle with weak numbers, and back-to-school sales were disappointing – again because of inroads made by smartphones and tablets into consumer households, says IHS.

Overall large-sized LCD panel pricing continued to fall by another few percentage points in October, but pricing is expected to stabilize somewhat in November because of controlled panel production.