Taiwan’s panel makers are transforming their industry. That’s the word from Taiwan Industrial Economics and Knowledge Research Center analyst Nancy Liu. Main buyers of Taiwan’s panels in China and Hong Kong are beginning to support their own panel manufacturers. This has led to a drop in exports of Taiwan’s panels for the last three years.
Liu said local panel makers are now upgrading technology.
"This year, we’re seeing [the panel makers] putting most of their capital expenditures on technology upgrade," said Liu. "They’re starting to produce high value added products. So for the second half of the year, there will not be any large scale production output but instead the focus will be on upgrading technology. There will not be a drive for surplus growth, but instead profit increase."
She said adding value to their products is the key for Taiwan’s panel makers to be competitive in the global arena.