Samsung executive said to be arriving in Taiwan for LCD panel supply talks

Max Wang, Taipei; Rodney Chan, DIGITIMES [Wednesday 16 July 2008]

An executive handling Samsung Electronics' display business will arrive in Taiwan this week for talks with LCD panel makers to secure supply for TV and monitor applications, according to industry sources.

The expected arrival of JK Kim, vice president of Digital Media Business at Samsung, comes amid a bleak outlook that the panel industry is bracing for slumping prices and persistently weak demand by cutting production. The latest news coming out of the industry is that Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) has already decided to cut its output 10% effective immediately.

The sources disclosed that Kim already visited Taiwan makers in late June about panel supply and prices. Earlier in July, CMO executives flew to Korea in talks with Kim and other relevant Samsung executives, the sources said.

Kim's visit this week is expected to touch on panel supply and prices for both TVs and monitors, two areas in which Samsung is still having strong sales despite the sluggishness in the markets, the sources said.

Samsung, as opposed to its chief competitor Sony, which outsources its LCD TVs to Taiwan, has been assembling LCD TVs at its in-house facilities. But Samsung sources 40% of its TV panels from Taiwan, the sources noted.

Despite worries of oversupply for TV applications in the panel market, Samsung actually has seen shortages in some segments because of strong sales, and it is looking for more secure supply, the sources remarked.