Sharp said the supply of liquid crystal display panels for televisions larger than 32in would likely fall short of demand by 15 to 30 percent in 2005, Reuters reported.
The comments come in contrast to the views of some analysts who have been predicting an oversupply of panels as companies such as Samsung Electronics and LG.Philips bring new factories online.
Last year, analysts were forecasting excess production capacity because of large LCD plants from Samsung and LG. However, Sharp executive director Toshishige Hamano said there currently isn’t enough. He said the shortage reflected a rapid shift in demand to larger LCD TVs as well as lower production yields than expected. Most of Sharp’s panel output is used for its own TV sets but it also supplies panels to other TV makers.
