August in Taiwan
Taiwan’s three major panel producers saw an unusual variance in performance for August. The largest of the three, AU Optronics (2409.TT) saw a 17.3% m/m increase in sales ($809.68m US), although down 9.2% y/y and almost right on target against the 5-year sales average for August. On a cumulative y/y basis, AUO is up 0.6%, essentially flat with last year. Innolux (3481.TT), saw sales decline 3.0% m/m but up 1.0% y/y, although down substantially against its 5-yr. average for the month. On a cumulative y/y basis Innolux is up 4.6%. Hannstar (6116.TT) is a different entity as it is primarily a small panel producer. Hannstar saw a m/m decline in sales of 3.9% but a 38.4% increase in sales on a y/y basis, indicating how poor last year was for the small panel market. That said, Hannstar’s results were still significantly below its 5-year average, but again, on a cumulative y/y basis, Hannstar was up 25.4%.
All in, AUO continues to keep a close handle on balancing its panel production and maintaining a steady revenue flow and will likely see easy comparisons for the next two months based on the weakness seen in 3Q and early 4Q last year. Full year results will depend on the build into the holiday period and so far brands have remained mildly optimistic, pointing to a flat to slightly up year for AUO. Innolux seems to have found a groove this year, with monthly results slightly above last year, but again, the full year for Innolux will depend on the next two months, particularly September, as last year September was the strongest month in the back half, which must be duplicated for Innolux to stay ahead of last year. While Hannstar is certainly ahead of last year’s results, the back half of this year does not look particularly strong from a demand perspective unless you are a producer for Apple (AAPL), which we do not believe Hannstar is. It will certainly be a better year than last but still a poor showing against the company’s 5-year averages.
All in, AUO continues to keep a close handle on balancing its panel production and maintaining a steady revenue flow and will likely see easy comparisons for the next two months based on the weakness seen in 3Q and early 4Q last year. Full year results will depend on the build into the holiday period and so far brands have remained mildly optimistic, pointing to a flat to slightly up year for AUO. Innolux seems to have found a groove this year, with monthly results slightly above last year, but again, the full year for Innolux will depend on the next two months, particularly September, as last year September was the strongest month in the back half, which must be duplicated for Innolux to stay ahead of last year. While Hannstar is certainly ahead of last year’s results, the back half of this year does not look particularly strong from a demand perspective unless you are a producer for Apple (AAPL), which we do not believe Hannstar is. It will certainly be a better year than last but still a poor showing against the company’s 5-year averages.
Figure 2 - AU Optronics - Monthly Sales -= 2018 -0 2025 YTD - Source: SCMR LLC, Company Data
Figure 3 - Innolux - Monthly Sales -= 2018 -0 2025 YTD - Source: SCMR LLC, Company Data
Figure 4 - Hannstar - Monthly Sales -= 2018 -0 2025 YTD - Source: SCMR LLC, Company Data
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