Corning expects panel market to grow in 2014, says CDTT president
日期：2014-03-18 阅读:888次
Rodney Chan, DIGITIMES, Taipei [Tuesday 18 March 2014]
The panel market will see growth in 2014, driven by demand for TV, tablet and smartphone applications, according to Daniel Tseng, president of Corning Display Technologies Taiwan (CDTT).
Although demand for notebook and monitor applications is likely to see slight declines, the performances of the TV, tablet and smartphone segments will fuel the growth momentum of the panel market, Tseng said.
He said the TV segment will see growth in both unit and area shipments in 2014, and the area shipment growth will be more significant because of TV screens getting bigger.
As for touch panels, Tseng said growth in the smartphone and tablet segments remain optimistic. Although touch panels' penetration in the notebook segment was low in 2013, Tseng expects improvements in 2014 because of more software and hardware support.
Tseng also commented on the specialty glass market, particularly the pros and cons of sapphire glass being adopted as cover glass for consumer electronics.
Tseng said sapphire has good anti-scratch properties because of its hardness, but that also means it is brittle. Sapphire may form good covers for watches, but Corning's Gorilla Glass is a better cover glass option for consumer electronics, Tseng claimed.
He said Gorilla Glass is lighter and and much cheaper than sapphire. Sapphire substrates are hard, but yield rates during production are low.