LCD Glut + iPad Cost Breakdown

choi

(1) Television-making  | Cracking Up. Flat screens are everywhere, but no one earns money making them. Economist, Jan 21, 2012. http://www.economist.com/node/21543215

Quote:

"Even Samsung, the biggest producer, has posted three quarters of losses on panel manufacturing this financial year. Sharp has converted two factories to make small LCD panels for smartphones and iPads. Smaller panels remain profitable, for now.

"To make matters worse, new Chinese factories may come onstream in 2012, depressing prices even further.

Note:
(a) The "new Chinese factories" are foreign owned, by Samsung and AUO. LG scrapped a plan to build LCD plant in China. Panasonic is closing its plasma display panel plant in Shanghai.
(b) Further Hitachi plans to close its only LCD television in Japan, after Sony and Panasonic scaled back LCD TV production.
(c) James Topham, Sharp Sees Record Net Loss as TV Woes Spur LCD Cuts. Reuters, Feb 2, 2012
http://www.reuters.com/article/2 ... USL4E8CV8R120120201
("Sales of [its] LCD TVs nearly halved in the October-December quarter, Sharp said, although [its] sales of TV models with screens 60 inches or bigger in the United States continued to stay robust.")
(d) Japanese manufacturers of LCD and LCD TV outsource to Taiwanese.
(e) Taiwanese LCD makers have had a majority of world market share in small- and medium-sized LCD panels.
(f) News release: Strategic Alliance for OLED Business- Idemitsu and AU Optronics Corporation Agreed to Form Strategic Alliance. Idemitsu, Feb 2, 2012
http://www.idemitsu.com/company/news/2011/120202.html
Idemitsu will "supply high-performance OLED materials")
(g) Idemitsu Kosan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idemitsu_Kosan
(the second largest petroleum refiner in Japan, after Nippon Oil; founded by Sazō IDEMITSU in 1911)  


(2) Trade statistics | iPadded. The trade gap between America and China is much exaggerated. Economist, Jan 21, 2012.
http://www.economist.com/node/21543174

My comment:
(a) The report cites
Kenneth L Kraemer, Greg Linden and Jason Dedrick, Capturing Value in Global Networks: Apple’s iPad and iPhone. University of California, Irvine, University of California, Berkeley and Syracuse University, July 2011
http://pcic.merage.uci.edu/papers/2011/Value_iPad_iPhone.pdf
, which is old news.
(b) So there is no need to read (2). At most, view the two pie charts in (a).