Down 1.5 percent on year

Taiwan's shipments of large-size panels - nine inch and above - will be 1.5 percent lower than last year.

Daft ideas of our time

We feel sorry for LG. Just as it announced that its display business had a stonking operating profit for the April-June quarter nearly tripled from a year earlier it was overshadowed by a rumour of a takeover from Google.

Production costs drop

Asian Panel makers have strengthened their financial performances in as overall production costs have dropped.