Thin film transistor (TFT) LCD panel makers have increased the use of Generation 5 fabs for netbook and notebook PC panels, according to DisplaySearch, a market research firm. The company says 93% of netbook panels were produced in Generation 5 fabs during the fourth quarter of 2009, which is up from 69% in the same quarter of 2008.

The trend is because top-tier panel manufacturers have begun using Generations 6, 7, and 8 to make products such as LCD TVs, said Shawn Lee, Thin Film Transistor LCD analyst at DisplaySearch. This has caused panel makers to shift notebook and netbook panel production to Generation 5 for higher efficiency. Second-tier panel makers are expected to produce small and medium panels in Gen 5 in order to compete and survive.

Sharp’s Generation 10 fab in Sakai, which started production in the third quarter of 2009, focuses on 40- to 65-in. TV panels. Sharp is selling its Generation 6 Kameyama fab to CEC Panda in China. But since 26-in. TV panels are a very important product for the company, Sharp will use its Generation 8 fab to produce these panels, making it the first company to produce 26-in. panels on Generation 8.      

Panel makers expect strong demand during the first quarter of 2010, and they are planning to increase production to keep up, DisplaySearch says. The total area input is forecast to grow 1.7%, and unit volumes of panel output will grow 1.6%. Notebook panel output will increase 4.5%, monitor panels by 1.1%, and TV panels by 0.7%.