THE TAIWANESE Market Intelligence Center (MIC) said that a shortage of large TFT-LCD panels will hit notebook sales in the second half of this year.

The quango said that during the first and second quarters of this year, the panels have been and will be in oversupply. But during the third and fourth quarters of this year a seven per cent shortage of the panels will affect sales, particularly in the 12.1-inch and 15.4-inch sizes.

The situation is expected to ease in 2009, according to analyst Linda Lin, because supplies of fifth generation panels will begin to come onstream.

Total shipments for notebook panels will hit 131 million during 2008, she said.

The situation is different for LCD TVs and desktop LCD monitors, said Lin. µ