Higher demand from China helped flat panel maker AU Optronics Corp. (AUO) post a month-on-month increase in sales in November, reversing a double-digit fall in the previous month, an analyst said Wednesday. AUO on Tuesday reported November sales of NT$36.87 billion (US$1.23 billion), up 5 percent from October, after October revenues dropped 16.3 percent from September. In the first 11 months to November, AUO's sales totaled NT$436.55 billion, up 35.4 percent from a year earlier. In November, AUO's shipments of large-sized panels -- panels 10 inches or larger used to produce desktop computers, notebook computers and TVs -- rose 6.3 percent from October to about 9.72 million units. During the same period, its shipments of small- and medium-sized panels rose 1.5 percent from a month earlier to exceed 18.04 million units. 'Ahead of the anticipated buying spree for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, many Chinese buyers are raising their inventories to meet demand,' Grand Cathay Securities analyst Mars Hsu said. 'AUO is simply one of the beneficiaries of the positive seasonal factor, in particular as China has accounted for more than 20 percent of the company's sales,' Hsu said. It remains to be seen, however, whether AUO's sales are stabilizing, Hsu said. 'As TV panel prices continue to fall amid fierce competition, AUO may feel the pinch from the lingering impact,' Hsu said. In the third quarter of 2010, panels used in TVs accounted for 56 percent of AUO's total sales, up from the 51 percent recorded in the second quarter, leaving the company more vulnerable to price volatility in the TV market. A report released by Taiwan-based Topology Research Institute in late November said flat panel display prices are expected to bottom out in the first quarter of 2011 after inventory adjustments. 