lcd screen lg made in china

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It appears too soon to say that Samsung Display and LG Display, the nation’s top display makers, will exit from the less lucrative LCD market amid a cutthroat competition with Chinese rivals with cheaper pricing.

Until a few years ago, the two firms had hinted at retiring from the old-school LCD business to focus on more advanced technologies such as upgraded LCDs or OLEDs to widen the gap with Chinese runner-ups.

But experts here say there has been a sign of change in the attitudes more recently, pointing out that their full shutdown of LCD operations ultimately would hinge on elevating profitability of their high-end push.

In 2020 alone, Samsung Display posted a deficit of more than 1 trillion won ($841.5 million) in its LCD business. But it has no other option but to continue production to meet the demand from its parent Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest TV maker.

The firm last year sold its LCD production facility in China to its Chinese rival TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology, a key supplier to Samsung TVs. But the LCD line in Suzhou, China recently cut its panel supply almost in half, with Samsung’s display unit highly likely to be tasked with filling the void.

“(Samsung Electronics) have few choices but to contract with Samsung Display to make up for its LCD TV set capacity,” said Yi Choong-hoon, chief analyst at UBI Research.

This put Samsung Display‘s full exit plan in disarray. After the sell-off of the Chinese facility, the firm is also scaling down its LCD plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, to convert part of the facilities to its quantum-dot OLED lines to supply to set makers including Japanese firm Sony.

LG Display’s LCD business -- with production lines in Paju, Gyeonggi Province and Guangzhou, China -- is poised to generate 2.5 trillion won in operating profit for 2021, up fourfold from the previous year, according to Kim Jung-hwan, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, on Thursday.

This comes in sharp contrast with OLED TV earnings estimate. According to Kim, LG Display‘s OLED TV operations will post 152 billion won in operating loss, as its fourth-quarter forecast to generate 62 billion won income was dwarfed by 214 billion won losses for the previous three quarters. Since inception, LG’s OLED panel business has been in the red due to heavy spending.

“A bigger penetration of OLED TVs to consumers is a prerequisitie for a conversion of (LG Display’s) existing LCD TV lines to OLED TV lines,” he said.

Analysts also said LG Display has already streamlined its LCD TV lines under a series of restructuring of LCD TV lines, including a conversion to lines for IT devices including mobile phones.

“(LG Display‘s) LCD TV fabs with low profit margin have completed a retreat in the first half of 2021,” said Kim Sun-woo of Meritz Securities. “LG is now capable of maintaining LCD capacity with a decent profit margin.”

This comes against the backdrop of industry projections that LCD TV panel prices continue to fall steadily over the course of the first quarter, and Chinese rivals are forecast to ramp up dominance in LCD market,

According to US-based market intelligence firm Display Supply Chain Consultants, Chinese firms’ LCD market share on a capacity basis are forecast to rise to 71 percent by 2025, from 53 percent in 2020, far outpacing Korea, Japan and Taiwan, as of June 2020.

Another estimate, released earlier this week, showed the price for LCD TV panels regardless of size -- ranging from 32- to 65-inch -- is projected to fall until March, giving up almost entire gains from July 2020 to July 2021 that is partly attributable to announced exits of Korean LCD panel makers.

LG managed to cut the manufacturing cost of its OLED TV panels by quite a significant margin with the help of its factory in China. Its cost-cutting efforts are said to affect the production of an even wider range of TVs in the future, which could possibly create a positive ripple effect for consumers. LG is known for many things, from its range of smart appliances to high-end OLED TVs and even its tech-infused face mask.

Aside from producing various innovative smartphone models over the years, the South Korean tech giant is also known as one of the biggest suppliers of LCD and OLED display panels. LG Display, a subsidiary of LG, has been operating for over 20 years now, supplying display panels for renowned tech companies such as Apple, ASUS, Dell, Philips, and Sony. With the arrival of LG"s rumored 97-inch TV reportedly just around the corner, it makes sense for LG to find means of ensuring the cost of its panels won"t surpass the retail price of its TVs.

It seems like LG"s already taking measures for just that, and it all starts with its latest LG Display factory which opened last year in Guangzhou, China. According to flatpanelshd, its Chinese factory was able to lower the cost of its 48-inch displays by up to 14%. This was achieved by minimizing its cost and expenses in terms of overhead, labor, depreciation, and sales management. While the results affected only certain displays, the Display Supply Chain Consultants, a group that specializes in display-based supply chains, believes the same will also apply to its 65-inch displays soon, as well as double LG"s display panel sales from 2020. In addition, LG"s Guangzhou factory is said to be capable of manufacturing various display panel sizes at reduced production costs.

LG might have folded in the smartphone game, but its impact in the broader consumer electronics spectrum is still significant. That said, many well-known brands like Sony and Panasonic still rely on LG for their smart TV displays, and LG"s cost-cutting measures should allow it to meet larger demands faster and more efficiently. This also helps hasten the mass production of its much larger 80 to 100-inch TVs in the process, possibly allowing them to hit shelves sooner than anticipated.

While this might not exactly guarantee that consumers will soon be getting bigger TV screens for cheaper prices, it could likely increase supplies for larger TV sets. The more supply of such bigger-screen TVs appearing on the market relative to its consumer demand, the better the likelihood of their prices becoming more affordable. Of course, consumers shouldn"t hold their breath much in terms of drastic price reductions any time soon, especially since LG is still very much capable of charging customers $100,000 for a TV.