lcd panel prices 2017 made in china

LCD panel prices have risen for 4 months in a row because of your home gaming? Since this year, the whole LCD panel market smoke. Whether after the outbreak of the epidemic, LCD panel market prices rose for four months, or the panel giants in Japan and South Korea successively sold production lines, or the Chinese mainland listed companies frequently integrated acquisition, investment, and plant construction, all make the industry full of interesting.

LCD panel pricesare already a fact. Since May this year, LCD panel prices have risen for four months in a row, making the whole industry chain dynamic. Why are LCD panels going up in price in a volatile 2020? The key factor lies in the imbalance between supply and demand.

For larger sizes, overseas stocks remained strong, with prices for 65 inches and 75 inches rising $10 on average to $200 and $305 respectively in September.

The price of LCDS for large-size TVs of 70 inches or more hasn"t budged much. In addition, LTPS screens and AMOLED screens used in high-end phones have seen little or no increase in price.

As for October, LCD panel price increases are expected to moderate. The data shows that in October 32 inches or 2 dollars; Gains of 39.5 to 43 inches will shrink to $3;55 inches will fall back below $10; The 65-inch gain will narrow to $5.

During the epidemic, people stayed at home and had no way to go out for entertainment. They relied on TV sets, PCS, and game consoles for entertainment. After the resumption of economic work and production, the market of traditional home appliances picked up rapidly, and LCD production capacity was quickly digested.

However, due to the shutdown of most factories lasting 1-2 months during the epidemic period, LCD panel production capacity was limited, leading to insufficient production capacity in the face of the market outbreak, which eventually led to the market shortage and price increase for 4 consecutive months.

In fact, the last round of price rise of LCD panel was from 2016 to 2017, and its overall market price has continued to fall since 2018. Even in 2019, individual types have fallen below the material cost, and the whole industry has experienced a general operating loss. As a result, LCD makers have been looking for ways to improve margins since last year.

A return to a reasonable price range is the most talked about topic among panel makers in 2019, according to one practitioner. Some manufacturers for the serious loss of the product made the decision to reduce production or even stop production; Some manufacturers planned to raise the price, but due to the epidemic in 2020, the downstream demand was temporarily suppressed and the price increase was postponed. After the outbreak was contained in April, LCD prices began to rise in mid-to-late May.

In fact, the market price of LCD panels continued to decline in 2018-2019 because of the accelerated rise of China"s LCD industry and the influx of a large number of local manufacturers, which doubled the global LCD panel production capacity within a few years, but there was no suitable application market to absorb it. The result of excess capacity is oversupply, ultimately making LCD panel prices remain depressed.

Against this background, combined with the impact of the epidemic in 2020, the operating burden of LCD companies in Japan and South Korea has been further aggravated, and it is difficult to make profits in the production of LCD panels, so they have to announce the withdrawal of LCD business.

business in June 2022. In August, Sharp bought JDI Baishan, a plant in Ishikawa prefecture that makes liquid crystal display panels for smartphones. In early September, Samsung Display sold a majority stake in its SUZHOU LCD production plant to Starlight Electronics Technology, a unit of TCL Technology Group. LGD has not only pulled out of some of its production capacity but has announced that it will close its local production line in 2020. According to DSCC, a consultancy, the share of LCD production capacity in South Korea alone will fall from 19% to 7% between 2020 and 2021.

It is worth mentioning that in industry analysis, in view of the fact that Korean companies are good at using "dig through old bonus - selling high price - the development of new technology" the cycle of development mode, another 2020 out of the LCD production capacity, the main reason may be: taking the advantage of China"s expanding aggressively LCD manufacturers, Korean companies will own LCD panel production line hot sell, eliminating capacity liquid to extract its final value, and turning to the more profitable advantage of a new generation of display technologies, such as thinner, color display better OLED, etc. Samsung, for example, has captured more than 80% of the OLED market with its first-mover advantage.

From the perspective of production capacity, the launch of LCD tracks by major manufacturers in Japan and South Korea must reduce some production capacity in the short term, which to some extent induces market price fluctuations. In the long run, some of the Japanese and Korean LCD production capacity has been bought by Chinese manufacturers, coupled with frequent investment in recent years, the overall capacity is sure to recover as before, or even more than before. But now it will take time to expand the production layout, more or less will cause supply imbalance, the industry needs to be cautious.

The LCD panel industry started in the United States and then gradually moved to Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan. At present, the proportion of production capacity in The Chinese mainland has reached 52% in 2020, and there are leading LCD panel products in China represented by BOE, Huxing Optoelectronics. Meanwhile, the production capacity layout of BOE, Huike, Huxing Optoelectronics, and other manufacturers has been basically completed, making industrial integration a necessity.

On the one hand, South Korean enterprises out of the LCD track, the domestic factory horse enclosure, plant expansion action. While LCDs may not sell as well as "upstart" flexible screens, respondents believe they are still strong enough in the traditional home appliance market to warrant continued investment. Zhao Bin, general manager of TCL Huaxing Development Center, has said publicly that the next-generation display technology will be mature in four to five years, but the commercialization of products may not take place until a decade later. "LCD will still be the mainstream in this decade," he said.

On the other hand, there is no risk of neck jam in China"s LCD panel industry, which is generally controllable. In mainland China, there will be 21 production lines capable of producing 32-inch or larger LCD panels by 2021, accounting for about two-thirds of the global total. In terms of the proportion of production capacity, the Chinese mainland accounted for 42% of the global LCD panel in 2019, 51% this year, and will continue to climb to 63% next year.

Of course, building factories and expanding production cannot be accomplished overnight. In the process of production capacity recovery, it is predicted that there will be several price fluctuations, and the cost may be passed on to the downstream LCD panel manufacturers or consumers when the price rises greatly, which requires continuous attention.

Large LCD panel prices have been continuously increasing for last 10 months due to an increase in demand and tight supply. This has helped the LCD industry to recover from drastic panel price reductions, revenue and profit loss in 2019. It has also contributed to the growth of Quantum Dot and MiniLED LCD TV.

Strong LCD TV panel demand is expected to continue in 2021, but component shortages, supply constraints and very high panel price increase can still create uncertainties.

LCD TV panel capacity increased substantially in 2019 due to the expansion in the number of Gen 10.5 fabs. After growth in 2018, LCD TV demand weakened in 2019 caused by slower economic growth, trade war and tariff rate increases. Capacity expansion and higher production combined with weaker demand resulted in considerable oversupply of LCD TV panels in 2019 leading to drastic panel price reductions. Some panel prices went below cash cost, forcing suppliers to cut production and delay expansion plans to reduce losses.

Panel over-supply also brought down panel prices to way lower level than what was possible through cost improvement. Massive 10.5 Gen capacity that can produce 8-up 65" and 6-up 75" panels from a single mother glass substrate helped to reduce larger size LCD TV panel costs. Also extremely low panel price in 2019 helped TV brands to offer larger size LCD TV (>60-inch size) with better specs and technology (Quantum Dot & MiniLED) at more competitive prices, driving higher shipments and adoption rates in 2019 and 2020.

While WOLED TV had higher shipment share in 2018, Quantum Dot and MiniLED based LCD TV gained higher unit shares both in 2019 and 2020 according to Omdia published data. This trend is expected to continue in 2021 and in the next few years with more proliferation of Quantum Dot and MiniLED TVs.

Panel suppliers’ financial results suffered in 2019 as they lost money. Suppliers from China, Korea and Taiwan all lowered their utilization rates in the second half of 2019 to reduce over-supply. Very low prices combined with lower utilization rates made the revenue and profitability situation for panel suppliers difficult in 2019. BOE and China Star cut the utilization rates of their Gen 10.5 fabs. Sharp delayed the start of production at its 10.5 Gen fab in China. LGD and Samsung display decided to shift away from LCD more towards OLED and QDOLED respectively. Both companies cut utilization rates in their 7, 7.5 and 8.5 Gen fabs. Taiwanese suppliers also cut their 8.5 Gen fab utilization rates.

An increase in demand for larger size TVs in the second half of 2020 combined with component shortages has pushed the market to supply constraint and caused continuous panel price increases from June 2020 to March 2021. Market demand for tablets, notebooks, monitors and TVs increased in 2020 especially in the second half of the year due to the impact of "stay at home" regulations, when work from home, education from home and more focus on home entertainment pushed the demand to higher level.

With stay at home continuing in the firts half of 2021 and expected UEFA Europe football tournaments and the Olympic in Japan (July 23), TV brands are expecting stronger demand in 2021. The panel price increase resulting in higher costs for TV brands. It has also made it difficult for lower priced brands (Tier2/3) to acquire enough panels to offer lower priced TVs. Further, panel suppliers are giving priority to top brands with larger orders during supply constraint. In recent quarters, the top five TV brands including Samsung, LG, and TCL have been gaining higher market share.

From June 2020 to January 2021, the 32" TV panel price has increased more than 100%, whereas 55" TV panel prices have increased more than 75% and the 65" TV panel price has increased more than 38% on average according to DSCC data. Panel prices continued to increase through Q1 and the trend is expected to continue in Q2 2021 due to component shortages.

In last few months top glass suppliers Corning, NEG and AGC have all experienced production problems. A tank failure at Corning, a power outage at NEG and an accident at an AGC glass plant all resulted in glass supply constraints when demand and production has been increasing. In March this year Corning announced its plan to increase glass prices in Q2 2021. Corning has also increased supply by starting glass tank in Korea to supply China’s 10.5 Gen fabs that are ramping up. Most of the growth in capacity is coming from Gen 8.6 and Gen 10.5 fabs in China.

Major increases in panel prices from June 2020, have increased costs and reduced profits for TV brand manufacturers. TV brands are starting to increase TV set prices slowly in certain segments. Notebook brands are also planning to raise prices for new products to reflect increasing costs. Monitor prices are starting to increase in some segments. Despite this, buyers are still unable to fullfill orders due to supply issues.

TV panel prices increased in Q4 2020 and are also expected to increase in the first half of 2021. This can create challenges for brand manufacturers as it reduces their ability to offer more attractive prices in coming months to drive demand. Still, set-price increases up to March have been very mild and only in certain segments. Some brands are still offering price incentives to consumers in spite of the cost increases. For example, in the US market retailers cut prices of big screen LCD and OLED TV to entice basketball fans in March.

Higher LCD price and tight supply helped LCD suppliers to improve their financial performance in the second half of 2020. This caused a number of LCD suppliers especially in China to decide to expand production and increase their investment in 2021.

New opportunities for MiniLED based products that reduce the performance gap with OLED, enabling higher specs and higher prices are also driving higher investment in LCD production. Suppliers from China already have achieved a majority share of TFT-LCD capacity.

BOE has acquired Gen 8.5/8.6 fabs from CEC Panda. ChinaStar has acquired a Gen 8.5 fab in Suzhou from Samsung Display. Recent panel price increases have also resulted in Samsung and LGD delaying their plans to shut down LCD production. These developments can all help to improve supply in the second half of 2021. Fab utilization rates in Taiwan and China stayed high in the second half of 2020 and are expected to stay high in the first half of 2021.

Price increases for TV sets are still not widespread yet and increases do not reflect the full cost increase. However, if set prices continue to increase to even higher levels, there is the potential for an impact on demand.

QLED and MiniLED gained share in the premium TV market in 2019, impacting OLED shares and aided by low panel prices. With the LCD panel price increases in 2020 the cost gap between OLED TV and LCD has gone down in recent quarters.

OLED TV also gained higher market share in the premium TV market especially sets from LG and Sony in the last quarter of 2020, according to industry data. LG Display is implimenting major capacity expansion of its OLED TV panels with its Gen 8.5 fab in China.Strong sales in Q4 2020 and new product sizes such as 48-inch and 88-inch have helped LG Display’s OLED TV fabs to have higher utilization rates.

Samsung is also planning to start production of QDOLED in 2021. Higher production and cost reductions for OLED TV may help OLED to gain shares in the premium TV market if the price gap continues to reduce with LCD.

Lower tier brands are not able to offer aggressive prices due to the supply constraint and panel price increases. If these conditions continue for too long, TV demand could be impacted.

Strong LCD TV demand especially for Quantum Dot and MiniLED TV is expected to continue in 2021. The economic recovery and sports events (UEFA Europe footbal and the Olympics in Japan) are expected to drive demand for TV, but component shortages, supply constraints and too big a price increase could create uncertainties. Panel suppliers have to navigate a delicate balance of capacity management and panel prices to capture the opportunity for higher TV demand. (SD)

LCD manufacturers are mainly located in China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan. Almost all the lcd or TFT manufacturers have built or moved their lcd plants to China on the past decades. Top TFT lcd and oled display manufactuers including BOE, COST, Tianma, IVO from China mainland, and Innolux, AUO from Tianwan, but they have established factories in China mainland as well, and other small-middium sizes lcd manufacturers in China.

China flat display revenue has reached to Sixty billion US Dollars from 2020. there are 35 tft lcd lines (higher than 6 generation lines) in China,China is the best place for seeking the lcd manufacturers.

The first half of 2021, BOE revenue has been reached to twenty billion US dollars, increased more than 90% than thesame time of 2020, the main revenue is from TFT LCD, AMoled. BOE flexible amoled screens" output have been reach to 25KK pcs at the first half of 2021.the new display group Micro LED revenue has been increased to 0.25% of the total revenue as well.

Established in 1993 BOE Technology Group Co. Ltd. is the top1 tft lcd manufacturers in China, headquarter in Beijing, China, BOE has 4 lines of G6 AMOLED production lines that can make flexible OLED, BOE is the authorized screen supplier of Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, etc,the first G10.5 TFT line is made in BOE.BOE main products is in large sizes of tft lcd panel,the maximum lcd sizes what BOE made is up to 110 inch tft panel, 8k resolution. BOE is the bigger supplier for flexible AM OLED in China.

Technology Co., Ltd), established in 2009. CSOT is the company from TCL, CSOT has eight tft LCD panel plants, four tft lcd modules plants in Shenzhen, Wuhan, Huizhou, Suzhou, Guangzhou and in India. CSOTproviding panels and modules for TV and mobile

three decades.Tianma is the leader of small to medium size displays in technologyin China. Tianma have the tft panel factories in Shenzhen, Shanhai, Chendu, Xiamen city, Tianma"s Shenzhen factory could make the monochrome lcd panel and LCD module, TFT LCD module, TFT touch screen module. Tianma is top 1 manufactures in Automotive display screen and LTPS TFT panel.

Tianma and BOE are the top grade lcd manufacturers in China, because they are big lcd manufacturers, their minimum order quantity would be reached 30k pcs MOQ for small sizes lcd panel. price is also top grade, it might be more expensive 50%~80% than the market price.

Panda electronics is established in 1936, located in Nanjing, Jiangshu, China. Panda has a G6 and G8.6 TFT panel lines (bought from Sharp). The TFT panel technologies are mainly from Sharp, but its technology is not compliance to the other tft panels from other tft manufactures, it lead to the capacity efficiency is lower than other tft panel manufacturers. the latest news in 2022, Panda might be bougt to BOE in this year.

Established in 2005, IVO is located in Kunsan,Jiangshu province, China, IVO have more than 3000 employee, 400 R&D employee, IVO have a G-5 tft panel production line, IVO products are including tft panel for notebook, automotive display, smart phone screen. 60% of IVO tft panel is for notebook application (TOP 6 in the worldwide), 23% for smart phone, 11% for automotive.

Besides the lcd manufacturers from China mainland,inGreater China region,there are other lcd manufacturers in Taiwan,even they started from Taiwan, they all have built the lcd plants in China mainland as well,let"s see the lcd manufacturers in Taiwan:

Innolux"s 14 plants in Taiwan possess a complete range of 3.5G, 4G, 4.5G, 5G, 6G, 7.5G, and 8.5G-8.6G production line in Taiwan and China mainland, offering a full range of large/medium/small LCD panels and touch-control screens.including 4K2K ultra-high resolution, 3D naked eye, IGZO, LTPS, AMOLED, OLED, and touch-control solutions,full range of TFT LCD panel modules and touch panels, including TV panels, desktop monitors, notebook computer panels, small and medium-sized panels, and medical and automotive panels.

AUO is the tft lcd panel manufacturers in Taiwan,AUO has the lcd factories in Tianma and China mainland,AUOOffer the full range of display products with industry-leading display technology,such as 8K4K resolution TFT lcd panel, wide color gamut, high dynamic range, mini LED backlight, ultra high refresh rate, ultra high brightness and low power consumption. AUO is also actively developing curved, super slim, bezel-less, extreme narrow bezel and free-form technologies that boast aesthetic beauty in terms of design.Micro LED, flexible and foldable AMOLED, and fingerprint sensing technologies were also developed for people to enjoy a new smart living experience.

Hannstar was found in 1998 in Taiwan, Hannstar display hasG5.3 TFT-LCD factory in Tainan and the Nanjing LCM/Touch factories, providing various products and focus on the vertical integration of industrial resources, creating new products for future applications and business models.

driver, backlight etc ,then make it to tft lcd module. so its price is also more expensive than many other lcd module manufacturers in China mainland.

Maclight is a China based display company, located in Shenzhen, China. ISO9001 certified, as a company that more than 10 years working experiences in display, Maclight has the good relationship with top tft panel manufacturers, it guarantee that we could provide a long term stable supply in our products, we commit our products with reliable quality and competitive prices.

Maclight products included monochrome lcd, TFT lcd module and OLED display, touch screen module, Maclight is special in custom lcd display, Sunlight readable tft lcd module, tft lcd with capacitive touch screen. Maclight is the leader of round lcd display. Maclight is also the long term supplier for many lcd companies in USA and Europe.

If you want tobuy lcd moduleorbuy tft screenfrom China with good quality and competitive price, Maclight would be a best choice for your glowing business.

(Yicai Global) June 13 -- BOE Technology Group, TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology and other big Chinese liquid crystal display manufacturers are reducing output starting from this month to try and stop a freefall in prices caused by a global glut.

Panel makers are cutting production by 16 percent on average from this month, Rong Chaoping, senior researcher at market research firm AVC Revo, told Yicai Global. Television panel makers are expected to ship 3.6 million less panels than last month.

Panel makers will reduce capacity by between 15 and 20 percent this month, said Wu Rongbing, chief analyst at Chinese semiconductor intelligence service Omdia.

LCD TV display shipments from China’s five largest panel manufacturers accounted for 68.5 percent of the global market in April, a new high, and they were expected to exceed 70 percent this year, according to Omdia.

But there is much less demand for notebook computers, monitors and TVs now that fewer people are working from home as the Covid-19 pandemic wanes and amid pressure from global inflation. This is driving prices down, said Li Yaqin, general manager of market research firm Sigmaintell.

The global panel industry is expected to slash production by about 20 percent this year, according to Beijing-based Sigmaintell. It is the first time since 2013 that the worldwide sector has implemented such a large-scale and wide-ranging cut in manufacturing. But it should help to slow the fall in prices, Li said.

“Tumbling prices are squeezing profits,” Li said. “The price of a TV panel is now below cost price and that of some data panels is also below the manufacturing cost.”

“Panel makers are facing rising liquidity pressure and bigger losses as prices are now below cost price, so the display industry is likely to undergo another big reshuffle,” Rong said.

Excess supply will ease in the third quarter once output is cut, and prices will start to pick up and then flatten out, Li said. Demand for consumer electronic products is shrinking by far more than expected so it is too early to tell whether prices will rebound in the second half, she added.

Panel prices are likely to stop dropping this month or next as output falls, Wu said. Whether prices will start to pick up soon depends on when demand improves.

The Far East’s liquid crystal display panel industry has heated up in recent months, with dramatic price hikes causing major headaches for manufacturers of smartphones and television sets.

In January 2016, the average price for a 40-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) panel was $94, according to IHS Markit. By January this year, it was $141— 50% higher.

The price of 5-inch HD panels, used primarily in smartphones, has risen from $2.40 at the beginning of 2016 to $5.50 today, an executive at one of China’s largest cellphone manufacturers told Caixin.

This is good news for panel makers. In 2016, Taiwan-based panel maker AU Optronics Corp. saw its year-on-year net profit grow 36.4%. Mainland counterpart BOE Technology Group Co. Ltd., which became the third-largest panel supplier globally last year, saw an astounding year-on-year net profit growth of 1,494.35% in 2016’s third quarter, a huge contrast from its performance in the previous quarter, during which it had a net loss.

LCD panels account for almost 40% of the cost of manufacturing a phone, a Chinese smartphone maker’s representatives told Caixin. In TV sets, panels account for an even greater percentage of the production cost — 60% to 70%.

LeEco has raised the prices of its internet-enabled TV sets twice in recent months, and Xiaomi has increased prices three times this year, with its 48-inch sets now 30% more expensive than they were last year.

Almost all companies in the industry conduct transactions in U.S. dollars, so for Chinese brands targeting domestic consumers, the strengthening U.S. dollar is amplifying the effect of rising panel costs.

“In the second half of 2015, many panel manufacturers sold their panels at prices as low as the actual production cost,” a cellphone manufacturer told Caixin.

A number of major suppliers in Japan and South Korea shut down production lines in 2015. Samsung Group sold a fifth-generation LCD production line to Chinese company Truly Opto-electronics Ltd. last year, while Japanese manufacturers shut down multiple production lines for Generation 4.5 and smaller production lines.

In August, after it was officially acquired by Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, Sharp Corp. announced its plan to break into the Chinese internet-enabled TV market, and its aim of selling 10 million sets in 2017.

To fulfill this target, Sharp will use up all 10 million panels that Sakai Display Products Corp., which Sharp and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. jointly own, is expected to produce this year. This will leave no surplus to sell to other TV manufacturers, Sharp spokespeople told Caixin.

The February 2016 earthquake in Taiwan also disrupted LCD panel production, resulting in a major drop in supply of panels at the end of the first quarter and throughout the second quarter last year.

Even as supply shrank, demand for panels rose. In 2016, sales of TV sets in the Chinese and American markets exceeded expectations, with those markets growing 7% and 8% respectively. In saturated markets, one doesn’t usually expect growth of more than 5%, Sigma Intell director Li Yaqin said.

To make matters worse, tightened supply and rising prices have spurred some distributors to stockpile panels and further reduce the supply. An industry insider told Caixin that the mid- and low-end LCD panel market has been the most affected by stockpiling.

Smartphone LCD panel prices have started to stabilize this year, as suppliers have increased capacity after smartphone panel prices peaked in the fourth quarter last year. But prices of large TV panels, especially those wider than 55 inches, have continued to rise.

All View Cloud’s Dong Min believes the supply of larger TV panels will continue to be tight in the first two quarters of 2017, and only start increasing in the third quarter. Panel prices will continue to rise — 65-inch panels, for example, could soon cost about $420.

Apple will release the iPhone 8 this year, which industry watchers predict will feature an OLED, rather than LCD, screen. Samsung pioneered the use of OLED in its phones, but Apple’s adoption of OLED technology will be the trigger for a greater wave of imitators in the industry, IHS senior analyst Xie Qinyi told Caixin.

Large LCD panel prices have been continuously increasing for last 10 months due to an increase in demand and tight supply. This has helped the LCD industry to recover from drastic panel price reductions, revenue and profit loss in 2019. It has also contributed to the growth of QD and miniLED LCD TV. Strong LCD TV panel demand is expected to continue in 2021, but component shortages, supply constraints, and very high panel price increase can still create uncertainties.

It was earlier anticipated that price increases would decelerate in 2Q, but now the price increase is accelerating compared to 1Q, according to a research by DSCC. Panel prices increased by 27 percent in 4Q20 compared to 3Q and slowed down to 14.5 percent in 1Q21 compared to 4Q, but the current estimate is that average LCD TV panel prices in 2Q21 will increase by another 17 percent. The prices are expected to peak sometime in 3Q21.

There has been a surge in prices across the board from a low in May 2020 to a high point in June 2021 which does not represent the peak. There have been multiple inflection points for this cycle: the first inflection point, the month of the biggest MoM price increases, was passed in September 2020, and the price increase slowed down, then started to accelerate again in January 2021, and there is another slowdown starting in May 2021. Prices in May 2021 have reached levels last seen in July 2017.

Prices increased in 1Q21 for all sizes of TV panels, with double-digit percentage increases in sizes from 32- to 65-inch ranging from 12-18 percent. Prices for 75-inch increased by 8 percent as capacity has continued to increase on Gen 10.5 lines, where 75-inch is an efficient six-cut. Prices for every size of TV panel will continue to increase in 2Q at an even faster rate, ranging from 12 percent for 75-inch to 24 percent for 32-inch. The prices are expected to continue to increase in 3Q.

The current upturn in the crystal cycle has seen the biggest trough-to-peak price increases for LCD TV panels, and the recent acceleration of prices has further extended this record. Comparing the forecast for June 2021 panel prices with the prices in May 2020, there is a trough-to-peak increases from 34 percent for 75-inch to 181 percent for 32-inch, with an average of 111 percent. In comparison, the average trough-to-peak increase of the 2016 to 2017 cycle was 48 percent, and prior cycles saw smaller increases.

Before the current upswing, the largest panels sold with an area premium, but the current cycle has flipped that upside down. Whereas in May 2020, 75-inch panels sold at an area premium of USD 77 per square meter higher than the 32-inch panel price, as of May 2021, they are selling at a USD 65 discount on an area basis. This means that those Gen 10.5 fabs could earn higher revenues from making 32-inch panels than from 75-inch panels. The pattern for 65-inch is even more severe, and 65-inch is now selling at a USD 69 per square meter discount (alternately, a 22% area discount) compared to 32-inch.

The improved pricing for LCD TV panels has already improved the profitability of panel makers. It will continue to drive their profits even higher, especially the two prominent Taiwanese players, who have Gen 7.5 and Gen 8.5 fabs but no Gen 10.5 fabs. Chinese panel makers HKC and CHOT have a similar industrial profile and stand to benefit greatly as well. The leading companies with Gen 10.5 fabs (BOE, CSOT and Foxconn/Sharp) stand to benefit less because the price increases on the largest sizes are more modest, but every LCD panel maker is doing well.

In addition to being an exceptionally large upcycle, the current upswing matches some of the longest stretches of increasing prices ever seen, more than a full year from trough to peak. The length of the upswing can be attributed to several factors: glass and driver IC shortages, the pandemic-driven demand or the potential for Korean fab downsizing.

TV makers continued to make strong profits in 1Q21 despite increasing panel prices. The TV market typically slows down in 1Q and 2Q. TV maker revenues declined seasonally in 1Q but less than usual, and the operating margins for both Samsung and LGE increased sequentially. Samsung’s CE division operating profits exceeded USD 1 billion for the quarter for only the second time ever. With demand remaining strong, TV makers have weathered the increase in panel prices and remained very profitable.

There is a surge in LCD equipment spending to respond to dramatically improved market conditions in the LCD market. DSCC sees LCD revenues rising 32 percent in 2021 to USD 112 billion on strong unit and area growth with prices and profitability rebounding to or even exceeding the 2017 levels. With LCD suppliers able to sell everything they can make at attractive margins; it should be no surprise that most LCD manufacturers are looking to expand capacity.

However, unlike previous upturns when many new fabs were built, in this upturn panel suppliers are looking to stretch their capacity through smaller investments, simplifying their processes and debottlenecking. Having said that, there will be two new Gen 8.6 mega fabs being built. The result versus last quarter is a 10 percent or a USD 2.2 billion increase in 2020-2024 LCD spending from USD 21.8 billion to USD 24 billion. The 2021 LCD equipment spending forecast is up 15 percent versus last quarter’s forecast to USD 10 billion, with 2021 LCD equipment spending up 125 percent versus 2021. In addition, 2022 was upgraded by 28 percent to USD 3.5 billion.

Although there is a healthy upgrade in LCD equipment spending in 2021 and 2022, the outlook for 2022-2024 spending is still significantly lower than in previous years, resulting in tighter capacity and slower price reductions in the next downturn. In addition, with Korean LCD suppliers expected to reduce their LCD capacity and convert to potentially higher margin OLEDs, the outlook for LCD pricing and profitability looks quite healthy, which may result in even more equipment spending, especially as miniLEDs gain acceptance.

In March 2021 Corning announced its plan to increase glass prices in 2Q21. Corning has also increased supply by starting glass tank in Korea to supply China’s Gen 10.5 fabs that are ramping up. Most of the growth in capacity is coming from Gen 8.6 and Gen 10.5 fabs in China.

Widespread component supply shortages could impact availability on LCD TV panels from CSOT and Innolux. The display panel manufacturers have warned that supplies of panels are expected to be tight throughout the year.

According to Li Dongsheng, chairman, TCL, panel shortages will continue in 1H21, following conditions already hampered last year during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation for 2H21 remains to be seen but for 2021 overall panel supply will be tight.

James Yang, president, Innolux, has warned of a shortage in LCD panels caused by strong demand for LCD coming out of the global crisis and the conditions are expected to continue through 2021. Innolux has seen shortages in LCD components including power semiconductors, driver ICs and glass substrates that have kept production below capacity. Shortages of ICs and semiconductors could continue right up to the 1H22.

Ironically, prior to the run-on LCD panel supplies, manufacturers were faced with the dilemma of overproduction causing a glut in inventory, which was driving prices artificially lower. This was the result of giant new LCD fabs coming online in China and other areas of Asia.

Panel makers, being cognizant of that threat, are expected to produce panels at a more tempered pace to keep margins healthy. LCD panel prices continued to rise in March after moving up in February.

Almost all Chinese panel makers are doing everything they can to incrementally increase their current factories’ capacities through productivity enhancements and new equipment purchases for debottlenecking or capacity expansions. For the same reasons, South Korean panel makers continue to delay shutting down their domestic LCD TV factories.

TV manufacturers have been moving aggressively to replenish inventories of LCD panels to meet strong sales of TVs and other devices to meeting escalating demand, particularly in the United States and Europe.

An increase in demand for larger size TVs in 2H20 combined with component shortages has pushed the market to supply constraint and caused continuous panel price increases from June 2020 to March 2021. The panel price increase resulting in higher costs for TV brands. It has also made it difficult for lower priced brands to acquire enough panels to offer lower priced TVs. Further, panel suppliers are giving priority to top brands with larger orders during supply constraint.

For 3 years, from 2017 to 2020, LCD panel makers suffered through a continuous pattern of price declines interrupted only with brief respites. With the COVID-19 demand surge assisted by shortages in glass and DDICs, panel prices are spiking. Korean, Taiwanese, and Chinese panel makers are reporting robust margins in 1Q 2021 and the good news is anticipated for panel makers to get even better in 2Q.

Although multiple caveats remain about how both supply and demand will trend over the coming months, the modeled glut level is a leading indicator that the next cycle is now on its way, which implies falling prices, utilization, and profitability. Industry players should consider the implications when planning business strategies for the next 2 years.