lcd panel 鍦ㄩ珮澹撶挵澧冧笅鏈冩€庢ǎ made in china

Asian makers of liquid crystal display (LCD) screens are rushing to set up production bases in China, which is expected to become the world’s biggest LCD TV market within a few years.

Samsung, the world’s No.1 LCD maker, has sought Chinese approval for its 7.5-generation LCD manufacturing facility in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, requiring 2.6 trillion won ($2.35 billion) investment. [ID:nSEO131216]

LG Display has also signed a separate deal with the Chinese city of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, for a $4 billion, 8th-generation panel plant. [nSEO152959]

Faced with a reduced workforce caused by travel bans and quarantine conditions, LCD and OLED fabrication plants (fabs) across China struggled to resume normal operations in early‐ to mid‐February. Chinese LCD fabs were only expected to have a capacity utilization of 70 to 75 percent for the month compared to a normal rate of 90 to 95 percent, according to research from Omdia Display.

The biggest impact is in LCD displays for TVs and notebook computers. By late 2019, the prolonged issue of LCD panel over‐supply driven by Chinese fabs had begun to reverse course as Korean manufacturers restructured their capacity, shutting down some fabs and converting others to OLED production. According to Hsieh, concerns about an LCD panel supply going forward already had spurred some TV manufacturers to increase orders, and now that LCD production in China is slowing as a result of the COVID‐19 outbreak, LCD panel makers are seeking sharp price increases from their original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers, with a month‐to‐month jump of as much as 10 percent in some cases.

Omdia had originally forecast that the price for an open‐cell LCD TV panel was going to rise by $1 or $2 per month in February, but the actual increase may wind up being $3 to $5 for the month. “The problem is the coronavirus is coming so fast [that] the panel maker has been given a very good reason to increase the price radically,” Hsieh says. He also expects prices to increase for notebook displays, for which he predicts a 30–40 percent decrease in production for 2020"s first financial quarter (Q1), because of shortages in LCD modules.

In Wuhan itself, there are five major fabs, with four making smartphone displays. China Star and Tianma each operate a low‐temperature polycrystalline silicon LCD fab and a flexible OLED fab in the city, while BOE has a new Gen 10.5 LCD plant aimed at TV panels. Hsieh says that the China Star and Tianma OLED fabs are both in the ramping‐up stages, and the new BOE fab also is moving slowly. The biggest impact of COVID‐19 in Wuhan may be on the China Star Gen 6 OLED plant. Along with BOE, it"s slated to be a key supplier of flexible OLED panels for Lenovo"s new Motorola Razr foldable phone. “It"s unfortunate timing,” Hsieh says. —Glen Dickson

China-based OLED panel producers BOE Technology Group and TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology have steadily boosted their output of high-end OLED panels. By next year they’ll control some 43 per cent of global demand for OLEDs.

DSCC adds that if China overtakes South Korea in its share of OLED production, China will dominate virtually the entire display industry. Most Chinese-made OLED panels are small to midsize ones for smartphones, so the focus will then be on whether Chinese companies acquire capabilities for manufacturing large OLED panels for TV manufacturing.

South Korean companies have already lost out to China in the race to invest in producing large LCD panels. In large OLED panels, South Korean companies are steadily going on the defensive, suggests DSCC.