lcd panel price trend brands

Prices for all TV panel sizes fluctuated and are forecast to fluctuate between 2020 and 2022. The period from March 2020 to July 2021 saw the biggest price increases, when a 65" UHD panel cost between 171 and 288 U.S. dollars. In the fourth quarter of 2021, such prices fell and are expected to drop to an even lower amount by March 2022.Read moreLCD TV panel prices worldwide from January 2020 to March 2022, by size(in U.S. dollars)Characteristic32" HD43" FHD49"/50" UHD55" UHD65" UHD------

DSCC. (January 10, 2022). LCD TV panel prices worldwide from January 2020 to March 2022, by size (in U.S. dollars) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved February 02, 2023, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1288400/lcd-tv-panel-price-by-size/

DSCC. "LCD TV panel prices worldwide from January 2020 to March 2022, by size (in U.S. dollars)." Chart. January 10, 2022. Statista. Accessed February 02, 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1288400/lcd-tv-panel-price-by-size/

DSCC. (2022). LCD TV panel prices worldwide from January 2020 to March 2022, by size (in U.S. dollars). Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: February 02, 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1288400/lcd-tv-panel-price-by-size/

DSCC. "Lcd Tv Panel Prices Worldwide from January 2020 to March 2022, by Size (in U.S. Dollars)." Statista, Statista Inc., 10 Jan 2022, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1288400/lcd-tv-panel-price-by-size/

DSCC, LCD TV panel prices worldwide from January 2020 to March 2022, by size (in U.S. dollars) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1288400/lcd-tv-panel-price-by-size/ (last visited February 02, 2023)

LCD TV panel prices worldwide from January 2020 to March 2022, by size (in U.S. dollars) [Graph], DSCC, January 10, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1288400/lcd-tv-panel-price-by-size/

The price of LCD display panels for TVs is still falling in November and is on the verge of falling back to the level at which it initially rose two years ago (in June 2020). Liu Yushi, a senior analyst at CINNO Research, told China State Grid reporters that the wave of “falling tide” may last until June this year. For related panel companies, after the performance surge in the past year, they will face pressure in 2022.

LCD display panel prices for TVs will remain at a high level throughout 2021 due to the high base of 13 consecutive months of increase, although the price of LCD display panels peaked in June last year and began to decline rapidly. Thanks to this, under the tight demand related to panel enterprises last year achieved substantial profit growth.

According to China State Grid, the annual revenue growth of major LCD display panel manufacturers in China (Shentianma A, TCL Technology, Peking Oriental A, Caihong Shares, Longteng Optoelectronics, AU, Inolux Optoelectronics, Hanyu Color Crystal) in 2021 is basically above double digits, and the net profit growth is also very obvious. Some small and medium-sized enterprises directly turn losses into profits. Leading enterprises such as BOE and TCL Technology more than doubled their net profit.

Take BOE as an example. According to the 2021 financial report released by BOE A, BOE achieved annual revenue of 219.31 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 61.79%; Net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies reached 25.831 billion yuan, up 412.96% year on year. “The growth is mainly due to the overall high economic performance of the panel industry throughout the year, and the acquisition of the CLP Panda Nanjing and Chengdu lines,” said Xu Tao, chief electronics analyst at Citic Securities.

In his opinion, as BOE dynamically optimizes its product structure, and its flexible OLED continues to enter the supply chain of major customers, BOE‘s market share as the panel leader is expected to increase further and extend to the Internet of Things, which is optimistic about the company’s development in the medium and long term.

TCL explained that the major reasons for the significant year-on-year growth in revenue and profit were the significant year-on-year growth of the company’s semiconductor display business shipment area, the average price of major products and product profitability, and the optimization of the business mix and customer structure further enhanced the contribution of product revenue.

“There are two main reasons for the ideal performance of domestic display panel enterprises.” A color TV industry analyst believes that, on the one hand, under the effect of the epidemic, the demand for color TV and other electronic products surges, and the upstream raw materials are in shortage, which leads to the short supply of the panel industry, the price rises, and the corporate profits increase accordingly. In addition, as Samsung and LG, the two-panel giants, gradually withdrew from the LCD panel field, they put most of their energy and funds into the OLED(organic light-emitting diode) display panel industry, resulting in a serious shortage of LCD display panels, which objectively benefited China’s local LCD display panel manufacturers such as BOE and TCL China Star Optoelectronics.

Liu Yushi analyzed to reporters that relevant TV panel enterprises made outstanding achievements in 2021, and panel price rise is a very important contributing factor. In addition, three enterprises, such as BOE(BOE), CSOT(TCL China Star Optoelectronics) and HKC(Huike), accounted for 55% of the total shipments of LCD TV panels in 2021. It will be further raised to 60% in the first quarter of 2022. In other words, “simultaneous release of production capacity, expand market share, rising volume and price” is also one of the main reasons for the growth of these enterprises. However, entering the low demand in 2022, LCD TV panel prices continue to fall, and there is some uncertainty about whether the relevant panel companies can continue to grow.

According to Media data, in February this year, the monthly revenue of global large LCD panels has been a double decline of 6.80% month-on-month and 6.18% year-on-year, reaching $6.089 billion. Among them, TCL China Star and AU large-size LCD panel revenue maintained year-on-year growth, while BOE, Innolux, and LG large-size LCD panel monthly revenue decreased by 16.83%, 14.10%, and 5.51% respectively.

Throughout Q1, according to WitsView data, the average LCD TV panel price has been close to or below the average cost, and cash cost level, among which 32-inch LCD TV panel prices are 4.03% and 5.06% below cash cost, respectively; The prices of 43 and 65 inch LCD TV panels are only 0.46% and 3.42% higher than the cash cost, respectively.

The market decline trend is continuing, the reporter queried Omdia, WitsView, Sigmaintel(group intelligence consulting), Oviriwo, CINNO Research, and other institutions regarding the latest forecast data, the analysis results show that the price of the TV LCD panels is expected to continue to decline in April. According to CINNO Research, for example, prices for 32 -, 43 – and 55-inch LCD TV panels in April are expected to fall $1- $3 per screen from March to $37, $65, and $100, respectively. Prices of 65 – and 75-inch LCD TV panels will drop by $8 per screen to $152 and $242, respectively.

“In the face of weak overall demand, major end brands requested panel factories to reduce purchase volumes in March due to high inventory pressure, which led to the continued decline in panel prices in April.” Beijing Di Xian Information Consulting Co., LTD. Vice general manager Yi Xianjing so analysis said.

“Since 2021, international logistics capacity continues to be tight, international customers have a long delivery cycle, some orders in the second half of the year were transferred to the first half of the year, pushing up the panel price in the first half of the year but also overdraft the demand in the second half of the year, resulting in the panel price began to decline from June last year,” Liu Yush told reporters, and the situation between Russia and Ukraine has suddenly escalated this year. It also further affected the recovery of demand in Europe, thus prolonging the downward trend in prices. Based on the current situation, Liu predicted that the bottom of TV panel prices will come in June 2022, but the inflection point will be delayed if further factors affect global demand and lead to additional cuts by brands.

With the price of TV panels falling to the cash cost line, in Liu’s opinion, some overseas production capacity with old equipment and poor profitability will gradually cut production. The corresponding profits of mainland panel manufacturers will inevitably be affected. However, due to the advantages in scale and cost, there is no urgent need for mainland panel manufacturers to reduce the dynamic rate. It is estimated that Q2’s dynamic level is only 3%-4% lower than Q1’s. “We don’t have much room to switch production because the prices of IT panels are dropping rapidly.”

Ovirivo analysts also pointed out that the current TV panel factory shipment pressure and inventory pressure may increase. “In the first quarter, the production line activity rate is at a high level, and the panel factory has entered the stage of loss. If the capacity is not adjusted, the panel factory will face the pressure of further decline in panel prices and increased losses.”

In the first quarter of this year, the retail volume of China’s color TV market was 9.03 million units, down 8.8% year on year. Retail sales totaled 28 billion yuan, down 10.1 percent year on year. Under the situation of volume drop, the industry expects this year color TV manufacturers will also set off a new round of LCD display panel prices war.

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According to TrendForce"s latest panel price report, TV panel pricing is expected to arrest its fall in October after five consecutive quarters of decline and the prices of certain panel sizes may even be poised to move up. The price decline of IT panels, whether notebook panels or LCD monitor panels, has also begun showing signs of easing and overall pricing of large-size panels is developing towards bottoming out.

TrendForce indicates, with panel makers actively implementing production reduction plans, TV inventories have also experienced a period of adjustment, with pressure gradually being alleviated. At the same time, the arrival of peak sales season at year’s end has also boosted demand marginally. In particular, Chinese brands are still holding out hope for Double Eleven (Singles’ Day) Shopping Festival promotions and have begun to increase their stocking momentum in turn. Under the influence of strictly controlled utilization rate and marginally stronger demand, TV panel pricing, which are approaching the limit of material costs, is expected to halt its decline in October. Prices of panels below 75 inches (inclusive) are expected to cease their declines. The strength of demand for 32-inch products is the most obvious and prices are expected to increase by US$1. As for other sizes, it is currently understood that PO (Purchase Order) quotations given by panel manufacturers in October have are all increased by US$3~5. Currently China"s Golden Week holiday is ongoing but, after the holiday, panel manufacturers and brands are expected to wrestle with pricing. Based on prices stabilizing, whether pricing can actually be increased still depends on the intensity of demand generated by branded manufacturers for different sized products.

TrendForce observes that current demand for monitor panels is weak, and brands are poorly motivated to stock goods. At the same time, the implementation of production cuts by panel manufacturers has played a role and room for price negotiation has gradually narrowed. At present, the decline in panel pricing has slowed. Prices of small-size TN panels below 21.5 inches (inclusive) are expected to cease declining in October due to reduced supply and flat demand. As for mainstream sizes such as 23.8 and 27-inch, price declines are expected to be within US$1.5. The current demand for notebook panels is also weak and customers must still face high inventory issues and are relatively unwilling to buy panels. Panel makers are also trying to slow the decline in panel prices through their implementation of production reduction plans. Declining panel prices are currently expected to continue abating in October. Pricing for 14-inch and 15.6-inch HD TN panels are expected to drop by US$0.2~0.3, falling from a 1.8% drop in September to 0.7%, while pricing for 14-inch and 15.6-inch FHD IPS panels are expected to fall by US$1~1.2, falling from a 3.4% drop in September to 2.4%.

Compared with past instances when TV panels drove a supply/demand reversal through a sharp increase in demand and spiking prices, this current period of lagging TV panel pricing has been halted and reversed through active control of utilization rates by panel manufacturers and a slight increase in demand momentum. The basis for this break in decline and subsequent price increase is relatively weak. Therefore, in order to maintain the strength of this price backstop and eventual escalation and move towards a healthier supply/demand situation, panel manufacturers must continue to strictly and prudently control the utilization rate of TV production lines, in addition to observing whether sales performance from the forthcoming Chinese festivals beat expectations, allowing stocking momentum to continue, and laying a solid foundation for TV panels to completely escape sluggish market conditions.

The price of IT panels has also adhered to the effect of production reduction and the magnitude of its price drops has gradually eased. TrendForce believes, since the capacity for supplying IT panels is still expanding into the future, it is difficult to see declines in mainstream panel prices halt completely when demand remains weak. Even if new production capacity from Chinese panel factories is gradually completed starting from 2023, price competition in the IT panel market will intensify once products are verified by branded clients, so potential downward pressure in pricing still exists.

For more information on reports and market data from TrendForce’s Department of Display Research, please click here, or email Ms. Vivie Liu from the Sales Department at vivieliu@trendforce.com

For additional insights from TrendForce analysts on the latest tech industry news, trends, and forecasts, please visit our blog at https://insider.trendforce.com/

According to IMARC Group’s latest report, titled “TFT LCD Panel Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027”, the global TFT LCD panel market size reached US$ 157 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the market to reach US$ 207.6 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7% during 2022-2027.

A thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT LCD) panel is a liquid crystal display that is generally attached to a thin film transistor. It is an energy-efficient product variant that offers a superior quality viewing experience without straining the eye. Additionally, it is lightweight, less prone to reflection and provides a wider viewing angle and sharp images. Consequently, it is generally utilized in the manufacturing of numerous electronic and handheld devices. Some of the commonly available TFT LCD panels in the market include twisted nematic, in-plane switching, advanced fringe field switching, patterned vertical alignment and an advanced super view.

The global market is primarily driven by continual technological advancements in the display technology. This is supported by the introduction of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technology to manufacture TFT panels that offers uniform thickness and cracking resistance to the product. Along with this, the widespread adoption of the TFT LCD panels in the production of automobiles dashboards that provide high resolution and reliability to the driver is gaining prominence across the globe. Furthermore, the increasing demand for compact-sized display panels and 4K television variants are contributing to the market growth. Moreover, the rising penetration of electronic devices, such as smartphones, tablets and laptops among the masses, is creating a positive outlook for the market. Other factors, including inflating disposable incomes of the masses, changing lifestyle patterns, and increasing investments in research and development (R&D) activities, are further projected to drive the market growth.

The competitive landscape of the TFT LCD panel market has been studied in the report with the detailed profiles of the key players operating in the market.

After a short-term upward trend, LCD TV panel prices lack the momentum to continue to rise as end demand has not recovered. In Q4, LCD TV peak season promotions have yet to achieve the expected perf

Entering later Q3, August to September is the traditional heat season for panel stocking, but under the influence of the top brands’ implementation of the destocking strategy, the global LC

As we all know, the semiconductor chip industry has been out of stock since 2021. In this state, chip prices continue to rise, set makers face high-cost pressures, and semiconductor practitioners rece

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.

TV price index has increased from its all-time low of 42 in May 2020 to 87 in May 2021, and it is expected to reach 89 in June and over 90 in 3Q21 before declining in 4Q. The YoY increase has surpassed 100 percent in May 2021. It will remain at elevated levels throughout the second half of 2021.

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.

An unfortunate and untimely string of accidents has created a historic tight glass market and caused a very unusual industry average price increase of several percent. 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 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.

Besides glass there have been other component shortages including driver ICs and polarizers. The lack of investment in polarizers and base films in 2019 caught the industry off guard when demand turned around in 2020. Multiple other materials are also in tight supply and are affecting different makers in different ways, supporting inflationary price trends.

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.

Liquid-crystal-display televisions (LCD TVs) are television sets that use liquid-crystal displays to produce images. They are, by far, the most widely produced and sold television display type. LCD TVs are thin and light, but have some disadvantages compared to other display types such as high power consumption, poorer contrast ratio, and inferior color gamut.

LCD TVs rose in popularity in the early years of the 21st century, surpassing sales of cathode ray tube televisions worldwide in 2007.plasma display panels and rear-projection television.

Passive matrix LCDs first became common as portable computer displays in the 1980s, competing for market share with plasma displays. The LCDs had very slow refresh rates that blurred the screen even with scrolling text, but their light weight and low cost were major benefits. Screens using reflective LCDs required no internal light source, making them particularly well suited to laptop computers. Refresh rates of early devices were too slow to be useful for television.

Portable televisions were a target application for LCDs. LCDs consumed far less battery power than even the miniature tubes used in portable televisions of the era. In 1980, Hattori Seiko"s R&D group began development on color LCD pocket televisions. In 1982, Seiko Epson released the first LCD television, the Epson TV Watch, a small wrist-worn active-matrix LCD television. Sharp Corporation introduced the dot matrix TN-LCD in 1983, and Casio introduced its TV-10 portable TV.Citizen Watch introduced the Citizen Pocket TV, a 2.7-inch color LCD TV, with the first commercial TFT LCD display.

Throughout this period, screen sizes over 30" were rare as these formats would start to appear blocky at normal seating distances when viewed on larger screens. LCD projection systems were generally limited to situations where the image had to be viewed by a larger audience. At the same time, plasma displays could easily offer the performance needed to make a high quality display, but suffered from low brightness and very high power consumption. Still, some experimentation with LCD televisions took place during this period. In 1988, Sharp introduced a 14-inch active-matrix full-color full-motion TFT-LCD. These were offered primarily as high-end items, and were not aimed at the general market. This led to Japan launching an LCD industry, which developed larger-size LCDs, including TFT computer monitors and LCD televisions. Epson developed the 3LCD projection technology in the 1980s, and licensed it for use in projectors in 1988. Epson"s VPJ-700, released in January 1989, was the world"s first compact, full-color LCD projector.

In 2006, LCD prices started to fall rapidly and their screen sizes increased, although plasma televisions maintained a slight edge in picture quality and a price advantage for sets at the critical 42" size and larger. By late 2006, several vendors were offering 42" LCDs, albeit at a premium price, encroaching upon plasma"s only stronghold. More decisively, LCDs offered higher resolutions and true 1080p support, while plasmas were stuck at 720p, which made up for the price difference.

Predictions that prices for LCDs would rapidly drop through 2007 led to a "wait and see" attitude in the market, and sales of all large-screen televisions stagnated while customers watched to see if this would happen.Christmas sales season.

When the sales figures for the 2007 Christmas season were finally tallied, analysts were surprised to find that not only had LCD outsold plasma, but CRTs as well, during the same period.Pioneer Electronics was ending production of the plasma screens was widely considered the tipping point in that technology"s history as well.

In spite of LCD"s dominance of the television field, other technologies continued to be developed to address its shortcomings. Whereas LCDs produce an image by selectively blocking a backlight, organic LED, microLED, field-emission display and surface-conduction electron-emitter display technologies all produce an illuminated image directly. In comparison to LCDs all of these technologies offer better viewing angles, much higher brightness and contrast ratio (as much as 5,000,000:1), and better color saturation and accuracy. They also use less power, and in theory they are less complex and less expensive to build.

According to media reports out of Asia, buyers of large lots of 32-inch open-cell LCD panels – mostly destined for television production – are paying around $54-$59 per panel. In some cases, even lower prices are available. This price is about 40% lower than the price of that panel one year ago.

One report noted that in just the first quarter of 2016, the price of a 42-inch LCD panel is now $115, fully 8% lower than at the end of December. The same situation exists in the PC market as well. One report noted that the price of a 15.6-inch LCD display, destined for a notebook PC, is now only $25.50 down 10% since the end of December.

While dropping panel prices can be good news for consumers, who are finding great deals on televisions and computers around the world – it is terrible news for the industry, as profits get pressured…or eliminated altogether. Most markets are reporting dramatic drops in television pricing – even on the step-up 4K Ultra HD televisions – on which many brands hoped to realize more profit on this latest video technology.

Although the LCD panel industry had expected an increase in 2016, it now appears that the best they can hope for us flat shipments. And even that dismal estimate may be optimistic. Industry insiders are now forecasting sales of 224 million panels globally – about the same level as 2015.

The global economic slowdown has caused a dramatic drop-off in television sales. Most manufacturers had targeted increased panel sales in developing markets. But as it has turned out, sales declines globally have offset whatever gains they’ve been able to make in these newer markets.

A report by the Nikkei points out that China’s BOE Technology Group, as well as other Chinese LCD panel makers, are ramping up production in this environment and are guilty of fueling a price war. IHS, a U.S. market research company, estimates that production capacity for panels 9.1-inches or larger will exceed demand by 14% this year. This amount is well beyond a more normal rate of 10% or less.

From the perspective of global macroeconomic performance, it is not difficult to find by tracking the IMF’s forecast data on global GDP growth, that the economic performance of various regions in the world has been significantly differentiated in the post-epidemic era. The relatively strong economic performance of developed economies has certain support for the global consumer electronics market, especially the demand for high-end products, while the performance of emerging economies is relatively less optimistic, showing a trend of differentiation.

In this context, the global consumer electronics market where LCD is located is affected in many ways. First of all, due to the pull of the economy, purchasing power can still remain strong, especially the commercial and education market demand in the North American market will remain relatively strong. There is also a downside. Due to the promotion of consumer demand in the early stage, especially the resident assistance policy, the phenomenon of demand overdraft has already occurred, and consumer demand will be affected by demand overdraft, and the future trend is not optimistic.

First, exports are not optimistic, especially due to factors such as the fading of epidemic dividends, the increase in inflation risks, and the increase in costs caused by shipping congestion. It is expected to show a gradual weakening trend in 2022.

From the perspective of LCD panel shipment performance, according to the shipment performance of the four major mainstream LCD applications such as TV, Monitor, Notebook, and Mobile in 2021, it shows the characteristics of “weak at both ends and strong in the middle”. Looking forward to 2022, the shipments of LCD for mobile phones are expected to remain relatively stable, while the shipments of large-size LCD panel applications such as Notebook, Monitor, and TV have experienced a year-on-year decline of varying degrees due to the fading dividends of the epidemic, but the shipment area of large-size panels has performed significantly better than performance in terms of shipments. From the perspective of notebook LCD shipment performance, it is expected that the shipment area in 2022 will decrease by 3.8% year on year, and the decline in the area is lower than the decline in quantity. The shipment area of Monitor and TV panels can still maintain relatively good growth. The area growth brought about by large size is still the most effective way for LCD panel manufacturers to reduce production capacity.

Among large-size LCD applications, TV panels are the absolute main force in reducing production capacity. From the perspective of the shipment area in the first three quarters of 2021, TV panel shipments account for more than 70% of all application panel shipments. In the future, it is expected that the global display panel market will still exhibit cyclical fluctuations, and TV panels will still undertake the important task of reducing production capacity. Since the second half of 2020, the LCD panel price, especially the increase in the price of large-size panels, has driven the profitability of LCD manufacturers to improve significantly. At present, manufacturers are still in a period of high profitability. Of course, it cannot be ignored that the price of large-size panels continues to decline. It is expected to face profit challenges in 2022. The profitability of LCD manufacturers will face differentiation, and some manufacturers may fall into loss expectations.

From the perspective of production capacity investment, investment in the global display panel market will show two characteristics: first, the pace of investment in new LCD lines by panel manufacturers has slowed down significantly; second, investment in OLED will remain active, but the direction of investment in OLED will change. Significant changes occurred.

First of all, it turns out that panel manufacturers are very active in investing in small-sized OLEDs, especially flexible OLEDs. The future investment strategy will shift from small-sized to medium-to-large-sized, and from low-generation (6th generation) to mid-to-high-generation lines. According to statistics, it is expected that three 8.5-generation OLED production lines will usher in mass production by 2025. At the same time, the change of OLED investment direction will also change from the original Flexible OLED to multi-technology, WOLED will continue to expand production, and QD-OLED production capacity will continue to increase. At present, panel manufacturers represented by Korean factories（SAMSUNG & LG） are very active in investing in Hybrid OLED. Statistics show that it is expected that the global OLED display panel production area will continue to grow by more than 10% by 2025, especially with the gradual mass production of high-generation OLED production lines. It is expected that QD-OLED and Hybrid OLED will play an increasingly important role in the global OLED panel market from 2023.

Although the investment pace of panel manufacturers in LCD panels has slowed down, Chinese panel manufacturers still maintain a positive strategy for the expansion of existing production lines. The expansion of production will also drive the continuous growth of the supply area of LCD panels. According to statistics, it is expected that the global display panel production capacity will reach a high-speed growth of 12% year-on-year in 2022, and the overall production capacity growth rate will reach the largest increase since 2013. Therefore, it can be predicted that the pressure on panel manufacturers to reduce production capacity in 2022 should not be underestimated.

How will the global display industry pattern evolve? In 2021, an obvious “one superpower, many strong” competition pattern has been formed. BOE maintains a very clear leading edge in all applications. The market share of each application market has exceeded 20% in terms of the number of shipments and shipment area, and the leading edge is obvious. There is an imbalance in other panel manufacturers. Most manufacturers have certain competitive advantages in some fields, but the overall competitiveness is still not strong. For example, TCL (CSOT) and HKC can maintain a market share of about 15% in the TV panel market. It cannot be ignored that the performance of the IT application panel and the Mobile application panel is still relatively weak. Under this competitive landscape, it is expected that Chinese panel manufacturers including TCL and HKC will adopt active strategies for LCD applications other than TV in the future, including the expansion of existing production lines, and strive for opportunities to increase investment in new production lines.

Let’s look at the evolution of the competitive landscape of OLED. At present, OLED technology, especially in mobile phone applications, has gradually gained popularity. According to statistics, the overall proportion of OLED in the global smartphone shipments will reach nearly 40% in 2021, and will continue to grow in the future. The proportion will be close to 50% before 2025. In particular, the penetration rate of flexible OLEDs in mobile phone applications has shown a trend of significant growth. In 2021, the overall proportion will reach 22%, and it is expected that this proportion will continue to increase to 33% by 2023. From the perspective of panel makers, currently, flexible OLEDs are still dominated by Korean factories. Samsung Display will account for more than 50% of the entire global flexible OLED market in 2021. Although it will shrink due to the increase in production capacity from Chinese panel makers, it will also shrink in 2022. But it will still maintain a share of about 50% in 2022. Chinese panel manufacturers are particularly active in capacity expansion, especially BOE, TCL, and Visionox are all actively deploying flexible OLEDs. It is expected that the market share in 2022 will increase significantly compared to 2021.

Changes in the panel supply pattern have a huge impact on the global display industry, and will inevitably bring about changes in the industrial chain cooperation model. Under the current competitive landscape and environmental background, the global display industry should pay special attention to the industry chain.

The first is the upstream material supply chain. The shortage of upstream materials, especially semiconductor materials, has accelerated the restructuring of the upstream supply chain in the past year or so. Panel manufacturers pay more attention to the risk management of the supply chain. Chinese panel manufacturers will continue to expand and cooperate with local manufacturers. BOE is constantly introducing more local partners, and will continue to strengthen its thinking on display semiconductor materials in the future; TCL will also introduce more local supply chains to prevent supply chain risks and actively seek win-win cooperation with upstream manufacturers situation. From the downstream point of view, the diversified layout of the supply chain will become an obvious trend to prevent supply chain risks and achieve the purpose of supply chain balance.

In 2022, the overall demand for TV panels is not optimistic, but there are structural opportunities. The famous brand’s overall stocking strategy tends to be conservative, which affects the number of panel shipments to maintain a year-on-year downward trend. However, thanks to the accelerated promotion of large-scale size, the shipment area continues to increase. At the same time, from the perspective of subdivisions, although the performance of the 8K LCD market is mediocre, the shipment scale of OLED panels and high refresh rate panels will expand significantly, which is worth looking forward to. Especially in 2022, Samsung Electronics and other leading TV manufacturers will join the OLED camp, and Samsung Electronics will also carry out active and strategic cooperation with LGD in the WOLED field, which is expected to drive the global OLED TV and OLED TV panel shipments to continue to expand. According to statistics, the number of OLED TV panel shipments in 2021 will reach 7.6 million units, a year-on-year increase of 72.2%. It is estimated that the global OLED TV panel shipment scale will exceed 10 million units in 2022, with a year-on-year growth rate of 47.1%.

On the whole, in 2022, the plans of various panel factories will gradually become differentiated, the supply scale of panel factories in mainland China will continue to increase, and Taiwanese and Korean manufacturers have reduced the number of TV panels planned to vary degrees.

In 2022, the overall LCD TV supply and demand environment will be loose. In the first quarter, there will be excess supply in the off-season, and panel prices will continue to decline, but the decline will gradually narrow. In the second quarter, supply and demand will tend to balance, and panel prices are expected to stabilize.

The gradual increase in the production capacity of displayers, coupled with the growth of LCD panel manufacturers in monitor display supply planning, is expected to maintain a growth trend in the supply trend of display panels in 2022. Combined with the changes in the demand structure, the overall supply and demand situation in 2022 will be relatively loose. Therefore, it will lead to a continuous decline in the cost of displayer panels in at least the first half of 2022. Affected by the demand structure, the upgrade momentum of the monitor market will slow down, but there are still representative markets with growth potential, such as the Gaming monitor, which is driven by the dual engines of 240Hz and OLED, and the Gaming displayer market in 2022 can still maintain positive growth; Another example is Ultrawide displayer. Under the influence of the active strategy of suppliers, the joint force of the entire supply chain will promote the positive growth of the Ultrawide displayer market in 2022; the Curved surface LCD market will enter a state of slow growth, with the hope that the market can find new growth momentum.

With the growth of Notebook LCD production capacity, especially the mid-to-high-end production capacity, the supply shortage of Notebooks will be significantly eased in 2022. From the purchasing point of view, there is a certain risk of saturation in the notebook market in 2022. Therefore, in 2022, we should be alert to the risk of oversupply. In this process, there is still a positive side, such as the accelerated trend of large-scale LCD size and structural upgrading, etc. Accelerating this change will have a better impact on the market.

By sorting out the development potential of 5 core technologies such as Gaming, OLED, LTPS, Oxide, and Mini-LED in LCD panel applications for Notebook, we believe that on the whole, in 2022, the situation of the coexistence of multiple new notebook technologies and development and competition will become more obvious. In the process, the technologies with the greatest development potential in 2022 are Gaming, OLED, and LTPS; Oxide has slowed down in the past 2 years due to the influence of certain factors, but we believe that after 2023, Oxide will usher in new. The development of Mini-LED is limited in the future due to the high cost.

In 2021, under the panel supply pattern with the participation of BOE and Samsung Display, and more players, the competition in the smartphone panel market will show a hot trend, and the integration of the industry chain will also accelerate. In terms of technology types, the trend of the proportion of each technology type shows a differentiation phenomenon. Among them, the demand for flexible OLED continues to grow driven by the supply side. It is estimated that by 2025, the market share of flexible OLED smartphone panels will reach about 33%; In addition to the growth of flexible OLEDs, the penetration rates of a-Si（IPS）, LTPS, rigid OLEDs, etc. are all in a downward trend, forming a “hamburger” shape market.

In recent years, smartphone terminal brands have maintained high inventory levels. As of the end of 2021, there will still be a lot of inventory in some technology-specific panels, but the demand for flexible OLED panels for high-end brands in 2022 will still show a growing trend. The structure of the supply chain is shifting to mainland China. At the same time, flexible OLED panel factories in mainland China will also grow rapidly, and the customer structure will be further enriched.

The foldable smartphone has great growth potential in the next 3 years. Statistics show that the global shipments of folding display panels will be close to 13 million units in 2021, and it is expected to be close to 80 million units by 2025. The compound growth rate from 2019 to 2025 will reach About 88%, showing a trend of rapid growth. From the perspective of manufacturers, Samsung Display, a Korean manufacturer, will continue to dominate for a long time, and the global foldable display panel market share will stabilize at around 80%. More and more Chinese panel manufacturers are participating, such as BOE, TCL, Visionox, and other manufacturers, but based on the current capacity planning and overall technical strength of Chinese panel manufacturers, we believe that the scale of shipments is still relatively limited, and the proportion of Chinese panel manufacturers will be around 20%.

In terms of technology, the development trend of the in-vehicle displays toward large size and high resolution is also very clear. At the same time, in the future, there will be more and more car brands and models equipped with OLED. However, considering that it is more difficult to apply vehicle display technology, it is estimated that by 2025, the shipment of OLED vehicle displays will be about 3 million pcs. Mini-LED backlight products have been mass-produced in other applications, but currently, there are relatively few applications in the automotive field. There are already models released, and mass production is expected to be achieved in 2022. Mini-LED backlight is an upgrade of a-Si LCD, and each panel factory has a layout. Therefore, we expect that by 2025, the shipment of Mini-LED backlight vehicle display products will reach about 4 million pieces, with rapid growth.

In summary, the LCD applications and market in 2022 will see significant technological advances alongside the challenges. As an LCD supplier and manufacturer, VISLCD is optimistic about the future of LCD development and will maintain stable shipments and reasonable market prices, regardless of whether the market is hot or the demand is slow so that we can move forward together with our customers.

Shopping for a new TV sounds like it could be fun and exciting — the prospect of a gleaming new panel adorning your living room wall is enough to give you goosebumps. But with all the brands to choose from, and different smart capabilities (we can explain what a smart TV is) to weigh, as well as the latest picture tech to consider, it can be daunting. Is this article, we compare OLED vs. LED technology to see which is better for today’s modern TVs. Once you determine which panel type is best for you, make sure you check out our list of the best TVs to get our editor’s recommendations.

When OLED TVs first arrived in 2013, they were lauded for their perfect black levels and excellent color, but they took a bit of a hit due to brightness levels that couldn’t compete with LED TVs. There was also a huge price gap between OLED TVs (not to be confused with QLED) and their premium LED counterparts. In fact, legend has it that OLED used to mean “only lawyers, executives, and doctors” could afford them. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case.

OLED TVs are much brighter than they used to be, and the prices have come down, especially with brands like Sony introducing competitive options in 2021. The LED market is due for a bit of a shake-up, too. For now, however, it’s time to take a look at how these two technologies differ and explore the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Non-OLED TVs are made of two main parts: An LCD panel and a backlight. The LCD panel contains the pixels, the little colored dots that make up a TV’s image. On their own, pixels cannot be seen; they require a backlight. When light from the backlight shines through an LCD pixel, you can see its color.

The “LED” in LED TV simply refers to how the backlight is made. In the past, a thicker and less-efficient technology called CCFL (cold-cathode fluorescent light) was used. But these days, virtually every flat-screen TV uses LEDs as its source of backlighting. Thus, when you see the term “LED TV,” it simply refers to an LED-backlit LCD TV.

Currently, LG Display is the only manufacturer of OLED panels for TVs, famed for top-line models like the CX. Sony and LG have an agreement that allows Sony to put LG OLED panels into Sony televisions — like the bright X95OH — but otherwise, you won’t find OLED in many other TV displays sold in the U.S.

The differences in performance between LG’s OLED TVs and Sony’s result from different picture processors at work. Sony and LG have impressive processors that are also unique to each brand, which is why two TVs with the same panel can look drastically different. A good processor can greatly reduce issues like banding and artifacting and produce more accurate colors as well.

Other brands that source panels from LG include Philips, Panasonic, HiSense, Bang & Olufsen, and more. You’ll also see lesser-known brands sparingly, but for now, they’re all getting their panels from the same source.

Samsung does make OLED smartphone panels, and the company recently announced it would start building new TV panels based on a hybrid of QLED and OLED known as QD-OLED, but it will be a few more years before we see the first TVs that use this technology.

Despite the name, microLED has more in common with OLED than LED. Created and championed by Samsung, this technology creates super-tiny, modular LED panels that combine light emission and color like OLED screens do, minus the “organic” part. For now, the technology is primarily being used for extra-large wall TVs, where colors, blacks, and off-angle viewing are excellent but with more potential for greater brightness and durability than OLED TVs.

Editor’s note: Since OLED TVs are still a premium display, we have compared OLED only to equally-premium LED TVs armed with similar performance potential (except, of course, in the price section).

LED TVs rely on LED backlights shining behind an LCD panel. Even with advanced dimming technology, which selectively dims LEDs that don’t need to be on at full blast, LED TVs have historically struggled to produce dark blacks and can suffer from an effect called “light bleed,” where lighter sections of the screen create a haze or bloom in adjacent darker areas.

Because OLED pixels combine the light source and the color in a single diode, they can change states incredibly fast. By contrast, LED TVs use LEDs to produce brightness and tiny LCD “shutters” to create color. While the LED’s brightness can be changed in an instant, LCD shutters are by their nature slower to respond to state changes.

OLED, again, is the winner here. With LED TVs, the best viewing angle is dead center, and the picture quality diminishes in both color and contrast the further you move to either side. While the severity differs between models, it’s always noticeable. For its LED TVs, LG uses a type of LCD panel known as IPS, which has slightly better off-angle performance than VA-type LCD panels (which Sony uses), but it suffers in the black-level department in contrast to rival VA panels, and it’s no competition for OLED. Samsung’s priciest QLED TVs feature updated panel design and anti-reflective coating, which make off-angle viewing much less of an issue. While OLED still beats these models out in the end, the gap is closing quickly.

OLEDs have come a long way in this category. When the tech was still nascent, OLED screens were often dwarfed by LED/LCD displays. As OLED manufacturing has improved, the number of respectably large OLED displays has increased — now pushing 88 inches — but they’re still dwarfed by the largest LED TVs, which can easily hit 100 inches in size, and with new technologies, well beyond.

Can one kind of TV be healthier for you than another? If you believe that we need to be careful about our exposure to blue light, especially toward the evening, then the answer could be yes. Both OLED and LED TVs produce blue light, but OLED TVs produce considerably less of it. LG claims its OLED panels only generate 34% blue light versus LED TV’s 64%. That stat has been independently verified, and LG’s OLED panels have been given an Eye Comfort Display certification by TUV Rheinland, a standards organization based out of Germany.

OLED panels require no backlight, and each individual pixel is extremely energy-efficient. LED TVs need a backlight to produce brightness. Since LEDs are less energy-efficient than OLEDs, and their light must pass through the LCD shutters before it reaches your eyes, these panels must consume more power for the same level of brightness.

OLED TVs are premium TVs and almost always likely to be more expensive than an LED version of the same size. However, we have seen prices starting to drop down to manageable levels recently, especially if there are any discounts running. MSRPs can go as low as $1,300 to $1,500, but you probably won’t find many lower than that.

Conversely, LED TVs can range in price from a few hundred dollars — even for a quality big-screen model — to several thousand dollars, making them overall more accessible than OLEDs. While prices of the highest-quality LED TVs hover at nearly the same range as the price of OLEDs, when judged by price and price alone, LED TVs can still be acquired for a pittance in comparison.

In terms of picture quality, OLED TVs still beat LED TVs, even though the latter technology has seen many improvements of late. OLED is also lighter and thinner, uses less energy, offers the best viewing angle by far, and, though still a little more expensive, has come down in price considerably. OLED is the superior TV technology today. If this article were about value alone, LED TV would still win, but OLED has come a long way in a short time and deserves the crown for its achievements. Regardless of which technology you ultimately decide on, that’s not the only factor that you need to consider, so be sure to check our TV buying guide to make sure you’re buying the right TV to meet your needs.