lcd screen stripes made in china

In recent time, China domestic companies like BOE have overtaken LCD manufacturers from Korea and Japan. For the first three quarters of 2020, China LCD companies shipped 97.01 million square meters TFT LCD. And China"s LCD display manufacturers expect to grab 70% global LCD panel shipments very soon.

BOE started LCD manufacturing in 1994, and has grown into the largest LCD manufacturers in the world. Who has the 1st generation 10.5 TFT LCD production line. BOE"s LCD products are widely used in areas like TV, monitor, mobile phone, laptop computer etc.

TianMa Microelectronics is a professional LCD and LCM manufacturer. The company owns generation 4.5 TFT LCD production lines, mainly focuses on making medium to small size LCD product. TianMa works on consult, design and manufacturing of LCD display. Its LCDs are used in medical, instrument, telecommunication and auto industries.

TCL CSOT (TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd), established in November, 2009. TCL has six LCD panel production lines commissioned, providing panels and modules for TV and mobile products. The products range from large, small & medium display panel and touch modules.

Established in 1996, Topway is a high-tech enterprise specializing in the design and manufacturing of industrial LCD module. Topway"s TFT LCD displays are known worldwide for their flexible use, reliable quality and reliable support. More than 20 years expertise coupled with longevity of LCD modules make Topway a trustworthy partner for decades. CMRC (market research institution belonged to Statistics China before) named Topway one of the top 10 LCD manufactures in China.

Founded in 2006, K&D Technology makes TFT-LCM, touch screen, finger print recognition and backlight. Its products are used in smart phone, tablet computer, laptop computer and so on.

The Company engages in the R&D, manufacturing, and sale of LCD panels. It offers LCD panels for notebook computers, desktop computer monitors, LCD TV sets, vehicle-mounted IPC, consumer electronics products, mobile devices, tablet PCs, desktop PCs, and industrial displays.

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.

As the market forecast of 2022, iPhone OLED purchasing quantity would reach 223 million pcs, more 40 million than 2021, the main suppliers of iPhone OLED screen are from Samsung display (61%), LG display (25%), BOE (14%). Samsung also plan to purchase 3.5 million pcs AMOLED screen from BOE for their Galaxy"s screen in 2022.

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.

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 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.

Samsung Display will stop producing LCD panels by the end of the year. The display maker currently runs two LCD production lines in South Korea and two in China, according to Reuters. Samsung tells The Verge that the decision will accelerate the company’s move towards quantum dot displays, while ZDNetreports that its future quantum dot TVs will use OLED rather than LCD panels.

The decision comes as LCD panel prices are said to be falling worldwide. Last year, Nikkei reported that Chinese competitors are ramping up production of LCD screens, even as demand for TVs weakens globally. Samsung Display isn’t the only manufacturer to have closed down LCD production lines. LG Display announced it would be ending LCD production in South Korea by the end of the 2020 as well.

Last October Samsung Display announced a five-year 13.1 trillion won (around $10.7 billion) investment in quantum dot technology for its upcoming TVs, as it shifts production away from LCDs. However, Samsung’s existing quantum dot or QLED TVs still use LCD panels behind their quantum dot layer. Samsung is also working on developing self-emissive quantum-dot diodes, which would remove the need for a separate layer.

Although Samsung Display says that it will be able to continue supplying its existing LCD orders through the end of the year, there are questions about what Samsung Electronics, the largest TV manufacturer in the world, will use in its LCD TVs going forward. Samsung told The Vergethat it does not expect the shutdown to affect its LCD-based QLED TV lineup. So for the near-term, nothing changes.

One alternative is that Samsung buys its LCD panels from suppliers like TCL-owned CSOT and AUO, which already supply panels for Samsung TVs. Last year The Elec reported that Samsung could close all its South Korean LCD production lines, and make up the difference with panels bought from Chinese manufacturers like CSOT, which Samsung Display has invested in.

A fire at an LCD monitor assembly plant in China ultimately damaged 14 production lines and caused an estimated NT$2.27 billion (US$71.27 million) in damage, according to Lite-On IT, the Taiwanese owner of the factory.

A short circuit caused the fire at Lite-On"s Dongguan, China factory on Feb. 3, but the company reported the cause and damages on Tuesday in a public release. The damaged lines are used to make LCD (liquid crystal display) computer monitors and LCD TVs and the fire damage will affect shipments.

Over the next two months, Lite-On, a major contract LCD monitor assembler, will only be able to partially fill orders to major customers. The company has been able to shift some production to other production lines, it said in the statement.

Analysts do not expect the supply disruption to affect global LCD monitor or LCD TV markets, but said it could cause headaches for some of Lite-On"s customers.

I"m trying to diagnose a iPad mini 2. My son brought me his iPad with the screen showing lots of multicolored vertical lines. I could still see the background and apps and could still use the iPad normally despite difficulty seeing full detail because of the lines. He said maybe he had dropped it but there was no obvious damage to the outside.

This lasted maybe half a day before the screen went completely white. It seems like everything was working normally but whenever the screen was activated with the home button or if I restarted it the screen would glow white as if working normally, but no image.

My first guess was a dislodged display connector so I tried tapping the back and corners of the case. This didn"t seem to do anything. I"m a glutton for punishment so next I decided to visually check the connectors and disassembled the screen to see if something came loose. After re-fitting the cables though the iPad appears to behave the same way. No improvement and nothing obviously loose or damaged.

Now I"m wondering is this a failing LCD screen or some other problem? This doesn"t seem like the usual "white screen of death". I"d love any help or ideas!

Broken screen replacement service is provided from thousands of repairs stores and phone parts wholesalers worldwide, iPhone of which are mostly engaged in. So how to purchase reliable LCD screens among so many quality grades from China suppliers? Let me firstly elaborate on the quality grades of the iPhone LCD digitizer assembly that most repair stores and traders used to replace the broken ones.

According to the investigation, 90% of the Chinese iPhone LCD screen suppliers are found selling third-party manufactured screens and seldom sell genuine original LCD screens. Therefore, if your phone screen is broken, there would be a high chance for your screen to be replaced with a non-original one. Why? Maybe the cost and quality are relatively competitive, so why not?

As known, Foxconn is authorized to assemble iPhone, so there are some original iPhone LCD screens leaked from the assemble factory. And there are brought out from the factory for replacement. However the price is definitely high and still, some people care more about the quality of the screen than how much they cost, so for this group of customers, the Original Quality of LCD digitizer assemblies are preferred.

For some LCD digitizers, the LCDs are still working while the front glasses are broken, which can be recycled. Some factories recycled these broken screens by removing the broken front glass and attach a new one, then the LCD digitizer assembly would be new again, which is what called refurbished. Brand new original LCD screens are limited, and the refurbished ones can replenish the shortage of the new original LCD digitizer assemblies, for their quality would be more stable than the third-party manufactured.

Some Chinese factories purchase the original single LCD display, not compete LCD screen from the original factory, and then attach high copy front glass, backlight, etc, materials into a complete LCD screen, which quality is not stable and the display color is slightly different from the ones with high copy backlight. Well, their price would be cheaper and loved by many repair shops and wholesalers.

Under the shortage of original LCD screens, many Chinese factories begin to produce the high copy LCD screen. The stock and supply are getting less and less since about 2015, which leads the price goes higher and higher. Therefore the Chinese manufacturer starts to produce LCD screens with high copy raw materials. With competitive prices and good quality that meet most iPhone users’ needs, they are also popular among many wholesalers and repair shops.

With the premium quality of LCD and OLED screens tested strictly, we’ve helped many clients enlarge their markets worldwide. If you wholesale the LCD digitizer assembly or retail them in your repair shop, more information and sample are supported for your reference, please do not hesitate to contact us or leave your comment to discuss more.

SEOUL (Reuters) - Chinese flat screen makers, once dismissed as second-class players in the global LCD market, are drawing envious looks from big names such as LG Display Co Ltd and Samsung.An employee works inside a LCD factory in Wuhan, Hubei province, May 8, 2013. REUTERS/China Daily

While the Korean giants were busy developing next-generation organic light emitting diode (OLED) TVs, little-known Chinese companies have started selling a type of display that are sharper than the standard LCD and cheaper than OLED.

Until last year, the UHD market had been almost non-existent, with just 33,000 sets sold in the 200 million-unit LCD TV market. Since then, shipments have soared around 20-fold, thanks to China, data from research firm IHS shows.

Chinese consumers who want brighter and sharper images but can’t afford OLED screens made by LG and Samsung Display, a unit of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, are turning to UHD.

But its slow introduction into the market and austere prices have thrown open a window of opportunity for UHD makers, in this case Chinese companies like BOE Technology Group Co Ltd and TCL Corp’s LCD unit CSOT.

By comparison, Japanese flat-screen pioneer Sharp Corp reported a razor-thin 0.5 percent margin. LG Display, the world’s No.1 LCD maker, posted a 5.6 percent margin.

Samsung Display, a unit of Samsung Electronics, had a margin of 13 percent, the biggest in the industry. But excluding its fledging OLED business, its LCD margin is between 3 and 7 percent, according to a Bernstein forecast.

Just as Korea overtook flat-screen pioneer Japan in the early 2000s, the surprise offensive by Chinese flat screen makers may be a taste of what’s to come, analysts say.

“Even with some expansion of the Chinese panel suppliers we do expect Samsung and LG Display to stay dominant and continue production in LCD,” said Sweta Dash, director at IHS.

BOE Technology is now planning to raise 46 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) in the biggest Chinese equity offering this year, to build panel production lines and increase its stake in its LCD venture BOE Display Technology.

Watching your mobile screen with those white or black vertical/horizontal lines is annoying. In short, it’s tough to use a phone with these lines appearing on the screen. Typically, this issue is associated with the LCD, caused by a faulty hardware component in your device due to some accidental fall or water damage. Phones with such damages can only be fixed at a phone repair center.

If there’re white lines on the screen, this solution may prove effective. A battery cycle is when you charge a mobile to 100% and let it drain to 0% again. Usually, the lines will disappear soon as you charge the battery fully.

If the horizontal or vertical lines still appear on your phone screen after trying all the above methods, you better take your device to a reliable mobile repair store near you. Most likely, it’s a faulty hardware component that needs to be repaired or replaced. Here, we would suggest you opt for only an authorized service center, as this will ensure flawless repair at a reasonable cost. Besides, if any of the components have to be replaced, they will be genuine and as per your specific requirements.

Performance issues may occur if there is any type of damage that is caused to the display cables or the LCD screen. LCD screen may show that symptoms like LCD screen stops working, work intermittently, color mismatch, flickering, display horizontal or vertical lines if there is damage to the display cables or the LCD screen.

Dell monitors provide a self-test feature check (SFTC) and an integrated self-test (BIST) or integrated diagnostic (BID) tool that helps determine if the screen abnormality you are experiencing is an inherent problem with the Dell monitor or with the video card (GPU) and computer settings.

When you notice screen abnormalities like flickering, distortion, clarity issues, fuzzy or blurry image, horizontal or vertical lines, color fade, it is a good practice to isolate the monitor by running a diagnostic test on the Dell monitor.

NOTE: Self-test feature check (SFTC) helps check if the Dell monitor is working normally as a stand-alone device. To check for screen abnormalities such as flickering, distortion, clarity issues, fuzzy or blurry image, horizontal or vertical lines, color fade, and so on, run the integrated self-test (BIST) or integrated diagnostic (BID) test.

Dell monitors can be reset to factory default settings using the on-screen display (OSD) menu. This can be accessed using the buttons or joystick that is available on the Dell monitor. For step-by-step instructions to reset a Dell monitor to factory default settings, see the User Guide of your Dell monitor at the Dell Manuals website.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean panel maker Samsung Display has decided to end all of its production of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels in South Korea and China by the end of this year, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Samsung Display, a unit of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, said in October that it suspended one of its two LCD production lines at home amid falling demand for LCD panels and a supply glut.

The investment for the next five years will be focused on converting one of its South Korean LCD lines into a facility to mass produce more advanced “quantum dot” screens.

Samsung Display’s cross-town rival LG Display Co Ltd said earlier this year that it will halt domestic production of LCD TV panels by the end of 2020.

Chemicals leaking from millions of computer screens in homes, offices and schools could damage human health, according to research by Chinese scientists.

Chemistry professor Su Guanyong and colleagues at Nanjing University of Science and Technology in eastern Jiangsu province studied more than 360 types of chemicals used in computer and mobile phone screens and found that 87 of them could be a danger if they got into the environment.

Some chemicals in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) could alter genes, they said. Animal cells mutated unexpectedly if exposed, and preliminary results of their ongoing study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday showed that one of the most polluted places was the home.

Researchers said about a quarter of the chemicals from screens they tested might be pollutants. Photo: Getty alt=Researchers said about a quarter of the chemicals from screens they tested might be pollutants. Photo: Getty

Studies found that excessive radiation from screens could speed up the ageing of skin and blue light from diodes could harm the retina of the eye. "But nobody has looked beyond the brightness to unveil the dark secrets behind," Su said.

Over the years, screen panel manufacturers have pushed LCD technology to higher resolutions and faster refreshing rates, but the chemical composition of the liquid crystal that fills their screens has hardly changed.

Smartphones mean booming demand for components such as screens. Photo: Ben Sin alt=Smartphones mean booming demand for components such as screens. Photo: Ben Sin

They exposed embryonic chicken cells to liquid crystal taken from the screens and compared them to cells grown in normal conditions. They found genetic changes that suggested the exposed cells had mutated.

The Nanjing team was baffled by the amount of liquid crystal in the air. They knew screens were made in dust-free factories and sealed, but their surveys of hotels, school buildings, canteens, dormitories, electronic product repair centres, homes and laboratories revealed surprising results.

Scientists say cracked screens and leaking chemicals are a worldwide problem. Photo: Shutterstock alt=Scientists say cracked screens and leaking chemicals are a worldwide problem. Photo: Shutterstock

The lowest levels were found in a canteen, a dormitory and classrooms. Su said they were not sure where the drifting liquid crystals came from. Some screens might have been cracked or broken, he said. If a screen was left on for a long time, heat and radiation might cause liquid crystal to evaporate.

"Electric device recycling plants could be a major source of emissions, with broken screens dumped everywhere and little protection. This practice must stop," he said.

Aug. 15 – China may lift import duties on LCD panels in order to motivate domestic LCD panel manufacturers and attract more foreign direct investors to build production lines in the country, according to a report by Right Site Asia, an online Asian industrial information platform. The tariff rate may jump to 8 percent from the current 5 percent.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced fiscal and policy support for domestic panel production back in 2008 in a bet to reduce the country’s heavy reliance on LCD panel imports from Japan and Taiwan. If the government approves the tariff hike this time, a number of traditional LCD exporters to China will likely lose competitiveness in prices.

However, on the other hand, the tariff increase is expected to largely encourage those enterprises that already have their own production lines in China. Both China’s BOE Technology Group and China Star Optoelectronics Technology have put their fresh 8.5-Generation LCD panel plants into production recently, leading the whole industry to step into a new era where the country’s demand for LCD panels larger than 32 inches is no longer completely dependent on imports.

Bai Weimin, vice chairman of China Video Industry Association, recently expressed his confidence in the future of Chinese LCD panel companies after a major import order worth US$5.5 billion was struck between mainland color TV manufacturers and Taiwanese LCD panel producers. Bai said he believes such orders will be reduced in the future because Chinese enterprises will start to produce more panels by themselves.

It is also hoped that increasing levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) will be introduced to the industry. In fact, several Asian LCD panel giants are already moving. The South Korea-based Samsung Electronics’ 7.5G panel plant in Suzhou Industrial Park (SIL) – the company’s joint venture with the SIL and the Chinese consumer electronics maker TCL – has kicked off construction in May this year, and is expected to boast a monthly capacity of 100,000 glass substrates when it enters mass production in 2013. Another South Korean company, LG Display, also plans to begin construction on an 8.5G plant in Guangzhou at the end of August, while the Taiwan-based AUO is investing in a joint venture to build an 8.5G plant in Kunshan, which will be put into mass production in 2013.

Before China, the European Union has set up the example of using a tariff strategy to attract more FDI into the region’s panel industry. The region’s import duties on LCD panels – which used to be as high as 14 percent – worked effectively to make a large number of LCD monitor suppliers relocate their production lines to the East European countries, but it also incurred trade disputes. The EU had to agree to void LCD monitor tariffs earlier this year, following a trade complaint filed by Taiwan.

Ever had your TV showing nothing but a black screen even if the audio was working? Unfortunately, that’s a common issue with low/middle-end LCD/LED TVs these days… Even more frustrating, this issue often comes from a rather tiny and cheap component that can be easily replaced. Most common issues are:

The first step into repair is to find the root cause of the issue. As backlight failure is a very common issue, this is the first thing to test. To do so, the easiest way is to power on your screen, put a flashlight very close to it and check if you can see the image through. The image would be very dark, like turning the brightness of the screen very very low.

That implies disassembling the TV to access the backlight which is between the LCD screen in the front and the boards in the rear. In my case, with a Samsung F5000, I had to process as follows:

First we have to remove the back housing to reveal the boards (from left to right: main board, T-CON, power supply) and disconnect the LCD panel from the T-CON board.

Note: Older TVs have neon tubes for backlight, which is thicker and less exposed to this kind of failure. LED backlight is the most common thing these days, but do not mistake an LED TV with an OLED TV. The first one is a classic LCD panel with a LED backlight, whereas the second is an OLED panel that doesn’t need any backlight as it is integrated in each pixels (making the spare parts much more expensive by the way).

There might be a lot of other root causes for similar symptoms, a black screen often looks like something very serious and therefore expensive to repair, but this case is the perfect example that taking some time to look for the root cause can sometime lead to a good surprise: here a 1$ fix!

► When the leading Korean players Samsung Display and LG Display exit LCD production, BOE will be the most significant player in the LCD market. Though OLED can replace the LCD, it will take years for it to be fully replaced.

When mainstream consumer electronics brands choose their device panels, the top three choices are Samsung Display, LG Display (LGD) and BOE (000725:SZ) – the first two from Korea and the third from China. From liquid-crystal displays (LCD) to active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED), display panel technology has been upgrading with bigger screen products.

From the early 1990s, LCDs appeared and replaced cathode-ray tube (CRT) screens, which enabled lighter and thinner display devices. Japanese electronics companies like JDI pioneered the panel technology upgrade while Samsung Display and LGD were nobodies in the field. Every technology upgrade or revolution is a chance for new players to disrupt the old paradigm.

The landscape was changed in 2001 when Korean players firstly made a breakthrough in the Gen 5 panel technology – the later the generation, the bigger the panel size. A large panel size allows display manufacturers to cut more display screens from one panel and create bigger-screen products. "The bigger the better" is a motto for panel makers as the cost can be controlled better and they can offer bigger-size products to satisfy the burgeoning middle-class" needs.

LCD panel makers have been striving to realize bigger-size products in the past four decades. The technology breakthrough of Gen 5 in 2002 made big-screen LCD TV available and it sent Samsung Display and LGD to the front row, squeezing the market share of Japanese panel makers.

The throne chair of LCD passed from Japanese companies to Korean enterprises – and now Chinese players are clinching it, replacing the Koreans. After twenty years of development, Chinese panel makers have mastered LCD panel technology and actively engage in large panel R&D projects. Mass production created a supply surplus that led to drops in LCD price. In May 2020, Samsung Display announced that it would shut down all LCD fabs in China and Korea but concentrate on quantum dot LCD (Samsung calls it QLED) production; LGD stated that it would close LCD TV panel fabs in Korea and focus on organic LED (OLED). Their retreats left BOE and China Stars to digest the LCD market share.

Consumer preference has been changing during the Korean fab"s recession: Bigger-or-not is fine but better image quality ranks first. While LCD needs the backlight to show colors and substrates for the liquid crystal layer, OLED enables lighter and flexible screens (curvy or foldable), higher resolution and improved color display. It itself can emit lights – no backlight or liquid layer is needed. With the above advantages, OLED has been replacing the less-profitable LCD screens.

Samsung Display has been the major screen supplier for high-end consumer electronics, like its own flagship cell phone products and Apple"s iPhone series. LGD dominated the large OLED TV market as it is the one that handles large-size OLED mass production. To further understand Korean panel makers" monopolizing position, it is worth mentioning fine metal mask (FMM), a critical part of the OLED RGB evaporation process – a process in OLED mass production that significantly affects the yield rate.

Presently, Chinese panel fabs are investing heavily in OLED production while betting on QLED. BOE has four Gen 6 OLED product lines, four Gen 8.5 and one Gen 10.5 LCD lines; China Star, controlled by the major appliance titan TCL, has invested two Gen 6 OLED fabs and four large-size LCD product lines.

Remembering the last "regime change" that occurred in 2005 when Korean fabs overtook Japanese" place in the LCD market, the new phase of panel technology changed the outlook of the industry. Now, OLED or QLED could mark the perfect time for us to expect landscape change.

After Samsung Display and LGD ceding from LCD TV productions, the vacant market share will be digested by BOE, China Star and other LCD makers. Indeed, OLED and QLED have the potential to take over the LCD market in the future, but the process may take more than a decade. Korean companies took ten years from panel fab"s research on OLED to mass production of small- and medium-size OLED electronics. Yet, LCD screen cell phones are still available in the market.

LCD will not disappear until OLED/QLED"s cost control can compete with it. The low- to middle-end panel market still prefers cheap LCD devices and consumers are satisfied with LCD products – thicker but cheaper. BOE has been the largest TV panel maker since 2019. As estimated by Informa, BOE and China Star will hold a duopoly on the flat panel display market.

BOE"s performance seems to have ridden on a roller coaster ride in the past several years. Large-size panel mass production like Gen 8.5 and Gen 10.5 fabs helped BOE recognize the first place in production volume. On the other side, expanded large-size panel factories and expenses of OLED product lines are costly: BOE planned to spend CNY 176.24 billion (USD 25.92 billion) – more than Tibet"s 2019 GDP CNY 169.78 billion – on Chengdu and Mianyang"s Gen 6 AMOLED lines and Hefei and Wuhan"s Gen 10.5 LCD lines.

Except for making large-size TVs, bigger panels can cut out more display screens for smaller devices like laptops and cell phones, which are more profitable than TV products. On its first-half earnings concall, BOE said that it is shifting its production focus to cell phone and laptop products as they are more profitable than TV products. TV, IT and cell phone products counted for 30%, 44% and 33% of its productions respectively and the recent rising TV price may lead to an increased portion of TV products in the short term.

Except for outdoor large screens, TV is another driver that pushes panel makers to research on how to make bigger and bigger screens. A research done by CHEARI showed that Chinese TV sales dropped by 10.6% to CNY 128.2 billion from 2018 to 2019. Large-size TV sales increased as a total but the unit price decreased; high-end products like laser TV and OLED TV saw a strong growth of 131.2% and 34.1%, respectively.

The demand for different products may vary as lifestyles change and panel fabs need to make on-time judgments and respond to the change. For instance, the coming Olympics is a new driving factor to boost TV sales; "smart city" projects around the world will need more screens for data visualization; people will own more screens and better screens when life quality improves. Flexible screens, cost-efficient production process, accessible materials, changing market and all these problems are indeed the next opportunity for the industry.