According to the latest report of IHS Markit, in 2017, flexible AMOLED panels showed a three-digit growth, with 125 million shipments. However, it is expected that in 2018, compared with the previous year, it will only increase by 34% to 167 million tablets. Although smartphone AMOLED panel shipments will continue to grow in 2018, its growth rate will be much lower than previously expected.
After adopting the flexible AMOLED panel, the Apple iPhone X led OLED shipments to grow more than 3 times, from 40 million in 2016 to 125 million in 2017. Shipments are expected to continue to grow in 2018. However, iPhone X's sales did not meet market expectations. The main reason was that the selling price exceeded $1,000, and the high price was partly due to the expensive display panel.
Hiroshi Hayase, senior director of IHS Markit, said that the weak demand for iPhone X has prompted smart phone brands to revisit the AMOLED panel purchase plan. It is estimated that in 2018, smartphone flexible AMOLED panel shipments will reach 167 million units, a 34% increase over 2017 , well below the near-doubling of expectations.
Apple revisited the percentage of AMOLED panels and LTPS panels used in the iPhone model in 2018. China's major smartphone brands such as Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi also seem to continue to adopt LTPS panels for the 2018 model, rather than replacing them. For AMOLED panels, Samsung Electronics plans to continue using flexible AMOLED panels this year for the Galaxy S9.
The demand for mobile phone brands to change from LTPS panels to AMOLED panels slowed down. According to the IHS Markit report, smartphone AMOLED panel shipments are expected to increase from 397 million pieces in 2017 to 453 million pieces in 2018, an increase of 14%. In 2018 rigid AMOLED panel shipments increased by single digits to 285 million.
As demand for high-resolution panels in the mid- and high-end smart phone market increases, LTPS panel demand is expected to increase from 656 million pieces in 2017 to 785 million pieces in 2018, with a growth rate of 19%. Growth will be stronger than that of AMOLED panels. It is estimated that in 2018, a-Si panel shipments for low-end smart phones and feature phones will reach 807 million units, a 16% decrease from 965 million units in 2017, offsetting the demand for AMOLED and LTPS panels. Growth. It is expected that the total shipments of mobile phone panels in 2018 will increase by 1% over the previous year to reach 2.02 billion.
Hayase said that demand for smartphone AMOLED panels will continue to grow, but it will not begin to exceed LTPS panels until after 2020. In order to compete with LTPS panels, the production costs of rigid and flexible AMOLED panels still need to be reduced to shrink with LTPS panels. The price gap between.
2. Samsung and LG intend to close down the impact of China-US trade frictions on China's LCD TV factories;
Sina Technology News Beijing time on April 16 evening news, South Korean media "The Investor" today quoted informed sources said that under the influence of Sino-US trade war being brewed, South Korea's two major technology giants Samsung and LG may be forced to close Its LCD TV factory in China.
The 40-inch to 50-inch TVs produced by Samsung and LG at the Chinese LCD TV factory were exported to the US market. Informed sources said that the two companies are close to making a decision to close the factory because the United States may levy TV products from China. Let them unbearable high tariffs.
According to a Samsung official complained: 'This is almost inevitable. After the 25% tariff was imposed, the factory could not even achieve a balance of payments.' And an LG official said that LG is considering a series of options to deal with Trade conflicts between China and the United States. Some people familiar with the matter said that after closing China's LCD TV factory, Samsung and LG will transfer the affected manufacturing tasks to other countries.
Currently, Samsung and LG’s total television exports from China to the United States account for less than 10% of their total TV shipments, and most of their TV sets are produced in other markets, such as Mexico.
Recently, the U.S. government decided to impose a 25% tariff on 1,300 Chinese exports, including robots, communications equipment, chemicals, and electric vehicles. After a series of hearings and assessments, the U.S. government may finalize the levy next month. List of goods with high tariffs. (Li Ming) Sina Technology
3. A total investment of 5 billion yuan China National Building Materials Co., Ltd. in touch display integrated module project in Rong;
The newspaper (Chengdu Daily reporter Zhong Wen Zhang Jiahua) Yesterday, the signing ceremony of the investment cooperation agreement of China Building Materials Group's touch display integrated module project was held. The Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and the Municipal Party Committee Secretary Fan Ruiping met with the Chairman of China National Building Materials Group and Party Committee Secretary Song Zhiping and his entourage. , And attend the signing ceremony together. Zhu Zhihong, deputy secretary of the municipal party committee attended the ceremony.
According to the cooperation agreement, China National Building Materials Group will invest 5 billion yuan to build a touch display integrated module project in Xincheng, Huaizhou. The project will mainly focus on the production of touch display integrated modules, thinning of LCD panels, and manufacturing of electronic equipment. Manufacture touch-control display module products for various kinds of intelligent terminal equipment, and import and improve the upstream supply chain resources. The implementation of the project will effectively promote the development of the city's advanced manufacturing industry system and promote the development of Chengdu's terminal consumer electronics industry. Drive to form the LCD panel manufacturing industry ecosystem.
During the meeting, the two parties stated that they will jointly grasp major opportunities such as Chengdu City's “Dongjin” strategy, and build an industrial ecological ecosystem to focus on the “six new economic forms” and “seven application scenarios” to promote the New Materials Industrial Park. , The New Energy Materials Research Institute and other projects have been accelerated to implement the city's high-quality development. The city’s leader Zheng Zhengli and Liu Liedong attended the Chengdu Daily News.
4. South Korea withdrew from the terrestrial TV assembly panel chain alert;
The world’s top two TV brands, Samsung and LG, are considering stopping the local TV assembly production line in mainland China to avoid the possible recoil of the US-China trade war and affect the changes in the panel chain layout.
According to industry analysts, Samsung and LG will stop the production of the mainland TV assembly in the US-China trade war after the Sino-U.S.-China trade war. If more manufacturers withdraw from TV production in mainland China, they will face a double-decker panel. Chuang, AUO, the backlight module factory Ruiyi and other major manufacturers shipping, but also will cause the entire TV assembly orders to move, must pay close attention.
According to industry sources, once Samsung and LG opened their first shot and withdrawn from mainland TV assembly, it would be more advantageous for the two major Taiwan-based TV OEMs, including TPV and Hon Hai. Opportunities received orders from Korean factories.
The back light module Daiji Ruiyi stated that there is no TV backlight module business for Korean factories. Since Samsung did not produce LCD, there has been no related business. The TV of Lucky Gold has not been looking for the supply chain of the Taiwan factory, mostly concentrated in South Korea, with its own group of suppliers as the main force.
The Korea Daily reported on the 16th that the United States intends to levy a tariff of 25% on 1,300 products exported from mainland China. Although Korean manufacturers produce semiconductors on the mainland, panels are not included. Samsung, LG’s 40-inch LCD TVs are on the list.
According to statistics, 10% of Samsung’s LCD TVs exported to the United States are made in China. According to industry sources, Samsung’s home appliance business executives recently held a meeting and determined that LCD TVs produced in China and then exported to the United States are not profitable. After another 25% tariff on class, the profit and loss will not be equalized and the decision to suspend production may be made. The report stated that LG is also facing the same situation.
According to Qiu Yubin, Vice President of WitsView Research Department, the Korean factory faded out of the mainland market, mainly because domestic brands accounted for more than 80% of the domestic market share. The Korean TV brand has been very hard on the mainland market. Therefore, Korean TV brands are on the mainland. The suspension of production of TV assembly plants is mainly due to the fierce competition in the mainland domestic market.
At the same time, the Korean TV brand has a TV assembly plant in North America, Mexico. If the Korean factory stops the production of TVs from the mainland factory to the United States, it can still ship through the factories in Mexico.
In terms of TV assembly, Taiwan factory only has two plants, TPV and Hon Hai. Since TPV has received OEM orders from South Korean factories, if the Korean factory stops producing TVs in mainland China, TPV will be able to benefit from it. Economic Daily
(5) The crisis of Taiwan television foundries entering the market is accounted for;
Samsung and LG have evaluated the suspension of TV assembly operations in mainland China. Compared with the practice of Korean factories, it is understood that Taiwan factories will adopt the three strategies of crisis, market expansion, expansion of economic scale, supply of local domestic demand market, and will not shift production with Korean factories. It is expected to obtain South Korean factory transfer orders or take advantage of expanding market share.
The industry observed that first-line assembly plants are still actively investing in the mainland to achieve local production and maintain economies of scale. For example, Hon Hai Chairman Guo Taiming personally invested in the Guangzhou 10.5 panel factory case, and the new production capacity will be able to be assembled near TV panels. Huge demand.
According to industry analysts, the major factories of the Taiwanese assembly plant are on the opposite shore. In order to maintain the economic scale of certain manufacturing and production, and to comply with local policies, the production plan has not been transferred in the short term, and Korean manufacturers have been able to withdraw from the mainland TV assembly. Transfer orders benefit.
Taiwan TV assembly foundry, with TPV and Hon Hai as the top two, TPV because of the order to undertake Korean TV assembly orders, benefit from the Korean factory may be more efficient transfer orders.
Vice President of WitsView Research Qiu Yubin said yesterday (16th) that TPV shipped about 18 million to 19 million TVs last year, of which half were OEMs, and TPV was the middle and low-end TV set for Korean OEMs. If a factory in South Korea closes the plant, it will be more likely to benefit.
As for Wistron and Compal, Wistron uses Sony as the OEM and Compal as the Toshiba TV OEM. Since the two companies have shipped less than 2 million units a year, the scale is very small and they cannot benefit from the closing of the Korean plant. Factory effect. Economic Daily
6. Samsung introduced a new generation of TV beyond organic EL within the year;
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics will launch a new generation of TVs that differ from LCDs and organic ELs in the second half of 2018. The new TVs use a new type of panel called the “Micro LED”. With high picture quality, the price is approximately RMB 1.75 million. Samsung’s move shows its intention to promote the latest technology to counter the presence of enhanced organic EL TV.
Commercially available liquid crystal televisions and organic EL televisions use color filters to form colors, while Micro LED uses three kinds of LEDs that emit light (red, green, and blue) as a large number of modules. This enables autonomous color development. There is no need for color filters used on commercially available flat-panel televisions. It is said that because of the efficient use of light, images with a higher viewing angle can be rendered with high brightness.
Regarding the micro LED TV, Samsung Vice President Lee Tae-Tong told the Japan Economic News (Chinese version: Nikkei Chinese) that 'Designed in a modular structure that can flexibly adjust the screen size according to consumer preferences'. In 2018 Details of the models listed during the year have not yet been determined, but they may exceed the 88-inch maximum available on Samsung’s commercial TVs. Currently, due to high manufacturing costs, TVs are expensive, mainly targeting the affluent sectors in the United States and the Middle East, and the projector market. Replacement needs.
Samsung had sold organic EL TVs, but it was later interrupted. On the other hand, for organic EL TVs of other companies that require color filters as well as LCDs, Samsung believes that it is still on the way to development and has a negative attitude. This is because such TV does not use organic EL for its color rendering function, but as a light-emitting material. Samsung has applied panels using organic EL color rendering to smartphones.
However, South Korea's LG Group continued to sell organic EL TVs that have been rejected by Samsung for use with color filters. LG's promotion camp construction includes the sale of organic EL panels to 13 television companies such as Sony so far. In the high-end market, organic EL TVs The sense of presence is rapidly increasing. According to the Euromonitor Information Consultancy Statistics, a British investigation company, the global organic EL TV market was approximately 1.33 million units in 2017, expanding to nearly 5 times of 2015.
Samsung lacks organic EL TVs and it is difficult to gain an advantage in the high-end market. It ranks first in the world with 21% (2017) share of sales. In recent years, the growth has been sluggish. Launch of Micro LED TV reveals that it has demonstrated its technical strength by entering a new generation of products as early as possible. , Intention to promote sales of LCD TVs. Japan Economic News (Chinese: Nikkei Chinese) Yamada Kenichi Seoul