Bloomberg reported that time returned to 2004, when the disc was still a lucrative market, but BenQ material was considered to be the time to exit the disc market. After that, the disc gradually became weaker and was gradually replaced by the flash drive and network download.
Nowadays, BenQ materials will fade out of the current Golden Chicken, no longer rely on the production of LCD components, and gradually turn to the electric vehicle battery parts market.
The size of BenQ's materials is not large, and its market value is only 199 million US dollars. Some people may think that the exit of the optical disc market in 2004 does not have much foresight, but its actions were deeply symbolic in the predicament of the industry at that time. In OLED (organic light-emitting diode With the rise of new technologies, LCDs are under pressure. With the large-scale production of LCD panels, China’s oversupply has caused LCD prices to plummet.
Chen Jianzhi, chairman and chief executive of BenQ Materials, said in an interview with Bloomberg that 'change is painful', but 'I don't see much room for growth in this business'.
In 2004, at the time, CD-ROM was still the core business of BenQ materials. Chen Jianzhi and other executives risked cutting off the relationship with Sony, the Japanese electronics giant, and gradually withdrew from the optical disc market. BenQ decided to produce polarizers for AU Optronics. BenQ The material finally stopped production of the disc in 2011.
BenQ's current revenue of 90% comes from polarizing plates. Chen Jianzhi hopes that the initial price can be reduced to 70%, and then gradually reduced. Polarized plates are important parts of LCD.
Chen Jianzhi intends to slowly move into the electric vehicle market. He said that BenQ materials have contacted a Japanese auto parts manufacturer to discuss the supply of parts for rechargeable batteries.
BenQ materials took the opportunity to take the opportunity, when the decline in LCD prices hit the industry. According to the research institute Witsview Technology, the price of the 55-inch ultra-high-definition LCD screen fell by 4.8% on the 5th, much higher than the previous The average monthly decline of 2% was 2%. This is because Chinese companies have built tens of billions of dollars to build large-size LCD TV panels.
South Korea's LG Display has fallen 32% this year, which is expected to be the worst annual decline since 2011. Market analysts estimate that LG Display's operating loss this year will reach 476 billion won (about NT$13.1 billion) Yuan).
BenQ materials have also been affected. BenQ's share price, which rose 34% last year, fell 5.3% in the past year. From this point of view, the decision to fade out of the panel market is not so surprising.
Chen Jianzhi said, 'In the absence of technological advantages, the price decline will be very heavy.' He refers to the panel and polarizer. 'We must turn to other areas'.