A number of research institutions have recently released a briefing on the trend of TV panel price increases, and it is expected that the global LCD TV panel market supply tightness will continue into the second quarter. Supply continues to be tight, pushing the price strategy of head panel manufacturers to become aggressive. The prices of mainstream LCD TV products will maintain a large increase from February to March.
Resonance between supply and demand
The panel price increases given by various institutions are slightly different. TrendForce forecasts that the average price of 32-inch, 43-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch in February will increase by US$2, US$3, US$6 and US$6 each.
Qunzhi Consulting predicts that from February to March, the average price of 32 inches will increase by 3-4 US dollars per piece, and the average price of 39.5 inches to 43 inches will increase by 5 dollars per piece.
Ovi Revo predicts that the average price of 32-inch and 39.5-inch will increase by US$4/piece in February, and the average price will increase by US$4/piece in March. The average price of 43-inch and 39.5 inches will increase by US$6/piece respectively in February and March. The average price in March rose by $8/piece, the average price of 55-inch, 65-inch and 75-inch each rose by $10/piece in February, and it rose by $8/piece in March.
Resonance between supply and demand causes prices to rise. Zhang Hong, research director of Qunzhi Consulting TV, said that the dual effects of "home economy" and fiscal stimulus in overseas markets continue, and the performance of terminal retail in Europe and the United States continues to be strong. Overlapping manufacturers to replenish inventory needs, TV manufacturers have a strong willingness to stock up panels in the first half of this year. On the supply side, the gap in the supply of upstream materials, especially various ICs, has gradually enlarged and is difficult to solve in the short term. The effective supply of some panel factories has been greatly affected.
At the end of January, an explosion occurred in the glass substrate factory of the leading Japanese glass substrate company in South Korea. TrendForce Consulting believes that although the accident has a limited impact on the overall supply of glass substrates, in the case of high panel demand, slight changes in the component side may have a greater impact on prices. Due to capacity scheduling and allocation after the furnace is damaged, the main impact of the supply gap caused by the incident will fall in the second quarter.
Chinese manufacturers have increased their voice
Ovi Revo predicts that global TV panel shipments in 2021 will increase slightly by 1% year-on-year, which is a slight increase from the previous judgment. The growth point is mainly due to the delay in the exit of Samsung's display capacity.
Samsung Display originally planned to shut down the LCD production line before the end of last year, but did not withdraw as scheduled. Ovi Revo believes that it may come from comprehensive considerations within the Samsung Group. Samsung Electronics needs Samsung Display to continue to maintain supply under the situation of tight panel resources to ensure the stability of its supply chain.
Zhang Hong predicts that the actual supply area of global LCD TV panels will increase by 6% year-on-year in 2021. The forecast takes into account multiple factors, such as the continued release of new production capacity in mainland China, the progress of capacity ramping, and the delay in the exit of Korean production capacity.
Ovi Ruiwo pointed out that in 2021 the proportion of mainland Chinese manufacturers will further increase. On the whole, mainland Chinese manufacturers continue to expand their production capacity advantages, and it is expected that the proportion of TV panel shipments will increase to 60% in 2021, and continue their pricing power advantages for major size panels since the second half of 2020.
Buyers who have been tracking the panel industry for a long time told the China Securities Journal that “strong demand supports this round of LCD panel price increases, and the LCD industry will basically not expand production.” Founder Securities electronics analyst Tao Yinzhi believes that with As the competitive landscape improves, the possibility of substantial adjustments in TV panel prices is low.
