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TV

2024 Black Friday Deals Set New All-Time Lows for Big TVs

December 2, 2024

The central promotional event of the holiday season happened this week, and retailers offered all-time low prices for TVs during Black Friday. Although LCD TV panel prices are about the same today compared with a year ago, on some screen sizes the TV set prices are lower this year. This year we see much more promotion of the largest screen TVs, 98” or 100” LCD TVs. The competition from LCD is also pulling down OLED TV prices, which are also hitting all-time lows.
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TV

LCD TV Panel Prices Have Flatlined in Q4

December 2, 2024

Restrained production by major Chinese LCD makers has kept a lid on industry supply in the fourth quarter, and as a result LCD TV panel prices have stabilized. For the first time ever, in our outlook we expect prices for all panel sizes to be unchanged for at least four consecutive months.
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Applied Materials Announces New Tool and Architecture for Next Generation OLED Manufacturing, Samsung Display Now Assessing Their Technology

November 20, 2024

OLEDs found in smartphones, tablets, laptops, smartwatches and automotive applications are fabricated using a fine metal mask vacuum thermal evaporation (FMM VTE) tool. While Applied hasn’t disclosed pricing for their solution, FMM VTE tools can cost $500M each at G8.7 for 7.5K capacity for a tandem stack and the total FMM VTE expenditure for a 15K substrate per month tandem OLED fab can reach $1B. Equipment suppliers can only make and install a couple of these giant tools per year which can easily fill a football field, constraining the pace at which OLED manufacturers can build and expand capacity targeting future applications. In addition, the FMMs constrain OLED performance and limit the maximum size that can be produced. The ultra-thin fine metal masks are inherently constrained by sag, geometrical distortion and the tapered hole shape which results in a smaller OLED pixel and aperture ratio than if they were patterned by lithography. As the FMMs grow, the problem gets worse. With panel manufacturers looking to use larger substrates and build larger panels, FMMs can compromise this effort. In addition, the FMMs themselves are also expensive, take a long time to manufacture, need to be cleaned regularly, can lead to cross contamination impacting yields and require very precise positioning which impacts tool costs and can impact yields.
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IT

New MacBook Pros Are the First Apple Product to Use Quantum Dots

November 18, 2024

DSCC discovered that that the new Apple M4 MacBook Pros are the company’s first products to use quantum dots. Although Apple has not revealed this publicly, DSCC has determined that these new MiniLED-based laptops use a quantum dot enhancement film through the use of a spectrometer. After posting this information on X and LinkedIn, we received additional confirmation of this fact from Apple employees and former Nanosys management. Former Nanosys President and CEO Jason Hartlove indicated that he couldn’t tell us before and was glad we figured it out, signaling that it was their quantum dots being used. He also commented that they first approached Apple 15 years ago.
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Trump Tariffs Will Reshape the US Electronics Industry: Latest Imports Data Shows Continued Reliance on China

November 11, 2024

The election of Donald Trump as the 47th US President will force big changes in the supply chain for electronics products using displays if he follows through on campaign promises. Although there are signs that the display supply chain is slowly migrating to other regions, China remains the essential country for electronics imports to the US. If Trump follows through on his promise to implement a 60% tariff on imports from China, it will cost importers billions of dollars, likely forcing them to shift production to other countries.
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UDC Books a Profitable Q3 But Signals Material Sales Slowdown

November 4, 2024

After a strong first half of 2024, Universal Display Corporation (UDC) reported a sequential increase in net profits but signaled a slowdown in materials sales that started near the end of the third quarter. The company now projects reduced material sales in the fourth quarter and has downwardly revised its full year revenue guidance. Investors punished the company after the call, pushing the company’s stock price down 11% in trading on Thursday. The company’s stock closed on Friday, November 1st at $180.25, down 3% year-to-date.
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China National Day Shutdown Stabilizes LCD TV Panel Prices

November 4, 2024

A shutdown by major Chinese LCD makers for the country’s National Day holiday has throttled industry supply leading in the fourth quarter, and as a result LCD TV panel prices have stabilized. For the first time ever, in our outlook we expect prices for all panel sizes to be unchanged for the next three months.
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Financial

Panel Maker Q3’24 Earnings Preview

October 21, 2024

LG Display will kick off the Q3 earnings season with a report on Thursday, October 23rd, to be followed by AUO, Samsung and the rest of the flat panel display makers. For Chinese panel makers, the Q3 report will be an abbreviated report, which usually is issued about October 31st. Let’s preview the panel maker earnings season.
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TV

China Government Subsidy Program May Boost TV Demand

October 14, 2024

A subsidy program implemented by the Chinese government, part of a wider set of packages to revive the economy, is expected to boost TV demand in the fourth quarter. On September 25th, China’s NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission) issued CNY 150B (US$21.4B) of ultra-long-term special national bond funds to localities to support the implementation of consumer goods trade-in according to local conditions
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