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Financial

Sharp Slowdown in Display Fab Utilization in Q3 as Panel Makers Try to Control Inventory Amid Display Panel Glut

July 25, 2022

The slowdown in display fab utilization that we predicted earlier this year is now in full swing and even more severe than we expected, according to the latest release of DSCC’s Quarterly All Display Fab Utilization Report issued last week. After a full year of panel prices falling with no end in sight, and after the entire display supply chain built excessive inventory, panel makers started to reduce utilization in Q2 and the slowdown has accelerated in Q3. In Q2’22, total TFT input for all display makers was down 6% Q/Q and down 2% Y/Y at 82.8M square meters, and in the current Q3’22 we expect total TFT input to be down another 11% Q/Q and 15% Y/Y to 74.0M square meters.
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OLED

Display Fab Schedules Pushed Out on Market Weakness

July 25, 2022

As we continue to work on our latest LCD and OLED fab schedules, which should be published the week of July 25th, we already see a clear theme and that is delays in timing. This is a natural outcome of the Crystal Cycle when prices are low and companies are losing money, they push out new investments, which increase capacity. There is no doubt this makes sense at this time with fab utilization falling to 73% in Q3’22 to slow down price reductions. Panel suppliers added too much capacity in 2021 and 2022 expecting the demand pulled in during the pandemic to continue to increase.
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Financial

Panel Maker Q2 Earnings Preview

July 25, 2022

In the next few weeks, we will see the Q2 earnings announcements for flat panel display makers, starting with LG Display on Wednesday, July 27th. The most recent quarter marks a full year after the biggest profits in the history of the flat panel display industry in Q2’21, and the prospects for the industry could not be more different. Panel prices started to decline a year ago and have not stopped their decline, and even with lower prices the demand for panels has decreased. We expect that panel makers will report another quarter of declining margins for Q2’22 and expect several panel makers to report operating losses.
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Mobile

OLED Smartphone Device Revenue to Decline 1% on Macroeconomic Environment and Weakened Consumer Demand

July 18, 2022

In the recently released Advanced Smartphone Display Shipment and Technology Report, we reveal that 2022 OLED smartphone device revenue is expected to decline 1% Y/Y to $390B on a 4% Y/Y unit decline as a result of the macroeconomic headwinds, weakened consumer demand, persistent supply chain issues as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns in China and concerns regarding inventory product build up. Based on our supply chain sources, all of the major smartphone brands have reduced their OLED smartphone panel procurements for 2022 by single and double-digit percentages.
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TV

TV Market Suffering from Excess Inventory

July 18, 2022

Inventories of TV panels have risen to a level rarely seen in recent years. Along with this, the fab utilization rates of FPD manufacturers have fallen to near record lows, and the average LCD fab utilization rate, which reached 90% last year, fell below 75% in June 2022. It is difficult to foresee a recovery in demand while there are ongoing headwinds such as the Russia / Ukraine war and inflation. Therefore, display companies are likely to continue adjusting to lower demand for a while.
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TV

Advanced TV Market to Grow to $36B by 2026

July 18, 2022

Advanced TV shipments are expected to grow by a 19% CAGR through 2026 to 37.4M units generating $35.6B in revenue, according to the latest update to DSCC’s Quarterly Advanced TV Shipment and Forecast Report, now available to subscribers. This report covers the worldwide premium TV market, including the most advanced TV technologies: WOLED, QD-OLED, QDEF, MicroLED and MiniLED with 4K and 8K resolution. The report looks at current and future TV shipments and revenues by technology, region, brand, resolution and size, and forecasts the growth of all these technologies. Two weeks ago, we covered the most recent historical results and this week, we will cover our updated forecast.
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Display Equipment

Azumo Raises Funding for Expansion of Reflective LCD Front-Lights

July 11, 2022

US-based technology startup Azumo, formerly known as FlexLighting, announced a major funding round last month and is planning a major expansion of its manufacturing to increase production of its light guide films for reflective displays. I had the opportunity to discuss the expansion in Azumo’s head office in downtown Chicago with Azumo CEO Mike Casper and CTO Tony Nichol.
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OLED

AMOLED Materials Market to Grow to $2.9 Billion by 2026

July 6, 2022

Sales for AMOLED stack materials for all applications are expected to grow at an 18% annual rate from $1.07B in 2020 to $2.9B in 2026, according to the last update of DSCC’s Biannual AMOLED Materials Report. Revenues can even exceed $3 Billion in 2026 if Universal Display Corporation successfully commercializes a blue phosphorescent emitter dopant as they have announced. The report details all aspects of AMOLED materials, including multiple applications, supplier matrices and cost comparisons.
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TV

Advanced TV Market Continues to Grow in 2022

July 6, 2022

Although the display industry is having a difficult year, the Advanced TV market continued to grow Y/Y in Q1 2022, and this segment of the industry continues to look promising. In this round of the battle between LCD and OLED technologies the two sides played to a draw, with both sides gaining volume and share largely unchanged. The latest update of the DSCC Quarterly Advanced TV Shipment and Forecast Report is now available to subscribers. On a brand level, Samsung has lost share in the Advanced TV market since early 2020, but managed to regain 2 share points of revenue share despite losing a share point of unit share.
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