Blog

Chinese Panel Maker Q2’24 Earnings: Large Screen Makers Solidly Profitable

September 3, 2024

The three publicly traded panel makers in China with substantial large-screen LCD businesses released their financial reports for the second quarter of 2024 last week, and the results painted a picture of a healthy display industry. The companies rode higher prices to increased profits and are generating free cash flow. Meanwhile, the three Chinese panel makers focused on smaller screens – Tianma, EverDisplay and Visionox – have not yet reported Q2’24 results as of August 30th.
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LG Display Develops Blue Phosphorescent OLED Panel with Tandem Structure

August 26, 2024

According to South Korea’s Etnews, LG Display has successfully developed an OLED panel utilizing blue phosphorescence. While blue phosphorescence offers excellent efficiency, its development has been challenging, and it has not been commercialized until now. This breakthrough is considered a significant advancement in OLED technology.
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LG Display to Sell Guangzhou Fab to China Star

August 5, 2024

As reported by Business Korea, LG Display announced on Thursday, August 1st that it has selected China Star Optronics Technology (CSOT, aka China Star) as the preferred negotiating partner for the sale of its share of its Gen 8.5 LCD fab in Guangzhou, China. While there is no agreement on a purchase price, the announcement represents a major step forward for LGD to raise additional capital to fund OLED expansion.
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LCD TV Panel Prices Continuing to Decline

August 5, 2024

The springtime rally in LCD TV panel prices from February to June has turned into a summertime slump as panel prices are headed down in the third quarter. The rally helped TV panel makers to improve profitability in the second quarter, but that profitability is likely to deteriorate in the third quarter. Unlike many former transitions, we do not expect a rapid deterioration in panel prices but rather a soft decline, at least for the next few months. This slump in 2H’24 follows a short rally in 1H’24, which followed a short slump in 2H’23, and together these “mini-cycles” represent a period of unusual stability in panel prices, where they have been sustained within a narrow range.
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LG Chemical Expected to Rank Second in OLED Evaporation Materials Market

July 29, 2024

LG Chemical is anticipated to surpass DuPont to become the number two player in the OLED evaporation materials market. According to DSCC’s Bi-Annual AMOLED Materials Report, UDC led the evaporation materials market in 2023, followed by DuPont in second place and LG Chemical in third. However, starting in 2024, LG Chemical is expected to rise to the number two position and maintain this position continuously.
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Prime Day Deals Disappointing for TV Buyers

July 22, 2024

Amazon has touted its Prime Day as a major shopping event, and the company declared its two-day event as a major success. For TV buyers looking for deals, however, with a few exceptions the special deals offered were not so special. The pricing of the deals gives some hints about the state of the TV market in the US.
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Meta to Launch AR Smart Glasses Without Ray-Ban Branding

July 22, 2024

Meta has asked its Reality Labs hardware teams to cut spending by almost 20% through 2026, according to The Information. Meta’s CFO reportedly told Reality Labs employees that AR/VR should be targeted as a $1T opportunity given how much the company has invested.
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Mobile

Samsung Launches Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6 – Modest Updates, Higher Prices

July 11, 2024

Samsung launched the sixth generation of its Flip and Fold foldable smartphones this week in Paris, France. The new foldables feature some small but needed improvements, incorporate AI functionality and are priced $100 higher than the Flip 5 and Fold 5 devices. However, if you order them on Samsung’s website, they will double the storage which wipes out the price increase. The Flip 6 will surely be the best selling foldable in 2024 and the Fold 6 will likely be vying with the Huawei Mate 5 for the #2 best-selling model. The specifications for the Fold 5, Flip 5, Fold 6 and Flip 6 are shown below. Let’s start with the displays.
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TV

LCD TV Panel Prices Starting to Decline in Q3

July 1, 2024

The rally in LCD TV panel prices which started in February peaked in May and June and panel prices are headed down as we start the third quarter. While the rally was far from dramatic, it represented a respite for TV panel makers who are challenged for profitability. Unlike many former transitions, we do not expect a rapid deterioration in panel prices but rather a soft decline, at least in Q3’24. This Q3 slump follows a short rally in Q1’24-Q2’24 which followed a short slump in Q4’24, and together these “mini-cycles” represent a period of unusual stability in panel prices, where they have been sustained within a narrow range.
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OLED

Apple’s OLED iPad Pro’s Undergo a Mix Shift

June 24, 2024

We continue to track Apple’s OLED iPad Pro panel procurement on a monthly basis through our supply chain contacts. Looking at the data, we were initially surprised when production started in February and March that the allocation between 11.1” and 13” heavily favored 13” with at least a 70% share. Our understanding for this was that SDC may have had some technical challenges managing crosstalk/light leakage in the tandem stack and SDC was the dominant 11.1” supplier. Looking at April and May, we saw that the gap closed quite a bit between 13” and 11.1” with 11.1” reaching nearly a 40% share in April and nearly a 50% share in May. It appears that SDC may have solved their technical challenges and, at the same time, LGD was added as a second supplier and started shipping higher volumes. Apple’s OLED iPad Pro Panel Procurement Mix
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