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Financial

LCD Capex Up, OLED Capex Down in Latest DSCC Equipment Spending Report Reflecting Market Conditions

May 10, 2021

DSCC’s latest Quarterly Display Capex and Equipment Market Share Report reveals a surge in LCD equipment spending to respond to dramatically improved market conditions in the LCD market. DSCC sees LCD revenues rising 32% in 2021 to $112B on strong unit and area growth with prices and profitability rebounding to or even exceeding the 2017 levels. With LCD suppliers able to sell everything they can make at attractive margins; it should be no surprise that most LCD manufacturers are looking to expand capacity. However, unlike previous upturns when many new fabs were built, in this upturn panel suppliers are looking to stretch their capacity through smaller investments, simplifying their processes, debottlenecking, etc. Having said that, we still see two new G8.6 mega fabs being built. Over the last three months, we have added or expanded 14 different LCD investments. The result versus last quarter is a 10% or a $2.2B increase in 2020-2024 LCD spending from $21.8B to $24B. As shown below, our latest 2021 LCD equipment spending forecast is up 15% versus last quarter’s forecast to $10B, with 2021 LCD equipment spending up 125% versus 2021. In addition, 2022 was upgraded by 28% to $3.5B.
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Display Technology

Foxconn Renegotiates Wisconsin Subsidy Contract

April 29, 2021

Last week, Foxconn Technology Group, along with the Governor’s office of the State of Wisconsin, released news that the two sides had agreed on a renegotiated contract for subsidies for Foxconn manufacturing in the State. The renegotiated deal between the Wisconsin Economic Development (WEDC) and Foxconn apparently puts an end to the idea of LCD manufacturing and reduces the maximum obligation of the State by 97%. “When I ran to be governor, I made a promise to work with Foxconn to cut a better deal for our State—the last deal didn’t work for Wisconsin, and that doesn’t work for me,” said Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. “Today I’m delivering on that promise with an agreement that treats Foxconn like any other business and will save taxpayers $2.77 billion, protect the hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure investments the State and local communities have already made, and ensure there’s accountability for creating the jobs promised.”
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Financial

FPD Revenues to Increase 28% in 2021 to Record $151 Billion

April 26, 2021

Strong demand for flat panel displays (FPD) across a range of applications, combined with a dramatic increase in panel prices, will lead to a 28% Y/Y increase to a record $151B in FPD revenues in 2021, based on DSCC’s newly released Quarterly FPD Supply/Demand Report. While the surge in revenues is not expected to be repeated beyond 2021, industry revenues will settle at a new, higher plateau, allowing better profitability for the entire display supply chain.
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OLED

OLED Revenues Expected to Increase 36% Y/Y in 1H 2021

April 21, 2021

OLED panel revenues will increase by 36% Y/Y in the first half of 2021, according to the latest update of the DSCC Quarterly OLED Shipment Report, as increased panel shipments for smartphones are combined with revenue growth in TVs, smartwatches and other applications.
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Financial

Previewing Q1’21 Display Supplier Earnings – What a Difference a Year Makes

April 21, 2021

Display makers will without doubt report impressive quarterly results for Q1’21 on a year over year basis. Q1’20 was a low point for display makers with quarterly revenues of $22.8B, the lowest since Q2’16. Revenues of publicly traded suppliers as seen in our Quarterly Display Supply Chain Financial Health Report were down 19% Q/Q and 11% Y/Y in Q1’20 on a combination of both low prices and reduced output with shipments impacted by COVID-19 related supply chain constraints. A year later, it is a very different story. Prices are up, demand is up from WFH/LFH and rebounding economies. With a weak comparable in Q1’20, Q1’21 will likely show record growth.
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Mobile

DSCC Smartphone Report Reveals and Predicts Latest Smartphone Trends – High Refresh Rate Penetration Surging

April 12, 2021

DSCC’s Quarterly Advanced Smartphone Features Report tracks and forecasts all major product trends in the AMOLED smartphone market in addition to providing supply chain insights for panels and chipsets. One of the major trends identified in the report is the rapid adoption of higher refresh rates, 90Hz and higher. This report tracks all AMOLED smartphone shipments by model and sees a significant uptick in higher refresh rates for most brands. In fact, in Q2’21, higher refresh rates should reach a 46% share of panel procurement on a unit basis and a 50% share on a smartphone revenue basis, up from 20% and 31% respectively in Q2’20.
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OLED

OLED Production to Increase 94% Y/Y in Q2 2021

April 12, 2021

A recovery from the pandemic, combined with strong demand for OLEDs in smartphones, TVs and other devices, and coupled with capacity increases, will lead OLED production to grow 94% Y/Y in the second quarter of 2021, according to the latest update to DSCC’s Quarterly OLED and Mobile LCD Fab Utilization Report released last week. Growth in OLED input area for small & medium displays is expected to come in at 68% Y/Y, while growth in OLED TV input area will more than double at +134% Y/Y.
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TV

LCD TV Panel Prices Keep Going Up

April 5, 2021

Continuing strong demand for LCD products coupled with increasing concerns about shortages in key components have driven LCD TV panel prices to significant increases in Q1, and prices show no signs of slowing down in Q2. The widespread problems in the supply of Display Driver ICs (DDICs) and the recent announcement by Corning that glass prices will increase, add to the general logistics problems to create an atmosphere where price increases appear to be not only accepted but expected.
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Materials

Display Glass Shipments to Hit New Records in 1H 2021 and Corning Announces Glass Price Increase

March 29, 2021

Pulled by strong demand for large-screen LCD panels, display glass shipments are expected to increase by 4% in the second quarter of 2021 to an all-time high of 165M square meters, according to the latest update to DSCC’s Quarterly Display Glass Report, released last week. Shipments in the first quarter of 2021 have been flat Q/Q compared with Q4 2020, despite the reduced number of working days and the supply constraints stemming from a power outage at NEG’s Takatsuki plant.
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