Bob O'Brien

Technologies and Brands Driving the TV Market

From the middle of the 20^th century, the leading company in TVs has always been a vertically integrated display maker. From RCA with color CRT to Sony with Trinitron to Samsung with LCD, display innovation has been essential for a TV brand to succeed. Samsung remains the leading TV brand, a position it has held for almost two decades, but Samsung now makes only a tiny fraction of its own TV displays.

OLED has established itself as the best performing TV technology, but first LG and now Samsung have struggled to make OLED TV panels profitably. Meanwhile, MiniLED TVs are approaching OLED for performance and TCL and Hisense are aggressively promoting big MiniLED as an attractive alternative to OLED. This presentation will reveal the latest developments among TV brands and technologies, showing where the market has been and where it is going.

The Biggest Revenue Driver for Flat Panel Displays

Flat panel display makers are eagerly targeting the market for automotive displays because of their higher panel prices, but not every company can win in the auto space. Auto displays are growing in unit volume, in average screen size, and in functionality, driving revenue growth. This presentation will draw from DSCC’s new reports on automotive displays to detail the supply chain from panel maker to OEM based on design wins, and provide a forecast for automotive displays by OEM, display size and technology.

Robert J (Bob) O’Brien is Co-Founder and CFO of DSCC. Bob has decades of experience turning market and business analysis into strategic insights in the display and electronics industries. At DSCC, Bob takes the lead role in analysis of display materials, including glass and AMOLED materials, and covers developments in TV and other large-screen display applications. He is the principal author of DSCC’s AMOLED Material Report, the Advanced TV Shipment Report, and the Display Glass Report, and Bob contributes regularly to the DSCC Weekly Review.

Working at Corning from 2005-2016, as Director of Market Intelligence and Strategy for Corning Glass Technologies Bob developed an intelligence infrastructure to inform pricing strategy, product development, marketing communications and customer service strategy. He also developed external communications for investors and customers to realize Corning’s industry leading position.

Bob led the CGT intelligence team in building critical tools for analysis of both short- and long-term dynamics in the LCD industry. In response to Corning’s vulnerability to supply/demand swings, Bob developed an analytical model for predicting glass demand based on the supply/demand dynamics of the LCD value chain. The output of this model is frequently quoted in Corning’s earnings release and other communications. To increase understanding of the long-term dynamics of TV replacement, Bob led the efforts on consumer survey work to understand the replacement cycle of TV. As the cover glass market matured, Bob led the effort to explore and develop the Gorilla glass business in emerging markets.

Prior to Corning, Bob worked in engineering, product marketing, finance, and business intelligence for Philips Display Components and LG.Philips Displays. At Philips, Bob led a multi-division team evaluating potential opportunities in large display technologies, with comparative market and technology analysis of LCD, PDP, CRT, and projection. Bob prepared and executed financial and marketing expertise on the plasma display business for the due diligence process during the 2001 international merger which formed LG.Philips Displays.

Bob holds a BS in Applied and Engineering Physics from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Michigan Business School. He lives in Ann Arbor, MI with his wife Mattie and three sons. He can be reached at bob.obrien@displaysupplychain.com.