AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) and LG Display Co (LGD) might consider investing in low-cost G10.5 fabs to produce 65-inch and 75-inch LCD TV panels to capitalize on the increasing demand for big-screen TVs, IHS Markit said.
That would also elevate the competition in the global LCD panel industry to a new level, as only Chinese flat-panel makers are spending lavish funds on building G10.5 fabs, the market researcher said on Thursday.
FOUR NEW PLANTS
Four G10.5 plants are expected to enter operation in 2019 or 2020 in China, including those owned by BOE Technology Group (京東方) and China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co (華星光電), IHS Markit analyst David Hsieh (謝勤益) told reporters on the sidelines of an annual display forum in Taipei.
By the end of 2019, China is expected to control 45 percent of the world’s flat-panel market, while Taiwan and South Korea will have a 23 percent and 26 percent share respectively, the research house said.
“Chinese companies are targeting jumbo-size 65-inch and 75-inch TV panels,” Hsieh said. “However, the investment and consumption of resources are enormous, while technological barriers are high.”
A G10.5 production line would cost US$5.8 billion and would require 445 hectares of land, Hsieh said.
In comparison, a low-cost G10.5 production line would cost only about US$3 billion, or half of the amount required for a G10.5 line, he said.
For cost-sensitive companies like AUO, it will be an optimal choice, Hsieh said.
“AUO and LGD are considering building low-cost G10.5 lines to expand capacity, as demand for 65-inch panels is high,” he said.
AUO, Innolux Corp (群創), LG Display and Samsung Electronics Co are the world’s major suppliers of 65-inch TV panels, according to IHS Markit.
Hsieh said TV panel prices are to slide next quarter, snapping the longest streak of price increases in the industry’s history.
TV set makers have stockpiled large inventories due to concerns of supply constraints, he said.
TIGHT SUPPLY
Prices for most TV panels this month are generally flat from last month, according to IHS Markit.
Prices for 50-inch and 65-inch TV panels rose only between US$2 and US$5 per unit due to tight supply, it said.
However, Hsieh said he does not expect panel prices to collapse any time soon, as demand will outstrip supply by 5 percent.
“Supply will continue to be tight this year,” he said.
IHS Markit said it expects panel prices to remain stable this quarter, and the price trend in the second half of the year would depend on inventory digestion and shipments, as new capacity additions are not expected to be significant.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
CHIP BOOM: Revenue for the semiconductor industry is set to reach US$1 trillion by 2032, opening up opportunities for the chip pacakging and testing company, it said ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services, yesterday launched a new advanced manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, aiming to meet growing demand for emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The US$300 million facility is a critical step in expanding ASE’s global footprint, offering an alternative for customers from the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China to assemble and test chips outside of Taiwan amid efforts to diversify supply chains. The plant, the company’s fifth in Malaysia, is part of a strategic expansion plan that would more than triple
RSS