This quarter, the global LCD TV panel prices were expected to stop falling. Except for the 32-inch panel, which stopped falling for two consecutive months, the prices of other sizes of panels continued to decline in March. And the price of large-size panels still fell significantly.
According to China Securities Journal, the market research agency Ovi Ruiwo said that the price of 32-inch panels in March was flat compared with the previous month, but due to the overall panel cut orders, it is expected to drop by US$1 per panel in April, and it is estimated that the price of 32-inch panels will fall by 43 inches next month. , 50-inch panels maintained a downward trend of US$1 and US$2 respectively, while the prices of 65-inch and 75-inch panels maintained a downward trend of US$5 per piece.
Research firm Sigmaintell believes that due to weakened purchasing demand from international brands, the prices of 65-inch and 75-inch panels fell by nearly $10 this month, and the decline is expected to converge to $6 next month.
Panels are a typical cyclical industry. After regarding three years of supply and demand adjustments, coupled with the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia, LCD TV panels have ushered in the longest price hike in history since the second quarter of 2020, but since August last year, terminal demand Reaching saturation, the panel industry boom reversed downward, and continues to this day. The market generally expects that panel prices are expected to stop falling this quarter, but they failed to do so.
Li Yaqin, general manager of Sigmaintell, said: “Currently, the price of LCD TV panels has not fallen below the cash cost, and the overall price is above the cash cost. It is expected that the LCD TV panel will continue to decline in the second quarter. All are falling, which means that the global LCD panel market is in an overall downward channel, and the situation is relatively unfavorable.”
At present, the price of some LCD TV panels has halved from the high point of last year, and some production lines have suffered losses. Industry insiders believe that under the heavy pressure, the two major panel factories in South Korea may once once more put the production shutdown plan on the agenda.
With BOE (000725-CN), TCL Huaxing and other Chinese panel manufacturers have risen strongly, and the competition in the LCD industry has been fierce, forcing Samsung Display to successively withdraw LCD production lines in recent years and switch to OLED, QLED and other panel technologies.
Samsung Display originally planned to completely shut down the LCD production line by the end of 2020, but following the outbreak, in order to ensure sufficient panel supply and the sharp rise in panel prices, the production suspension plan was postponed.
The same is true for LG Display, another major panel manufacturer in South Korea. LG Display originally planned to stop the production of LCD TV panels in South Korea by the end of 2020, but it is still in production today.
A buyer who has been tracking panels for a long time judged, “Although Samsung Display’s shutdown of all LCD production lines has little impact on the supply side of the industry, it means that the South Korean company has started to lose money once more, and the price is still falling, so LG Display It is only a matter of time before the local LCD production line is shut down.”
Over the past year, China’s LCD panel makers have had a lot of money, and now the pressure is on the rise.
Li Yaqin said that the current pressure on panel factories has shifted from insufficient supply of raw materials such as wafers to the demand side. The global epidemic has eased, resulting in a drop in demand and gradual removal of supply chain risks, which in turn drives brands to start destocking, and this round of destocking is comprehensive, involving TVs, monitors, laptops, mobile phones and other consumer electronic products.
