Global leading display producers are shifting the production focus from LCD display, cutting down manufacture facility or even quitting the business, majorly due to the fierce price competition and market transformation. The new display technologies, OLED, Mini LED are now competing to take over the role of leading display technology. Micro LED might also join the competition in the near future.

(Image: Lextar)

According to WitsView, a division of TrendForce, TV panel prices generally have been lower than the cash costs leading to business loss for global panel makers. They thus started to lower their utilization rates (UT) of TV panel products since September 2019.

Panasonic reported recently that it will cease LCD production by 2021. The Japanese electronics giant said that the explosive growth in the LCD market has led to market maturation. Despite that the company mainly focused on industrial and automotive LCD application, it still suffered from deficit. Panasonic thus announced to quit LCD business in 2021 and will continue to offer OLED display.

LG Display also plans to cut down its investment in LCD and reportedly to reduce production to less than half of its original capacity by 2020. China’s BOE, who sparked of the oversupply display market, also said that it will down size its LCD investment and turn into Mini LED and Micro LED development.

As new display technologies rise, many display industry players turned into OLED and Mini LED for new opportunities and profit. Mini LED backlight technology is regarded as a strong competitor for OLED and is seeing a revenue of US$340 million by 2023, according to the forecast of LEDinside.