Author: Qi Zhiying

And this reflects the helplessness of the Korean panel, the same as the South Korean panel giant LGD and Samsung show facing a similar dilemma. And behind this is the domestic panel manufacturers continue to expand panel shipments, increase the market share of Chinese panels.

Industry insiders said that Korean panel manufacturers are likely to suffer more losses in the second quarter due to the obvious impact of the epidemic on major markets such as Europe and North America. So, can the epidemic speed up the restructuring of the panel industry? What is the future growth space for Korean panel manufacturers and domestic panel manufacturers?

Samsung display performance pressure, accelerate exit from LCD track

According to foreign media reports, Samsung Electronics released the first quarter of 2020 financial report, the display business revenue of 6.59 trillion won (about 5.36 billion US dollars), operating loss of 29 trillion won (about 240 million US dollars), the loss is mainly affected by the decline in mobile display sales.

Recently, however, samsung has reported frequent layoffs and shutdowns. As early as last September, there was news that Samsung Monitor had launched an early retirement plan to cut its workforce. Moreover, the company has transferred some employees LCD the production line to the OLED production line.

In March this year, according to a report released by cinno research, affected by the epidemic, Samsung display is speeding up the closure of LCD production capacity and the conversion to OLED. It is reported that the shutdown plan may be advanced to the fourth quarter, involving three large-scale LCD panel factories in South Korea, as well as the 8.5-generation line in Suzhou, which has not reported the shutdown before.

Foreign media believe that Samsung's exit from the LCD panel market is not surprising, mainly because Samsung's business has continued to lose money in recent quarters, after a sharp increase in competitors' capacity, Samsung faces challenges in this field, and has lost money in the four quarters of 2019.

Korean TV market space is squeezed, Samsung and LG face each other in OLED field

The loss-making panel maker isn't samsung. According to foreign media reports, in the first quarter of 2020, the same as the Korean panel giant LG Display operating loss of 362 billion won (about 2.083 billion yuan), it is reported that this is the fifth consecutive quarter of the panel manufacturer operating losses. Also, in the first quarter, LG Display net loss was 90 billion won (1.145 billion yuan), more than tripled from a year earlier.

It is worth noting that several analysts said that Samsung display company and LG display panel manufacturers are likely to suffer more losses in the second quarter due to the obvious impact of the epidemic on major markets such as Europe and North America.

In addition, LG and Samsung display face the same situation, and are moving away from LCD field to OLED field. At the end of January this year, LG display announced that it would stop its production of TV LCD panels in South Korea, and its factory in poju, in the north of South Korea, would be closed within this year. At that time, media analysis said that LG's move was due to the increase in production of Chinese panel companies and the deterioration of the market of South Korean LCD panel, which made it difficult to improve the profit and loss situation.

It is understood that LG display Guangzhou plant has been officially put into operation in August 2019, introducing the 8th generation OLED production line to expand the capacity of OLED panels. According to the information disclosed by LG display, the 8.5 generation OLED production line can be mass produced before March this year. But affected by the outbreak, the production line will be postponed to the second quarter of this year.

It can be seen that Korean panel manufacturers are about to shut down LCD panel production line and turn equipment, plant and resources to OLED panel production.

In this regard, Liang Zhenpeng believes that the future trend of display technology is OLED technology, and Samsung and LG have their own advantages in this field. "At present, only Korean LG can produce large screen OLED display panel in the world, while Samsung currently focuses on the market layout of small and medium screen OLED panel, and both enterprises have formed a certain monopoly advantage in their respective fields," he said

Industry insiders believe that at present, South Korean panel giant Samsung display and LGD usher in a confrontation in the field of OLED, and will launch a fight in this field.

OLED is still a challenge in reconstructing the industrial chain of epidemic-catalyzed disease

According to the statistics of Korea display industry association, South Korea accounted for 41.1% of the global panel market last year, showing a downward trend for three consecutive years, with a great possibility of falling to 30% this year.

Compared with the Korean panel industry, the global share of the Chinese mainland's panels is rising rapidly. The Chinese mainland's small and medium-sized LCD market accounts for 40.4%, far ahead of Korea (13.3%), Japan (28.7%) and Taiwan, China (14.4%). In the field of large size LCD panels, Chinese mainland accounts for 34.3%, which exceeds 33.8% of Korea's, ranking first in the world.

Li Dongsheng, chairman of TCL technology, said in an interview with the media that the epidemic has accelerated the reconstruction of the global industrial chain, and China and South Korea will become the two main players in the semiconductor display competition in the future.

According to CINNO Research data, in February 2020, Chinese mainland panel manufacturers accounted for 59.4% of total shipments, nearly 6. With a market share of 18.8%, csot has surpassed BOE to become the largest LCD TV panel supplier in the world. BOE and Samsung ranked second and fifth.

However, the withdrawal of Korean panel manufacturers from the LCD field does not mean that their position in the display panel market will decline. Chinese enterprises will gain a leading advantage in the large-scale LCD industry, but there is still a gap between Korean and Korean companies in the field of flexible OLED display technology.

South Korea shows that the industry association has a overwhelming advantage in the OLED field, which accounted for 89.9% of the market last year, which is 9.3% higher than that in the Chinese mainland. In the small and medium-sized OLED panel market, South Korea accounted for 88.7%.

At the same time, Liang Zhenpeng said: "although domestic panel manufacturers such as BOE and csot can produce a small number of OLED display panels, there is still a big gap between the technical stability, production process, yield, OLED technology patents and Korean companies."