As holiday seasons approach, including China's Singles' Day and Black Friday in Europe and the US, the smartphone panel market has maintained high utilization rates in the fourth quarter of 2025, though price trends have diverged across different panel technologies.

Although the LCD industry supply chain has begun moving from China to Vietnam in the past two years, front-end panel processes remain mainly in China or Taiwan. Sarah Lin, president of Coretronic Corporation, stated that the influx of Chinese component and module suppliers building capacity in Vietnam has created a major test for Vietnam's factory construction speed, human resources, and local culture. After building a new factory in the first half of 2025, Lin believes that Vietnam's manufacturing efficiency is lower than China's.

The third-quarter earnings season for the industry has begun, led by Powertip Technology, followed by Coretronic. The main events are set for October 30, when major names including LG Display (LGD), AUO, Radiant Opto-Electronics, and BenQ Materials will hold their briefings.

Vietnam has grown significantly into a hotspot for companies from South Korea, China, Singapore, and Taiwan to set up factories. The escalation of US-China trade tensions has caused a rapid flood of Chinese companies to expand to Vietnam, drawing significant attention from South Korean businesses already established in the country.

Darwin Precisions will remain as a key player in the display industry even amid challenges resulting from tariffs and exchange rates, according to company chairman Kuo-hsin Tsai. The company has worked hard to improve its financials while optimizing product mix, production efficiency, and cost structure, aiming for better performance in 2026.

China's Shenzhen Sapo Photoelectric will invest CNY1.334 billion (US$186 million) to build a new LCD and OLED polarizer production line in Shenzhen, worsening an already oversupplied market. With the global display supply chain increasingly concentrated in China, Taiwanese polarizer makers face intensifying pressure to transform.

RiTdisplay has entered the medical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) sector by partnering with UK-based Adtec Healthcare and Taiwan's SG Biomedical to develop a low-temperature plasma medical platform. The company also collaborates with an international gene sequencing team and Lihpao Life Science on optical gene applications, marking RiTdisplay's strategic shift from optoelectronic manufacturing into the medical industry and opening a second growth trajectory.

Apple has hit fresh roadblocks in its ambitious attempt to reinvent the iPad with a giant foldable display, according to multiple reports. The device, internally code-named J312, was originally targeted for a 2028 launch, but now, engineers and industry watchers believe it may not arrive until 2029, or possibly never.

China's national subsidy program is nearing its end, and consumer spending momentum has slowed down. During the National Day holidays, TV sales volume and prices both declined. With weakening panel pull-in momentum, the industry is not optimistic about TV sales for the upcoming Singles' Day shopping festival.

LG Display (LGD) is reportedly planning to invest in production line conversion in 2026 for Apple's next-generation iPhone. According to the latest reports from Korean media, LGD began placing orders for related equipment in the fourth quarter and is expected to start installing them in the first quarter of 2026.