China's flexible OLED manufacturers have been rapidly advancing their technology and boosting their shipments, posing a substantial challenge to Samsung Display's dominance.
Samsung Electronics' semiconductor division is under pressure, facing fierce competition from industry rivals and internal labor strikes, creating substantial hurdles for newly appointed chief Kye Hyun Kyung. Meanwhile, SK Hynix is capitalizing on its momentum, planning to significantly boost its 2024 capital expenditures to maintain its leadership in High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM).
Due to the continuous expansion of production capacity in China, the polarizer industry is facing a problem of oversupply that exceeds even the demand for panel productions.
AUO is transforming its business structure, aiming to lower regular display panel sales to below 70% of overall company revenue in 2025, according to company chairman Paul Peng.
Samsung Display (SDC) and LG Display (LGD) have reportedly received mass production approval for Apple's iPhone 16 Pro OLED panels simultaneously. This development is anticipated to assist LGD in closing the gap with SDC in the iPhone OLED supply chain.
Apple's first OLED-screen tablet, the iPad Pro, reportedly has a shipment target of over 9 million units. This is noteworthy given the recent downturn in the overall IT device market.
In the first half of 2024, overall demand for e-paper has shown signs of gradual recovery, especially for Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL), which have shown great potential in inventory replenishment starting from the first quarter.
IEEE INEC, which stands for IEEE International Nanoelectronics Conference, was initiated in 2006 when the field of nanoelectronics was emerging and will host its 2025 conference in Taipei on Jan 3-6.
E Ink Holdings, a major e-paper manufacturer, is nearing the end of its inventory clearance phase. Chairman Johnson Lee stated that the inventory of modules is expected to be nearly cleared by the end of May.
OLED panels used for external screens/monitors remain dominated by the two major South Korean panel manufacturers, Samsung Display (SDC) and LG Display (LGD), becoming a new growth driver for both firms with an annual shipment growth of around 20%.
With its factory utilization rates reaching 70-80%, polarizer manufacturer Cheng Mei Materials Technology (CMMT) anticipates double-digit sequential revenue growth in the second quarter, driven by new orders from South Korea and China.
In an effort to position itself as more than a panel company by 2025, AUO has increased its deployment of non-display business operations, according to company chairman Paul Peng.
As demand in the mobile phone market recovers, panel makers have seen related AMOLED panel prices increase slightly in May, while prices for mobile LCD panels continue to fall.
The world's first 10th-generation LCD panel factory, located in Japan's Sakai and operated by Sharp subsidiary Sakai Display Products (SDP), is set to cease production by September 2024. The impending closure has ignited industry concerns regarding how major customers, including Shenzhen MTC, Samsung Electronics, and LG Electronics, will reassess their supply partnerships for transferring orders.
TCL CSOT recently showcased its 7.85-inch tri-fold flexible OLED and other technologies at the Display Week 2024 event organized by the Society of Information Display (SID) in San Jose, California. TCL CSOT exhibited over 40 different panel products, spanning smartphones, tablets, notebooks, automotive displays, TVs, and medical devices. Among these, their printed OLED and flexible OLED technologies received the most attention.
Apple's supply chain experienced inventory adjustments in the market, with the launch of new products in 2024 driving the recovery of supply chain operations.
Taiwan's panel makers saw mixed business performances in April, but major suppliers of large-sized panels, AU Optronics (AUO) and Innolux, are optimistic that their shipments will grow quarter by quarter in 2024, with both striving to reverse losses into profits.
AUO will participate in SID (Display Week) 2024 to showcase Micro LED and highlight their investment in three major display technologies for green tech applications, particularly Cholesteric Liquid Crystal (ChLC).
Market research firm DSCC recently stated that for Apple's OLED iPad launched in 2024, LG Display (LGD) is expected to account for over 65% of the panel shipments, ahead of Samsung Display (SDC). Observers in the South Korean industry have raised concerns about Apple issuing rather harsh requirements, suspecting that Apple may be attempting to shift the "responsibility" of weak sales and shipments onto the South Korean panel manufacturers