Smartphone panel pricing has taken a hit in early January, with 4-inch a-Si, TN panels seeing as high as 7% decline. Sizes 4.5-inch and 5-inch meanwhile saw between 2-5% declines and 5-inch Full HD panels dropped about 1-2%, according to statistics compiled from DisplaySearch.
Panel demand from smartphone vendors dropped in December 2014, and this was difficult for most China and Taiwan panel makers because the drop came as they were closing their financial year. As a result, panel makers promoted more aggressively to improve their inventory levels, which led to price discounts. This has also had an impact on January's orders, the firm said.
