News from December 08, Beijing time,
At present, due to the continuous decline in panel prices, the investment activities of major panel manufacturers have almost stagnated, and small and medium-sized panel companies are under pressure. In this context, how to develop has become an urgent problem for small and medium-sized panel companies to solve.
Recently, Truly Group invested 20 billion yuan in the 6th generation TFT-LCD production line project. Truly invested tens of billions of yuan to invest in the expansion of low-generation production lines, which attracted the attention of the industry.
Truly invested 20 billion yuan in LTPS production line
Truly International was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1991. It is China's largest smartphone component and component manufacturer and one of the world's top automotive display suppliers. The company's main business is for smart phones and non-smart phones. The latter mainly refers to liquid crystal displays in the fields of automobiles, household appliances, wearable devices, and medical treatment. According to data, Truly's revenue in 2020 will be 22.2 billion Hong Kong dollars and net profit will be 600 million Hong Kong dollars, of which liquid crystal display products account for 64 percent of total revenue.
According to industry analysts, judging from the investment scale of 20 billion yuan and Truly's past investment experience, the production line should be an LTPS production line that supports ultra-high resolution, including complete production capacity from panels to display modules.
Rong Chaoping, senior research manager of Ovi Revo, told the reporter of "China Electronics News": "In the long run, the scale of the head panel factory will gradually expand its competitive advantage. For small and medium-sized panel factories, it is more difficult to invest in the next generation of technology. , Because it needs to consume a lot of money."
The logic behind Truly's "Going Against the Current"
In the low investment period when the panel industry was under pressure, why did Truly choose to "go upstream" and choose the low-generation LCD production line?
It is reported that the 6th generation TFT-LCD production line project invested by Truly is mainly aimed at high-end automotive displays, industrial medical and Internet of Things, mobile phones, tablets, notebook computers and other small and medium-sized display market needs. According to the official website of Truly, Truly began to deploy in the field of on-board display screens as early as 1996, and has now become a mainstream supplier to global car manufacturers.
"With the advent of the Internet of Things and 5G era, more life scenarios will become part of display applications. At the same time, new display technologies are also showing a diversified trend, including LCD, OLED, and micro-display. But in the medium and long term, small and medium size LCD panels still have a long life cycle." Qunzhi Consulting Automotive Display Analyst Chen Ziwei told reporters.
In recent years, the demand for car monitors has been increasing. In 2012, Tesla's electric car Model S was unveiled, and the car's central control panel used a 17-inch high-definition LCD screen for the first time, opening the era of large-screen in-vehicle displays. After that, the new Mercedes-Benz cars are equipped with two 12.3-inch screens side by side at the same time, and the new Audi A8 mid-size car is equipped with a total of three LCD screens, and the on-board display has entered the multi-screen era. According to data from Qunzhi Consulting, it is estimated that the global shipment scale of pre-installed vehicle display panels in 2021 will be approximately 164 million, of which OLED display panels account for less than 1 percent (about 0.2 percent ). The market is still based on small and medium-sized LCD panels. Mainly.
It is not difficult to see that Truly's investment is largely due to the market value of on-board displays and related businesses. Insiders said that investing in the 6th generation line in the current period can reduce the operating cost of the investment cycle.
Small and medium-sized panel manufacturers explore ways to break the game
At present, global panel production capacity is continuously concentrated in mainland China. China's head panel manufacturers BOE, TCL Huaxing, and Huike continue to expand their production capacity and continue to squeeze the market share of other small and medium-sized panel makers. The panel industry structure is accelerating changes.
Affected by the dimensionality reduction from the high-generation line of LCD panel factories in mainland China, South Korean LG Display and Samsung Display have begun to accelerate the withdrawal of LCD production capacity, and are actively deploying the next-generation OLED display technology. Taiwan's panel manufacturers Innolux and AUO continue to reduce TV panel production capacity to reduce their dependence on TV revenue, and shift their production capacity to IT, industrial control, automotive and other fields to increase the added value of their products. At present, the overall capacity expansion of domestic small and medium-sized panel makers is limited, and the gap with head panel makers is gradually widening.
"At the stage when market conditions are good, small and medium-sized panel makers are at a profitable level. However, as panel prices fall into a trough again, the industry will lose money, and corporate operating pressure will increase. At the same time, in terms of upstream supply chain and customer structure stability, etc., The gap between small and medium-sized panel makers and head panel makers has widened." Rong Chaoping told reporters that small and medium-sized panel makers will either be merged and acquired, such as CEC Panda's transfer of Nanjing G8.5 and Chengdu G8.6 to BOE in 2020; or Deploy differentiated products, such as AUO and Innolux of Taiwan, which gradually reduce their TV panel production capacity, and expand their production capacity in industrial control, automotive, medical, AR/VR and other fields to ensure survival in a profitable situation.
According to Ricky Park, chief analyst of Omdia, after the new crown pneumonia epidemic is alleviated, a meta-universe ecosystem with virtual reality will gradually rise, and the demand for VR panels will be aroused. Omdia predicts that 3D games and visual entertainment will stimulate new demand for VR and AR. It is expected that LTPS LCD will be mainly used in the automotive market, and further improve core indicators such as resolution to avoid competition with OLED in the smart phone market.
"With the advent of the Internet of Things and IoT digital life, seeking multi-scenario breakthroughs has become more opportunities and breakthrough points for future development of small and medium-sized panel factories, such as smart industry, smart transportation, smart cities, etc." Qunzhi Consulting Deputy General Manager and Chief Analyst Shi Chen Jun told a reporter from China Electronics News.
