Due to the Impact of COVID-19... LCD Panel Shipments Decrease by 3.5%

Source: TrendForce WitsView

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), global LCD TV panel shipments decreased last month. South Korea's top company, LG Display, also dropped to 6th place in the global market rankings.

According to market research firm TrendForce's WitsView on the 27th, global LCD TV panel shipments last month totaled 20.073 million units, down about 3.5% from 20.809 million units in the previous month.

The decline in shipments was due to the spread of COVID-19 last month, which caused major LCD TV panel manufacturers in China to halt factory operations. Initially, WitsView had expected shipments to exceed 21 million units last month before the COVID-19 outbreak.

The COVID-19 impact also caused significant changes in company rankings. BOE of China, which had maintained the No. 1 position in the LCD TV panel industry, shipped 3.46 million units and fell to 2nd place, while China's CSOT (China Star) took the top spot for the first time with 3.72 million units. CSOT is analyzed to have maintained its shipment volume by responding to COVID-19 and restarting factories faster than BOE.

Our company, LG Display, dropped from 4th place in January to 6th place last month. Shipments decreased from 2.07 million units to 1.98 million units. This decline in ranking is interpreted as LG Display reducing its low-profit LCD TV panel business and shifting its business structure to the high-profit OLED panel sector.

LG Display plans to significantly increase OLED panel supply by starting operations at its Guangzhou OLED manufacturing plant in China next month. To this end, despite concerns over COVID-19, about 290 employees were urgently dispatched by charter flight to the Guangzhou plant yesterday.

The industry expects LCD TV panel shipments to decline sharply this year due to the impact of COVID-19. WitsView forecasts that shipments of LCD panels for TVs in the first quarter of this year will be 63.782 million units, down 12.7% from the previous quarter and 8.9% from the same period last year. Another market research firm, Omdia, also predicts that global LCD TV panel shipments will decrease by 10.2% to 257.8 million units this year compared to the previous year.

However, with reduced supply this year, the average selling price (ASP) of LCD TV panels is expected to rise. Kogungwoo, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, stated, "Currently, LCD TV panel prices continue to rise due to supply reductions by LG Display and Samsung Display and the impact of COVID-19. In particular, with the uncertainty surrounding the operation of new LCD facilities in China scheduled for the first quarter of this year, panel prices are expected to increase for the time being."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.