The largest Chinese LCD panel maker, BOE Technology Group (BOE), formally announced on December 2 that it is commencing the building of its Gen-10.5 LCD panel fabrication plant in the Chinese city of Hefei. With the construction of the Hefei fab underway, major Japanese panel maker Sharp will find its days as the manufacturer of the largest LCD panels numbered.
Since 2013, major LCD panel makers have continually invested in fabs producing LTPS (low-temperature polysilicon) LCD panels as to capture demand in the high-end smartphone market. WitsView, a division of TrendForce, estimates that this year’s global LTPS production capacity by area will stand at 9.4 million square meters, and next year’s capacity will reach 10.7 million square meters.
WitsView, a division of TrendForce, estimates that the shipments of large-size LCD panels (sized 7 inches and above) for the entire 2015 will reach 794 million units in its latest report. This figure represents a 4.1% year-on-year drop and a first-ever annual shipment decline for the LCD panel industry.
Global LCD TV shipments for 2015 will total 216 million sets, according to the latest estimation by WitsView, a division of TrendForce. This year’s shipments will represent a slight annual decline, for the first time since the shipment slide in 2013. In the short term, consumer spending will generally remain weak due to the sluggish pace of the global economic recovery and currency fluctuations.
According to the latest large-size panel report by WitsView, a division of TrendForce, TV panel shipments totaled 22.93 million units in October, down 6.3% from September but up 6.4% from a year ago. “Stocking up for year-end sales was winding up in October,” said WitsView analyst Iris Hu.