Weak global demand intensifies excess capacity in the panel industry

China's flat-panel color TV companies were once described in the global industrial chain as "the lack of core screen," and the two 8.5-generation TFT-LCD panels production lines that were self-invested and built by mainland Chinese companies were recently put into production, which has long plagued domestic color TV sets. The company's "shortage pain" is expected to soon become history. However, for the two domestic panel companies that have just started production, due to the current slowdown in the growth of the global color TV market and the continuous decline in panel prices, it is expected that the company will face short-term performance loss pressures when it is put into operation.

Two mainland China 8.5 production lines put into operation on schedule

After more than one year of construction and installation, the two 8.5-generation lines in mainland China have started production in accordance with the expected date.

In late June, BOE's 8.5-generation TFT-LCD production line was put into operation in Beijing. With a total investment of 28 billion yuan, the BOE Beijing 8.5 Generation Line is the first high-end TFT-LCD production line independently developed in mainland China. It mainly produces 26-inch to 55-inch displays and LCD TVs with a design capacity of 90,000 glass substrates. In the month, after reaching production, it will achieve an annual output of 13 million LCD screens with an annual output value of nearly 20 billion yuan. After the Beijing 8.5 Generation Line reaches production, BOE's share in the global LCD panel market will increase to around 8%, and its shipment ranking will rise to the top six in the world.

The 8.5-generation LCD panel project of Shenzhen Huaxing Optoelectronics under the TCL Group was also put into production on August 8. Production volume is expected to begin at the end of the fourth quarter of this year (18,000 glass panels/month). The project will be completed by the end of next year ( 100,000 glass plates / month). The total investment of China Star Opto-Electronics Line 8.5 is RMB 24.5 billion. The main products are 26-inch to 32-inch, 46-inch and 55-inch LCD TV modules. The designed capacity is 100,000 per month, and the annual output of LCD TV modules is approximately 14 million. Piece.

The commissioning of the two 8.5-generation lines in mainland China will help solve the “painless” pain that has plagued domestic color TV companies for many years. The cost of LCD panels as an irreplaceable key core display component accounts for 40% of the total cost of LCD TVs. For a long time, only Korean, Japanese and Chinese Taiwanese companies have mastered the core technologies of LCD panels. Color TV companies in mainland China often encounter The shortage of goods and the high cost of procurement are constrained by people. In order to solve the panel's lack of challenges, mainland color TV companies have organized groups to purchase LCD panels in Taiwan in recent years. In 2011, eight major TV companies in the mainland are expected to purchase 30 million LCD panels from Taiwan, amounting to US$5.5 billion.

Peng Qi, an analyst of Changjiang Securities Electronic Components Industry, told reporters that the commissioning of BOE and TCL's two 8.5-generation lines has shifted the entire panel industry from the original capacity competition to the cost-competitive stage and may eventually accelerate the transfer of panel production capacity to the domestic market. Localization speed of supporting material supply.

Encountered weak demand, panel prices fell

Although the two 8.5-generation lines of BOE and TCL have been successfully put into production, the current global TV market slowdown and the drop in LCD panel prices may adversely affect companies.

Judging from the demand of the terminal market—the global TV market, the market research organization WitsView will reduce the 2011 global LCD TV market expectation from 214 million units to 2.04-207 million units in June this year. In recent days, WitsView lowered the scale of global LCD TV shipments in 2011 to 2.01-2.03 billion units.

Another research institute, DisplaySearch, also released a report on the latest market, saying that the global shipment of LCD TVs in 2011 is expected to be 210 million units, which is lower than the target of 6 million units expected at the beginning of the year. Among them, the demand for LCD TVs in North America this year will only reach 39.3 million units, which is lower than the previous estimate of 40.5 million units, and the sales volume of European LCD TVs will only reach 56.29 million units, which is lower than the previously estimated 61.34 million units.

According to WitsView statistics, in June 2011, the shipments of China's top 6 TV sets reached 2.598 million units, a decrease of 1.7% from May. Together with the shipment of 2.643 million TV units and 19% monthly reductions in May this year, shipments have declined for two consecutive months. During the same period, the TV panel purchases of the mainland's 6 major TV brands were approximately 3.04 million, which was also 4.3% lower than that in May.

Liu Chenhong, WitsView research associate, pointed out that TV shipments from mainland China in May and June this year fell for two consecutive months, mainly due to the fact that the end of the channel is still dominated by digested inventory, coupled with weak demand in the off-season, resulting in the shipment of brand names. Blocked.

In addition to the weak TV market, from the perspective of LCD panel prices, since May 2010, LCD panel prices have dropped for 15 consecutive months, of which 42-inch panel has dropped from 423 yuan to 255 yuan, 40-inch panel from 410 yuan fell to 235 yuan, 32-inch panel fell from 268 yuan to 162 yuan, a drop of more than 40%.

Affected by the continuous decline in panel prices, global panel companies are also generally in a loss situation. In the second quarter of 2011, the global top four panel companies reported a net loss of 210 billion won (approximately 1.28 billion yuan) in Samsung Display Panel and a net loss of 48 billion won (approximately 290 million yuan) in LG Display in the second quarter. AUO’s net loss in the second quarter was NT$10.77 billion (approximately RMB2.4 billion), and Chi Mei’s second-quarter net loss was NT$13.01 billion (approximately RMB2.9 billion).

In this situation, Zhang Bing, Research Director of DisplaySearch in China, pointed out to reporters: “At present, the profit situation of the global panel industry is indeed more difficult, and it is no exception for BOE and TCL. Both will suffer the pressure of the current panel price decline.” But TCL The Group's 8.5-generation line will not be officially mass-produced until the end of this year. Panel prices will remain uncertain after three months. Currently, the panel price may stabilize after the third quarter, which mainly depends on the recovery of demand in Western Europe and North America. However, the current recovery in demand in these markets is not optimistic.

Exacerbates Global Panel Overcapacity

In the field of global LCD panels, South Korea has been the largest producer of large-size TFT-LCDs, with production close to half of the world; followed by the Taiwan region of China, with LCD panel production accounting for 40% of global output. From the second quarter of this year, the output of large-size TFT-LCD panels in mainland China surpassed that of Japan for the first time, becoming the third largest panel production area in the world. In the eyes of the industry, with the launch of BOE, TCL Corporation's 8.5-generation line, and Samsung’s 7.5-generation line invested and built in Suzhou, the National Development and Reform Commission recently approved the 8.5-generation AUO Kunshan line. The successive operation of these projects will help realize The “localization” of panel production will also aggravate the overcapacity of the global panel industry, and the future supply and demand relationship of the global panel market will be hardly optimistic.

Luo Qingqi, a senior director of Pall Consulting, believes that the vast market hinterland and relatively low manufacturing costs have attracted overseas panel companies to transfer production lines to the mainland. However, the long-term global market demand may cause the LCD panel industry to fall into the crisis of overcapacity. At the same time, the intelligent upgrade of electronic household electrical appliances continues to weaken the status of the panel in the industrial value chain, and the global LCD panel industry will face unprecedented strategic pressure. In the coming period, it will enter into a severe downward price space.

It is precisely because of concerns over overcapacity brought about by the centralized generation of high-level lines in mainland China that South Korea’s LGD Corporation, which has received approval for the construction of high-end LCD panel lines, previously announced that due to the current saturation of the LCD panel market, it was decided to postpone Construction date of the 8-generation LCD panel production line in Guangzhou, China. AU Optronics spokeswoman Xiao Yawen also confirmed to reporters that the Kunshan 8.5-generation line expects that the new plant will not open capacity in 2012, and the actual volume production schedule will be adjusted according to the global supply and demand situation of the overall panel of the mainland.

In Zhang Bing’s view, the LCD panel is a globally competitive industry, and the current global panel production capacity has been surplus. From the demand side, the demand for the panel is mainly the demand for TV panels and IT. In fact, the demand is still growing. At present, there are still a large number of CRT TVs in the world that need to be converted into flat-screen TVs. The key is when this demand can be met in the next few years. Inspired; but the supply side is a jump growth, such as this year's BOE, TCL Group 8.5 production line put into production, the production capacity of the two production lines are nearly 20 million, and the market demand did not appear similar to a substantial jump in growth, Therefore, overcapacity will be caused in the short term.

Lu Jiebo, an expert in home appliance industry, believes that with the launch of BOE and Huaxing Optoelectronics and other Chinese flat panel companies, a new round of panel surpluses has taken shape, and the attitude of foreign LCD and plasma panel makers in suppressing Chinese panel makers has emerged. And global flat-panel color TV growth slowed down, new technology television products have emerged. It is expected that the new round of global panel price cuts will be advanced early next year. This is good news for China's color TV companies, but it has alarmed the panel investment companies and it is worthy of the industry's attention to see if the production or loss situation has occurred. Mass production as soon as possible, increase the rate of finished products, and quickly recover the cost of investment are the top priorities for panel investment companies in China.

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