Category Archives: Touch Technologies

As panel makers are increasingly targeting the premium TV market, active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) TV panel shipments are expected to exceed 10 million units by 2023, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 42 percent from 2017, according to IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO).

Panel manufacturers are continuously increasing AMOLED TV panel line-up with differentiated picture quality and figure, targeting the premium TV market. However, high manufacturing cost of the AMOLED TV panel will remain a hurdle to its shipment increase, according to IHS Markit analysis.

“LG Display is the only AMOLED TV panel supplier continuously increasing ultra-high definition (UHD) AMOLED TV panel shipments, while planning to discontinue the mass production of full HD AMOLED TV panel in 2017,” said Jerry Kang, principal analyst of display research at IHS Markit.

“This indicates most TV brands recognize that AMOLED TV will be more competitive in the premium TV market, which is less price-sensitive than even the high-end TV market, considering the relatively high manufacturing cost of AMOLED TV panels.” The 65-inch UHD TV panel will account for 48 percent of the total AMOLED TV panel shipments in 2017.

Figure 1

Figure 1

According to the IHS Markit Large Sized AMOLED Technology & Market report, most of AMOLED panel manufacturers are trying to develop an ink-jet AMOLED process, seen as a viable way to reduce manufacturing costs. However, they are facing challenges with the soluble emitting materials used in the process, resulting in low-performance yields.

“The panel manufactures are now associating themselves with a few equipment and material suppliers to develop and optimize the ink-jet AMOLED process, with an aim to mass produce AMOLED TV panels utilizing essentially an ink-jet printer by 2019,” Kang said.

The IHS Markit Large Sized AMOLED Technology & Market report covers the latest market trend and the forecast of AMOLED displays of 9.7 inches and larger, technologies analysis and panel makers’ strategies by region.

FlexTech’s annual Flexible Electronics Conference and Exhibit – 2017FLEX – is set for the Hyatt Regency Hotel & Spa in Monterey, Calif.  from June 19-22, 2017. Consistently attracting 500+registrants, the event is the premier technology conference for the emerging flexible electronics industry. Twenty-six sessions will cover the landscape of flexible hybrid electronics and printed electronics, including R&D, manufacturing and applications. Short courses and networking events round out 2017FLEX.

According to Zion Research, “global demand for the flexible electronics market was valued at $5.13 billion in 2015 and is expected to generate revenue of $16.5 billion by 2021, growing at a CAGR of slightly above 21 percent between 2016 and 2021.”  Key elements of the market include flex displays, sensors, batteries, and memory. Applications also abound in the automotive, consumer electronics, healthcare, and industrial sectors.

While technology advancement and accelerating to manufacturing are the primary themes of the FLEX Conference, applications and business trends are highlighted on the opening day:

  • Applied Materials Keynote by Brian Shieh, corporate VP and GM, Display Business Group, on the flexible display market
  • Flex, the global EMS provider, and NextFlex, America’s Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Institute, on the challenges and solutions for manufacturing flexible and stretchable electronics
  • Libelium on how new IOT platforms that integrate sensors to monitor and control body parameters will lead to better healthcare for billions
  • Experience Co-Creation Partnership on the ten starting points for the development of flexible/hybrid sensors for agriculture and food
  • NovaCentrix on the OE-A Roadmap 2017, giving an outlook on organic and printed electronics developments and prospects
  • Gartner Group on when flexible electronics will reach critical mass

Sessions are planned for FHE manufacturing, standards and reliability, substrates, conductors, inspection, encapsulation and coating, nanoparticle inks, direct write, and 3D printing, among others. Well-known companies will present, such as Molex, Panasonic, Eastman Chemical, and Northrup Grumman, as well as leading universities, and the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force Research Laboratories.

Among the R&D organizations presenting at 2017FLEX are CEA-LITEN (France), ETRI (South Korea), Flexible Electronics & Display Center (USA), Fraunhofer Institute (Germany), Holst Center (Netherlands), National Research Council (Canada), PARC (USA), and VTT (Finland). Topics of the presentations range from new forms of flexible substrates to TFT and OLED pilot lines to printed health monitoring sensors.

The exhibit floor, short courses and networking opportunities round out the event, as well as many member-only meetings.  FlexTech, the Nano-Bio Manufacturing Consortium (NBMC) and NextFlex hold member and planning meetings for the governing councils, technical councils and technology working groups.  Initiatives in manufacturing, mobile power, e-health, as well as project proposals will be discussed, all buoyed by the information shared during the technical conference.

For more information on 2017FLEX, please visit:  www.semi.org/en/2017-flex

The new Samsung Galaxy S8 equipped with 64 gigabytes (GB) of NAND flash memory carries a bill of materials (BOM) cost that comes out to US$301.60, much higher than for previous versions of the company’s smartphones, according to a preliminary estimate from IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO).

After $5.90 in basic manufacturing costs are added, Samsung’s total cost to make the Galaxy S8 rises to $307.50; the unsubsidized price for a 64GB Galaxy S8 starts at around $720. The preliminary estimated total at this point is $43.34 higher than that of the Galaxy S7 previously performed by IHS Markit, and is $36.29 higher than the total build cost of the Galaxy S7 Edge, considered a better comparison to the Galaxy S8. IHS Markit has not yet performed a teardown analysis on the larger Galaxy S8 Plus.

“The higher total BOM costs for the Galaxy S8 seem to be part of a trend that reflects something of an arms race in features among Apple, Samsung and other phone manufacturers, as they all try to add new and distinguishing hardware features,” said Andrew Rassweiler, senior director of cost benchmarking services for IHS Markit. “While there are new non-hardware features in the Galaxy S8, such as a virtual assistant called Bixby, from a teardown perspective the hardware in the Galaxy S8 and that of the forthcoming new iPhone is expected to be very similar.”

The introduction of the Galaxy S8 comes at a delicate time for the embattled South Korean electronics giant, which is eager to put behind the challenges associated with the Galaxy Note 7, whose exploding batteries prompted a worldwide recall.

The latest salvo from Samsung shows how it’s keen to regain consumer confidence and attain leadership in the smartphone landscape, a nearly saturated but still highly competitive space that remains key to retaining subscriber loyalties and winning new converts.

First smartphone capable of gigabit-LTE speeds

Both the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus feature a 10-nanometer (nm) system-on-chip (SoC) along with CAT-16 LTE modem and radio. The CDMA version of the S8, intended for use in the United States as well as in China, will feature the Snapdragon 835 chipset from San Diego-based Qualcomm. In comparison, a version of the phone featuring Samsung’s homegrown Exynos 8895 chipset will be used for the rest of the world.

The CAT-16 LTE radio allows the new Galaxy phone to aggregate three carriers of up to 20 megahertz each. Combined with 4×4 MIMO antennas and higher-order modulation of 256 QAM, the LTE modem is capable of reaching peak theoretical speeds of one gigabit per second. “Gigabit LTE is very much the marquee specification for 2017 flagship smartphones,” said Wayne Lam, principal analyst of smartphone electronics, IHS Markit. “Keep in mind that gigabit speeds are a best-case scenario and that a user’s real-world experience will be limited to what mobile networks can provide.”

New “Infinity Display” design fits better in hand

The redesigned Galaxy S8 has a tall, narrow shape that is 1.5 millimeters narrower than the previous Galaxy S7, providing slick new ergonomics while also optimizing screen real estate. The screen curves around the edges, and Samsung designers have maximized the display, relative to the size of the phone, with a 5.8-inch 2960×1440 AMOLED display and an elongated aspect ratio of 18.5:9. Compared to conventional 16:9 aspect-ratio Quad HD smartphone displays, the Galaxy S8 features an additional 15 percent more pixels in a form factor that is easier to hold in the hand. The device’s haptic engine, which provides the “click” feel for users, also has been improved for longer-duty cycles and a more dynamic response.

Double the base-model storage

Both the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus feature 4GB of RAM and built-in storage of 64GB—twice the standard built-in storage found in the Galaxy S7 as well as the iPhone 7. Storage for the new Samsung phones can also be expanded, up to 256GB, via a microSD card. The Samsung NAND flash memory and DRAM on the S8 come in at a cost of $41.50. Rassweiler said: “While in previous years the cost per gigabyte has generally fallen in both the NAND flash and DRAM areas, we have seen rising prices in both DRAM and NAND flash recently due to some tightness in the marketplace. The cost of memory in the S8 reflects these recent market dynamics, even though we expect the erosion in memory pricing—something that occurs regularly in the memory market—to resume during the course of the year.”

Battery

The battery capacity on the Galaxy S8, at 3000 milliamp hour (mAh), is the same as that found in last year’s Galaxy S7. However, compared to the Galaxy S7 Edge, which had a 3600mAh battery, Samsung played it safe after the Note 7 incident and included a considerably less dense battery pack. Overall cost estimate for the Galaxy S8 battery pack is $4.50.

Single camera lens

Although the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus come with new features and the latest components, each still has only a single camera in the back—essentially the same as the camera module found in last year’s Galaxy S7. Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus, the newly launched LG G6 and many Chinese OEMs are now promoting dual cameras as a key feature. Owing to the asymmetric placement of the rear fingerprint sensor, it would have been likely that a dual-camera design was scrapped at the last minute in the design cycle.

BOE, a Chinese display maker, takes top position in terms of large TFT-LCD display unit shipments in January 2017, according to IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO). For the first time ever, a Chinese display maker, taking a total share of 22.3 percent in unit shipments, is displacing South Korea’s display makers, the historical leaders in shipment volumes.

large display shipment

“BOE has been aggressively attacking the IT display market in shipment volumes at a time when top-tier panel makers started to turn focus away from this segment,” said Robin Wu, principal analyst of large display at IHS Markit.

BOE now takes number one position in larger-than-9-inch displays for tablets, notebook PCs and monitors in terms of unit shipment. In particular, notebook PC displays showed BOE taking a 29 percent share further widening the gap with the number two supplier Innolux, which took a 20 percent share. Meanwhile, the number one supplier for TV application is still LG Display with 21.4 percent followed by Innolux with 16.3 percent and BOE with 15.9 percent.

However, the South Korean panel makers are still holding their lead in terms of area shipment with LG display taking top position with 24.8 percent share followed by Samsung Display and Innolux, according to the latest Large Area Display Market Tracker by IHS Markit.

“South Korean panel makers still retain their advantage in large-sized TVs, a higher-demand segment that has benefited from increasing UHD TV penetration and consumer migration to TVs with larger screens. IHS Markit expects South Korean panel makers, known for their operational and technical strengths in large-size TV display manufacturing, will stay ahead of their Chinese competitors in terms of area shipments for the time being,” Wu said.

“That said, 2017 could be the year the Chinese display makers begin focusing on enriching their product portfolio, and make a play into the Korea’s strong hold for large-size TV displays,” he said.

According to latest IHS Markit Large Area Display Market Tracker, shipments of large-area TV panels decreased by 11 percent month-on-month (m/m), but increased by 4 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 51.7 million units in January 2017.

Unit shipments for applications in January 2017 were as follows:

  • For larger-than-9-inch tablet panels, shipments decreased by 20 percent m/m and 9 percent y/y.
  • For notebook PC panels, shipments declined 8 percent m/m but increased by 20 percent y/y.
  • For monitor panels, shipments dropped 6 percent m/m and kept flat y/y.
  • For TV panels, shipments were down 6 percent m/m and 3 percent y/y.

On an area basis, large panel shipments decreased by 8 percent m/m, but increased by 11 percent y/y in January 2017. Shipment area for LCD TV panels declined 7 percent m/m, due to seasonality but rose 11 percent y/y.

UniPixel, Inc. (NASDAQ: UNXL), a provider of high performance metal mesh capacitive touch sensors to the touchscreen and flexible display markets, announced today positive results from in-house testing conducted on its XTouch touch screen sensors for use in future flexible/foldable display devices such as smartphones, tablets, and wearable devices.

  • UniPixel conducted tests in which its XTouch sensors were folded and opened more than 200,000 times at a 2-millimeter radius at the fold.
  • During the tests, as well as at the conclusion of those tests, there was no damage to the XTouch sensors and no degradation to their performance capabilities.

Flexible displays will also need to have a thin and pliable cover lens that will bend consistently without damage.

  • UniPixel’s Diamond Guard scratch resistant cover lens technology is an excellent complement to XTouch sensors as it is applied in a very thin layer and will bend and seamlessly fold as it protects the underlying touch sensor metal mesh from abrasion damage.

Jalil Shaikh, chief operating officer of UniPixel, commented, “The results of our in-house testing were very positive. As flexible displays require thin and pliable touch sensors and cover lenses, our proprietary XTouch sensors and Diamond Guard are ideally suited for flexible display applications. We have already demonstrated to a major original equipment manufacturer (“OEM”) that our XTouch sensors deliver optimal performance with a lens coating as minute as five microns. As far as we are aware our XTouch sensors are the only sensors available that operate effectively with such a thin cover lens coating.

“We believe that as flexible technologies make their way to the market, our proprietary XTouch and Diamond Guard technologies can become staple components in a broad array of products. While foldable displays are in early consideration by OEMs, our products now meet the early specifications OEMs have targeted to create devices that work effectively with the necessary durability for broad market acceptance.”

Demand for TV panels in terms of area is forecast to reach 143 million square meters in 2017, up 8 percent from 2016, contributing to a 6 percent growth in the overall display market, according to IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO).

“Owing to the increase in average TV screen sizes demanded by consumers, TV panel makers will enjoy a high growth in display area demand despite sluggish growth in terms of quantity,” said Alex Kang, senior analyst of display research for IHS Markit. The average TV panel size exceeded 40 inches in 2016 for the first time ever, and it will increase further by 1.3 inches to reach 42.6 inches in 2017. “As consumers show a preference for larger display models and as set makers promote products with higher profitability, the average size of TV panels should continue to increase.”

According to the IHS Markit Display Long-Term Demand Forecast Tracker, TV panels accounted for about 70 percent of the entire display demand in terms of area in 2016, while IT panels, which include those for desktop monitors, notebooks and tablet PCs, made up 18 percent. In contrast, IT panel demand is expected to remain flat in 2017, while mobile phone display demand is expected to grow 10 percent to 14 million square meters during the same period.

“Although the increase in the average smartphone screen size is propelling area demand for mobile phone displays, its impact to the entire display market should be minimal as mobile phones make up only 7 percent of the entire display market,” Kang said.

2017 area panel demand

According to the latest market study released by Technavio, the global large area displays market is expected to reach USD 78.41 billion by 2021, growing at a CAGR of close to 2%.

This research report titled ‘Global Large Area Displays Market 2017-2021’ provides an in-depth analysis of the market in terms of revenue and emerging market trends. The report takes into consideration the unit shipments of liquid crystal display (LCD) and organic light-emitting diode (OLED)/active matrix OLED (AMOLED) displays greater than 9 inches in size and the revenues generated from their sales during the forecast period.

OLED displays are thinner, lighter, more flexible, and emit brighter colors than other existing display technologies such as LCDs. Unlike LCDs, these do not require a backlight and have a fast response time of 0.01 milliseconds. OLED displays are flexible. Curved OLED TVs and other devices that utilize this feature offer a better viewing angle to users. OLED displays consume less power because of the phosphorescent organic material, which has better conversion rate than LCDs.

Technavio’s hardware and semiconductor analysts categorize the global large area displays market into the following segments by application:

  • Televisions
  • Notebooks
  • Monitors
  • Tablets
  • Others (public displays and digital signage)

The top three application segments of the global large area displays market are:

Global large area television displays market

In 2016, the television segment dominated the market, accounting for a share of 39.2% in terms of unit shipments, primarily because of strong growth of 4K TVs of 40 inches and larger. In 2015, many manufacturers introduced 4K TVs of size 50 inches and above.

According to Chetan Mohan, a lead displays research analyst from Technavio, “Broadcast companies such as Netflix have already started broadcasting 4K UHD content because of the popularity of this format. In 2014, Netflix began streaming popular TV series House of Cards and Breaking Bad in UHD format, which is likely to boost the demand for 4K televisions.”

Global large area notebook displays market

The new operating system and the calculating platform drive the market for new notebooks. Windows 10, which was launched in the third quarter of 2015, generated renewed interest among notebook users. This resulted in more than 10% growth in unit shipment compared with second quarter of 2015.

“Vendors including Dell, Lenovo, and HP recorded a quarterly rise in the third quarter of 2015. Apple, which launched 12-inch MacBook Air in the second quarter of 2015, witnessed growing demand in the third quarter,” says Chetan.

Global large area monitor displays market

Monitors were the third largest segment in 2016, accounting for 19.45% of the market share. The majority of desktop monitors use LCD technology. LCDs consume low power, less space, and are lighter compared with CRT displays. LCD monitors are mainly used by enterprises for office use and by consumers for video and audio entertainment use. However, advances in technology and the rising demand for HD and UHD content as compared with SD content are likely to drive the demand for OLED/AMOLED displays for PC monitors, especially gaming PCs.

Unlike consumers, enterprises that purchase monitors for office use do not put enough emphasis on technological aspects such as high resolution and wide-viewing angle. Technavio analysts expect that Microsoft’s Windows 10 desktop will revive the PC market during the forecast period.

The top vendors highlighted by Technavio’s research analysts in this report are:

  • LG Display
  • Samsung Display
  • Innolux
  • AU Optronics
  • BOE Technology

Chinese panel manufacturers shipped more than one million AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) smartphone displays for the first time in the third quarter of 2016. While the Chinese makers only make up less than 2 percent of the AMOLED smartphone panel market in terms of shipments, hitting the one million unit mark in a quarter shows significant improvements in their manufacturing technology, according to IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO).

According to the IHS Markit Smartphone Display Market Tracker, total shipments of AMOLED displays for smartphones set a new record of 101 million units in third quarter 2016. While Samsung Display continues to retain its dominant position with 99.7 million units, three Chinese panel makers — EverDisplay Optronics (EDO), Tianma Micro-electronics and Govisionox Optoelectronics — shipped 1.4 million units for the quarter, representing a sharp increase from the approximate 590,000 units in the previous quarter.

“Strong demand from Chinese smartphone brands, especially OPPO and Vivo, helped boosting overall AMOLED panel demand significantly,” said Terry Yu, principal analyst of small and medium displays for IHS Markit. “Many Chinese smartphone makers, such as Meizu, Gionee, Lenovo, Huawei and even Xiaomi, are planning to adopt AMOLED panels in their devices. This gives Chinese display suppliers a great opportunity to gain more orders, improve their mass production yield rate and enhance their product reliability.”

According to IHS Markit, AMOLED display penetration among Chinese smartphone brands is expected to increase from 8 percent in 2015 to 13.6 percent in 2016. However, due to the tight supply of AMOLED panels from Samsung Display, many domestic smartphone brands are turning to local Chinese panel makers. For example, after Xiaomi and Huawei failed to secure their orders of AMOLED panels from Samsung, they struck partnerships with EDO, the leading AMOLED panel suppliers in China, with the promise of mass production and product reliability. EDO, which started operating its Shanghai-based Gen 4.5 AMOLED fab in 2014, shipped one million units of AMOLED panels in the third quarter of 2016, up from 0.2 million units in the first quarter. Similarly, Tianma and Govisionox have also developed business relationships with ZTE as its secondary supplier of AMOLED smartphone displays.

“Chinese panel makers are still too small to threaten Samsung’s dominant position, but they still play an important role as a second or third source for major smartphone brands in China,” Yu said. “Furthermore, as Samsung Display shifts its focus to the flexible OLED, Chinese panel makers are expected to expand their shares in the rigid OLED panel market.”

Chinese_AMOLED_panel_shipments

EV Group (EVG), a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment, together with the Korea National NanoFab Center (President Jae Young Lee, NNFC), a nano-technology R&D infrastructure for academia, research institutes and the industry, announced preliminary results on improved transparent nanostructured anti-reflective coatings for next-generation displays. The ongoing work has been carried out within a joint-development program (JDP) established between the two partners in November 2015. This collaborative research has been partly funded by the Nano-Open-Innovation-Lab Project of the NNFC.

Korea National NanoFab Center (NNFC)

Korea National NanoFab Center (NNFC)

The goal of the EVG-NNFC JDP is the development of optimized materials, the process technology for structure replication, and the industrial implementation of the AR coatings for large-area substrates. The NNFC research team under its director Dr. Jae Hong Park is responsible for the development of the materials and the “reversible nano-molding” process, which can be compatible with EVG’s proprietary SmartNIL UV-nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) technology. EVG is responsible for optimizing the UV-NIL replication process and transferring the technology from the R&D phase on current 200mm round substrates to large panel sizes.

Outstanding preliminary results

EVG and the NNFC have successfully demonstrated an anti-reflective coating with excellent structure replication that provides over 97-percent transmittance and a surface hardness of 3H, which is superior to most other polymeric coatings. By contrast, current commercial thin-film coatings only provide up to 92-percent transmittance. The JDP partners achieved these results by applying EVG’s SmartNIL technology on 200-mm round substrates using a polymer material developed by the NNFC. This material was developed for performing the reversible nano molding process at the NNFC, and is compliant with commercial standards for display coating.

In the next phase of the program, EVG and the NNFC plan to promote these promising results to initiate partnerships with end-users that are interested in joining the JDP to help commercialize the new AR coating. The goal of this next phase is the qualification of the novel anti-reflective coating technology for industrial use through the NNFC, and the implementation of the process by EVG to high-volume panel manufacturing on large screen sizes, such as Gen 2 (370 mm x 470 mm) panels and beyond. In addition to this specific project, EVG and the NNFC plan to investigate other application areas leveraging nanostructures and NIL technology.

“As part of our Triple-i philosophy of invent-innovate-implement, EV Group has a long history of engagements with groups across the nanotechnology value chain–from research institutes and materials suppliers to manufacturers–to develop new processes and devices, and bring them into production,” stated WeonSik Yang, general manager of EV Group Korea, Ltd. “We’re pleased to have the opportunity to participate in this level of cooperation with our partners in Korea, namely the NNFC, and see the efforts of our previous cooperation bearing fruit. On behalf of EVG, I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to Dr. Jae Hong Park as well as NNFC President Jae Young Lee for their dedication and support for this project. We look forward to working with local industrial partners to commercialize this novel display coating technology and process to support large-area display manufacturing.”

EVG and the NNFC presented the results of this JDP at the recent NANO KOREA symposium and exhibition in Goyang, Korea. A copy of the poster summarizing the results can be downloaded at http://www.evgroup.com/en/about/news/2016_12_NNFC/.

 

The National NanoFab Center (NNFC) is a nanotechnology and semiconductors R&D center, located in Daejeon City, Korea.

Restructuring of older display fabs, migration to larger-sized LCD TV panels and business strategy adjustments are some of the factors prompting LCD TV panel manufacturers to set a conservative shipment goal of 258.4 million units in 2017, a 1.2 percent decline from 2016, according to IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO).

LCD_TV_Display_Makers_Target

“LCD TV panel unit shipments in 2016 are forecast to decline 5 percent on year-on-year basis with 261.6 million. Among the top six panel makers, BOE and China Star continue to make the largest contribution to the growth of TV panel shipments in 2016, helped by a shortage of 32-inch panels,” said Deborah Yang, director of display supply chain at IHS Markit.

“However, this is not enough to offset declines in shipments from South Korean and Taiwanese panel makers, all of which are undergoing the process of moving to larger panel sizes, facing production yields issues, or experiencing drastic declines in demand for 23.6-inch panels.”

According to the latest IHS Markit TV Display Intelligence Service report, LCD TV panel makers continue to remain cautious with their business plans going into 2017, even as the likes of BOE, Innolux and China Star are contributing to new capacities. BOE’s shipments have shown positive growth in past years; however, the company is projecting a decline of 14 percent year-on-year in 2017 due to a production shift to larger panel sizes, in particular 43-inch and 55-inch displays, where production capacity will be shared with IT panels.

Instead of ramping up the current supply of TV panels, panel makers are now busy diversifying into larger-sized panels and other premium products, such as 4K panels. According to IHS Markit analysis, TV panel makers are planning to ship 63 million units of 4K panels in 2016, making up a 24 percent in UHD (ultra-high definition) penetration, and later to 86.4 million units in 2017, increasing their UHD penetration to 33 percent.

LG Display remains the world’s top maker of TV panels with a target of over 51 million unit shipments. Innolux will take the second largest position with 46.6 million units. However, should Innolux decides to produce smaller-size TV panels as well as to utilize its relationship with Sharp’s fabs in Japan, its unit shipments could be expected to jump to 53 million, even eclipsing LG Display to gain top spot.

HKC, a sizeable LCD TV OEM and ODM maker, which recently entered the LCD TV display market with backing from the Chinese government, represents a new vertical integration business model for the industry.

“While TV makers are suffering a profit loss, HKC’s vertical integration business model could prove that a certain level of profit can be maintained through in-house supply in spite of TV panel price fluctuations. However, the biggest challenge for HKC is whether it can overcome the technical challenge that comes with ramping up a brand new fab,” Yang said.