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No Short Term Relief in Panel Prices Expected
The prices of 55-and 65-inch LCD TV open cell panels have surged 73.6% and 42.3%, respectively, from the bottom levels seen in June 2020. The uptrend is expected to persist throughout 1H21 as semiconductor shortages are limiting production even as capacity grows. The retail price gap between LCD and OLED TVs have narrowed as a result, which makes the sale of OLED TVs easier but not greater as supply is limited. Samsung Display plans to start production of QD OLED TV panels in 2H21 and will likely increase investments going forward. At present there are no TV brands that have accepted the technology.
Samsung Display raised its quotes for rigid AMOLED panels by 5-8% to reflect driver IC supply constraints, according to industry sources. The supply has been tight as Samsung Electronics has yet to resume production at its Austin fab in Texas, which has been suspended since mid-February after being hit by power outages. Before the shutdown, the fab processed 20,000 wafers/month for driver ICs for Apple's AMOLED-based iPhone lineups and other chips for Samsung's own Galaxy S21 series products, the sources noted. The upward adjustments of rigid AMOLED panel prices reflect the sector's trend where prices for a-Si- and LTPS LCD panels are also increasing, said the sources. Quotes for 6.5-inch a-Si HD+ LCD panels have increased by US$0.1 to US$14.1 in March, and 6.5-inch FHD+ LTPS pane prices have moved up US$0.1 to US$14.8. Meanwhile, prices of 6.4-inch on-cell FHD+ AMOLED have reached US$21, according to data from CINNO Research. Rigid AMOLED panel makers will continue hiking their product prices in the second half of 2021 as the supply of driver ICs is likely to continue falling short of demand, commented the sources. Our checks with various points in the global supply chain indicate that Samsung Austin Semiconductor (SAS) resumed wafer loading at its foundry plant (S2) from 2 March 2021 (local time used here and onwards). As a consequence of various challenges (especially time required to replace semiconductor pumps), however, we anticipate it will take longer for SAS to fully normalize its S2 fab operation. It is challenging for us to estimate the potential impact of the S2 fab shutdown on the global tech industry with high accuracy given limited information as well as unclear visibility for recovery timing. In this report, however, we present a scenario analysis on the potential impact in order to provide investors with a better grasp of the situation.
The shutdown will likely have the highest impacts on the global smartphone supply chain given that: 1) Qualcomm's SDR transceiver series is mostly fabricated on the 14nm node at S2 fab; and 2) transceivers are one of the critical components for Qualcomm's chipset in not only flagship APs but also mid/high-end Aps. The shutdown will potentially lower Qualcomm's transceiver production by 47m, which is equivalent to 15% of global smartphone production in 2Q 2021. If the SAS fab has fully recovered from the end of March, the number of RF transceiver lost would reach 64m, which represents roughly 21% of global smartphone production in 2Q 2021. The shutdown will potentially impact smartphone production for Samsung Mobile and Apple as the S2 fab manufactures display driver IC (DDI) based on the 28nm node, mostly for Samsung Display's (SDC) OLED panels. The S2 fab shutdown will potentially lead to DDI chip loss of around 22m (or approximately 20% of SDC's OLED panel production target for 2Q 2021. OLED panel DDI supply from Samsung LSI to SDC could decline by 30m, which accounts for roughly 28% of SDC's OLED panel production target in 2Q 2021, if the normalization of the S2 fab is completed at the end of March. Given that iPhone production was expected to decrease from March/April 2021, potential impact from a shortage of SDC's OLED panel production will be relatively higher for Samsung Mobile than Apple. (Source: DigiTimes)
The prices of 55-and 65-inch LCD TV open cell panels have surged 73.6% and 42.3%, respectively, from the bottom levels seen in June 2020. The uptrend is expected to persist throughout 1H21 as semiconductor shortages are limiting production even as capacity grows. The retail price gap between LCD and OLED TVs have narrowed as a result, which makes the sale of OLED TVs easier but not greater as supply is limited. Samsung Display plans to start production of QD OLED TV panels in 2H21 and will likely increase investments going forward. At present there are no TV brands that have accepted the technology.
Samsung Display raised its quotes for rigid AMOLED panels by 5-8% to reflect driver IC supply constraints, according to industry sources. The supply has been tight as Samsung Electronics has yet to resume production at its Austin fab in Texas, which has been suspended since mid-February after being hit by power outages. Before the shutdown, the fab processed 20,000 wafers/month for driver ICs for Apple's AMOLED-based iPhone lineups and other chips for Samsung's own Galaxy S21 series products, the sources noted. The upward adjustments of rigid AMOLED panel prices reflect the sector's trend where prices for a-Si- and LTPS LCD panels are also increasing, said the sources. Quotes for 6.5-inch a-Si HD+ LCD panels have increased by US$0.1 to US$14.1 in March, and 6.5-inch FHD+ LTPS pane prices have moved up US$0.1 to US$14.8. Meanwhile, prices of 6.4-inch on-cell FHD+ AMOLED have reached US$21, according to data from CINNO Research. Rigid AMOLED panel makers will continue hiking their product prices in the second half of 2021 as the supply of driver ICs is likely to continue falling short of demand, commented the sources. Our checks with various points in the global supply chain indicate that Samsung Austin Semiconductor (SAS) resumed wafer loading at its foundry plant (S2) from 2 March 2021 (local time used here and onwards). As a consequence of various challenges (especially time required to replace semiconductor pumps), however, we anticipate it will take longer for SAS to fully normalize its S2 fab operation. It is challenging for us to estimate the potential impact of the S2 fab shutdown on the global tech industry with high accuracy given limited information as well as unclear visibility for recovery timing. In this report, however, we present a scenario analysis on the potential impact in order to provide investors with a better grasp of the situation.
The shutdown will likely have the highest impacts on the global smartphone supply chain given that: 1) Qualcomm's SDR transceiver series is mostly fabricated on the 14nm node at S2 fab; and 2) transceivers are one of the critical components for Qualcomm's chipset in not only flagship APs but also mid/high-end Aps. The shutdown will potentially lower Qualcomm's transceiver production by 47m, which is equivalent to 15% of global smartphone production in 2Q 2021. If the SAS fab has fully recovered from the end of March, the number of RF transceiver lost would reach 64m, which represents roughly 21% of global smartphone production in 2Q 2021. The shutdown will potentially impact smartphone production for Samsung Mobile and Apple as the S2 fab manufactures display driver IC (DDI) based on the 28nm node, mostly for Samsung Display's (SDC) OLED panels. The S2 fab shutdown will potentially lead to DDI chip loss of around 22m (or approximately 20% of SDC's OLED panel production target for 2Q 2021. OLED panel DDI supply from Samsung LSI to SDC could decline by 30m, which accounts for roughly 28% of SDC's OLED panel production target in 2Q 2021, if the normalization of the S2 fab is completed at the end of March. Given that iPhone production was expected to decrease from March/April 2021, potential impact from a shortage of SDC's OLED panel production will be relatively higher for Samsung Mobile than Apple. (Source: DigiTimes)
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