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Musing on Production
Samsung Display To Increase Foldable Display Capacity
Currently SDC has the capacity to produce ~260,000 panels/month but is targeting expanding that to 600,000 panels/month by May of this year. SDC’s ultimate yearly 2020 goal is a run-rate of 1m units/month and equipment suppliers have already taken orders for the tools necessary to reach that goal. Samsung’s A3 fabs are running at below capacity, so expanding production of foldable panels is straightforward and does not involve new construction. Estimate of foldable display production varied widely ranging from 2.9m to 8.3m foldable units shipped this year, and with ~17m units expected in 2021, they will have to expand past the 1m units/month rate in 2021. SDC has usually taken the more risky path of building capacity in advance of demand (it has worked most of the time) which establishes them as the industry leader and discourages competition from smaller producers. If they are at least close to being correct on the need for foldable capacity in 2021, it will go toward helping to keep their small panel utilization rate at a higher baseline if other OLED products experience slower growth Given the premium for foldable displays, it will also help to offset any overall OLED display pricing pressure.
Korean display makers are accelerating their plans to shift their focus from the money-losing liquid crystal display business to the growing organic light-emitting diode industry.
But there are concerns that the pace of the growth is at a slower pace than initially expected due to the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
IHS Markit, LG Display and Samsung Display came in fourth and fifth place in terms of market share for large-sized LCD panels in the final quarter of last year. LG’s share in the global LCD market shrank from 15.5 percent in the third quarter to 14.3 percent by the end of 2019, falling from the market’s second position to fourth, losing pace to Chinese competitors BOE and CSOT. Samsung Display marked a 9 percent drop during the same period. Both LG and Samsung announced last year plans to downsize the LCD businesses due to fiercer competition over prices against Chinese players, and to focus more of their financial investments and human resources on premium OLED panels. In more technical detail, Samsung is to focus on small and midsized OLEDs and large-size quantum dot displays. However, those plans seem to be facing inevitable delays due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
LG Display’s schedule to start operating its newest 8.5th generation OLED fab in Guangzhou, China, within the first quarter of the year appears to be postponed again to the second quarter over COVID-19 risks. “LG Display’s large-size OLED panel fab operation in Guangzhou is delayed due to the COVID-19,” said Kim So-won, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities. “Its operation is projected to be possible in the second quarter, and this would affect the company’s panel sales for TVs to fall during the first quarter.” “The company plans to finish all of the preparations needed for mass production of the Guangzhou plant by March,” an LG Display official said. “But this schedule is being affected by the COVID-19.” At the earliest, some market analysts assume the Guangzhou fab could start its operation in April.
Upon full operation, the new LG fab will be capable of churning out 90,000 OLED substrates/month. The Paju Gen 8.5 fab in Gyeonggi Province, produces 70,000 substrates/month. LG’s OLED fabs in Korea are also exposed to greater risks of slowing production amid the fast spread of COVID-19 that has already started to affect some employees of large manufacturers here. From Saturday to Monday, the company had to shut down its OLED module plant in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, as a bank official working at the firm’s Gumi campus was confirmed to be infected with the virus.
Samsung Display hasn‘t yet reported any COVID-19 infection cases. All of the Samsung OLED lines based in Korea are on their normal tracks as of Wednesday, so far seeing no difficulties in the procurement of materials and manufacturing processes. However, the SDC is also watching carefully over the ripple effect of the virus spread in the longer term. “Concerns are already mounting about slowing demand (for OLED displays) throughout the year,” a Samsung official said.
From: Song Su-hyun([email protected])
Samsung Electronics is ramping up production for the Galaxy Z Flip, due to stronger than expected sales of the model in Korea and other parts of the world. The initial shipments for Galaxy Z Flip to Korea, the US, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore, France, Spain, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates have sold out. Shipments of the Galaxy Z Flip in Korea alone are expected to reach 100,000 units by the end March. Worldwide, initial shipments are expected to reach 500,000 units, with prospects to see its annual shipments for 2020 hit 2-2.5 million units. In a best-case scenario, Samsung may ramp up the shipments of the Galaxy Z Flip to five million units in 2020 if it is able to rekindle its smartphone sales in China.
Samsung Display To Increase Foldable Display Capacity
Currently SDC has the capacity to produce ~260,000 panels/month but is targeting expanding that to 600,000 panels/month by May of this year. SDC’s ultimate yearly 2020 goal is a run-rate of 1m units/month and equipment suppliers have already taken orders for the tools necessary to reach that goal. Samsung’s A3 fabs are running at below capacity, so expanding production of foldable panels is straightforward and does not involve new construction. Estimate of foldable display production varied widely ranging from 2.9m to 8.3m foldable units shipped this year, and with ~17m units expected in 2021, they will have to expand past the 1m units/month rate in 2021. SDC has usually taken the more risky path of building capacity in advance of demand (it has worked most of the time) which establishes them as the industry leader and discourages competition from smaller producers. If they are at least close to being correct on the need for foldable capacity in 2021, it will go toward helping to keep their small panel utilization rate at a higher baseline if other OLED products experience slower growth Given the premium for foldable displays, it will also help to offset any overall OLED display pricing pressure.
Korean display makers are accelerating their plans to shift their focus from the money-losing liquid crystal display business to the growing organic light-emitting diode industry.
But there are concerns that the pace of the growth is at a slower pace than initially expected due to the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
IHS Markit, LG Display and Samsung Display came in fourth and fifth place in terms of market share for large-sized LCD panels in the final quarter of last year. LG’s share in the global LCD market shrank from 15.5 percent in the third quarter to 14.3 percent by the end of 2019, falling from the market’s second position to fourth, losing pace to Chinese competitors BOE and CSOT. Samsung Display marked a 9 percent drop during the same period. Both LG and Samsung announced last year plans to downsize the LCD businesses due to fiercer competition over prices against Chinese players, and to focus more of their financial investments and human resources on premium OLED panels. In more technical detail, Samsung is to focus on small and midsized OLEDs and large-size quantum dot displays. However, those plans seem to be facing inevitable delays due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
LG Display’s schedule to start operating its newest 8.5th generation OLED fab in Guangzhou, China, within the first quarter of the year appears to be postponed again to the second quarter over COVID-19 risks. “LG Display’s large-size OLED panel fab operation in Guangzhou is delayed due to the COVID-19,” said Kim So-won, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities. “Its operation is projected to be possible in the second quarter, and this would affect the company’s panel sales for TVs to fall during the first quarter.” “The company plans to finish all of the preparations needed for mass production of the Guangzhou plant by March,” an LG Display official said. “But this schedule is being affected by the COVID-19.” At the earliest, some market analysts assume the Guangzhou fab could start its operation in April.
Upon full operation, the new LG fab will be capable of churning out 90,000 OLED substrates/month. The Paju Gen 8.5 fab in Gyeonggi Province, produces 70,000 substrates/month. LG’s OLED fabs in Korea are also exposed to greater risks of slowing production amid the fast spread of COVID-19 that has already started to affect some employees of large manufacturers here. From Saturday to Monday, the company had to shut down its OLED module plant in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, as a bank official working at the firm’s Gumi campus was confirmed to be infected with the virus.
Samsung Display hasn‘t yet reported any COVID-19 infection cases. All of the Samsung OLED lines based in Korea are on their normal tracks as of Wednesday, so far seeing no difficulties in the procurement of materials and manufacturing processes. However, the SDC is also watching carefully over the ripple effect of the virus spread in the longer term. “Concerns are already mounting about slowing demand (for OLED displays) throughout the year,” a Samsung official said.
From: Song Su-hyun([email protected])
Samsung Electronics is ramping up production for the Galaxy Z Flip, due to stronger than expected sales of the model in Korea and other parts of the world. The initial shipments for Galaxy Z Flip to Korea, the US, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore, France, Spain, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates have sold out. Shipments of the Galaxy Z Flip in Korea alone are expected to reach 100,000 units by the end March. Worldwide, initial shipments are expected to reach 500,000 units, with prospects to see its annual shipments for 2020 hit 2-2.5 million units. In a best-case scenario, Samsung may ramp up the shipments of the Galaxy Z Flip to five million units in 2020 if it is able to rekindle its smartphone sales in China.
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