Musing From an OLED Advocate

Musing Commentary on June 26, 2022
Samsung Suspends Display Purchases – Inventories Overloaded
 
Last week, we reported that display supply chain inventories had reached 4 weeks over traditional levels, which translates to enough excess product to handle 30% of  demand over the next 6 months, if demand followed standard patterns. This week, Samsung Electronics (SEC) acted and notified all business groups to suspend purchases and control their inventory status. SEC informed flat panel display makers, including SDC that panel purchases will be halted. Samsung is the world’s largest supplier of both smartphones and TVs.
 
Nikkei Asia reported that Samsung is stopping new procurement orders and asking suppliers to delay or reduce shipments of existing orders. The change is a response to high inventories and concerns about a macroeconomic downturn amid high inflation, which is reducing consumer purchasing power. The notification applies across multiple business lines, including home appliances, TVs notebooks and smartphones. Nikkei quoted sources at Samsung saying that the company needs to review inventory levels to ensure stock is manageable. In its most recent quarterly financial report, Samsung reported KRW 47.6T ($39.5B) of inventory, which translates into an all-time high of 94 days of inventory, or about two weeks higher than its typical level. As a major electronics vendor, Samsung also has access to information about its inventory at major retailers, and retailer inventory is similarly elevated, ergo there is at least 4 weeks of excessive inventory, 2-weeks in the panel makers and 2 weeks at the brand and retailers.
 
Samsung’s action is the most recent in the larger picture of oversupply and excess capacity in the LCD industry. In the twelve months, cumulative to June 2022 supply outpaced demand by 9% of 52 weeks or 4.7 weeks of excess inventory in the value chain. Offsetting reduced utilization that started in June, industry capacity has increased by 16% from 2020. 

2022 Smartphone Shipment Forecast Down 5% Y/Y on Inflation, China’s Weak Demand and Russia’s Ukraine Invasion
 
2022 smartphone shipment forecast has been lowered by Mizuho Securities from 1,345m (-0.7% Y/Y) to 1,285m (-5.2%) to reflect a shortfall in China owing to economic deterioration, lockdowns, and other factors. For 2023, despite risks related to economic downturn in the US and the potential ripple effect around the world, replacement and pent-up demand will emerge (especially in China and EMs) as economies reopen. 
 
Apple stands alone in the near term as a positive factor.  After a correction for the SE and other low-end models, where demand is lackluster and margins narrow, Apple will probably seek to ramp up iPhone 14 production to 90m–95m units within the year.

Leftovers
Motorola Makes Another Stab at Flip Phones w/Razr 3_06/26/22
Nothing Phone – Minimalist Design_06/26/22
Musing on Meta Verse
Meta Facing Multiple Headwinds_06/26/22
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Announced A Digital Designer Clothing Store Called The “Meta Avatars Store”_06/26/22
Musing on MicroLEDs
Jade Bird Display Is Building A 650 Million Yuan ($92 Million USD) Display Production Line _06/26/22
Xerox PARC Develops a Micro-Transfer Printing Technique_06/26/22
Musing on Production
Samsung And LG Ended Their 10-Year Court Battle And The Winner Is The Chinese OLED Panel Makers_06/26/22
SDC Uses Resin Over Films to Attach Cover Window To Reduce Cost and Thickness of Foldable Displays_06/26/22
​Musing on Technology
MIT Discovers Fault in Apple M1’s Ability to Detect Software Attacks_06/20/22
Tianma Commercialized In-Cell Touch AMOLED Displays_06/20/22
University of Coimbra (UC) Research Team Developed a Liquid Metal Nanocomposite Coated with Graphene_06/20/22
IT
Apple’s to Aggressively Expand Laptop Line, Introducing a 15-Inch MacBook Air _06/20/22
LG Display Sees Gaming as a Growth Market for OLEDs_06/20/22
SMIC Sees Demand For Mobile Phones, Personal Computers And Home Appliances Dropped "Like A Rock" _06/20/22
Smartphones
Side-By-Side Galaxy Z Fold 3 And Fold 4 Display Show a Reduced Crease_06/26/22
BOE Back in the Supply Chain for 1 iPhone 14 Model_06/26/22
iPhone 15 Pro Models To Get New Periscope Zoom Lens_06/26/22
TVs
LG Display Ordering Deposition for Micro OLED Production_06/20/22
Samsung Invents UDR as an Extension of HDR_06/20/22
VR/AR​
Apple's AR Glasses Enter Design Development in Line w/Late 2024 Launch_06/26/22
Google AR/VR headset - Everything You Need To Know_06/26/22
Meta’s Latest VR Headset Prototypes Will Help It Pass The ‘Visual Turing Test’_06/26/22
Wearables
BCDTek to Build OLED Micro Display Fab_06/26/22

Q3'2021 Updated Data 

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