Well-known Apple analyst Guo Minghao released a report predicting that Apple will adopt miniLED panels in large-screen products such as iPad and MAC. This move is not good news for the OLED panel industry that is rapidly spreading, and may accelerate the entry price of OLED panel industry. War stage.
Apple adopts miniLED panel to bring OLED panel into price war
OLED panel problems
In the smart phone market, the proportion of OLED panels has exceeded 50%, and the proportion is increasing rapidly; in the high-end TV market, OLED TVs account for more than half, and as most TV companies in the world invest in LGD-led OLED panel camps, At the same time, the launch of LGD's 8.5-generation OLED panel production line in Guangzhou will further increase the production capacity of OLED panels and contribute to the promotion of OLED TVs in the TV market.
However, although OLED panels are increasingly accepted by the smart phone and television industries, the technical defects they face have not been solved, that is, the problem of burn-in, which is caused by the different lifespan of the three luminescent materials, due to the use of smart phones. Life expectancy is generally around 2 years, and the impact of burn-in on mobile phones is not obvious, but for the TV industry, the impact of TV life is quite obvious as it lasts for more than ten years.
Although the OLED industry is in a period of high growth, there has been a looming trend of price wars. In the small and medium-sized OLED panel market for digital products such as smart phones, China's two major panel companies BOE and Huaxing Optoelectronics are accelerating their expansion of OLED panel production capacity, in addition to small and medium OLED panels such as Hehui Optoelectronics and Visionox. Manufacturers, as these panel companies' OLED panel production lines are put into production, OLED panel production capacity will be excessive.
In the large-size OLED panel market, it is still in a short supply phase. This is because only LGD produces large-size OLED panels in the world, and its production capacity is limited. However, due to the problem of burn-in, the promotion of OLED TV has always been difficult, and China The two TV companies Hisense and Konka also joined the panel companies in Taiwan to promote miniLED TVs while joining the OLED TV camp. This move will be a big blow to OLED TV.
OLED panel or price war
In order to meet Apple's capacity requirements for small and medium-sized OLED panels, Samsung has significantly expanded the production capacity of small and medium-sized OLED panels, and the sales of the previous generation of iPhoneX and the new generation of iPhoneXS and iPhoneXS MAX using OLED panels have not met expectations. With overcapacity in OLED panels, Samsung has had to sell its OLED panels to mainland Chinese mobile phone companies, even giving price discounts.
With the production of OLED panel production lines of China's two panel companies BOE and Huaxing Optoelectronics, overcapacity of small and medium-sized OLED panels is bound to occur. So small and medium-sized OLED panels are inevitably in the price war. Samsung, which has the advantages of production capacity and technology, has basically completed its Production line discounts, and Samsung's huge capacity advantage is bound to join this price war, for China's OLED panel companies will bear the dual pressure of production line depreciation and price decline.
Panel companies in Taiwan have recognized that the OLED panel market is incapable of competing with panel companies in China and South Korea. Panel companies in mainland China have capital and cost advantages. Korean panel companies have technological and capacity advantages, but the development technology is more advanced. MicroLED is facing difficult technical challenges and cost issues, so they chose to develop miniLED first, and they originally developed miniLED for large-size display products. Now Apple's introduction of miniLED on iPad and MAC is undoubtedly for them. A big success.
For large-size OLED panels, Apple's introduction of miniLED panels will also create price pressure. Because of Apple's important influence on the industry, miniLED is likely to expand rapidly in the PC industry, which will block OLED panels to the PC industry. The road to development, and the popularity of miniLED in the PC market will have a positive impact on companies that promote miniLED TVs such as Hisense and Konka, which will affect the TV industry. As a result, LGD is bound to reduce the price of OLED panels, which makes it develop closer. The OLED panel business, which is still in a loss for ten years, is undoubtedly a major blow.
In addition to Apple and mainland China's TV companies plan to introduce miniLED panels, mobile phone companies Huawei and Xiaomi also intend to use miniLED panels, because they hope to get rid of the current situation in the small and medium-sized OLED panel market is subject to Samsung, but Samsung has clearly Backhand, it is accelerating the development of microLED panel technology and has launched a microLED TV for the home market.
Bai Ying Technology believes that due to the high cost and technical advantages of microLED, it is more suitable for promotion in the smart phone market. Samsung's current promotion of microLED in the TV market should be only an expedient measure. It does not want microLED erosion to bring a lot of profits to it. Small and medium-sized OLED panel business, but with Apple's introduction of miniLEDs in PCs, Huawei and Xiaomi on smartphones, Samsung will soon promote microLEDs in the smartphone market, making microLEDs an important source of profit for replacing OLEDs. The miniLEDs promoted by Taiwan's panel companies will have a place in the TV and PC markets.
In the OLED panel capacity continues to expand, and miniLED and microLED begin to enter the market is expected to replace OLED, which will force the OLED panel currently in the rapid development stage to enter the price war stage prematurely, which is obviously not good for OLED panel companies in mainland China. The news, huge amount of capital investment, and the return of the return has not been able to fall into a loss situation.
