With the annual launch of new TVs by TV brands, LCD TV terminal prices are rising, among which Samsung, Sony and other top brands in Japan and South Korea have comprehensively raised the prices of new TVs to reflect the soaring manufacturing costs. Tse Kin Yee, senior research director at Omdia Display, said TV panel prices have nearly doubled since last year, with brands responding to soaring costs by cutting marketing expenses or lowering the distribution fee. But the cost of materials other than panels has also risen this year, forcing TV brands to raise prices by an estimated 5 to 10 percent.
According to Omdia's research, the prices of LCD TV panels in the major dimensions have increased by 100 to 250 percent in the past 10 months, while the cost of other materials for LCD TVs has increased by 15 to 30 percent on average between Q2 2020 and Q1 2021. Another 10-20% increase is expected in the second quarter of 2021. In other words, costs will increase by 30-50% between 2020 and 2021. Second-tier TV manufacturers, on the other hand, have weaker bargaining power in the supply chain, so their material costs outside the panel are up 40 to 60 percent higher.
Further analysis, PCB assembly (PCBA) is a key part of ROM prices. Copper foil substrate is the main part of PCB or PCBA. The raw materials of CCL include copper foil, glass fiber cloth and epoxy resin. Recently, however, the prices of these materials have risen sharply. Copper prices are up 80-90% in the past year, and resin prices are up 170%. All different types of PCB, including HDI, rigid PCB and flexible PCB, are in short supply and prices continue to rise. Other things like PC/ABS prices are up 30 to 35 percent this year.
In addition, iron ore and copper prices have risen sharply in the past few months. Prices of DRAM, NAND Flash and NOR Flash, as well as MOSFET for various ICs and different applications are also rising. Omdia estimates that in the first half of 2021 IC universal rise in prices, including television system SoC chip by about 10-15%, T - CON up about 10 ~ 15%, driving IC by about 20 ~ 25%, about 20 ~ 25%, WiFi IC CMOS gains/audio CODEC (CODEC) or about 15 ~ 20%, other analog IC, logic IC, and so on increase in about 10 ~ 20%. In addition, packaging and packaging raw material prices are also on the rise, due to the rise in the price of wood pulp, LCD TV packaging material prices have increased by about 30 to 50 percent in the past year.
