LCD panel shipments hit ‘historical lows’ in April

Source: Omdia

LCD panel shipments hit ‘historical lows’ in April, claims a new report from research house Omdia.

The combination of disruptions from the war in Ukraine and lockdowns in China saw large-area TFT LCD panel shipments decreased by 10% month-on-month to 74.1 million units. This represents a 5% drop year-on-year, and the lowest shipment figures since May 2020.

Robin Wu, principal analyst for Large Area Display & Production, Omdia, said: “With continued ramifications from the pandemic, demand for IT panels for monitors and notebook PCs remained strong in 4Q21. But as the market became saturated starting in 2022, IT panel shipments started slowing in 1Q22 and early 2Q22.”

The analyst noted that notebook panel shipments decreased 21% MoM in April, to 18.2 million units, or a 33% decrease from a peak of 27.3 million units in November 2021.

In regards to LCD TVs, the same factors led to a 9% MoM decline in April to 21.7 million units. This comes less than six months after a peak of 23.4 million units in December 2021.

Wu added that price decreases have led panel makers to begin losing money in their TV panel business in Q4 2021, but that Chinese vendors haven’t reduced their fab utilisation. He said that demand is unlikely to recover in Q2 or Q3, and that the supply/demand situation is unlikely to improve. 

He said: “IT LCD panels could still deliver positive cash flow for panel makers. But with prices dropping dramatically, panel makers will soon start to lose money in their IT panel business. Maybe only then will panel makers reduce their glass input and the overall supply/demand situation will return to balance.”