Flat panel display demand growth expected to ease until 2021
Details
Joseph O'Halloran
| 30 November 2018

In what is said to be the industry’s first slowdown in year-on-year growth in four years, demand for flat panel displays (FPDs) in terms of area is forecast to expand 6.4% to 228 million square metres in 2019, slipping almost a percentage point annually says IHS Markit.

The analyst says that although the FPD demand will continue to grow, mainly driven by migration to larger displays for major applications, such as TVs, desktop monitors, mobile PCs and smartphones, the pace is expected to slow through 2021.

According to the world economy and global markets report by IHS Markit, world real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is forecast to grow 3.0% in 2019, following 3.2% in 2018 and 3.3% in 2017.

Looking at drivers for the small contraction, the analyst noted the revision down of global GDP which it expects to contribute to slower growth in end-market demand and the lower demand for FPDs next year. Oversupply is also expected to have an impact as China Star initiates mass production of FPDs from its 10.5-gen fabrication plant (fab), said to be the world’s second largest of its kind, in Shenzhen, China, in the first quarter of 2019.

IHS Markit also believes that HKC will also contribute to an increase in the production capacity by mass producing panels at its new 8.6-gen fab in the second quarter of 2019. As a result, it expects the production capacity of thin-film transistor panels is expected to increase by 11% in 2019 compared to 2018, and the supply will surpass demand at a greater magnitude than 2018.

“The uncertainty from rising global trade tension may pose a threat to panel demand,” said IHS Markit director Ricky Park. “Huge investment in panel factories in China is also expected to continue to cause oversupply next year. As the market forecast for both demand and supply does not look favourable, panel suppliers and set makers are trying to develop more advanced products and technologies, such as 8K resolution for TVs, quantum-dot organic light-emitting diode (QD OLED) TVs and foldable displays for smartphones and tablet PCs, to bolster consumer demand.”