Omdia: More than 30% of TV panels will be produced by Gen 10 and Gen 10.5 lines in 2022

According to a report released by Omdia, in 2022, the proportion of TV panels produced on Gen 8.5 and 8.6 lines will be reduced to 60%, while more than 30% of TV panels will be produced by Gen 10 and Gen 10.5 lines. Panel makers will continue to make the following adjustments in their panel production lines:

Panel makers continue to shift the production of IT panels, including notebook, desktop monitor panels, and larger size tablet panels, to Gen 8.5 (2200x2500 mm) and Gen 8.6 (2250x2600 mm / 2250x2620 mm) production lines.

LCD TVs, once the most important product in the Gen 8.5 panel production line, will shrink to less than 50% of the total output of the Gen 8.5 and 8.6 lines by 2022. This figure is 54.8% in 2021. With new technologies such as metal oxides (IGZO), GOA (gate on the array), high resolution, ultra-thin glass substrate processing, and IPS wide viewing angle, panel makers continue to have new and improved capabilities in their Gen 8.5 and 8.6 panel production lines. Advanced functional laptop and desktop monitor panels.

LG Display will focus on its Gen 8.5 OLED production line in Guangzhou, China, producing various models of OLED TV panels. In Sakai, Japan, Sharp (SDP) will focus on producing more TV panels, including 42-, 60- and 70-inch panels, on its Gen 10 line (2880x3130 mm).

All Gen 10.5 lines (2940x3370 mm), including BOE's B9 and B17, CSOT's T6 and T7, and Sharp SIO's Guangzhou line, are preparing to produce more large-size TV panels, especially 65- and 75-inch one's panel. The loose supply and demand situation in the second half of 2021 has led panel makers to focus more on larger-size TV panels to effectively absorb production capacity.

In order to achieve the production target of 7 million LCD TV panels of 85 and 86 inches and above in 2022, panel makers with Gen 8.5 and Gen 8.6 lines will focus on the MMG (multi-model glass) hybrid cutting process. Due to the inefficiency of producing 80-inch or larger panels on Gen 10.5 lines, panel makers are actively promoting the use of new nest cutting processes to produce these panels on Gen 8.5 and 8.6 lines.

While Gen 8.5 and Gen 8.6 lines still account for about 40% of global TFT capacity, about 37% of its capacity is allocated for the production of panels for other applications rather than TV panels. This figure is expected to reach about 40% in 2022.

Investment in TV panel glass substrates in each generation line

According to the report, these production strategy adjustments are currently mainly around the production capacity of the 8.5-generation and 8.6-generation panel production lines. From these strategic shifts, Omdia predicts the following outcomes:

• In 2021, 28.8% of TV panels will be produced on Gen 10 and Gen 10.5 lines; in 2022, this proportion will rise to 31.8%.
• In 2021, 22.1% of TV panels will be produced by Gen 8.6 lines; in 2022, this proportion will rise to 24.5%.
• In 2021, 34% of TV panels will be produced by Gen 8.5 lines; in 2022, this proportion will drop to 30.8%.
• In 2021, 9.4% of TV panels will be produced by Gen 7 and 7.5 lines; in 2022, this proportion will drop to 8.9%.

Capacity allocation for Gen 8.5 and 8.6 lines

From the production side, Omdia noticed the following changes:

• In 2021, 54.8% of Gen 8.5 and Gen 8.6 line capacity will be used for LCD TV panel production; in 2022, this figure will drop to 48.7%.
• In 2021, 8.4% of Gen 8.5 and Gen 8.6 line capacity was devoted to OLED TV panel production; this figure will rise to 10.6% in 2022 as LG, the sole supplier of WOLED shows ambitious plans.
• In 2021, 20.9% of Gen 8.5 and 8.6 line capacity is dedicated to desktop display panel production; this proportion will rise to 24.4% in 2022.
• In 2021, 7.4% of Gen 8.5 and 8.6 line capacity is devoted to notebook PC panel production; in 2022, this proportion will increase to 7.9%.