As in Semiconductor Sector
If the technology war between the United States and China spills over to the display sector, the U.S. government may take regulatory measures to curb the sale of display materials and production equipment to Chinese companies, as in the semiconductor sector, Taiwan’s DigiTimes reported on Nov. 4.
In 2021, China overtook Korea in the world display market with a 40 percent share against Korea's 30 percent. In particular, in the liquid crystal display (LCD) domain, China’s share exceeded 50 percent, while Korea’s share dropped to the 10 percent range. In the organic light emitting diode (OLED) panel sector, where Korea is strong, Korea’s market share had been close to 100 percent, but fell to 80 percent in 2021. During the same period, China's share rose from the 1 percent range to more than 15 percent.
In this situation, if U.S. export restrictions are enforced, it will hit Chinese display makers hard.
Earlier, on Oct. 7, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced measures to ban U.S. companies from exporting semiconductor equipment to Chinese companies that produce 18-nm or more advanced DRAMs, 128-layer or more advanced NAND flash and 14-nm or more advanced logic chips.
If regulations as tough as those for semiconductor equipment are applied to display equipment and materials makers, it is difficult for Chinese companies to receive core materials and equipment for displays. For example, in the glass substrate domain, U.S. company Corning holds a market share of more than 70 percent.
Some experts predict that Korean display makers will benefit from such regulations. However, others say that such regulations will not be all positive for Korean display makers that have display factories in China.