OLED Panel Prices Keep Falling
Market research firm Omdia reported on March 7 that the prices of 32- to 65-inch LCD panels rose about 4.5 percent last month. Specifically, the price of 55-inch 4K LCD panels rose from US$182 to US$191, up more than 70 percent from a year ago. Likewise, the price of 65-inch LCD panels jumped from US$170 to US$242.
Last month, the LCD panel prices returned to the level of three years ago, when the oversupply triggered by Chinese manufacturers was yet to begin.
In 2017, the manufacturers including BOE and CSOT began to supply their products at prices lower than those of South Korean products with the government backing their mass production. In August 2018, the price of 55-inch 4K LCD panels was US$192. However, it dropped to US$100 in December 2019.
These days, the Chinese companies are no longer providing such aggressive discounts in the market they already dominated. This led to a rise in LCD panel price and the rise has been accelerated by COVID-19 and the resultant increase in TV demand.
Meanwhile, the prices of OLED panels are falling based on an increase in production. According to the market research firm, the difference between the prices of 55-inch 4K LCD and OLED TV panels is likely to fall from 4.6 times to 2.9 times from 2019 to this year and to 2.6 times in 2023. OLED panels are expected to replace LCD panels more and more rapidly based on this increase in price competitiveness.