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According to TrendForce"s latest panel price report, TV panel pricing is expected to arrest its fall in October after five consecutive quarters of decline and the prices of certain panel sizes may even be poised to move up. The price decline of IT panels, whether notebook panels or LCD monitor panels, has also begun showing signs of easing and overall pricing of large-size panels is developing towards bottoming out.

TrendForce indicates, with panel makers actively implementing production reduction plans, TV inventories have also experienced a period of adjustment, with pressure gradually being alleviated. At the same time, the arrival of peak sales season at year’s end has also boosted demand marginally. In particular, Chinese brands are still holding out hope for Double Eleven (Singles’ Day) Shopping Festival promotions and have begun to increase their stocking momentum in turn. Under the influence of strictly controlled utilization rate and marginally stronger demand, TV panel pricing, which are approaching the limit of material costs, is expected to halt its decline in October. Prices of panels below 75 inches (inclusive) are expected to cease their declines. The strength of demand for 32-inch products is the most obvious and prices are expected to increase by US$1. As for other sizes, it is currently understood that PO (Purchase Order) quotations given by panel manufacturers in October have are all increased by US$3~5. Currently China"s Golden Week holiday is ongoing but, after the holiday, panel manufacturers and brands are expected to wrestle with pricing. Based on prices stabilizing, whether pricing can actually be increased still depends on the intensity of demand generated by branded manufacturers for different sized products.

TrendForce observes that current demand for monitor panels is weak, and brands are poorly motivated to stock goods. At the same time, the implementation of production cuts by panel manufacturers has played a role and room for price negotiation has gradually narrowed. At present, the decline in panel pricing has slowed. Prices of small-size TN panels below 21.5 inches (inclusive) are expected to cease declining in October due to reduced supply and flat demand. As for mainstream sizes such as 23.8 and 27-inch, price declines are expected to be within US$1.5. The current demand for notebook panels is also weak and customers must still face high inventory issues and are relatively unwilling to buy panels. Panel makers are also trying to slow the decline in panel prices through their implementation of production reduction plans. Declining panel prices are currently expected to continue abating in October. Pricing for 14-inch and 15.6-inch HD TN panels are expected to drop by US$0.2~0.3, falling from a 1.8% drop in September to 0.7%, while pricing for 14-inch and 15.6-inch FHD IPS panels are expected to fall by US$1~1.2, falling from a 3.4% drop in September to 2.4%.

Compared with past instances when TV panels drove a supply/demand reversal through a sharp increase in demand and spiking prices, this current period of lagging TV panel pricing has been halted and reversed through active control of utilization rates by panel manufacturers and a slight increase in demand momentum. The basis for this break in decline and subsequent price increase is relatively weak. Therefore, in order to maintain the strength of this price backstop and eventual escalation and move towards a healthier supply/demand situation, panel manufacturers must continue to strictly and prudently control the utilization rate of TV production lines, in addition to observing whether sales performance from the forthcoming Chinese festivals beat expectations, allowing stocking momentum to continue, and laying a solid foundation for TV panels to completely escape sluggish market conditions.

The price of IT panels has also adhered to the effect of production reduction and the magnitude of its price drops has gradually eased. TrendForce believes, since the capacity for supplying IT panels is still expanding into the future, it is difficult to see declines in mainstream panel prices halt completely when demand remains weak. Even if new production capacity from Chinese panel factories is gradually completed starting from 2023, price competition in the IT panel market will intensify once products are verified by branded clients, so potential downward pressure in pricing still exists.

According to media reports out of Asia, buyers of large lots of 32-inch open-cell LCD panels – mostly destined for television production – are paying around $54-$59 per panel. In some cases, even lower prices are available. This price is about 40% lower than the price of that panel one year ago.

One report noted that in just the first quarter of 2016, the price of a 42-inch LCD panel is now $115, fully 8% lower than at the end of December. The same situation exists in the PC market as well. One report noted that the price of a 15.6-inch LCD display, destined for a notebook PC, is now only $25.50 down 10% since the end of December.

While dropping panel prices can be good news for consumers, who are finding great deals on televisions and computers around the world – it is terrible news for the industry, as profits get pressured…or eliminated altogether. Most markets are reporting dramatic drops in television pricing – even on the step-up 4K Ultra HD televisions – on which many brands hoped to realize more profit on this latest video technology.

Although the LCD panel industry had expected an increase in 2016, it now appears that the best they can hope for us flat shipments. And even that dismal estimate may be optimistic. Industry insiders are now forecasting sales of 224 million panels globally – about the same level as 2015.

The global economic slowdown has caused a dramatic drop-off in television sales. Most manufacturers had targeted increased panel sales in developing markets. But as it has turned out, sales declines globally have offset whatever gains they’ve been able to make in these newer markets.

A report by the Nikkei points out that China’s BOE Technology Group, as well as other Chinese LCD panel makers, are ramping up production in this environment and are guilty of fueling a price war. IHS, a U.S. market research company, estimates that production capacity for panels 9.1-inches or larger will exceed demand by 14% this year. This amount is well beyond a more normal rate of 10% or less.

Innolux Corp (群創光電) aims to increase the penetration rate of its touch panels used in notebooks and all-in-one PCs to 50 percent next year, a company executive said yesterday.

Only a very small portion of PCs worldwide are currently equipped with touch panels because of their high price and unattractive Windows 8 operating system, Innolux said.

To boost the penetration rate, the world’s No.4 LCD panel maker has developed low-cost touch screens by integrating touch sensors and LCD glasses, Jeffrey Yang (楊宏文), an associate vice president, told reporters during a touch screen trade show in Taipei.

Local rival AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電), which is showcasing 19.5 inch and 21.5 inch touch screens at the touch screen show, has predicted that about 20 percent of its notebook computer panels will be touch screens at the end of this year.

IGZO panels have been under the spotlight amid growing speculation that Apple Inc will have its new-generation iPhone, iPad and Macbook laptops equipped with the screens.

Innolux, which holds a 70 percent global share of the 4K2K TV panel market, expected 50 percent of its TV panels would be such ultra-high-definition panels next year, up from 10 percent estimated for this quarter, Yang said.

“We hope to keep our equipment loading rate at a stable and reasonable level,” Innolux spokesman Lin Chen-hui (林振輝) said. “The fourth quarter will be a better period than the third quarter.”

A decade ago, innovative Tai-wanese flat panel display companies started investing in a cutting-edge and cost-saving organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology in an attempt to move beyond the slim profits associated with original equipment manufacturing.

Those companies, however, have all but given up hope as high technological barriers and cutthroat competition from cost-efficient liquid-crystal-display (LCD) makers have placed them deep in the red.

"Taiwanese companies hoped to make big money from manufacturing slimmer OLED displays at lower prices than LCD panels," said Roger Yu (游智超), a flat-panel industry analyst with Polaris Securities Co (寶來證券).

Low yields have prompted LCD panel makers AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), which are also developing OLED technology, to cut their OLED staff numbers, according to market research DisplaySearch.

"Sharp price reductions and difficulties in cutting costs are the major challenges for OLED display makers," said Kevin Liao (廖顯杰), a flat-panel industry analyst with DisplaySearch.

Technologically, OLED displays readily compete with LCDs in small-and-medium applications such as handset displays and MP3s palyers, but LCD makers are able to edge OLED suppliers out of the market by undercutting them on price.

LG Display, the world"s No.2 producer of liquid crystal display, ended a TV panel supply deal with Sony in 2004 after the Japanese company set up a 50-50 percent LCD joint venture with Samsung Electronics, the world"s top LCD manufacturer.

“We resumed a TV panel supply deal late last year and it’s mainly supplying small and mid-sized TV screens for now. But we hope our relationship expands further,” said Han Sang-beon, executive vice president and head of LG Display’s TV business division.

Sony, the world’s No.3 flat-screen TV producer, has procured its TV panels mainly from Samsung and Sharp but it has sought to diversify its component procurement overseas manufacturers including Taiwanese to save costs on surging yen currency.

LG Display, which counts LG Electronics, Philipsand Toshibaamong its major customers, also said on Wednesday it expects the 3D TV market will grow sharply this year to account for more than 10 percent of total LCD TV shipments estimated at 220 million units.

BOE will invest 29 billion yuan ($4 billion) in the 600,000 sq. meter factory, according to Sunday"s announcement, with an eye toward expanding into markets for new technologies, such as panels for virtual reality (VR) devices, and a new type of high-end panel called mini-LED.

The Hisense U8H matches the excellent brightness and color performance of much pricier LCD TVs, and its Google TV smart platform is a welcome addition. But it’s available in only three screen sizes.

The Hisense U8H is the best LCD/LED TV for most people because it delivers the performance of a much pricier TV yet starts at under $1,000, for the smallest (55-inch) screen size. This TV utilizes quantum dots, a full-array backlight with mini-LEDs, and a 120 Hz refresh rate to deliver a great-looking 4K HDR image. It’s compatible with every major HDR format. And it’s equipped with two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 inputs to support 4K 120 Hz gaming from the newest Xbox and PlayStation consoles. Add in the intuitive, fully featured Google TV smart-TV platform, and the U8H’s price-to-performance ratio is of inarguable value.

Chief among the U8H’s many strengths is its impressive peak brightness. When sending it HDR test patterns, I measured an average brightness of 1,500 nits, with peaks just north of 1,800 nits (a measurement of luminance; see TV features, defined for more info). To put that into perspective, consider that the 65-inch version of our budget 4K TV pick (the TCL 5-Series) typically costs around half as much as the 65-inch U8H but achieves only around 30% to 40% of its brightness. On the other side of the coin, the 65-inch version of our upgrade pick (the Samsung QN90B) costs almost twice as much as the 65-inch U8H, but it achieves only nominally higher brightness. Adequate light output creates convincing highlights and image contrast and (when necessary) combats ambient light from lamps or windows. It is a necessity for any TV worth buying—especially if you hope to watch HDR movies or play HDR games—and the U8H simply outpaces most TVs in its price range (and some in the next price bracket up, too).

In terms of design, the Hisense U8H is not as svelte as our upgrade pick, but it’s plenty sturdy and doesn’t look or feel cheap. Two narrow, metal feet jut out from beneath the panel and steadily hold the TV. They can be attached in two separate spots, either closer in toward the middle of the panel or out toward the edges, to account for different-size TV stands. The feet are also equipped with cable organization clasps—a nice touch for keeping your TV stand free of cable clutter. Though the TV is primarily plastic, its bezels are lined with metal strips, providing a bit more durability in the long run. I moved it around my home, and it was no worse for wear, but we’ll know more after doing some long-term testing.

The Hisense U8H has some difficulties with banding, or areas of uneven gradation, where transitions that should appear smooth instead look like “bands” of color (sometimes also called posterization). Like many current 4K HDR TVs, the U8H uses an 8-bit panel rather than a 10-bit panel, which affects the color decoding and color presentation process. This is usually relevant only with HDR video and games. When playing games on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, I saw a few instances where the content wasn’t rendered correctly and displayed ugly splotches of color on the screen. However, this almost always occurred during static screens (such as a pause menu or loading screen); I rarely spotted it during actual gameplay. Hisense has stated that it would address the problem in a future firmware update, but at the time of writing it was still present. This is a flaw that may give dedicated gamers pause, but we don’t consider it to be a dealbreaker for most people.

Finally, like most TVs that use vertical alignment (VA) LCD panels, the U8H has a limited horizontal viewing angle, which may be a bit annoying if you’re hoping to entertain a large crowd. Our upgrade pick uses a special wide-angle technology to address this.

In January 2010, Taiwanese AU Optronics Corporation (AUO) announced that it had acquired assets from Sony"s FET and FET Japan, including "patents, know-how, inventions, and relevant equipment related to FED technology and materials".Nikkei reported that AUO plans to start mass production of FED panels in the fourth quarter of 2011, however AUO commented that the technology is still in the research stage and there are no plans to begin mass production at this moment.

Many expect that quantum dot display technology can compete or even replace liquid crystal displays (LCDs) in near future, including the desktop and notebook computer spaces and televisions. These initial applications alone represent more than a $8-billion addressable market by 2023 for quantum dot-based components. Other than display applications, several companies are manufacturing QD-LED light bulbs; these promise greater energy efficiency and longer lifetime.