Research: TV Panel Prices to Hold Flat in May, Monitor Panels to See Price Hike

(CNA, Taipei, May 20, by reporter Pan Chih-yi) TrendForce today released its late-May panel price report, forecasting that prices for all TV panel sizes from 32 to 75 inches will remain flat, liquid crystal display (monitor) panel prices will rise, and laptop panel prices across all sizes will be flat. Eric Fan, Research Vice President at TrendForce, stated that some TV brands began revising their order demand in May, with major brands' overall procurement volume for the second quarter expected to slightly decrease by 1.5% compared to the first quarter. Despite high memory costs, brands are still doing their best to distribute cost pressures across various links in the supply chain and adjust their product mix to minimize the impact. Fan pointed out that with a slight slowdown in TV panel demand, panel makers are responding with strategies of capacity control and on-demand production to maintain panel prices. It is currently observed that all TV panel prices will be flat in May. Regarding liquid crystal display panels, he assessed that demand in May remains stable, with room for a 1% quarterly increase in overall Q2 demand. With stable demand, panel makers are still actively hoping for larger price increases, but most brands believe that demand for panels will begin to correct after June or July and are therefore conservative about price hikes. Buyers and sellers are still negotiating the range of the price increase. Currently, the forecast for May's monitor panel prices is an increase of $0.2 to $0.4 for Open Cell panels, and for mainstream panel modules, a $0.2 to $0.3 increase for 23.8-inch FHD and a $0.2 increase for 27-inch FHD. As for laptop panels, Fan explained that demand remains stable in May. Some brands will dynamically adjust their panel procurement momentum based on the arrival of CPUs. Observing the May-June period, there is a chance for brands to slightly increase their panel procurement scale. However, even with stable demand, it is difficult for panel makers to take more aggressive pricing actions. On one hand, brands are currently more pessimistic about demand in the second half of the year, so panel makers, to ensure stable market share, are generally not proactive in proposing price increases. On the other hand, the differences in customer attributes and product portfolios among panel makers in different regions are significant, making it difficult to form a consensus on pricing strategy. Therefore, TrendForce forecasts that laptop panel prices will be entirely flat in May.