LG Display reclaims global No. 1 ranking in TV panels

Dominance is shifting in the global display market as Chinese companies are fast emerging to challenge Korea`s giants. Korean companies` fates were also mixed in the Chinese market.

According to Taiwanese market research firm WitsView on Monday, LG Display surpassed Samsung Display last year in terms of TV panel shipment. Having ranked No. 1 in 2014, Samsung Display fell to the third place in 2015 after Taiwan`s Innolux. WitsView`s announces annually global ranking of suppliers of TV panels including LCD, OLED and PDP.

○ BOE`s shipment surges 148.5 percent

Since declaring that it will become No. 1 in the world beyond Samsung and LG by 2022, China`s largest display maker BOE saw shipments surge 148.5 percent last year over 2014. Though its ranking came in at fourth after Samsung Display, BOE still showed supply growth unmatched by Samsung Display (-8.0 percent) and LG Display (6.4 percent).

LG has no time to rejoice over its No. 1 ranking who supplied a total of 55.3 million TV panels last year. Not only BOE but other rival panel makers including China Star Optoelectronics Technology and Innolux are also fast catching up.

"BOE has increased its production capacity as it recently started operating a 150,000 production plant in Chongqing. It also held a groundbreaking ceremony in December last year of its "10.5 generation" panel plant that is equivalent to 20 soccer fields with an investment of 40 billion yuan (6.3 billion U.S. dollars)," a source at the Korean display sector said. "What is more worrisome than the ranking itself is that the price of LCDs, Korean companies` main profit source, is falling steadily due to oversupply in China, and that the global display market is expected to suffer sluggisg demand this year."

WitsView said LG Display reclaiming the No. 1 ranking was attributable to its strategic decision to focus on the Chinese market based on a long-term perspective, which has enabled it to block Chinese companies` challenges. On Samsung Display, WitsView said Samsung Electronics` sell-in shipments fell more than expected, hitting its orders in 2015. Samsung Display lagged behind second-ranking Innolux by around 830,000 units.

○ Korean manufacturers to defend dominant position with OLED

LG Display and Samsung Display aim to keep their market dominance in LCD by increasing high value-added products and pursuing cost innovation, while keeping leadership position in OLED through advanced technologies.

Since launching its supplying panels for OLED TVs in 2013, LG Display has expanded its OLED market share by securing customers including China`s Skyworth and Konga in 2014 and Japan`s Panasonic in 2015. In addition, LG sharply increased production capacity in its 8G OLED panel production line last year that could produce about 26,000 OLED panels. Samsung Display also plans to focus on large LCD and OLED panels instead of smaller LCDs, which have seen profitability worsen.

"We plan to broaden our presence in the OLED market this year with various product lineups focusing on resolution and design as well as by upping production capacity," LG Display Vice Chairman Han Sang-bum said. "We will also induce more clients from not only in China but also from Japan and Europe."