TV Display Shipments Beat Forecasts in Q1, but Value Drops 11% vs. Q4, Says IHS

TV display shipments in Q1 beat expectations, rising 12 percent in units and 11 percent in area vs. the year-ago quarter, said a Tuesday IHS Markit report. The 55-inch and larger segment jumped 20 percent year on year in Q1, and 4K display shipments increased 19 percent to 24.6 million for the period, said the report. OLED TV display shipments soared 110 percent to roughly 600,000 units, it said. Declines in Q1 vs. Q4 2017, at 4 percent for unit shipments and 7 percent in area, weren't as deep as expected, but shipments dropped 10 percent in value from quarter to quarter due to “continued erosion" in panel pricing, which began in mid- 2017, said analyst Robin Wu. “The major concerns to the panel makers is how to achieve a turnaround in panel prices and when,” Wu said, saying the trend to larger sizes and higher-end products could help. Overall, demand for display panels above 9 inches was better than forecast in Q1, but still weak, said IHS. With Q1 a typically slow quarter as brands try to clear out inventory before bringing out new models, top-tier brands were expected to stop focusing on volume growth, which lowered market expectations for panel demand, said the researcher. But shipments of displays larger than 9 inches grew by 6 percent in units and 10 percent in area, it said, led by LG Display with 22 percent share of area shipments and Samsung Display at 17 percent. In unit shipments, BOE led the market with 22 percent share, it said.