Gen 10.5 Fab Investment Driving ‘Burgeoning’ Demand for Super-Large TV Panels, Says IHS

Demand is “burgeoning” for super-large TV panels exceeding 60 inches, with annual shipments expected to nearly quadruple in 10 years, after first topping 10 million units only two years ago, reported IHS Markit Thursday. Annual shipments of 60-inch and larger TV panels, including LCD and OLED, are forecast to exceed 20 million units in 2018 and to reach 54 million units in 2025, or 19 percent of the entire TV panel demand: “Their combined share by shipment area is projected to almost triple to 33 percent in 2025 from 12 percent in 2016.” The increasing investment in Gen 10.5 fabs, which are optimized to produce 65- and 75-inch TV panels in profitable “scale,” is the main driver in the super-large panel segment, said IHS. As production and supply-chain costs decline as a result of more Gen 10.5 fabs coming online, so, too, will TV prices, it said.