Display Glass ‘Supply Woes’ Mount With NEG, Corning Mishaps

A recent power outage at a major production site in Takatsuki, Japan, run by Nippon Electric Glass “may exacerbate an already tight glass supply situation and lead to a full-blown glass shortage,” Display Supply Chain Consultants warned Monday. An unrelated “tank failure” at Corning’s Gen 10.5 glass plant in Hefei, China, “adds to the supply woes,” it said. “A constraint on glass supply may lead to a corresponding constraint on LCD panel supply which may lead to even greater price increases for LCD panels.” DSCC estimates capacity at Takatsuki in Q4 was "almost 20% of NEG’s worldwide capacity and nearly 4% of total industry capacity for display glass,” it said. Corning’s glass production at Hefei supports BOE Technology’s Gen 10.5 panel production at the same site. Gen 10.5 glass and panel production is optimized for 65- and 75-inch large-screen premium TVs. Corning’s mishap “by itself would not create any meaningful disruption” but may prevent BOE “from accelerating production there to take advantage of supply constraints elsewhere,” said DSCC. Neither Corning nor NEG commented.