Drop in LCD TV panel demand from Chinese manufacturers

Nick Jiang

The top six TV makers in China plan to purchase 14.8 million LCD TV panels in the fourth quarter of 2015, a 16% year-on-year decline, according to IHS.

The research firm claims that orders for the leading Chinese TV makers – Hisense, TCL, Skyworth, Haier, Changhong and Konka – will decline from 17.7 million displays shipped in Q4 2014.

IHS attributed the conservative purchasing plans to “TV panel oversupply and falling prices and said the slowdown is expected to cause panel manufacturers to adjust their capacity utilisation further this year.

“China is the largest global TV market, and this panel inventory adjustment and stagnant sell-through have caused TV makers in China to become more conservative in their panel purchases,” said Nick Jiang, senior display analyst for IHS.

“This conservatism is a major shift from the aggressive market in 2014, which has caused display makers to face over-supply and may induce panel prices to drop further at the end of this year.”

In the first half of 2015, panel makers shipped 29.4 million TV panels to Chinese manufacturers, marking 15% year-on-year growth.

However, in Q3 Chinese TV makers “drastically reduced” panel purchases to 15 million, a 6% year-on-year decline, which is expected to widen in Q4, according to IHS.