Industry Chain Analysis and Development Trend of China's Display Panel Industry

At present, in the mainstream display market, common display technologies include LCD, OLED, and emerging Micro LED display technologies. Each display technology has unique characteristics and application fields, among which LCD and OLED are currently the most widely used technologies, and Micro LED display technology still needs to be improved. According to different types of panels, the overall composition and materials are different. As far as the current mainstream LCD panel structure is concerned, it mainly includes polarizers, glass substrates, liquid crystal materials, optical filters, and optical films.

1. The concept of LCD and OLED

The LCD screen is a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between two glass substrates, a thin film transistor is placed on the lower substrate, and a color filter is placed on the upper substrate glass. The rotation direction of the liquid crystal molecules is controlled by the circuit, thereby changing the combination of the three primary colors of the sub-pixels to present each color. kind of screen.

OLEDs have self-illuminating properties and have a very thin coating of organic materials. When an electric current passes through them, these light-emitting diodes can emit light alone.

2. Overview of the industrial chain

The semiconductor display panel industry has high technical barriers, complex processes, many key technical points in the production process and process, and high difficulty. It has a long industrial chain, including raw materials, semiconductor equipment, optoelectronic devices and many other sub-sectors. The upstream and downstream industries are highly driven.

Specifically, the upstream of the semiconductor display panel industry is mainly equipment manufacturing, raw materials and component industries; the midstream is mainly the production and manufacturing of semiconductor display panels, supporting electronic devices and modules; Various display terminal applications such as mobile phones.

The overall industrial chain of the display panel industry is relatively long, and the key upstream supporting materials include glass substrates, optical films, liquid crystal materials, polarizers and filters, among which the localization rate of glass substrates and polarizers is less than 20%, and there is room for domestic alternatives Broad; the midstream is mainly domestic and foreign panel manufacturers. At present, domestic BOE and China Star Optoelectronics have occupied the main global market and are the global panel leaders; downstream applications are mainly in TVs, computers, mobile phones, and car displays, etc. The overall demand continues to expand.

3. Industrial chain equipment and materials

The upstream of the LCD industry chain mainly includes liquid crystal materials, glass substrates, polarizers, backlight sources, automation equipment, photoresist materials, film materials, target materials, chemical materials, etc. The midstream is mainly processing and manufacturing based on panel manufacturers. The main processes include cleaning, coating, exposure, etching, electroplating, and so on. Subsequent processes include inspection, cutting, patching, modules, boxing, etc.

The upstream of the OLED industry chain is manufacturing equipment, material manufacturing and parts assembly, the midstream is OLED panel manufacturing, panel assembly, and module assembly, and the downstream is display terminals and other application markets.

In the semiconductor display industry chain, the upstream raw materials are occupied by Japanese and Korean giants. The country started late, and the upstream layout of the industry chain is relatively weak. At present, core equipment and high-end raw materials still need to be purchased from foreign companies.

In terms of process equipment, sputtering equipment, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition systems, and exposure machines are the most critical core equipment in the production of semiconductor display panels. At present, companies in Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea occupy a dominant position.

Fourth, the overall profit analysis of the industrial chain

As far as the overall industry chain profit of the panel industry is concerned, taking LCD as an example, the gross profit margin distribution of the upper, middle and downstream industries in the LCD panel industry chain is quite uneven at present. Influenced by the overall barriers, the overall profit is relatively high, around 40%. Judging from the gross profit margin of leading companies in the past two years, the actual gross profit of polarizers is above 25%. Compared with polarizers, the overall profit of downstream sales is also higher than that of panel integrators.

5. The overall development trend of the panel industry chain

South Korea has been the main source of global panel suppliers until 2020. With the gradual development of technologies such as OLED, QNED, and Micro LED, South Korean companies have gradually launched LCD-related production capacity, including raw materials such as panels and upstream polarizers. There is a vacancy in the LCD market. For example, the production capacity of Samsung and other companies that should have been launched in 2020 was affected by the epidemic and the company turned from loss to profit, resulting in the suspension of production capacity withdrawal. Since the second half of 2020, panel prices have continued to rise all the way until the second half of 2021. Gradually stop and start to enter a downward cycle. With the downward trend of this round of panel prices, the plan of Korean companies to close related production lines may be put on the agenda again, indicating that the industrial chain will enter a period of adjustment again, and the TV panel supply chain relationship will accelerate. Plastic. In the future, the panel industry will continue to transfer to mainland China, and the integration progress of domestic panel manufacturers will also be further accelerated. Although the overall domestic panel industry is going well at present, and BOE and other leaders occupy the main global market, in the long run, the deployment of new technologies such as OLED, QNED, and Micro LED is still the key to future industrial competition. Taking BOE as an example, the sales volume in 2021 It is 836,000 square meters, an increase of 66.9% year-on-year in 2020. On the whole, core technology is still the core of the future development of enterprises and industries.