China’s BOE at No.1 for TV LCD area shipment in 2019

China’s largest display maker BOE trumped LG Display in 2019 to top the markets in terms of TV LCD panel area shipment, according to IHS Markit on Feb. 13.

BOE has been the largest company to ship LCD panels for TVs since 2018, but this marks the first time it took the lead for area shipments, according to the market research firm.

IHS Markit noted that Chinese display makers have been snapping up bigger market shares after Korean rivals such as LG Display and Samsung Display began to downsize their TV LCD production lines last year.

In 2019, BOE posted a 23.8% on-year increase for TV LCD area shipment of 30.1 million square meters. In second place was Korea’s LG Display, which posted a 10.3% decrease to 28,300 square meters. Samsung Display came in third with 2179 square meters to show a 19% decline. Close on Samsung’s heels was CSOT with 2120 square meters after a 19.4% increase. At fifth place was Innolux of Taiwan with 2000 square meters.

In terms of 4K TV LCD panels for the month of December, CSOT had the largest market share with 16.7%, followed by LG Display with 14.7% and BOE with 13.3%. For the entire year, LG Display led the pack with 14.7%, followed by BOE with 16.4% and Samsung Display with 15.1%.

Among the LCD panels for TVs shipped in 2019, 45.2% were 4K panels. This marks a 6 percentage point increase from the 39.1% in 2018. IHS Markit expects this figure to continue to climb this year.

It also said Chinese display makers will continue to become bigger players as their Korean counterparts phase out the LCD business.

LG Display, however, has been increasing its market share in automotive LCD panels. In 2018, the LG affiliate had the biggest market share for 10 inch-plus automotive LCD panels in 2018 with 28.1%. It was the first time it took first place after beating out Japan’s JDI. In 2019, LG Display is estimated to have taken home a 34.4% market share.

However, Chinese companies such as BOE is fast catching up in the area. The firm recorded a 7.6% in 2018, up from 0% in 2017. In 2019, it is expected to have scored 11.3%. During the same period, JDI’s market share fell from 33.9% to 25.8% and an estimated 18% in 2019.

Meanwhile, LG Display began mass producing automotive OLED panels for the first time this year.

The Elec is South Korea’s No.1 tech news platform.