LG, Samsung and Sony have been notified by Chinese display makers of higher LCD TV panel costs ahead of Black Friday and the holiday shopping season.
- "Concerns that China's dominance of the LCD supply chain would translate into greater control over panel prices are becoming a reality," Korean newspaper The Elec reported this week.
South Korea's LG Display and Samsung Display have both completely stopped producing LCD TV panels, while Japanese makers largely abandoned the market earlier. This has left Chinese display makers such as BOE, TCL CSOT and HKC responsible for the vast majority of global LCD TV panel production.
LG, Samsung, Sony affected
According to The Elec's report, BOE, TCL CSOT and HKC have notified LG, Samsung and Sony of price increases taking effect in September or October.
The exact increases were not disclosed, but the timing coincides with the annual year-end shopping season, including Black Friday and the holidays, when large numbers of TVs are sold.
Also read: Report: Samsung to cut 'QLED' TV production by 80% – may abandon it
The price increases are not being driven by increasing demand. Chinese display makers are not fully utilizing their LCD production capacity, suggesting that the price adjustments are instead coordinated to improve profitability.
So far, TVs have largely avoided price increases related to soaring memory chip costs, partly due to ad revenue offsetting the higher costs, but higher LCD panel prices are likely to lead to somewhat higher TV prices for consumers.
OLED TVs as a bulwark
Meanwhile, production costs for OLED TV panels continue to fall, making even 83-inch OLED TVs affordable.
This year, a new, less expensive 'OLED SE' panel debuted in TV models such as the LG B6, Philips OLED761, Samsung S85H and Sony Bravia 6. A lower-cost 2-layer OLED TV panel is also under development.
There are also signs that South Korea's LG and Samsung – once fierce rivals – are beginning to collaborate more closely, with OLED serving as a bulwark against China's LCD dominance. Unimaginable five years ago, Samsung Electronics has already started sourcing WOLED panels from LG Display for both TVs and monitors, while LG Electronics is rumored to start sourcing QD-OLED panels from Samsung Display as early as the fourth quarter of 2026, although initially only for monitors.
- Source: The Elec
