LGD's Guangzhou LCD plant has been officially handed over, increasing the capacity area of ​​TCL CSOT's large-generation line to 22.9%.

LG Display's Guangzhou LCD 8.5-generation line was officially handed over to TCL CSOT today (April 1st) and renamed t11. With this, TCL CSOT will have two 6th-generation, four 8.5-generation, one 8.6-generation, and two 10.5-generation LCD production lines.

TrendForce points out that this year, thanks to the completion of the acquisition and the capacity increase of the t9 8.6 generation line, TCL CSOT is expected to increase its share of global LCD large generation line (5th generation and above) capacity area by 3.6 percentage points to 22.9%.

Furthermore, since t11 is mainly used to produce TV and PID panels, after the formal handover, the supply market share of the top three panel manufacturers, BOE, TCL CSOT and HKC, is expected to further increase to 66%.

After officially taking over t11, TCL CSOT will initially make minor adjustments to the factory, operating with a capacity of only 150k sheets and producing according to demand. TrendForce believes that optimizing the cost of t11 products, new product planning, and stabilizing customer sources will be TCL CSOT's primary tasks after the acquisition of t11.

From the perspective of long-term strategies of various manufacturers, as the market becomes more accepting of ultra-large screen TVs, TCL CSOT will continue to expand its production capacity for 80-inch and larger TVs. Since this strategy will have a squeeze effect on the production of other sizes, maintaining its leading position in 55-inch TV supply means it needs even more production capacity to cope with this. Therefore, the addition of the t11 is undoubtedly more beneficial than harmful to TCL CSOT, giving it more flexibility in its operations.

In addition to TV panels, the IT panel production capacity of its t9 plant has been unable to reach the original target due to the increase in production capacity of other products. Furthermore, if it wants to further increase its scale in the future, it will need more production capacity. Therefore, it is possible that the t11 plant will also add monitor panel production in the future.

TrendForce indicates that since August of last year, China's trade-in subsidy policy has focused on energy conservation, leading to a doubling of the penetration rate of MiniLED backlit TVs, which have always been marketed for their energy-saving features, reaching 4.1% in 2024.

In terms of size, shipments of TV panels of 75 inches and above will increase by 8.2% year-on-year in 2024. In addition to the implementation of the strategy of gradually increasing the size of panel manufacturers, it also reflects that when considering the profitability of products, brands focus on TV products of 75 inches and above, which is the main reason for the rapid growth in demand for ultra-large TV panels.

As LCD remains the mainstream technology for the 85-inch and larger TV market, and panel manufacturers will also expand into the 116-inch and larger market, the demand area continues to increase, which means that the market needs more production capacity to meet the ever-growing demand.

While future production capacity may face a supply shortage, TrendForce believes that the highly concentrated supply structure of TV panels not only helps balance supply and demand in the TV market but also creates favorable conditions for the stability of subsequent TV panel prices. (Source: TrendForce)