Recently, the Japanese government announced that it will strengthen the review and control of raw materials for the semiconductor industry (fluorinated polyimide, core material photoresist and high-purity semiconductor hydrogen fluoride) exported to South Korea, and exclude South Korea from trade. In addition to the white list, this export control measure has already taken effect.
It is reported that Japan accounts for 90% of the total production of fluoropolyimide and photoresist in the world, and 70% of the hydrogen fluoride in global semiconductor companies needs to be imported from Japan. Korean companies rely on these three types of Japanese imported materials for 43.9%, 91.9%, and 93.7%, respectively. Most of the fluorine polyimides and high-purity hydrogen fluoride required by famous manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics, LG, and SK are also Imported from Japan.
According to industry speculation, Samsung's hydrogen fluoride storage may only last for several weeks, and other Korean semiconductor companies are not optimistic.
According to the relevant person in charge of LG, hydrogen fluoride has been purchased from other countries for testing. At the same time, the Russian side also said that it can provide hydrogen fluoride to Korean companies through diplomatic channels. However, some experts pointed out that semiconductor raw materials need to be tested for about 1-6 months before being put into mass production. In particular, the purity of hydrogen fluoride has a great impact on the quality of semiconductor products. In the short term, it is difficult for other products to immediately fill the vacancy of hydrogen fluoride in Nissan.
Chen Wei, deputy general manager of Ovi Ruiwo, told the Beijing Business Daily that the restricted materials are mostly used in the production of TV and mobile phone displays and chips. If the dispute between South Korea and Japan continues to ferment, Korean manufacturers are likely to have already reserved. A certain amount, but with Japan's tightening control of Korean photoresist and hydrogen fluoride shipments, it is bound to cause fluctuations in the global industrial chain. “China panel maker OLED is in the process of exploration and development. Customers will consider joining a more stable supplier to ensure the stability of the supply system, so the opportunities for Chinese panel makers will increase.”
At one time, China's LCD panels, like current semiconductor chips, were extremely dependent on imports. In 2010, for example, China’s LCD panel imports exceeded US$46 billion, second only to iron ore ($79.4 billion), oil ($135.1 billion) and integrated circuits ($1569 billion). The high-resolution mobile phone screens are mostly monopolized by Japanese, Korean, and Chinese Taiwanese manufacturers.
The OLED panel market is dominated by South Korea's Samsung Electronics and LG Display (LGD). According to statistics, Samsung's market share in the small and medium-sized OLED panel market is as high as 95%. LG holds large-screen OLED technology, and high-end TV panels are basically from LG. Japanese manufacturers have a very high market share in the materials, parts and manufacturing equipment needed to produce OLED panels.
However, with Samsung and LGD planning to shut down LCD production lines in recent years, panel makers in Taiwan have fallen into losses, and domestic panel makers have emerged one after another, and the focus of the industry chain has begun to shift. Industry observer Hong Shibin pointed out that the global demand for panels is huge, and the cooperation between Japan and South Korea has broken down. There is no doubt that Chinese panel makers will face favorable conditions.
Prior to this, AU Optronics Chairman Peng Shuanglang admitted that due to the high production capacity of the high-generation line of mainland manufacturers, the oversupply of the panel caused the price to fall, which is the main reason for the company's quarterly losses. In the first quarter of 2019, AUO's consolidated turnover was NT$66.7 billion (approximately RMB14.5 billion), the lowest since the first quarter of 2009, with a loss of NT$3.69 billion (approximately RMB800 million).
2019 The first International Display Expo (UDE) was held last week. Global multinational giants from upstream display panels, smart large screens, mobile terminals, car display, virtual reality, education display, commercial display, etc. Participation, which marks China's increasingly important role in the global display industry division of labor, China's display industry has become an important force in the global display technology innovation.
At the World Mobile Communications Conference (MWC) in February this year, the flexible screen devices of mobile phone manufacturers such as Huawei, Nubia, and TCL attracted attention, and the suppliers of these screens were all Chinese companies.
According to the ranking of smartphone panel sales in the first quarter of 2019 released by market research organization IHS Markit, China BOE ranked third with a market share of 11.9%, which was only 0.4 percentage points lower than the second-ranked Japanese JDI. What is gratifying is that in terms of smartphone OLED panels, BOE has surpassed LG Display (3%) with a market share of 8.3%, ranking second for the first time.
In Chen Hui's view, with the improvement of the technology and process capability of panel makers in China, international first-line brands have taken into account multiple factors in the fluctuation of the industry chain, and the possibility of reaching an intention is increasing. As the world's second largest economy, Chinese companies' contribution to the global growth of the display panel industry and the driver chip industry reached 78% and 67% respectively. China has shown that the industry has reached 300 billion yuan, and China has become the world's largest display product manufacturing base, cutting-edge technology research and development center and the first market for intelligent display products.
Whether in LCD or OLED, domestic panel makers are increasing their efforts. With the high-intensity investment strategy leading and the use of some of the acquired technical resources in the domestic construction, in 2009-2013, BOE has built five production lines (one more), one of the top five in the world, and has autonomous to high generation 10.5 Line capacity for expansion and expansion; On December 20, 2017, BOE announced that it will start production of the 10.5th generation TFT-LCD production line with an investment of RMB 45.8 billion in Hefei, Anhui. This is the world's first 10.5 generation line to be put into production. The world's highest generation line; in April 2018, BOE's second 10.5-generation TFT-LED production line in Wuhan was officially opened, with a project investment of 46 billion yuan and a total investment of over 70 billion yuan.
On UDE, Huaxing Optoelectronics exhibited a 31IJP AMOLED display made by high-precision inkjet printing (IJP) technology. The prototype uses a top-emitting device structure with an aperture ratio of 50% or more and a resolution of 4K (UHD). The product has a pixel density of up to 144ppi, which is equivalent to the resolution of a 65-inch 8K display. The details of the picture are quite complete.
Li Dongsheng, chairman of TCL Group, told the Beijing Business Daily that the printed display meant that “the display can be made like a newspaper”. This technology enables high-area, light, thin, and flexible display applications in the future by using a high-precision inkjet printing process while maintaining high yield while reducing costs.
For the future display technology, home appliance analyst Liang Zhenpeng believes that in the past three or five years, LCD is still the mainstay, but OLED is the trend, and the future development direction must be OLED with more vivid color rendering.
