TV Panel Prices to Fall on Lower Chinese Demand

Falling LCD TV demand from China could lead to excess panel capacity next year, leading to a price fall in the second half of 2015, say industry sources. LCD TV sales in the country are expected to fall 5% YoY this year and another 1.8% in 2015. However, the maturing market is increasingly causing vendors to look at more premium sets and to overseas markets. TCL was noted as having sold 610,000 TVs in China during October, down 9.8% YoY; however, overall figures were up 10.7%, due to a 37.5% rise outside of China. Overall TV shipments are expected to rise about 10% next year, to about 230 million units.